FORT SUMTER The Election of Lincoln as president in 1860 was a turning point in relations between the North and the South. The South felt they no longer had a voice in national events or policies; they were now the minority. And as the minority, the South feared that Congress would take this opportunity to abolish slavery. Secession was in the air. Before Lincoln took the oath of office in March 1861, Southern slave states began to take steps to leave the Union. On December 20, 1860, South Carolina became the first state to break away from the U.S. Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas soon followed. Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas later joined these states in April of 1861. Certain slave states in the border region between the opposing sides actually chose not to join the other slave states in secession. These Border States, Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri chose to stay with the Union. In addition, the state of Virginia was split between secessionists in the eastern part of the state and unionists in the western regions. As a result, western unionists broke away from the rest of the state, stayed with the Union, and later, West Virginia was admitted as the 35 th state to the Union in 1863. While many hoped that civil war could be avoided, the firing on the federal fort in South Carolina on April 12, 1861, Fort Sumter, in Charleston Harbor showed that the efforts at compromise were a failure. While no one was injured during this skirmish, Union forces were forced to surrender the fort to the Confederacy. The Civil War had begun. Label Fort Sumter on your map
BATTLE OF BULL RUN Many Northerners felt that the rebellion could be crushed with the capture of the Confederate capital of Richmond. Union troops gathered in Washington, D.C. and prepared to march to Richmond. But the troops would not make it that far. At a Virginia creek known as Bull Run, Union forces clashed with Southern forces on July 21, 1861. A group of politicians and society folks watched as the rebel lines held firm against the Union attack. Eventually, the inexperienced Union soldiers would flee the battlefield in a panic. Bull Run was an overwhelming victory for the South. For the North, it was a shocking blow. Any conceptions that this rebellion would end quickly were completely wiped out. This was going to be a long and bloody war. Label Washington, D.C. & Richmond, VA on your map Label the Battle of Bull Run on your map
SHILOH The Union war plan called on the North gaining control of the Mississippi River. General Ulysses S. Grant turned his attention to achieving this goal. After quick victories at Fort Henry and Fort Donelson in Tennessee, Grant moved on to Shiloh, a small village where the Tennessee River flows into the Mississippi. At Shiloh on April 6, 1862, Grant was able to defeat the Confederate forces and gain control of the northern Mississippi River. But the price of victory was steep. For the Confederacy, the death of General Albert S. Johnston of Texas was a great loss for it gave Grant an open door to the Mississippi. After Shiloh, Grant receives recognition for his skills on the battlefield. Label the Battle of Shiloh on your map
ANTIETAM As the war waged on, the human toll became more pronounced. In September 1862, General Lee went on the offensive against Union forces by marching his troops into Maryland. Lee believed a Confederate victory in the North would crush the enemy s morale. But luck was not on Lee s side. His battle plans were lost and then retrieved by the enemy. On September 17, Union forces led by George McClellan pounded the severely outnumbered Confederate forces led by Robert E. Lee. Under cover of darkness, Lee and his troops slipped back across the Virginia border on September 18. Antietam was the single bloodiest day of battle in American history with 24,000 casualties. While both sides suffered severe losses, the North claimed the battle as a victory since the enemy had retreated. Antietam was politically important as well. President Lincoln needed a Union victory so he could issue the Emancipation Proclamation. The timing of the document s release was crucial for Lincoln did not want the announcement to be viewed as a last ditch effort to save a losing Union. The Union victory at Antietam gave him the perfect opportunity. With the announcement, Great Britain and France shied away from the Confederacy. Label the Battle of Antietam on your map
GETTYSBURG In spite of several defeats, the South was not ready to throw in the towel. Lee was willing to risk another invasion of the North in hopes of capturing a city and convincing the enemy to seek peace. Union and Confederate troops met up at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on July 1, 1863. After three days of fighting, both sides faced great losses. But Robert E. Lee lost a third of his army and was forced to withdraw back to Virginia on July 4. This would mark the last time the Confederacy would ever invade the North. For the remaining months of the war, the South was only able to fight defensively. The war had reached its turning point. Several months later, Lincoln attended a ceremony dedicating the cemetery at the battle site. While Lincoln was not the main speaker, he used the occasion to give his noteworthy speech, the Gettysburg Address. In this speech, he honored the dead and reaffirmed the American ideals established in the Constitution. Label the Battle of Gettysburg on your map
VICKSBURG While the Battle of Gettysburg was being fought in Pennsylvania, Union forces under General Grant were moving on the town of Vicksburg, Mississippi, as they tried to gain complete control of the Mississippi River. For six weeks, the Confederacy was able to hold off the Union siege (a prolonged attack on a fortified place by an army in order to capture it) that bombarded them on land and on the river by building trenches in the bluffs overlooking the river. Once food and supplies were gone, the Confederate forces surrendered on July 4, 1863. Label the Siege at Vicksburg on your map
SHERMAN S MARCH Grant believed in total warfare (war on the enemy s will to fight and its ability to support an army). Therefore, he sent orders to his generals to inflict all the damage they could on the enemy s war resources. General William Tecumseh Sherman reached Atlanta (the South s most important rail and manufacturing center) in September 1864, and promptly set the city ablaze. After burning Atlanta, Sherman continued on his march to the sea through Georgia and into the Carolinas destroying everything in sight. By the end of October, a steady path of destruction through the three states was complete. APPOMATTOX COURTHOUSE All focus then turned to Richmond. After nine months of battering Lee s forces, Grant s army was able to break through Confederate lines to capture the city. On April 9, 1865, General Lee surrendered to General Grant at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia. Label Sherman s March on your map Label Appomattox Courthouse on your map