Civil War Battles (Key Battles Only) NAQT[?] info with supplemental

First Battle of Bull Run

KEY BATTLE. Eastern Theater. 1861, July 21. Manassas, Virginia. Also known as First Manassas, the first major engagement of the American Civil War was a shocking rout of Union soldiers by confederates at Manassas Junction, VA. Union commander was McDowell who ordered General Patterson to attack Johnston who was in Shenandoah Valley. Stonewall Jackson got his nickname here. Stone bridge was destroyed. Railway junction captured. alt: www.civilwar.org. This was the first major land battle of the armies in Virginia. On July 16, 1861, the untried Union army under Brig. Gen. Irvin McDowell marched from Washington against the Confederate army, which was drawn up behind Bull Run beyond Centreville. On the 21st, McDowell crossed at Sudley Ford and attacked the Confederate left flank on Matthews Hill. Fighting raged throughout the day as Confederate forces were driven back to Henry Hill. Late in the afternoon, Confederate reinforcements extended and broke the Union right flank. The Federal retreat rapidly deteriorated into a rout. Thomas J. Jackson earned the nom de guerre "Stonewall." By July 22, the shattered Union army reached the safety of Washington.

Battle of Antietam

KEY BATTLE. Eastern Theater. 1862, September 17. Sharpsburg, Maryland. The bloodiest single day in American history, the Battle of Antietam turned back Robert E. Lee's first Northern invasion. Though tactically a draw, it was enough of a win to permit President Abraham Lincoln to announce his Emancipation Proclamation in its wake. When Lee's adversary, Major General George B. McClellan failed to pursue following the battle, Lincoln removed him from command. alt: www.civilwar.org. The Army of the Potomac, under the command of George McClellan, mounted a series of powerful assaults against Robert E. Lee's forces near Sharpsburg, Maryland, on September 17, 1862. The morning assault and vicious Confederate counterattacks swept back and forth through Miller's Cornfield and the West Woods. Later, towards the center of the battlefield, Union assaults against the Sunken Road pierced the Confederate center after a terrible struggle. Late in the day, the third and final major assault by the Union army pushed over a bullet-strewn stone bridge at Antietam Creek. Just as the Federal forces began to collapse the Confederate right, the timely arrival of A.P. Hill's division from Harpers Ferry helped to drive the Army of the Potomac back once more. The bloodiest single day in American military history ended in a draw, but the Confederate retreat gave Abraham Lincoln the "victory" he desired before issuing the Emancipation Proclamation.

Battle of Chancellorsville

KEY BATTLE. Eastern Theater. 1863, April 30-May 6. Chancellorsville, Virginia The Battle of Chancellorsville is widely regarded as General Robert E. Lee's greatest victory. It turned back the Union Army of the Potomac under Joseph "Fighting Joe" Hooker, but it was a costly victory. Lee's brilliant and aggressive corps commander Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson was mortally wounded by his own men, who mistook him and his staff for Union cavalry. alt: www.civilwar.org. Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker's well-executed crossing of the Rappahannock fords on April 30, 1863 placed his rejuvenated and reorganized Army of the Potomac on Lee's vulnerable flank. Rather than retreat before this sizable Federal force, Lee opted to attack Hooker while he was still within the thick wilderness. Late on May 1, 1863, Lee and Jackson conceived one of the boldest plans of the war. Jackson, with 30,000 Confederates, would follow a circuitous route to the Union right and from there conduct an attack on that exposed flank. The May 2, 1863 flank attack stunned the Union XI corps and threatened Hooker's position, but the victorious Confederate attack ended with the mortal wounding of Stonewall Jackson. On May 3, 1863, the Confederates resumed their offensive and drove Hooker's larger army back to a new defensive line nearer the fords. Swinging east, Lee then defeated a separate Federal force near Salem Church that had threatened his rear. Lee's victory at Chancellorsville is widely considered to be his greatest of the entire war.

Battle Of The Wilderness

KEY BATTLE. Eastern Theater. 1864, May 5-7. Spotsylvania County, Virginia. The Battle of the Wilderness was the first clash between Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant. Three days of close-quarters fighting in woods and tangled underbrush resulted in nearly 20,000 total casualties. Although the Confederates could claim a tactical victory, the battle showed that the North's largest army would no longer retreat after a reverse, and Lee's army was slowly pushed back to trenches around Richmond and Petersburg.

Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse

KEY BATTLE. Eastern Theater. 1864, May 8-21. Spotsylvania County, Virginia. Part of Ulysses S. Grant's Overland Campaign in Virginia in the summer of 1864, the Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse was a costly tactical victory for Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, which could not hope to win a war of attrition. alt: www.civilwar.org. Following the Battle of the Wilderness, Grant marched the Union army south with the hope of capturing Spotsylvania Court House. Lee's Confederates, however, managed to get ahead of the Federals and block the road. For the next two weeks, the two armies slugged it out in some of the fiercest fighting of the Civil War.

Battle of Appomattox Courthouse

KEY BATTLE. Eastern Theater. 1865, April 8. Appomattox Station, Virginia.. (*Collectively known as the Appomattox Campaign.)The Battle of Appomattox Courthouse was the last battle fought by Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. After his attempt to break out of a closing trap failed, Lee met with Ulysses S. Grant to surrender his army. Although the Civil War did not end with the surrender at Appomattox, the loss of the South's largest army was the death knell of the Confederacy. alt: www.civilwar.org. Harried mercilessly by Federal troops and continually cut off from turning south, Lee headed west, eventually arriving in Appomattox County on April 8. Heading for the South Side Railroad at Appomattox Station, where food supplies awaited, the Confederates were cut off once again and nearly surrounded by Union troops near the small village of Appomattox Court House. Despite a final desperate attempt to escape, Lee's army was trapped. General Lee surrendered his remaining troops to General Grant at the McLean House on the afternoon of April 9.

The Seven Days Battle

KEY BATTLE. Eastern Theatre. 1862, June 25-July 1. (Collectively known as the Peninsula) Henrico County, Virginia. The Seven Days Battle was a series of battles in the Peninsula Campaign consisting of a Confederate counter-offensive which drove the Union Army away from the Confederate capitol of Richmond down the Virginia Peninsula. The list of individual battles appears above, beginning with Beaver Dam Creek and ending with Malvern Hill.

Battle of Shiloh

KEY BATTLE. Western Theater. 1862, April 6-7. Shiloh, Tennessee. The casualty totals of the Battle of Shiloh shocked Americans both North and South, with the two-day total exceeding that of all previous American wars combined. The battle turned back a Confederate attempt to re-capture Middle Tennessee and contributed to Union Major General Ulysses S. Grant's reputation as a leader who would keep fighting even in adverse circumstances. alt: www.civilwar.org. On the morning of April 6, 1862, 40,000 Confederate soldiers under the command of Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston poured out of the nearby woods and struck a line of Union soldiers occupying ground near Pittsburg Landing on the Tennessee River. The overpowering Confederate offensive drove the unprepared Federal forces from their camps and threatened to overwhelm Ulysses S. Grant's entire command. Some Federals made determined stands and by afternoon, they had established a battle line at the sunken road, known as the "Hornet's Nest." Repeated Rebel attacks failed to carry the Hornet's Nest, but massed artillery helped to turn the tide as Confederates surrounded the Union troops and captured, killed, or wounded most. During the first day's attacks, Gen. Johnston was mortally wounded and was replaced by P.G.T. Beauregard. Fighting continued until after dark, but the Federals held. By the next morning, the reinforced Federal army numbered about 40,000, outnumbering Beauregard's army of less than 30,000. Grant's April 7th counteroffensive overpowered the weakened Confederate forces and Beauregard's army retired from the field. The two day battle at Shiloh produced more than 23,000 casualties and was the bloodiest battle in American history at its time.

Battle of Vicksburg

KEY BATTLE. Western Theater. 1863, June 28. Vicksburg, Mississippi. "The Confederate Gibraltar," Vicksburg, Mississippi, had to be captured before Union ships could safely traverse the entire length of the Mississippi. The Vicksburg Campaign lasted many months, leading to the Battle of Vicksburg in May 1863. After Federal assaults repulsed on May 19 and 22, the Union commander, Ulysses S. Grant, settled into siege warfare. alt: www.civilwar.org. In May and June of 1863, Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's armies converged on Vicksburg, investing the city and entrapping a Confederate army under Lt. Gen. John Pemberton. On July 4, Vicksburg surrendered after prolonged siege operations. This was the culmination of one of the most brilliant military campaigns of the war. With the loss of Pemberton's army and this vital stronghold on the Mississippi, the Confederacy was effectively split in half. Grant's successes in the West boosted his reputation, leading ultimately to his appointment as General-in-Chief of the Union armies.

Battle Of Chattanooga

KEY BATTLE. Western Theater. 1863, November 23-25. Chattanooga, Tennessee. The Union victory at Chattanooga in November 1863 opened the road to Atlanta for Federal armies. Following the Battle of Chickamauga in September, Confederate troops besieged those of the Union in Chattanooga. After Ulysses S. Grant took command, the siege was broken, and the thinly stretched Confederates were driven from the ridges above the town by an impromptu charge by the Army of the Cumberland. alt: www.civilwar.org. After taking charge of the Union's western armies in October of 1863, General Ulysses S. Grant focused on lifting the Confederate siege of Chattanooga, Tennessee, which had been in place since the Battle of Chickamauga in September. Grant opened the "Cracker Line" to bring supplies to the beleaguered Army of the Cumberland inside the city, and, in mid-November, brought William T. Sherman's Army of the Tennessee into the city as well. On November 23, the reinforced Federals began to fight their way out, overrunning Orchard Knob and gaining a foothold for continued attacks against the Confederate line. The next day, Grant launched an attack on Lookout Mountain and captured it after six hours of fighting. On November 25, Grant ordered Sherman to attack Tunnel Hill. While Sherman's initial attack was a failure, a second attack by General George H. Thomas managed to completely break the center of the Confederate line. This third victory in three days compelled a Confederate withdrawal and opened up the Deep South to a Union invasion.

Battle Of Chickamauga

KEY BATTLE. Western Theater. 1863, September 18. Chickamauga, Georgia. The largest battle fought in the Western Theater of the Civil War, Chickamauga was one of the few Confederate victories in that theater. Braxton Bragg's Confederate Army of Tennessee, reinforced by a corps from the Army of Northern Virginia, routed the forces of Major General William S. Rosecrans. Bragg's failure to follow up aggressively reduced an overwhelming Confederate victory to merely a tactical one. alt: www.civilwar.org. After the successful Tullahoma Campaign, Maj. Gen. William Rosecrans continued the Union offensive, aiming to force Gen. Braxton Bragg's Confederate army out of Chattanooga. Through a series of skillful marches towards the Confederate-held city, Rosecrans forced Bragg out of Chattanooga and into Georgia. Determined to reoccupy the city, Bragg followed the Federals north, brushing with Rosecrans' army at Davis' Cross Roads. While they marched on September 18th, his cavalry and infantry skirmished with Union mounted infantry, who were armed with state-of-the-art Spencer repeating rifles. Fighting began in earnest on the morning of the 19th near Chickamauga Creek. Bragg's men heavily assaulted Rosecrans' line, but the Union line held. Fighting resumed the following day. That afternoon, eight fresh brigades from the Army of Northern Virginia under Gen. James Longstreet exploited gap in the Federal line, driving one-third of the Rosecrans' army, including Rosecrans himself, from the field. Only a portion of the Federal army under Gen. George Thomas, staved off disaster by holding Horseshoe Ridge against repeated assaults, allowing the Yankees withdraw after nightfall. For this action, Thomas earned the nickname "the Rock of Chickamauga." The defeated Union troops retreated to Chattanooga where they remained until late November.

Second Battle of Bull Run

KEY BATTLE: Eastern Theater. 1862, August 28-30. Manassas, Virginia. The Second Battle of Bull Run, also called Second Manassas, resulted in a second defeat for Union troops in the area of First Bull Run (First Manassas), though it was not a complete rout like the first battle was. The Confederate victory set the stage for Robert E. Lee's first invasion of the North, which would result in the Battle of Antietam. Key win for Lee and Jackson alt: www.civilwar.org. In order to draw Pope's army into battle, Jackson ordered an attack on a Federal column that was passing across his front on the Warrenton Turnpike on August 28. The fighting at Brawner Farm lasted several hours and resulted in a stalemate. Pope became convinced that he had trapped Jackson and concentrated the bulk of his army against him. On August 29, Pope launched a series of assaults against Jackson's position along an unfinished railroad grade. The attacks were repulsed with heavy casualties on both sides. At noon, Longstreet arrived on the field from Thoroughfare Gap and took position on Jackson's right flank. On August 30, Pope renewed his attacks, seemingly unaware that Longstreet was on the field. When massed Confederate artillery devastated a Union assault by Fitz John Porter's command, Longstreet's wing of 28,000 men counterattacked in the largest, simultaneous mass assault of the war. The Union left flank was crushed and the army driven back to Bull Run. Only an effective Union rearguard action prevented a replay of the First Manassas disaster.

Battle of Fredericksburg

KEY BATTLE: Eastern Theater. 1862, December 11-15. Fredericksburg, Virginia. More troops were present at this battle than at any other battle of the American Civil War, including Gettysburg. Poor coordination of attacks by Union commanders, combined with strong Confederate defensive positions, resulted in a lopsided slaughter of Federal troops. alt: www.civilwar.org. On November 14, Burnside, now in command of the Army of the Potomac, sent a corps to occupy the vicinity of Falmouth near Fredericksburg. The rest of the army soon followed. Lee reacted by entrenching his army on the heights behind the town. On December 11, Union engineers laid five pontoon bridges across the Rappahannock under fire. On the 12th, the Federal army crossed over, and on December 13, Burnside mounted a series of futile frontal assaults on Prospect Hill and Marye's Heights that resulted in staggering casualties. Meade's division, on the Union left flank, briefly penetrated Jackson's line but was driven back by a counterattack. Union generals C. Feger Jackson and George Bayard, and Confederate generals Thomas R.R. Cobb and Maxey Gregg were killed. On December 15, Burnside called off the offensive and recrossed the river, ending the campaign

Battle of Gettysburg

KEY BATTLE: Eastern Theater. 1863, July 1-3. Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The largest battle ever fought on the North American continent, Gettysburg marked the end of Robert E. Lee's second invasion of the North and was a turning point in the Civil War. alt. www.civilwar.org. In the summer of 1863, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee launched his second invasion of Northern territory. Like his last foray that ended at bloody Antietam, Lee sought to score politically meaningful victories, take the war out of the ravaged Virginia farmland, and gather supplies for his army. He was pursued first by Union Gen. Joseph Hooker, and then by Gen. George Meade, who replaced Hooker in late June. The opposing forces collided at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on July 1. In severe fighting, the Confederates swept the Federals from the fields west and north of town, but were unable to secure the heights to the south. The following day, Lee attacked the Federals on the heights, but failed to dislodge the defenders. On July 3rd, Lee attacked the Union center on Cemetery Ridge and was repulsed in what is now known as Pickett's Charge. Lee's second invasion of the North had failed, and had resulted in heavy casualties; an estimated 51,000 soldiers were killed, wounded, captured, or listed as missing after Gettysburg.