Civil War Battles
QuizBowl You-Gotta-Know
Dillon Horwitz 2014-2015
Fort Sumter
● April 12, 1861
● Confederate artillery opened fire on Fort Sumter,
located in Charleston Harbor
● Union forces surrendered in under 48 hours (34)
● The North fought for 4 years to take it back
● Start of the Civil War
Fort Sumter
First Battle of Bull Run
●
●
●
●
First major battle
July 21, 1861
Union forces attack Confederates
Confederate reinforcements arrive and push Union
soldiers back
● Union soldiers flee
● Confederate General Thomas Jackson earns the
nickname “Stonewall” Jackson
First Battle of Bull Run
The Battle of Shiloh
● On April 6, 1862, 40,000 Confederate soldiers attacked
Union soldiers stationed by the Tennessee River
● Repeated attacks failed to drive the the Union soldiers
from their hastily made position, “Hornet’s Nest”
● Artillery helped the Confederates, until Union
reinforcements arrived and pushed them back
● Shiloh ended with over 23,000 casualties and was, at
the time, the bloodiest battle in American history
The Battle of Shiloh
Capture of New Orleans
● April 24-25, 1862
● 43 Union ships under command of Admiral Farragut
breach defenses of New Orleans
● Confederate General Lovell withdraws his 3,000 troops
without a fight
● On May 1, 15,000 Union troops take control of the city
(for the remainder of the war)
● Considered one of the worst Confederate losses in the
western theater of the war
Capture of New Orleans
The Battle of Antietam
● Forces under command of McClellan attack Lee’s
soldiers in Maryland on September 17, 1862
● Confederates responded with vicious counterattack
● Second Union assault greatly weakens Lee’s position
● Union forces launch one more attack, and eventually,
the Confederates retreated
● Bloodiest day in American military history; gave Lincoln
confidence to issue Emancipation Proclamation, and
prevented European intervention on behalf of South
The Battle of Antietam
The Battle of Chancellorsville
● On May 2, 1863, Jackson executed an attack conceived
by himself and Lee, using 30,000 troops
● Union forces under the command of General Hooker
were stunned
● Confederates mistakenly shot dead Jackson
● On May 3, the Confederates, under Lee, attacked Union
forces again, threatening almost all of their flanks
● Chancellorsville is considered to be Lee’s greatest
victory of the war
The Battle of Chancellorsville
The Battle of Gettysburg
● On July 1, 1863, Confederates push back against Union
advances
● On July 2, heavy battles ensue at Devil’s Den, Little
Round Top, the Wheatfield, Peach Orchard, Culp’s Hill,
and Cemetery Hill; Union soldiers hold their defenses
● On July 3, Union forces regain lost ground and repulse
Lee’s attack (Pickett’s Charge) on their center
● Lee’s second invasion of the North had failed, and there
were roughly 51,000 casualties
The Battle of Gettysburg
Vicksburg
● In May and June of 1863, Union General Ulysses
Grant’s armies laid siege to Vicksburg, trapping
Confederate army General John Pemberton’s forces
● On July 4, Vicksburg surrendered
● This effectively split the Confederacy in two, and
boosted Grant’s reputation
Vicksburg
Atlanta Campaign
● Union General William Sherman led 60,000 troops on a
285-mile march from Atlanta to Savannah, Georgia
● Lasted from November 15 to December 21, 1864
● The purpose of the “March to the Sea” was to weaken
Southern morale
● Sherman employed “Total War” tactics
Atlanta Campaign
Surrender at Appomattox
● Lee led his forces to Appomattox County, Virginia, on
April 8, 1865
● Union forces surrounded the Confederates at
Appomattox Court House
● Lee’s forces tried to escape, but they were held back by
Union soldiers
● On April 9, Lee surrendered his troops to Grant at
McLean House
Surrender at Appomattox