What was the first battle of the civil war?

The Battle of Fort Sumter was the first major battle of the US Civil War, taking place on April 12th, 1861 in South Carolina.

What was the major battle of the Civil War?

The most ferocious battle of the US Civil War was the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863, in which over fifty thousand casualties were incurred over the span of just three days.

What was the last battle of the Civil War?

The last battle of the Civil War was the Battle of Appomattox Courthouse on April 9th, 1865, in which Confederate General Lee surrendered to Union General Grant.

What battle was the turning point of the Civil War?

There were many turning points during the US Civil War, but the Battle of Gettysburg was the definitive turning point of the war. The Confederacy proved incapable of invading the Union and incurred too heavy casualties to conceivably win the war.

How many battles were in the Civil War?

Around 230 named battles took place during the US Civil War, with hundreds (if not thousands) of smaller engagements taking place.

What was the last battle of the Civil War, ending in General Robert E. Lee's surrender?

Battle of Appomatix Court House

What was the result of the Battle of Shiloh?

Union victory: General Grant's army was able to march into northern Mississippi

What contributed to the Union army's defeat at Fredericksburg?

Logistical delays stalled the Union's river crossing into entrenched Confederate forces

Civil War Battles: Timeline & Major Battles

Civil War Battles

It's 1862, and the war wracking your country has persisted longer than anyone expected. You get the letter; you've been conscripted into mandatory military service in upcoming Civil War battles. Your parents aren't happy, nor are you, but your wealthy neighbor dodges the draft by paying the government an expensive fee. Soon, you'll be marching side by side with tens of thousands of men, skirting from the battlefields of Antietam to Fredericksburg to Appomattox Courthouse. You'll make friends who shrug off bullet wounds but die of infection weeks later, and you'll hear the beat of war drums as you face the enemy formation charging at your position. Civil War battles were costly and characterized by ambitious (often incompetent) generals, artillery barrages, infantry charges, and valor.

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Civil War Battles Timeline

American Civil War Battles persisted from April 1861 to May 1865, over four years of tense conflict between the United States Union and the Confederate States of America. During the early years of the war, the Confederacy and Union were closely matched in general warfare strategy, each side winning its fair share of battles. Still, the tide largely shifted in favor of the Union in 1863 after the Battle of Gettysburg. The timeline below provides a brief progression of important events and significant US Civil War Battles:

March 4th, 1861: Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated as the 16th President of the United States of America, a president whose parties opposed the spread of slavery into new states.
April 12th, 1861: Fort Sumter is fired upon by Confederate cannons, marking the official beginning of Civil War hostilities.
July 21st, 1861: The First Battle of Bull Run near Manassas, Virginia.
April 16th, 1862: The Confederacy issues full conscription of men aged 18 to 35.
May 31st to June 1st, 1862: After the Battle of Seven Pines, Robert E. Lee assumes command of the powerful "Army of Northern Virginia".
September 17th, 1862: Battle of Antietam near Sharpsburg, Maryland.
January 1st, 1863: The Union issues the Emancipation Proclamation.
March 3rd, 1863: The Union declares full conscription of all men aged 20 to 45.
July 1st to July 3rd, 1863: The Battle of Gettysburg rages in Pennsylvania.
March 3rd, 1864: Ulysses S. Grant assumes command of all Union armies.
April 9th, 1865: The Battle at Appomattox Courthouse and General Lee's later surrender, effectively ending the US Civil War.

Civil War Battles Map

The map below depicts the northern United States Union and southern Confederacy territorial divisions. Most US Civil War Battles occurred on the frontlines of these territorial divisions, in states such as Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee, with Virginia hosting the most battles of the entire Civil War. Not to be forgotten, many battles were fought along and west of the Mississippi River in states such as New Mexico, Texas, Arkansas, and Missouri.

Civil War Battles Map Study Smarter Fig. 1- The territorial divisions of the Union (blue) and Confederacy (red) during the US Civil War.

The following map depicts battles in the more western theatre of the US Civil War. While the most significant and excellent Civil War Battles took place further east, the map highlights the importance of the Mississippi River to Confederate strategy, which will be discussed later.

Civil War Battles Mississippi River Map Study Smarter Fig. 2- Map of US Civil War Battles fought along and west of the Mississippi River.

First Battle of the Civil War

After the War of 1812, the United States set out to fortify its shores with a network of sea-side fortifications just fifty years before. Constructed off the coast of Charleston, South Carolina, on a man-made island, Fort Sumter was to act as the first line of defense against foreign invasion. Little did the United States government know that Fort Sumter would not be assaulted by a foreign nation but by its people.

Civil War Battles Fort Sumter Study Smarter Fig. 3- Artillery bombardment of Fort Sumter in April 1861.

Following the inauguration of President Abraham Lincoln to office in March 1861, the burgeoning Confederacy felt mounting pressure against their secession. Seven states had already seceded by February of 1861, their futures unsure. Threatened by the dominating presence of a nearby Union garrison, Confederate guns opened fire on Union-controlled Fort Sumter in South Carolina on April 12, 1861.

America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.²

-President Abraham Lincoln

The first bullets of the war were shot; eventually, the Union garrison retreated from Fort Sumter, allowing the Confederacy to claim it for their own. Three days later, on April 15th, 1861, President Abraham Lincoln announced a call for 75,000 volunteer troops³ to combat the hostile Confederacy and reform the Union. Virginia seceded two days later, followed by Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee. The nation was officially divided, and the war was on the horizon.

Major Battles of the Civil War

Not even the soldiers at the Battle of Fort Sumter could have imagined what future Civil War Battles would look like. In the following years, Civil War Battles raged from South Carolina to New Mexico, along the Mississippi River and between the slight stretch of land that separated the two capitals of Washington, D.C., and Richmond, Virginia. Hundreds of thousands of Americans would die between 1861 and 1865 in the deadliest war in US history.

The chart below displays just eight major Civil War Battles of hundreds of hostile engagements that took place during the American Civil War.

Battle Name:	Date and Location:	Outcome:	Casualties:	Significance:
First Battle of Manassas	July 21st, 1861, near Manassas, Virginia.	Confederate Victory	4,500	After tense fighting, it became apparent to both sides that the war would not end anytime soon.
Battle of Shiloh	April 6th to 7th, 1862, near Pittsburgh Landing, Tennessee.	Union Victory	23,746	By overwhelming the southern army with superior numbers (and incurring many casualties), Ulysses S. Grant opened access to the west for the Union.
Seven Days Battles	June 25th to July 1st, 1862, near Richmond, Virginia.	Confederate Victory	34,000	During the bloodiest week of fighting in the Civil War, General Lee defended Richmond from a northern invasion.
Battle of Antietam	September 17th, 1862, near Sharpsburg, Maryland.	Union Victory	22,717	The first major Confederate offensive into Union territory. Heavy losses for both sides in the single bloodiest day of fighting during the Civil War.
Battle of Fredericksburg	December 11th to 15th, 1862, near Fredericksburg, Virginia.	Confederate Victory	18,000	A slow mobilization by Union troops in attacking Fredericksburg allowed for a Confederate response.
Battle of Chancellorsville	April 30th to May 6th, 1863, Near Chancellorsville, Virginia.	Confederate Victory	24,000	General Lee's forces won a massive victory against a much larger Union army, yet Confederate officer Stonewall Jackson died due to the fighting.
Battle of Vicksburg	May to July 4th, 1863, near Vicksburg, Mississippi.	Union Victory	19,233	A successful push by Ulysses S. Grant to secure the Mississippi River at Vicksburg as part of the Anaconda Plan.
Battle of Gettysburg	July 1st to July 3rd, 1863, near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania	Union Victory	51,000	In the bloodiest Civil War Battles, the Army of Northern Virginia faced defeat at the hands of the Union Army of the Potomac in the war's second and last major Confederate offensive.

The Strategies of the Civil War

As an undercurrent to all Civil War Battles, the general strategy for the Union and Confederacy explains why many battles happened, how they happened, and where they happened. Often, the most brilliant strategic maneuvers were a counter to the opponent's strategy.

Speaking of brilliance, historians widely accept that Confederate officers at the onset of the war were far more capable than Union officers. This would later change as northern soldiers gained experience and better officers were appointed to positions of power. Still, it was not uncommon for the Union to squander an advantageous position after a victory or for the Confederacy to win a battle against unfavorable odds.

The Union's strategic goals were to destabilize the southern economy, overpower the south through attrition, and pressure southern states into submission. Conversely, the south wanted to stabilize its economy by controlling the Mississippi River and cotton exportation, legitimize its status as an independent nation to foreign powers, and inevitably press into the north to end the war on their terms.

Attrition:

The strategy of reducing the strength of an opposing force through sustained, casualty-inducing attacks.

Sherman's March to Sea:

Union General William Tecumseh Sherman had no intentions of prolonging the war against the South. In November 1864, Major General Sherman set off from Atlanta for the port city of Savannah in Atlanta, Georgia. Dispensing with traditional infantry marches, Sherman devised a controversial strategy that concerned both General Ulysses and President Lincoln: the strategy of "scorched earth."

Sherman led over 60,000 Union soldiers of the Military Division of the Mississippi through hostile land, destroying farms, ransacking towns, and wrecking Confederate infrastructures such as bridges and railroads. Intensifying the Union war strategy, Sherman sought to debilitate the South's ability to wage war, both physically and psychologically.⁴

A month after he departed Atlanta, the city of Savannah fell to Sherman's pressure. To this day, the legacy of Sherman as a punishing crusader remains among many Americans. Some historians even argue that Sherman was a predecessor to modern warfare, like the "total war" witnessed in World War I, World War II, and the Vietnam War. Others argue against this notion, citing Sherman's controlled discrimination in destruction and excellent surrender conditions.

What do you think? Was Major General Sherman's "March to the Sea" a necessary strategy for ending the US Civil War?

Last Battle of the Civil War

After four years of tense conflict and brutal Civil War Battles, the Confederate capital of Richmond fell to besieging Union forces. General Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia fled west, attempting to rendezvous with other Confederate forces. Still, he was soon intercepted by a Union army commanded by Ulysses S. Grant. In Appomattox, Virginia, Lee made his last push through Union lines but soon realized the futility of his efforts. General Lee surrendered his army on April 9th, 1865.

Civil War Battles Appomattox Courthouse Study Smarter Fig. 4- General Lee's surrender to Ulysses S. Grant at the Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia.

The Real Last Battle of the War:

General Lee's surrender at Appomattox secured Union victory during the US Civil War, but fighting persisted into May 1865. Unlike the slow-communication-induced Battle of New Orleans after the War of 1812 ended, Union and Confederate soldiers in the Battle of Palmetto Ranch were aware of the war's impending end. News spread quickly: Richmond was captured, the Confederacy's significant generals surrendered, and President Lincoln was assassinated.

Taking place deep in southern Texas, the Battle of Palmetto Ranch erupted when newly assigned Union Colonel Theodore Barrett obtained command of the 62nd U.S. Colored Infantry in the region. Hungry for glory, Colonel Barrett broke the unofficial truce with the Confederate forces under Colonel John Salmon "Old Rip" Ford.

Fighting broke out on May 12th and 13th on Palmetto Ranch near Brownsville, Texas. Casualties are disputed, but the Confederate troops successfully repelled the Union attack, marking their victory. Colonel Barrett blamed the unnecessary battle (and defeat) on another man named Colonel Morrison. At the same time, Colonel Ford further added to his legacy by achieving Confederate victory during the last battle of the US Civil War.

Still, some historians point to further small engagements as the "last battles" of the Civil War. In any case, the US Civil War whimpered to an end following General Lee's surrender, its final battles a far cry from the large-scale engagements of the early war, such as the First Battle of Manassas.

The Battle of Appomattox Courthouse was not the last engagement of the war, but it was the last significant effort by Confederate forces to recoup from the loss of Richmond. With General Lee and his army as the figurehead of the Confederate resistance, his surrender marked a definitive end to the war and the Confederate States of America.

Civil War Battles - Key takeaways

US Civil War Battles raged from April 1861 to May 1865 across the territorial boundaries of the northern Union and southern Confederacy.
The Confederacy sought to legitimize its independence, secure its economy, and defeat the Union on its terms through Civil War Battles. At the same time, the Union fought to delegitimize the south and damage its economy.
US Civil War Battles incurred high casualties; hundreds of thousands of American soldiers died in the conflict.
The last Civil War Battles occurred at Appomattox Courthouse in 1865. General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant after a last-ditch effort to break through Union lines.

References

Figure 1, Territorial divisions of the Union and Confederacy during the US Civil War, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:US_map_1864_Civil_War_divisions.svg, by Júlio Reis, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Tintazul, Licensed by CC-BY-SA-3.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/.
https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/229.Abraham_Lincoln
https://www.wvpublic.org/radio/2020-04-15/april-15-1861-president-lincoln-calls-for-volunteer-troops
https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/shermans-march-sea

Civil War Battles

StudySmarter Editorial Team

Civil War Battles Timeline