September 16th and 18th, 1862, the Union Army engaged the Army of Northern Virginia in one of the costliest
battles of the Civil War. In the Battle of Antietam, also known as the Battle of Sharpsburg, over 23,000 men were
captured, killed, or listed as missing during the three-day engagement.
Confederate cavalry force of about 2,000 men defeated a much larger Union column (about 8.500 men) under
Brig. Gen. Samuel Sturgis at Brice's Cross Roads. Forrest's force were trying to destroy the Nashville &
Chattanooga Railroad, which was carrying men and supplies to Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman in Georgia.
This brilliant tactical victory against long odds cemented Forrest’s reputation as one of the foremost mounted
infantry leaders of the war. Estimated Casualties: 3,105 total (US 2,610; CS 495). This is battle is also know
as the battle of Tishomingo Creek
troops and over 57,000 soldiers of the Army of Northern Virginia fought in and around this town. The battle was
considered a Confederate victory. The wounded, killed, and missing in action were 10,000 Confederates and
14,00 Union troops.
Tennessee. During the last days of September and continuing through October 1863, the Union army under
Maj. Gen. William Rosecrans, had been bottled up in Chattanooga by General Braxton Bragg’s Army of
Tennessee. All Union supplies had been cut off. Major General Ulysses S. Grant was given command of the
Union's Western armies on October 17th. General Grant replaced Rosecrans with Major General George
Thomas and moved to reinforce Chattanooga. Major General William T. Sherman arrived with his four divisions
in mid-November. The Battle of Chattanooga began on November 23th and lasted through November 25th.
Union forces captured Orchard Knob and Lookout Mountain during the first two days of the battle. On the third
day Union soldiers assaulted and routed one of the Confederacy's two major armies from Missionary Ridge
Chattanooga became the gateway for the supply and logistics of Sherman’s 1864 Atlanta Campaign. Over
12,000 men were killed, captured or wounded during this three day battle.
of 1863 The Army of the Cumberland (Union), over 58,000 troops, and the Army of Tennessee (Confederate), over
66,000 troops, met in battle here. Between September 18th and 20th there were numerous skirmishes fought,
leaving over 34,600 men from both sides dead, wounded, or missing. It was considered to be a Confederate victory.
Union forces under the command of Brigadier General Ulysses S. Grant on February 11th. On February 16,
1862, after the failure of their all-out attack aimed at breaking through Grant’s investment lines, the fort’s 12,000-
man garrison surrendered unconditionally. This was a major victory for Brig. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and a
catastrophe for the South. It ensured that Kentucky would stay in the Union and opened up Tennessee for a
Northern advance along the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers. Grant received a promotion to major general for
his victory and attained stature in the Western Theater, earning the nom de guerre “Unconditional Surrender.”
Estimated Casualties: 17,398 total (US 2,331; CS 15,067).
lasted only two days, April 10 - 11, 1862. The encirclement of the fort by Union forces began in February when
Brigadier General Thomas W. Sherman ordered Captain Quincy A. Gillmore to take charge of the encirclement
and begin bombardment of the fort. Captain Gillmore placed artillery on the mainland southeast of the fort and
began bombardment on April 10th when the Confederate commander of the fort, Colonel Charles H. Olmstead
refused to surrender. Although the fort was considered invincible, the Union's new rifled artillery breached the
southeast scarp of the fort within hours. On April 11th the fort's commander, fearing the Union artillery would
reach the fort's magazine, surrendered before the garrison suffered severe casualties. Total casualties were 365 -
1 Union and 364 Confederates.
The First engagement was April 12 - 14, 1861, which was the opening salvo of the American Civil War. On April
10th Brigadier General P. G. T. Beauregard, in command of what was then the provisional Confederate forces at
Charleston, South Carolina, asked for the surrender of the Union garrison of Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor.
When the Union commander, Major Robert Anderson, refused and the bombardment began on April 12th. Major
Anderson surrendered the fort at 2:30 pm on April 13th and the garrison was evacuated the following day.
Although there were no casualties during the bombardment, while firing a salute during the evacuation one Union
artillerist was killed and three wounded (one mortally).
The second engagement for Fort Sumter occurred in August, 1863. Union artillery, under the command of Major
General Quincy Gillmore, began bombardment of the fort on August 17th and continued through August 23rd.
The Confederate garrison, under the command of General P.G.T. Beauregard, held out. The Union siege of Fort
Sumter and the other Charleston defenses continued unabated. Confederate forces continued to hold out, even
though the fort was virtually destroyed until February 17, 1865, when the fort was abandoned and left to be
reclaimed by Union forces.
The first major engagement occurred December 11-15, 1862 during what was called the Fredericksburg Campaign
by the Union. The battle covered Spotsylvania County and Fredericksburg. The principle commander for the
Union forces was Major General Ambrose E. Burnside and the Confederate forces were commanded by General
Robert E. Lee. Burnside, now in command of the Army of the Potomac, sent a corps to occupy the vicinity of
Falmouth near Fredericksburg on November 14th. Eventually there were over 100,000 Union troops involved in
this engagement. General Lee, with over 72,000 soldiers, had his troops dig in on the heights behind the town.
Union forces crossed the Rappahannock on December 12th. On December 13, Union forces mounted a series of
futile frontal assaults on Prospect Hill and Marye’s Heights - this battle is also know as the Battle of Marye's
Heights. Union forces suffered staggering casualties during these frontal assaults. 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. Burnside initiated a
new offensive in January 1863, which quickly bogged down in the winter mud. The abortive “Mud March” and other
failures led to Burnside’s replacement by Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker in January 1863. There were a total of 17,929
casualties during this engagement, 13,353 Union and 4,576 Confederates.
The second major engagement at Fredericksburg was on May 3, 1863. On May 1, Gen. Robert E. Lee left Maj.
Gen. Jubal A. Early’s division to hold Fredericksburg, while marching with the rest of the army to meet Hooker’s
main offensive thrust at Chancellorsville. On May 3, the Union VI Corps under Sedgwick, reinforced by John Gibbon’
s II Corps division, having crossed the Rappahannock River, assaulted and carried the Confederate
entrenchments on Marye’s Heights. The outnumbered Confederates withdrew and regrouped west and southeast
of town. There was an estimated total of 2,000 casualties.
Northern Virginia was brought to an abrupt stop at Gettysburg, in the county of Adams, Pennsylvania. Over 83,000
Union soldiers and over 75,000 Confederate troops fought for three days - July 1 - 3, 1863, until Lee began
withdrawing his army to the south on July 4th. Over 23,000 Union soldiers and over 28,000 Confederate soldiers
were killed, wounded, captured, or reported missing by the time Lee began his withdrawal. President Abraham
Lincoln delivered his Gettysburg Address at the Soldier's National Cemetery at Gettysburg on November 19, 1863.
1864,General Joseph E. Johnston deployed his troops along Kennesaw Mountain. The Confederate troops were
entrenched in an arc-shaped line to the north and west of Marietta, Georgia. The Union General, William T.
Sherman, was sure that Johnston had stretched his line too thin and, launched a frontal attack with some
diversions on the Confederate flanks. The Union frontal assault was launched on the of June 27th. At first the
Union troops made some headway overrunning Confederate pickets south of the Burnt Hickory Road, but
attacking an enemy that was dug in was futile. The fighting ended by noon. The Union suffered 3,000 casualties,
with Confederate's being 1,000.
Virginia. On July 16, 1861, the untried Union army (over 28,000 troops), under Brigadier General Irvin McDowell
marched from Washington against the Confederate army (with over 32,000 troops), 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 (one brigade arriving by rail from the Shenandoah Valley)
extended and broke the Union right flank. The Federal retreat rapidly deteriorated into a rout. Although
victorious, Confederate forces were too disorganized to pursue. Confederate General Bee and Colonel Bartow
were killed. Thomas J. Jackson earned the nom de guerre “Stonewall.” By July 22, the shattered Union army
reached the safety of Washington. This battle convinced the Lincoln administration that the war would be a long
and costly affair. McDowell was relieved of command of the Union army and replaced by Major General George
B. McClellan, who set about reorganizing and training the troops. The total casualties were 4,700 - 2,950 Union
and 1,750 Confederate.
battle. These battles are also known to Southerners as the battles of Bull Run - Bull Run being a creek that ran
through the battle field. Over 75,000 Union and 48,000 Confederate troops engaged in combat during this three
day period. The Confederates had over 8,000 casualties and the Union had almost 14,000 casualties - wounded,
killed, captured, or missing. It was a most impressive victory for the Confederates.
Valley from Lynchburg, the Confederate army of Lieutenant General Jubal A. Early side-stepped the Federal
garrison at Harpers Ferry and crossed the Potomac River at Shepherdstown into Maryland on July 5-6. On July 9,
1864, a makeshift Union force under Major General Lew Wallace attempted to arrest Early’s invading Confederate
divisions along the Monocacy River, just east of Frederick. Wallace, joined by Ricketts’s Division of the VI Corps
that had been rushed from the Petersburg lines, was outflanked by Gordon’s Division and defeated after putting
up a stiff resistance. Hearing of Early’s incursion into Maryland, Grant embarked the rest of the VI Corps on
transports at City Point, sending it with all dispatch to Washington. Wallace’s defeat at Monocacy bought time for
these veteran troops to arrive to bolster the defenses of Washington. Early’s advance reached the outskirts of
Washington on the afternoon of July 11, and the remaining divisions of the VI Corps began disembarking that
evening. Monocacy was called the “Battle that Saved Washington.” The total casualties were 2,359.
know as the "Battle that Saved Washington." The Confederate army of Lieutenant General Jubal A. Early
crossed the Potomac River into Maryland on July 5-6. On July 9, 1864 a makeshift Union force was cobbled
together under Major General Lew Wallace. The Union forces engaged the invading Confederate divisions along
the Monocacy River, just east of Frederick. The Union forces were outflanked by Confederates and defeated
after putting up a stiff resistance. Hearing of Early’s incursion into Maryland, Grant embarked the rest of the VI
Corps on transports at City Point, sending it with all dispatch to Washington. Wallace’s defeat at Monocacy
bought time for these veteran troops to arrive to bolster the defenses of Washington. Early’s advance reached
the outskirts of Washington on the afternoon of July 11, and the remaining divisions of the VI Corps began
disembarking that evening. There was an estimated total of 2,359 casualties.
of the Tennessee and Army of the Ohio, under Major Generals Ulysses S. Grant and Don Carlos Buell, engaged
Confederate Army of the Mississippi under Generals Albert S. Johnston and P.G.T. Beauregard. The 45,000
Confederate troops had casualties of over 10,000 and the Union lost over 13,000 soldiers, but it was a victory for
the Union.
Wilderness Battle, General Grant's advance on Richmond became stalled at the Spotsylvania Court House.
Fighting took place along a front that stretched across Spotsylvania County - at Laurel Hill, Corbin's Bridge, Ni
River, Piney Branch Church, and many others. There were 52,000 Confederates trying to stop over 100,000
Federal troops from reaching Richmond - the Capitol of the Confederacy. After the Union had lost over 18,000
troops, and the Confederates 12,000 troops, Grant disengaged and continued his march onto Richmond.
(originally the Army of the Mississippi), under General Braxton Bragg, engaged the Union Army of the
Cumberland, under Major General William S. Rosecrans, along the Stones River, near Murfeesboro. Some
44,000 Union troops fought over 37,000 Confederates during the battle. Up to this point the Confederate
forces had been dominate over the Union in most engagements, but this marked the beginning of the end for
the Confederacy.
operations on the city of Vicksburg, Mississippi. Vicksburg was defended by the Army of Vicksburg commanded
by Lt. General John C. Pemberton. During this time the city was continually bombarded by the Union artillery
which surrounded the city. There were over 31,000 casualties, civilians and soldiers, in the city of Vicksburg -
most of these being civilians. The Union had 4,550 casualties. The city surrendered on July 4, 1863.
Wilderness, May 5 - 7, 1864. During this battle 61,000 Confederate soldiers engaged over 101,000 Union soldiers
at such places as Todd's Tavern, Brock Road, and the Furnaces. Although the Union had more casualties, over
18.000, than the Confederates, with over 11,000, Grant continued his offensive.
