Key Battles: Be able to list at least two facts about each of the following Battles or Events of the Civil War
Fort Sumter
Battle of Bull Run
Battle of Antietam
Gettysburg
Vicksburg
March to the Sea
Appomattox
- Fort Sumter:
1. It was the first battle of the Civil War, taking place on April 12-14, 1861.
2. The Confederate forces bombarded the Union-held fort, leading to its surrender and marking the beginning of the war.
- Battle of Bull Run:
1. It was the first major land battle of the Civil War, occurring on July 21, 1861.
2. Confederate forces, led by General Stonewall Jackson, defeated Union forces, signaling that the war would be longer and bloodier than initially anticipated.
- Battle of Antietam:
1. Fought on September 17, 1862, near Sharpsburg, Maryland, it is considered the bloodiest single-day battle in American history.
2. The Union victory forced Confederate General Robert E. Lee to retreat, leading to President Lincoln's issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation.
- Gettysburg:
1. Fought from July 1-3, 1863, in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, it is often seen as the turning point of the war.
2. Union forces, under General George G. Meade, successfully defended against Confederate General Robert E. Lee's invasion, resulting in heavy casualties and Lee's retreat.
- Vicksburg:
1. The siege of Vicksburg, which took place from May 18 to July 4, 1863, was a decisive battle in the Union's control of the Mississippi River.
2. General Ulysses S. Grant's forces laid siege to the Confederate stronghold of Vicksburg, leading to its surrender and the Union gaining control of the vital waterway.
- March to the Sea:
1. Led by General William T. Sherman, it was a military campaign from November 15 to December 21, 1864, in the American Civil War.
2. Sherman's troops marched through Georgia, practicing a scorched-earth policy, destroying resources and infrastructure to demoralize the Confederate population.
- Appomattox:
1. On April 9, 1865, General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia.
2. The surrender effectively ended the Civil War, as other Confederate armies followed suit, leading to the reunification of the United States.