When the Southern rebels bombarded Fort Sumter in South Carolina in April 1861, it was the start of a war between the Union and the secessionist Confederate States of America that would last for four bloody years.
The war has taken a brutal toll. According to statistics compiled by the National Park Service, 110,100 men on the Union side were killed in action and 275,174 others were wounded in action, while 94,000 Confederates were killed and 194,026 others were wounded. . Even more soldiers have died from disease, starvation and accidents, so the total death toll could reach 850,000, according to a 2011 analysis.
Today, when one thinks of the Civil War, the names of a few sacred battlefields, such as Gettysburg and Shilo, spring to mind. But the conflict was much bigger and bloodier. Union and Confederate forces have met in more than 10,000 armed clashes across the country, ranging from small clashes to large-scale battles involving tens of thousands of troops, in locations from Vermont to Arizona.
“Assessing the significance of a battle can be a tricky business,” says Jim Campi, a spokesperson for the American Battlefield Trust, an organization that works to preserve historic battle sites across the country and emphasize their importance. . “Battles are best assessed by their overall impact on the larger conflict – did it prolong the war or bring it closer to its conclusion? Did he achieve a strategic objective, eliminate an enemy force, or allow a fighter to bring more force at a decisive moment? “
Here are seven battles that proved pivotal in the American Civil War.
First running of the bulls
A Union supply train runs down a road during the First Battle of Bull Run, Va., The first major battle of the Civil War.
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July 21, 1861: Union General Irvin McDowell left Washington, DC for Virginia, intending to capture the Confederate capital of Richmond and end the war. But most of McDowell’s men were inexperienced 90-day volunteers, who had joined in expectation of a brief conflict and had no idea what to expect. They clashed with a force commanded by General Pierre GT Beauregard, who was defending a critical railroad junction in Manassas, Virginia. When McDowell’s forces attacked, the Confederates were first pushed back, but reinforcements quickly arrived, including a brigade led by the then brigadier. General Thomas J. Jackson, who would earn the nickname “Stonewall” for his tenacity to hold ground.
In the first major battle of the war, Union forces were routed, with approximately 2,896 killed, wounded, missing or captured. The victorious Confederates suffered 1,982 losses. As each side counted their dead, it became evident that the coming struggle would be longer and more gruesome than the Americans had anticipated.
Fort Donelson
A scene from the Battle of Fort Donelson, 1862.
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February 11-16, 1862: One of the first great Union victories then was-Brig. Taken by General Ulysses S. Grant of Fort Donelson, located along the Cumberland River in Tennessee. The Confederates first repelled an attack by Union gunboats and planned a daring counterattack on Union troops to pave the way for the escape. The Confederates seemed on the verge of success when they stopped and fell back into their fortifications. This gave Grant time to find a weak spot in the Confederate line – and attack it.
Confederate Generals Gideon Pillow and John B. Floyd fled, leaving behind 13,000 troops, who waved a white flag above their fortifications. When the rebels called for conditions of surrender, Grant replied that no conditions “except unconditional and immediate surrender” would be acceptable. This has earned it the nickname “unconditional surrender”.
The victory, along with the capture of nearby Fort Henry, opened the state of Tennessee to Union invasion and helped make Grant a national hero.
EXPLORE: Ulysses S. Grant: An Interactive Map of His Major Civil War Battles
Antietam
President Abraham Lincoln with General George B. McClellan at his headquarters in Antietam, October 3, 1862.
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September 17, 1862: General Robert E. Lee and his army from Northern Virginia invaded Maryland in an attempt to overthrow the Union. President Abraham Lincoln sent Major General George McClellan and his Army from the Potomac to arrest him.
The two forces first collided at dawn in a cornfield in Sharpsburg, Maryland, where their movements were obscured by tall stalks of corn as they fired at each other. The battle eventually shifted to a stone bridge along Antietam Creek, where Union troops had to storm a Confederate position three times before eventually capturing it. An estimated 22,717 men on both sides were killed, wounded, captured or missing.
Although the battle ended in a stalemate, the Union had prevented Lee’s invasion. This gave Lincoln enough confidence to issue the Emancipation Proclamation, which redefined Civil War from a struggle to preserve the Union to a struggle focused on ending slavery. Meanwhile, Alexander Gardner’s photographs of bodies strewn across the battlefield, on display in Matthew Brady’s Gallery in New York City, brought northerners the brutal cost of the war.
READ MORE: How photographer Mathew Brady highlighted the horrific realities of Civil War
Chancellorsville
The Battle of Chancellorsville, Virginia, 1863.
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1-6 May 1863: Lee achieved one of his greatest triumphs in Chancellorsville, Va., Where he divided his forces and sent Lt. Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson to fight his way through rugged forest to overwhelm them. units led by Union General Joseph Hooker. After several days of fighting, Union troops were forced to retreat. In the end, Hooker had suffered more than 17,000 casualties compared to nearly 13,000 for Lee.
It was a decisive victory for Lee and the South – but it came at a cost. Among Lee’s casualties was Jackson, one of the most capable Confederate officers. Jackson was injured by friendly fire and died four days after the battle.
READ MORE: 7 things you might not know about the Battle of Chancellorsville
Vicksburg
Rendezvous at the siege of Vicksburg, July 4, 1863.
Historica Graphica Collection / Heritage Images / Getty Images
May 18-July 4, 1863: Confederate President Jefferson Davis saw Vicksburg, Mississippi, a fortress port and railroad hub along the Mississippi River, as “the nailhead that holds the two southern halves together.” It was therefore imperative for the Union to take what was called the Gibraltar of Confederation.
In mid-May, Grant sent his forces to attack the city several times, but they were unable to penetrate Confederate defenses. This forced him to settle into a long siege, in which he bombarded Vicksburg with artillery and fire from Union gunboats, and forced Confederate defenders and the civilian population to endure hunger and disease. Many were hiding in man-made caves dug under the city.
In June, Grant attempted a final assault, deploying miners to tunnel under Confederate fortifications and plant explosives that left a crater 12 feet deep. But the Union forces could not get out and had to retreat. In July, Confederate Lieutenant-General John C. Pemberton and his 29,000 men could no longer hold out and had to surrender to Grant.
The victory gave the Union control of the critical supply line to the entire Mississippi River. And Confederation was divided.
READ MORE: How Abraham Lincoln Used the Telegraph to Help Win the Civil War
Gettysburg
Combat at the Battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, July 3, 1863.
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July 1-3, 1863: Lee invaded the Union again in the summer of 1863 in hopes of being able to beat the Union on his own soil, threaten Washington, DC, and force Lincoln to agree to a peace treaty.
With Virginia devastated by war, he also desperately needed supplies for his soldiers. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia was pursued by Union forces led by Major General George Meade, who caught up with them in Pennsylvania and confronted the Confederates at Gettysburg, in what was one of the most fateful battles in history.
Initially, the Confederates drove the Union troops from the fields to the west and north of the city, but on the second day they failed to break the Union line. On July 3, Lee attacked the Union Force Center at Cemetery Ridge, south of Gettysburg. After two hours of bombardment, Confederate General George Pickett led two brigades in an assault on the Union position. Pickett’s charge, as it is called, turned into a disaster, with the Confederates taking 60% casualties. Lee was forced to retreat and abandon his invasion.
The battle was a crushing defeat for the Confederacy and the losses were devastating on both sides. Union losses amounted to 23,000, while the Confederates lost some 28,000 men. The hopes of the South for foreign recognition of the Confederation have been dashed. Demoralized, Lee offered his resignation to President Jefferson Davis, but was refused.
The Battle of Gettysburg took on even greater significance in November 1863, when President Lincoln visited the site and delivered the Gettysburg speech. In the famous short but powerful speech, Lincoln honored the sacrifice of the soldiers who died there and redefined war as a struggle for the nation.
READ MORE: How the Battle of Gettysburg turned the tide of the Civil War
Atlanta
The fall of General James Birdseye McPherson at the Battle of Atlanta, July 22, 1864.
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July 22, 1864: Towards the end of the war, a trio of Union armies, led by General William T. Sherman, converged on Atlanta, where they were encountered outside the city by a Confederate counterattack desperate who failed.
The Battle of Atlanta was the bloodiest part of Sherman’s march through Georgia, claiming 3,700 Union casualties, while the Confederates lost 5,500 men. Sherman’s forces continued their advance and eventually surrounded the city, besieging it throughout August.
Finally, on September 1, Confederate Lieutenant-General John Bell Hood, a veteran of Antietam and Gettysburg who had lost his leg at the Battle of Chickamauga, abandoned and abandoned the town, allowing Sherman’s forces to enter.
The capture of Atlanta crippled the Confederate war effort. For Lincoln, who faced a tough election in 1864 against one of his former generals, George B. McClellan, the victory gave a boost to the ballot box, helping him win and continue the war until at its conclusion.
WATCH: America: The Story of Us: Civil War on HISTORY Vault
