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American Civil War

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The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), which was formed in 1861 by Southern States that had seceded from the Union to preserve slavery in the United States. The South saw slavery as threatened because of the election of Abraham Lincoln as president in 1860 and the growing abolitionist movement in the North.

Text from the Wikipedia article American Civil War, CC BY-SA 4.0

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  1. 1781Battle of CowpensCowpensThe Battle of Cowpens was a military engagement of the American Revolutionary War fought on January 17, 1781, near the town of Cowpens, South Carolina. An American army of nearly 2,000 regulars and militia under Brigadier general Daniel Morgan defeated a force of about 1,000 British and Loyalist troops commanded by Lieutenant-colonel Banastre Tarleton.
  2. 1861Battle of Fort SumterFort SumterThe Battle of Fort Sumter (also the Attack on Fort Sumter or the Fall of Fort Sumter) (April 12–13, 1861) was the bombardment of Fort Sumter near Charleston, South Carolina, by the South Carolina militia. It ended with the surrender of the fort by the United States Army, beginning the American Civil War.
  3. 1861Battle of Wilson's CreekGreene CountyThe Battle of Wilson's Creek, also known as the Battle of Oak Hills, was the first major battle of the Trans-Mississippi Theater of the American Civil War. It was fought on August 10, 1861, near Springfield, Missouri.
  4. 1861First Battle of Bull RunFairfax CountyThe First Battle of Bull Run, called the Battle of First Manassas by Confederate forces, was the first major battle of the American Civil War. The battle was fought on July 21, 1861, in Prince William County, Virginia, just north of what is now the city of Manassas and about thirty miles west-southwest of Washington, D.C.
  5. 1862Emancipation Proclamation—The Emancipation Proclamation, officially Proclamation 95, was a presidential proclamation and executive order issued by United States president Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, during the American Civil War. The Proclamation changed the legal status of more than 3.5 million enslaved African Americans in the secessionist Confederate states from enslaved to free.
  6. 1862Battle of AntietamWashington CountyThe Battle of Antietam ( an-TEE-təm), also called the Battle of Sharpsburg (particularly in the Southern United States) took place during the American Civil War on September 17, 1862, near Antietam Creek and Sharpsburg, Maryland, between the Army of Northern Virginia, led by Confederate General Robert E. Lee, and the Army of the Potomac, led by Union Major General George B. McClellan.
  7. 1862Battle of Fort DonelsonFort DonelsonThe Battle of Fort Donelson was fought from February 11–16, 1862, in the Western Theater of the American Civil War. The Union capture of the Confederate fort near the Tennessee–Kentucky border opened the Cumberland River, an important avenue for the invasion of the South. The Union's success also elevated Brig. Gen. Ulysses S.
  8. 1862Battle of FredericksburgSpotsylvania CountyThe Battle of Fredericksburg was fought December 11–15, 1862, in and around Fredericksburg, Virginia, in the eastern theater of the American Civil War. The combat between the Union Army of the Potomac commanded by Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia under Gen. Robert E.
  9. 1862Battle of Hampton RoadsHampton RoadsThe Battle of Hampton Roads, also referred to as the Battle of the Monitor and Merrimack or the Battle of Ironclads, was a naval battle during the American Civil War.
  10. 1862Battle of Seven PinesHenrico CountyThe Battle of Seven Pines, also known as the Battle of Fair Oaks or Fair Oaks Station, took place on May 31 and June 1, 1862, in Henrico County, Virginia, as part of the Peninsula campaign of the American Civil War.
  11. 1862Battle of ShilohHardin CountyThe Battle of Shiloh, also known as the Battle of Pittsburg Landing, was a major battle in the American Civil War fought on April 6–7, 1862. The fighting took place in southwestern Tennessee, which was part of the war's western theater. The battlefield is located between a small, undistinguished church named Shiloh and Pittsburg Landing on the Tennessee River.
  12. 1862Dakota War of 1862MinnesotaThe Dakota War of 1862, also known as the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862, the Sioux Uprising, the Dakota Uprising, the Sioux Outbreak of 1862, the Dakota Conflict, or Little Crow's War, was an armed conflict between the United States and several eastern bands of Dakota collectively known as the Santee Sioux.
  13. 1862Jackson's Valley campaignShenandoah ValleyJackson's Valley campaign, also known as the Shenandoah Valley campaign of 1862, was Confederate Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's spring 1862 campaign through the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia during the American Civil War.
  14. 1862Northern Virginia campaignVirginiaThe Northern Virginia Campaign, also known as the Second Bull Run Campaign or Second Manassas Campaign, was a series of battles fought in Virginia during August and September 1862 in the eastern theater of the American Civil War. Confederate general Robert E. Lee followed up his successes of the Seven Days Battles in the Peninsula campaign by moving north toward Washington, D.C., and defeating Maj. Gen.
  15. 1862Peninsula campaignVirginia PeninsulaThe Peninsula campaign (also known as the Peninsular campaign) of the American Civil War was a major Union operation launched in southeastern Virginia from March to July 1862, the first large-scale offensive in the Eastern Theater. The operation, commanded by Major General George B.
  16. 1862Second Battle of Bull RunPrince William CountyThe Second Battle of Bull Run or Battle of Second Manassas was fought August 28–30, 1862, in Prince William County, Virginia, as part of the American Civil War. It was the culmination of the Northern Virginia campaign waged by Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia against Union Maj. Gen.
  17. 1862Seven Days BattlesHanover CountyThe Seven Days Battles were a series of seven battles over seven days from June 25 to July 1, 1862, near Richmond, Virginia, during the American Civil War. Confederate General Robert E. Lee drove the Union army's Army of the Potomac, commanded by Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan, away from Richmond and into a retreat down the Virginia Peninsula.
  18. 1862 – 1863Vicksburg campaignVicksburgThe Vicksburg campaign was a series of maneuvers and battles in the Western Theater of the American Civil War directed against Vicksburg, Mississippi, a fortress city that dominated the last Confederate-controlled section of the Mississippi River. The Union Army of the Tennessee under Major General Ulysses S. Grant gained control of the river by capturing this stronghold and defeating Lieutenant General John C.
  19. 1863Battle of GettysburgAdams CountyThe Battle of Gettysburg (locally ) (July 1–3, 1863) was fought in the American Civil War between the Union and Confederate armies in and around Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The battle, won by the Union, is widely considered the Civil War's turning point, leading to an ultimate victory of the Union and the preservation of the nation.
  20. 1863Gettysburg AddressGettysburgThe Gettysburg Address is a dedication speech delivered by Abraham Lincoln, the 16th U.S. president, following the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War. The speech has come to be viewed as one of the most famous, enduring, and historically significant speeches in American history.
  21. 1863Battle of ChancellorsvilleSpotsylvania CountyThe Battle of Chancellorsville, April 30 – May 6, 1863, was a major battle of the American Civil War (1861–1865), and the principal engagement of the Chancellorsville campaign.
  22. 1863Battle of ChickamaugaCatoosa CountyThe Battle of Chickamauga, fought on September 18–20, 1863, between the United States Army, or Union Army, and Confederate forces in the American Civil War, marked the end of a U.S. Army offensive, the Chickamauga Campaign, in southeastern Tennessee and northwestern Georgia.
  23. 1863Chattanooga campaignChattanoogaThe Chattanooga campaign was a series of maneuvers and battles in October and November 1863, during the American Civil War. Following the defeat of Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans's Union Army of the Cumberland at the Battle of Chickamauga in September, the Confederate Army of Tennessee under Gen. Braxton Bragg besieged Rosecrans and his men by occupying key high terrain around Chattanooga, Tennessee. Maj. Gen.
  24. 1863Pickett's ChargeGettysburgPickett's Charge was an infantry assault on July 3, 1863, during the Battle of Gettysburg. It was ordered by Confederate General Robert E. Lee as part of his plan to break through Union lines and achieve a decisive victory in the North. The charge was named after Major General George Pickett, one of the Confederate Army's division commanders.
  25. 1863Siege of VicksburgVicksburgThe siege of Vicksburg (May 18 – July 4, 1863) was the final major military action in the Vicksburg campaign of the American Civil War. In a series of maneuvers, Union major general Ulysses S. Grant and his Army of the Tennessee crossed the Mississippi River and drove the Confederate Army of Mississippi, led by Lieutenant General John C.
  26. 1864Atlanta campaignNorth GeorgiaThe Atlanta campaign was a series of battles fought in the western theater of the American Civil War throughout northwest Georgia and the area around Atlanta during the summer of 1864. Union Major General William T. Sherman invaded Georgia from the vicinity of Chattanooga, Tennessee, beginning in May 1864, opposed by the Confederate general Joseph E. Johnston.
  27. 1864Battle of AtlantaFulton CountyThe Battle of Atlanta took place during the Atlanta campaign of the American Civil War on July 22, 1864, just southeast of Atlanta, Georgia. Continuing their summer campaign to seize the important rail and supply hub of Atlanta, Union forces commanded by William T. Sherman overwhelmed and defeated Confederate forces defending the city under John B. Hood. Union Major General James B.
  28. 1864Battle of Cold HarborHanover CountyThe Battle of Cold Harbor was fought during the American Civil War near Mechanicsville, Virginia, from May 31 to June 12, 1864, with the most significant fighting occurring on June 3. It was one of the final battles of Union Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's Overland Campaign. Thousands of Union soldiers were killed or wounded in the frontal assault of June 3 against the fortified positions of Confederate Gen. Robert E.
  29. 1864Battle of NashvilleNashvilleThe Battle of Nashville was a two-day battle in the Franklin–Nashville campaign that represented the end of large-scale fighting west of the coastal states in the American Civil War. It was fought at Nashville, Tennessee, on December 15–16, 1864, between the Confederate Army of Tennessee under Lieutenant General John Bell Hood and the Union Army of the Cumberland (Dept.
  30. 1864Battle of Spotsylvania Court HouseSpotsylvania CountyThe Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, sometimes more simply referred to as the Battle of Spotsylvania (or the 19th-century spelling Spottsylvania), was the second major battle in Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and Maj. Gen. George G. Meade's 1864 Overland Campaign of the American Civil War. Following the bloody but inconclusive Battle of the Wilderness, Grant's army disengaged from Confederate General Robert E.
  31. 1864Battle of the WildernessSpotsylvania CountyThe Battle of the Wilderness was fought on May 5–7, 1864, during the American Civil War. It was the first battle of Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant's 1864 Virginia Overland Campaign against General Robert E. Lee and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. The fighting occurred in a wooded area near Locust Grove, Virginia, about 20 miles (32 km) west of Fredericksburg.
  32. 1864Sherman's March to the SeaEastern GeorgiaSherman's March to the Sea, officially known as the Savannah campaign, or simply Sherman's March, was a military campaign of the American Civil War conducted through Georgia from November 15 until December 21, 1864, by United States Army major general William T. Sherman.
  33. 1864 – 1865Siege of PetersburgPetersburgThe Richmond–Petersburg campaign was a series of battles around Petersburg, Virginia, fought from June 9, 1864, to March 25, 1865, during the American Civil War. Although it is more popularly known as the siege of Petersburg, it was not a classic military siege, in which a city is encircled with fortifications blocking all routes of ingress and egress, nor was it strictly limited to actions against Petersburg.
  34. 1865Assassination of Abraham LincolnFord's TheatreOn April 14, 1865, Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, was shot in the head while attending a play at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C.. He died the following day, six weeks into his second term and a month before the conclusion of the American Civil War.
  35. 1865Battle of Appomattox Court HouseAppomattox Court House National Historical ParkThe Battle of Appomattox Court House, fought in Appomattox County, Virginia, on the morning of April 9, 1865, was one of the last, and ultimately one of the most consequential, battles of the American Civil War (1861–1865). It was the final push of Confederate general in chief Robert E.
  36. 1865Battle of Five ForksPetersburgThe Battle of Five Forks was fought on April 1, 1865, southwest of Petersburg, Virginia, around the road junction of Five Forks, Dinwiddie County, at the end of the Siege of Petersburg, near the conclusion of the American Civil War.