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American Civil War

1861 CE – 1865 CE

The war that decided the fate of the United States, 1861–1865 — Fort Sumter to Appomattox, by way of Antietam, Gettysburg, and Sherman's march.

548 events · 530 people · 1 eras

Key events

1. Battle of Fort Sumter1861 CE
   The Battle of Fort Sumter 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.
2. Second Battle of Bull Run1862 CE
   The 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. John Pope's Army of Virginia, and a battle of much larger scale and numbers than the First Battle of Bull Run fought on July 21, 1861, on the same ground.
3. Battle of Chancellorsville1863 CE
   1863 major battle of the American Civil War
4. Battle of Gettysburg1863 CE
   1863 battle of the American Civil War
5. First Battle of Bull Run1861 CE
   The 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. The Union army was slow in positioning themselves, allowing Confederate reinforcements time to arrive by rail. Each side had about 18,000 poorly trained and poorly led troops. The battle was a Confederate victory and was followed by a disorganized post-battle retreat of the Union forces.
6. Battle of Hampton Roads1862 CE
   1862 pivotal battle in the history of naval warfare
7. Battle of Fredericksburg1862 CE
   The 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. Lee included futile frontal attacks by the Union army on December 13 against entrenched Confederate lines, hurling themselves against a feature of the battlefield that came to be remembered as the 'sunken wall' on the heights overlooking the city. It is remembered as one of the most one-sided battles of the war, with Union casualties more than twice as heavy as those suffered by the Confederates. A visitor to the battlefield described the battle as a "butchery" to U.S. President Abraham Lincoln.
8. Battle of Antietam1862 CE
   The Battle of Antietam, also called the Battle of Sharpsburg, particularly in the Southern United States, took place during the American Civil War on September 17, 1862, between Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and Union Major General George B. McClellan's Army of the Potomac near Sharpsburg, Maryland, and Antietam Creek. Part of the Maryland Campaign, it was the first field army–level engagement in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War to take place on Union soil. It remains the bloodiest day in American history, with a tally of 22,726 dead, wounded, or missing on both sides. Although the Union Army suffered heavier casualties than the Confederates, the battle was a major turning point in the Union's favor.
9. Battle of Wilson's Creek1861 CE
   The 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.
10. Battle of Shiloh1862 CE
    1862 battle of the American Civil War
11. New York City draft riots1863 CE
    1863 civil unrest over American Civil War conscription
12. Battle of Seven Pines1862 CE
    1862 battle of the American Civil War

Notable people

• Abraham Lincoln1809 CE – 1865 CE
• Ulysses S. Grant1822 CE – 1885 CE
• James A. Garfield1831 CE – 1881 CE
• Harriet Tubman1821 CE – 1913 CE
• Robert E. Lee1807 CE – 1870 CE
• William Tecumseh Sherman1820 CE – 1891 CE
• George Armstrong Custer1839 CE – 1876 CE
• Stonewall Jackson1824 CE – 1863 CE
• John C. Breckinridge1821 CE – 1875 CE
• Robert Green Ingersoll1833 CE – 1899 CE
• Lew Wallace1827 CE – 1905 CE
• George Brinton McClellan1826 CE – 1885 CE

Eras spanning this view

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Events from Wikipedia/Wikidata (CC-BY-SA); boundaries from OpenHistoricalMap (ODbL). Spotted a mistake? Email [email protected].