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American Civil War | History, Summary, Dates, Causes, Map, Timeline, Battles, Significance, & Facts | Britannica

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American Civil War

Table of Contents

American Civil War

Table of Contents

Introduction & Top QuestionsPrelude to warThe military background of the warComparison of North and SouthThe high commandsStrategic plansThe land warThe war in 1861The war in 1862The war in the EastThe Peninsular CampaignSecond Battle of Bull Run (Manassas) and AntietamFredericksburgThe Emancipation ProclamationAfrican American troopsThe war in the westTrans-Mississippi theatre and MissouriOperations in Kentucky and TennesseeThe war in 1863The CopperheadsThe Southern home frontPhotographyThe war in the eastChancellorsvilleGettysburgConscription and the New York City draft riotThe war in the westArkansas and VicksburgChickamauga and ChattanoogaThe war in 1864–65Grant’s Overland CampaignSherman’s Georgia campaigns and total warWestern campaignsSherman’s Carolina campaignsThe final land operationsThe naval warThe cost and significance of the Civil War

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What caused the American Civil War? The American Civil War was the culmination of the struggle between the advocates and opponents of slavery that dated from the founding of the United States. This sectional conflict between Northern states and slaveholding Southern states had been tempered by a series of political compromises, but by the late 1850s the issue of the extension of slavery to the western states had reached a boiling point. The election of Abraham Lincoln, a member of the antislavery Republican Party, as president in 1860 precipitated the secession of 11 Southern states, leading to a civil war. Who won the American Civil War? The Union won the American Civil War. The war effectively ended in April 1865 when Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered his troops to Union General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House in Virginia. The final surrender of Confederate troops on the western periphery came in Galveston, Texas, on June 2. How many people died during the Civil War? It is estimated that from 752,000 to 851,000 soldiers died during the American Civil War. This figure represents approximately 2 percent of the American population in 1860. The Battle of Gettysburg, one of the bloodiest engagements during the Civil War, resulted in about 7,000 deaths and 51,000 total casualties. Who were the most important figures in the American Civil War? Important people during the American Civil War included Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, whose election prompted the secession of Southern states; Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy; Ulysses S. Grant, the most successful and prominent general of the Union; and Robert E. Lee, Grant’s counterpart in the Confederacy. Why are Confederate symbols controversial? The modern usage of Confederate symbols, especially the Confederate Battle Flag and statues of Confederate leaders, is considered controversial because many associate such symbols with racism, slavery, and white supremacy. The flag was revived as a popular symbol in the 1940s and ’50s by the Dixiecrat Democratic splinter group and others who opposed the American civil rights movement. American Civil War, four-year war (1861–65) between the United States and 11 Southern states that seceded from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America. Prelude to war How a tax increase helped spark the American Civil WarIn 1828 the U.S. Congress passed a tariff that increased the rates on imports into the United States to as much as 50 percent. (more)See all videos for this articleThe secession of the Southern states (in chronological order, South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina) in 1860–61 and the ensuing outbreak of armed hostilities were the culmination of decades of growing sectional friction over slavery. Between 1815 and 1861 the economy of the Northern states was rapidly modernizing and diversifying. Although agriculture—mostly smaller farms that relied on free labour—remained the dominant sector in the North, industrialization had taken root there. Moreover, Northerners had invested heavily in an expansive and varied transportation system that included canals, roads, steamboats, and railroads; in financial industries such as banking and insurance; and in a large communications network that featured inexpensive, widely available newspapers, magazines, and books, along with the telegraph. How the Whitney Plantation teaches the history of slaveryMuseum director Ashley Rogers explains how the Whitney Plantation became the only former plantation site in Louisiana with an exclusive focus on slavery.(more)See all videos for this articleInspection and Sale of a NegroInspection and Sale of a Negro, engraving from the book Antislavery (1961) by Dwight Lowell Dumond. (more)By contrast, the Southern economy was based principally on large farms (plantations) that produced commercial crops such as cotton and that relied on slaves as the main labour force. Rather than invest in factories or railroads as Northerners had done, Southerners invested their money in slaves—even more than in land; by 1860, 84 percent of the capital invested in manufacturing was invested in the free (nonslaveholding) states. Yet, to Southerners, as late as 1860, this appeared to be a sound business decision. The price of cotton, the South’s defining crop, had skyrocketed in the 1850s, and the value of slaves—who were, after all, property—rose commensurately. By 1860 the per capita wealth of Southern whites was twice that of Northerners, and three-fifths of the wealthiest individuals in the country were Southerners. 1860 presidential campaign“The Undecided Political Prize Fight,” a lithograph depicting the presidential campaign of 1860 and featuring Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas. (more)The extension of slavery into new territories and states had been an issue as far back as the Northwest Ordinance of 1784. When the slave territory of Missouri sought statehood in 1818, Congress debated for two years before arriving upon the Missouri Compromise of 1820. This was the first of a series of political deals that resulted from arguments between pro-slavery and antislavery forces over the expansion of the “peculiar institution,” as it was known, into the West. The end of the Mexican-American War in 1848 and the roughly 500,000 square miles (1.3 million square km) of new territory that the United States gained as a result of it added a new sense of urgency to the dispute. More and more Northerners, driven by a sense of morality or an interest in protecting free labour, came to believe, in the 1850s, that bondage needed to be eradicated. White Southerners feared that limiting the expansion of slavery would consign the institution to certain death. Over the course of the decade, the two sides became increasingly polarized and politicians less able to contain the dispute through compromise. When Abraham Lincoln, the candidate of the explicitly antislavery Republican Party, won the 1860 presidential election, seven Southern states (South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas) carried out their threat and seceded, organizing as the Confederate States of America.

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Fort SumterConfederate forces bombarding Fort Sumter, Charleston, South Carolina, on April 12, 1861, in a lithograph by Currier & Ives.(more)In the early morning hours of April 12, 1861, rebels opened fire on Fort Sumter, at the entrance to the harbour of Charleston, South Carolina. Curiously, this first encounter of what would be the bloodiest war in the history of the United States claimed no victims. After a 34-hour bombardment, Maj. Robert Anderson surrendered his command of about 85 soldiers to some 5,500 besieging Confederate troops under P.G.T. Beauregard. Within weeks, four more Southern states (Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina) left the Union to join the Confederacy.

American Civil War: Union army volunteerUnion army volunteer, photograph by Mathew Brady, 1861.(more)With war upon the land, President Lincoln called for 75,000 militiamen to serve for three months. He proclaimed a naval blockade of the Confederate states, although he insisted that they did not legally constitute a sovereign country but were instead states in rebellion. He also directed the secretary of the treasury to advance $2 million to assist in the raising of troops, and he suspended the writ of habeas corpus, first along the East Coast and ultimately throughout the country. The Confederate government had previously authorized a call for 100,000 soldiers for at least six months’ service, and this figure was soon increased to 400,000.

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Jennifer L. Weber

civil war（内战）一词为什么是内战？其来源是否为英国内战？ - 知乎

civil war（内战）一词为什么是内战？其来源是否为英国内战？ - 知乎首页知乎知学堂发现等你来答切换模式登录/注册英语翻译英国英语翻译外语civil war（内战）一词为什么是内战？其来源是否为英国内战？civil war的字面意思难道不应该是文明之战吗？仅从字面翻译似乎并不能看出内战的意思。是否类似于中国的成语？显示全部关注者7被浏览6,520关注问题写回答邀请回答好问题添加评论分享2 个回答默认排序匿名用户civil这个词最早记录是1387年， @何鑫答主没仔细看，词源词典里说的是与罗马有关的，而非是罗马内战。英语词汇的意思是随着文化的发展而发展的，civil最初的意思是townsman，意思是“属于城市公民的，与公民有关的”，最开始指城市公民有教养，礼貌温和，后来与军事有关的概念也用了这个词，比如civil war，指的就是城市公民的战争，查理一世与议会权利斗争导致英国内战用了这个词，内战的翻译就是这么来的，后来随着人们对公民概念的理解的深入，各种文职，文官等也用了这个词，比如civil service，civil servant等。看一个词多去了解了解它的背景，这样就不会有太多疑惑了。ref：Li, X. (2015). Words and Culture. Beijing: Central Compilation & Translation Press.编辑于 2017-11-10 17:57赞同 81 条评论分享收藏喜欢收起知乎用户civis/civitas，拉丁语词汇，公民。罗马共和国从来都没有停下对外征战，但是，当马略和苏拉之间发生战争的时候，没有一个是外国势力，双方都是公民。bellum civile专门用来指公民之间的战争 —— 既不是本国和外国的战争、也不是本国公民和奴隶之间的战争。汉语很晚才有公民这个概念，古代中国没有奴隶群体。一切本国内的战争都叫作「内战」了。发布于 2024-01-27 05:26赞同添加评论分享收藏喜欢收起

Civil War - Causes, Dates & Battles | HISTORY

l War - Causes, Dates & Battles | HISTORYShowsThis Day In HistoryScheduleTopicsStoriesHistory ClassicsLive TVYour ProfileYour ProfileHistoryFind History on Facebook (Opens in a new window)Find History on Twitter (Opens in a new window)Find History on YouTube (Opens in a new window)Find History on Instagram (Opens in a new window)Find History on TikTok (Opens in a new window)Email UpdatesLive TVHistory ClassicsShowsThis Day In HistoryScheduleTopicsStoriesVideosHistory PodcastsHistory VaultShopHomeTopicsCivil WarCivil WarCivil WarBy: History.com EditorsUpdated: April 20, 2023 | Original: October 15, 2009copy page linkPrint PageMPI/Getty ImagesTable of ContentsCauses of the Civil WarOutbreak of the Civil War (1861) The Civil War in Virginia (1862) After the Emancipation Proclamation (1863-4) Toward a Union Victory (1864-65) The Civil War in the United States began in 1861, after decades of simmering tensions between northern and southern states over slavery, states’ rights and westward expansion. The election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 caused seven southern states to secede and form the Confederate States of America; four more states soon joined them. The War Between the States, as the Civil War was also known, ended in Confederate surrender in 1865. The conflict was the costliest and deadliest war ever fought on American soil, with some 620,000 of 2.4 million soldiers killed, millions more injured and much of the South left in ruin.Causes of the Civil WarIn the mid-19th century, while the United States was experiencing an era of tremendous growth, a fundamental economic difference existed between the country’s northern and southern regions. In the North, manufacturing and industry was well established, and agriculture was mostly limited to small-scale farms, while the South’s economy was based on a system of large-scale farming that depended on the labor of Black enslaved people to grow certain crops, especially cotton and tobacco. American Civil War HistoryGrowing abolitionist sentiment in the North after the 1830s and northern opposition to slavery’s extension into the new western territories led many southerners to fear that the existence of slavery in America—and thus the backbone of their economy—was in danger.Did you know? Confederate General Thomas Jonathan Jackson earned his famous nickname, "Stonewall," from his steadfast defensive efforts in the First Battle of Bull Run (First Manassas). At Chancellorsville, Jackson was shot by one of his own men, who mistook him for Union cavalry. His arm was amputated, and he died from pneumonia eight days later.In 1854, the U.S. Congress passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which essentially opened all new territories to slavery by asserting the rule of popular sovereignty over congressional edict. Pro- and anti-slavery forces struggled violently in “Bleeding Kansas,” while opposition to the act in the North led to the formation of the Republican Party, a new political entity based on the principle of opposing slavery’s extension into the western territories. After the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Dred Scott case (1857) confirmed the legality of slavery in the territories, the abolitionist John Brown’s raid at Harper’s Ferry in 1859 convinced more and more southerners that their northern neighbors were bent on the destruction of the “peculiar institution” that sustained them. Abraham Lincoln’s election in November 1860 was the final straw, and within three months seven southern states—South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas—had seceded from the United States.Outbreak of the Civil War (1861) Even as Lincoln took office in March 1861, Confederate forces threatened the federal-held Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina. On April 12, after Lincoln ordered a fleet to resupply Sumter, Confederate artillery fired the first shots of the Civil War. Sumter’s commander, Major Robert Anderson, surrendered after less than two days of bombardment, leaving the fort in the hands of Confederate forces under Pierre G.T. Beauregard. Four more southern states—Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina and Tennessee—joined the Confederacy after Fort Sumter. Border slave states like Missouri, Kentucky and Maryland did not secede, but there was much Confederate sympathy among their citizens.Though on the surface the Civil War may have seemed a lopsided conflict, with the 23 states of the Union enjoying an enormous advantage in population, manufacturing (including arms production) and railroad construction, the Confederates had a strong military tradition, along with some of the best soldiers and commanders in the nation. They also had a cause they believed in: preserving their long-held traditions and institutions, chief among these being slavery.In the First Battle of Bull Run (known in the South as First Manassas) on July 21, 1861, 35,000 Confederate soldiers under the command of Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” Jackson forced a greater number of Union forces (or Federals) to retreat towards Washington, D.C., dashing any hopes of a quick Union victory and leading Lincoln to call for 500,000 more recruits. In fact, both sides’ initial call for troops had to be widened after it became clear that the war would not be a limited or short conflict.The Civil War in Virginia (1862) George B. McClellan—who replaced the aging General Winfield Scott as supreme commander of the Union Army after the first months of the war—was beloved by his troops, but his reluctance to advance frustrated Lincoln. In the spring of 1862, McClellan finally led his Army of the Potomac up the peninsula between the York and James Rivers, capturing Yorktown on May 4. The combined forces of Robert E. Lee and Jackson successfully drove back McClellan’s army in the Seven Days’ Battles (June 25-July 1), and a cautious McClellan called for yet more reinforcements in order to move against Richmond. Lincoln refused, and instead withdrew the Army of the Potomac to Washington. By mid-1862, McClellan had been replaced as Union general-in-chief by Henry W. Halleck, though he remained in command of the Army of the Potomac.Robert E. LeeLee then moved his troops northwards and split his men, sending Jackson to meet Pope’s forces near Manassas, while Lee himself moved separately with the second half of the army. On August 29, Union troops led by John Pope struck Jackson’s forces in the Second Battle of Bull Run (Second Manassas). The next day, Lee hit the Federal left flank with a massive assault, driving Pope’s men back towards Washington. On the heels of his victory at Manassas, Lee began the first Confederate invasion of the North. Despite contradictory orders from Lincoln and Halleck, McClellan was able to reorganize his army and strike at Lee on September 14 in Maryland, driving the Confederates back to a defensive position along Antietam Creek, near Sharpsburg.On September 17, the Army of the Potomac hit Lee’s forces (reinforced by Jackson’s) in what became the war’s bloodiest single day of fighting. Total casualties at the Battle of Antietam (also known as the Battle of Sharpsburg) numbered 12,410 of some 69,000 troops on the Union side, and 13,724 of around 52,000 for the Confederates. The Union victory at Antietam would prove decisive, as it halted the Confederate advance in Maryland and forced Lee to retreat into Virginia. Still, McClellan’s failure to pursue his advantage earned him the scorn of Lincoln and Halleck, who removed him from command in favor of Ambrose E. Burnside. Burnside’s assault on Lee’s troops near Fredericksburg on December 13 ended in heavy Union casualties and a Confederate victory; he was promptly replaced by Joseph “Fighting Joe” Hooker, and both armies settled into winter quarters across the Rappahannock River from each other.After the Emancipation Proclamation (1863-4) Lincoln had used the occasion of the Union victory at Antietam to issue a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, which freed all enslaved people in the rebellious states after January 1, 1863. He justified his decision as a wartime measure, and did not go so far as to free the enslaved people in the border states loyal to the Union. Still, the Emancipation Proclamation deprived the Confederacy of the bulk of its labor forces and put international public opinion strongly on the Union side. Some 186,000 Black Civil War soldiers would join the Union Army by the time the war ended in 1865, and 38,000 lost their lives.In the spring of 1863, Hooker’s plans for a Union offensive were thwarted by a surprise attack by the bulk of Lee’s forces on May 1, whereupon Hooker pulled his men back to Chancellorsville. The Confederates gained a costly victory in the Battle of Chancellorsville, suffering 13,000 casualties (around 22 percent of their troops); the Union lost 17,000 men (15 percent). Lee launched another invasion of the North in June, attacking Union forces commanded by General George Meade on July 1 near Gettysburg, in southern Pennsylvania. Over three days of fierce fighting, the Confederates were unable to push through the Union center, and suffered casualties of close to 60 percent.Harriet Tubman: Soldier/SpyMeade failed to counterattack, however, and Lee’s remaining forces were able to escape into Virginia, ending the last Confederate invasion of the North. Also in July 1863, Union forces under Ulysses S. Grant took Vicksburg (Mississippi) in the Siege of Vicksburg, a victory that would prove to be the turning point of the war in the western theater. After a Confederate victory at Chickamauga Creek, Georgia, just south of Chattanooga, Tennessee, in September, Lincoln expanded Grant’s command, and he led a reinforced Federal army (including two corps from the Army of the Potomac) to victory in the Battle of Chattanooga in late November.Toward a Union Victory (1864-65) In March 1864, Lincoln put Grant in supreme command of the Union armies, replacing Halleck. Leaving William Tecumseh Sherman in control in the West, Grant headed to Washington, where he led the Army of the Potomac towards Lee’s troops in northern Virginia. Despite heavy Union casualties in the Battle of the Wilderness and at Spotsylvania (both May 1864), at Cold Harbor (early June) and the key rail center of Petersburg (June), Grant pursued a strategy of attrition, putting Petersburg under siege for the next nine months.Sherman outmaneuvered Confederate forces to take Atlanta by September, after which he and some 60,000 Union troops began the famous “March to the Sea,” devastating Georgia on the way to capturing Savannah on December 21. Columbia and Charleston, South Carolina, fell to Sherman’s men by mid-February, and Jefferson Davis belatedly handed over the supreme command to Lee, with the Confederate war effort on its last legs. Sherman pressed on through North Carolina, capturing Fayetteville, Bentonville, Goldsboro and Raleigh by mid-April.Meanwhile, exhausted by the Union siege of Petersburg and Richmond, Lee’s forces made a last attempt at resistance, attacking and captured the Federal-controlled Fort Stedman on March 25. An immediate counterattack reversed the victory, however, and on the night of April 2-3 Lee’s forces evacuated Richmond. For most of the next week, Grant and Meade pursued the Confederates along the Appomattox River, finally exhausting their possibilities for escape. Grant accepted Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Court House on April 9. On the eve of victory, the Union lost its great leader: The actor and Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Lincoln at Ford’s Theatre in Washington on April 14. Sherman received Johnston’s surrender at Durham Station, North Carolina on April 26, effectively ending the Civil War.HISTORY Vault: The Secret History of the Civil War The American Civil War is one of the most studied and dissected events in our history—but what you don't know may surprise you.WATCH NOWBy: History.com EditorsHISTORY.com works with a wide range of writers and editors to create accurate and informative content. All articles are regularly reviewed and updated by the HISTORY.com team. Articles with the “HISTORY.com Editors” byline have been written or edited by the HISTORY.com editors, including Amanda Onion, Missy Sullivan, Matt Mullen and Christian Zapata.

Citation InformationArticle TitleCivil WarAuthorHistory.com EditorsWebsite NameHISTORYURLhttps://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/american-civil-war-historyDate AccessedMarch 8, 2024PublisherA&E Television NetworksLast UpdatedApril 20, 2023Original Published DateOctober 15, 2009Fact CheckWe strive for accuracy and fairness. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate.Print PageSign up for Inside HistoryGet HISTORY’s most fascinating stories delivered to your inbox three times a week.Sign UpBy submitting your information, you agree to receive emails from HISTORY and A+E Networks. You can opt out at any time. You must be 16 years or older and a resident of the United States.More details: Privacy Notice | Terms of Use | Contact UsA+E NetworksOur Family of BrandsHistory EducationHistory VaultMobile/AppsNewsShopShare Your OpinionFollow Historydepm+BiographyCrime and InvestigationHistory en EspanolLRWMilitary HistoryAd ChoicesAdvertise With UsAccessibility SupportCopyright PolicyCorporate InformationEmployment OpportunitiesFAQ/Contact UsPrivacy NoticeCookie NoticeTerms Of UseTV Parental GuidelinesContact UsCopyright PolicyPrivacy PolicyTerms of UseAd ChoicesAccessibility Support© 2024, A&E Television Networks, LLC. All Rights Reserv

A Brief Overview of the American Civil War | American Battlefield Trust

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A Brief Overview of the American Civil War

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A Brief Overview of the American Civil War

A Defining Time in Our Nation's History

By James McPherson • November 20, 2008 • Updated November 29, 2023

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The Civil War is the central event in America's historical consciousness. While the Revolution of 1776-1783 created the United States, the Civil War of 1861-1865 determined what kind of nation it would be. The war resolved two fundamental questions left unresolved by the revolution: whether the United States was to be a dissolvable confederation of sovereign states or an indivisible nation with a sovereign national government; and whether this nation, born of a declaration that all men were created with an equal right to liberty, would continue to exist as the largest slaveholding country in the world.Northern victory in the war preserved the United States as one nation and ended the institution of slavery that had divided the country from its beginning. But these achievements came at the cost of 625,000 lives--nearly as many American soldiers as died in all the other wars in which this country has fought combined. The American Civil War was the largest and most destructive conflict in the Western world between the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815 and the onset of World War I in 1914.

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The Civil War started because of uncompromising differences between the free and slave states over the power of the national government to prohibit slavery in the territories that had not yet become states. When Abraham Lincoln won election in 1860 as the first Republican president on a platform pledging to keep slavery out of the territories, seven slave states in the deep South seceded and formed a new nation, the Confederate States of America. The incoming Lincoln administration and most of the Northern people refused to recognize the legitimacy of secession. They feared that it would discredit democracy and create a fatal precedent that would eventually fragment the no-longer United States into several small, squabbling countries.The event that triggered war came at Fort Sumter in Charleston Bay on April 12, 1861. Claiming this United States fort as their own, the Confederate army on that day opened fire on the federal garrison and forced it to lower the American flag in surrender. Lincoln called out the militia to suppress this "insurrection." Four more slave states seceded and joined the Confederacy. By the end of 1861 nearly a million armed men confronted each other along a line stretching 1200 miles from Virginia to Missouri. Several battles had already taken place--near Manassas Junction in Virginia, in the mountains of western Virginia where Union victories paved the way for creation of the new state of West Virginia, at Wilson's Creek in Missouri, at Cape Hatteras in North Carolina, and at Port Royal in South Carolina where the Union navy established a base for a blockade to shut off the Confederacy's access to the outside world.But the real fighting began in 1862. Huge battles like Shiloh in Tennessee, Gaines' Mill, Second Manassas, and Fredericksburg in Virginia, and Antietam in Maryland foreshadowed even bigger campaigns and battles in subsequent years, from Gettysburg in Pennsylvania to Vicksburg on the Mississippi to Chickamauga and Atlanta in Georgia. By 1864 the original Northern goal of a limited war to restore the Union had given way to a new strategy of "total war" to destroy the Old South and its basic institution of slavery and to give the restored Union a "new birth of freedom," as President Lincoln put it in his address at Gettysburg to dedicate a cemetery for Union soldiers killed in the battle there.

Alexander Gardner's famous photo of Confederate dead before the Dunker Church on the Antietam Battlefield in Sharpsburg, Md., 1862.

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For three long years, from 1862 to 1865, Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia staved off invasions and attacks by the Union Army of the Potomac commanded by a series of ineffective generals until Ulysses S. Grant came to Virginia from the Western theater to become general in chief of all Union armies in 1864. After bloody battles at places with names like The Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, and Petersburg, Grant finally brought Lee to bay at Appomattox in April 1865. In the meantime Union armies and river fleets in the theater of war comprising the slave states west of the Appalachian Mountain chain won a long series of victories over Confederate armies commanded by hapless or unlucky Confederate generals. In 1864-1865 General William Tecumseh Sherman led his army deep into the Confederate heartland of Georgia and South Carolina, destroying their economic infrastructure while General George Thomas virtually destroyed the Confederacy's Army of Tennessee at the battle of Nashville.By the spring of 1865 all the principal Confederate armies surrendered, and when Union cavalry captured the fleeing Confederate President Jefferson Davis in Georgia on May 10, 1865, resistance collapsed and the war ended. The long, painful process of rebuilding a united nation free of slavery began.Learn More: This Day in the Civil War

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ican Civil War: Causes, Dates & Battles | HISTORYShowsThis Day In HistoryScheduleTopicsStoriesHistory ClassicsLive TVYour ProfileYour ProfileHistoryFind History on Facebook (Opens in a new window)Find History on Twitter (Opens in a new window)Find History on YouTube (Opens in a new window)Find History on Instagram (Opens in a new window)Find History on TikTok (Opens in a new window)Email UpdatesLive TVHistory ClassicsShowsThis Day In HistoryScheduleTopicsStoriesVideosHistory PodcastsHistory VaultShopHomeTopicsCivil WarCivil WarThe Civil War was America's bloodiest and most divisive conflict, pitting the Union Army against the Confederate States of America. The war resulted in the deaths of more than 620,000 people, with millions more injured and the South left in ruins.

TopicsSee AllFeaturedSpying in the Civil WarConfederate Spies in Washington Located 60 miles south of the Mason-Dixon Line, Washington, D.C. was full of southern sympathizers when the Civil War broke out in 1861. Virginia’s Governor John Letcher, a former congressman, used his knowledge of the city to set up a nascent spy network in the capital in late April 1861, after […]Read moreRead more about Spying in the Civil WarElection of 1860Lincoln’s Political History Abraham Lincoln’s political ambitions began in 1832 when he was just 23 years old and ran for the Illinois House of Representatives. While he lost that election, two years later, he was elected to the state legislature as a member of the Whig party, where he publicly announced his disdain for slavery. […]Read moreShenandoah Valley CampaignsDuring the American Civil War (1861-65), Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley saw a series of military clashes as Union and Confederate forces attempted to gain control of the area. In the spring of 1862, Confederate General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson led his men more than 650 miles on a campaign that threatened Washington, D.C., and diverted Union forces […]Read moreFirst Battle of Bull RunPrelude to the First Battle of Bull Run (Manassas) By July 1861, two months after Confederate troops opened fire on Fort Sumter to begin the Civil War, the northern press and public were eager for the Union Army to make an advance on Richmond ahead of the planned meeting of the Confederate Congress there on […]Read moreStoriesSee AllFeatured7 Major Civil War BattlesThese battles were among the most pivotal in America’s bloodiest conflict.Read moreRead more about 7 Major Civil War BattlesWhy Frederick Douglass Wanted Black Men to Fight in the Civil WarHe believed that, as soldiers, men of color could gain self-respect, self-defense skills and an undeniable justification for the rights of citizenship.Read moreHow the US Civil War Influenced MusicFor soldiers on both sides, music was a vital source of inspiration and comfort.Read moreHow Photos from the Battle of Antietam Revealed the American Civil War’s HorrorsImages of the bloodiest battle in U.S. history shocked the public and revealed the war’s gruesome reality.Read moreVideosSee All2:10 minTV-PGPlayFeaturedThe History of Confederate Monuments in the U.S.Most Confederate monuments were built long after the Civil War ended. What were they built to honor? How many still exist?Watch nowWatch now video about The History of Confederate Monuments in the U.S.2:58 minTV-PGThe Civil War and Its LegacyHistorians and experts look at the role of slavery in the Civil War and its effect on the U.S. from Reconstruction through the present day.Watch now2:05 minTV-PGLincoln’s Gettysburg AddressPresident Abraham Lincoln delivers one of the most moving and infamous speeches in U.S. History in this scene from “Bloodbath.”Watch now2:19 minTV-PGGrant or Lee?Which of the admired Civil War generals would you want to lead your army?Watch nowThis Day in HistorySee All1862The Allegheny Arsenal explodes, killing 78 peopleCivil War1864This Day in History Video: What Happened on September 1Civil WarThis Day in History Video: What Happened on April 12Civil WarThis Day in History Video: What Happened on April 9Civil WarThis Day in History Video: What Happened on July 21Civil WarThis Day in History Video: What Happened on July 3Civil WarA+E NetworksOur Family of BrandsHistory EducationHistory VaultMobile/AppsNewsShopShare Your OpinionFollow Historydepm+BiographyCrime and InvestigationHistory en EspanolLRWMilitary HistoryAd ChoicesAdvertise With UsAccessibility SupportCopyright PolicyCorporate InformationEmployment OpportunitiesFAQ/Contact UsPrivacy NoticeCookie NoticeTerms Of UseTV Parental GuidelinesContact UsCopyright PolicyPrivacy PolicyTerms of UseAd ChoicesAccessibility Support© 2024, A&E Television Networks, LLC. All Rights Reserv

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By 1860, decades of friction over slavery had deeply divided the nation. In the 1840s and ’50s, Northern opposition to the extension of slavery in the western territories increasingly caused the Southern states to fear that existing slaveholdings, which formed the economic base of the South, were also in danger.Abraham LincolnAbraham Lincoln, photograph by Mathew Brady.(more)Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.When Abraham Lincoln, candidate of the explicitly antislavery Republican Party, won the 1860 presidential election, seven Southern states (South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas) seceded from the Union to protect what they saw as their right to keep slaves. The Southern states organized as the Confederate States of America. Jefferson Davis was named president of the Confederacy. The Northern states of the federal Union, under Lincoln, commanded more than twice the population of the Confederacy and held greater advantages in manufacturing and transportation capacity. bombardment of Fort SumterBombardment of Fort Sumter, Charleston, South Carolina, April 12, 1861.(more)© North Wind Picture ArchivesThe war began in Charleston, South Carolina, when Confederate artillery fired on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861. Within weeks, four more Southern states (Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina) left the Union to join the Confederacy.On July 21, 1861, the Confederates routed overconfident Union forces in the First Battle of Bull Run, near Manassas in northern Virginia. The defeat shocked the Union and provided an early indication that the conflict would last a long time. Robert E. LeeLibrary of Congress, Washington, D.C. (LC-DIG-pga-02157)In 1862 General Robert E. Lee took command of the Confederate army, which he renamed the Army of Northern Virginia. Under Lee the Confederates claimed victories in the Seven Days’ Battles (June–July 1862), in the Battle of Fredericksburg (December 1862), and in the Battle of Chancellorsville (April–May 1863).President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. This order declared that slaves in the Confederate states were free. The proclamation influenced foreign opinion, persuading the British and French to not offer the Confederates the diplomatic recognition or military aid they sought. Examine African American soldiers' involvement in the American Civil WarLearn about African American soldiers' involvement in the American Civil War.(more)© Civil War Trust (A Britannica Publishing Partner)The Emancipation Proclamation also allowed the Union to recruit black soldiers. By the end of the war about 180,000 African Americans were in the army, which amounted to about 10 percent of the troops in that branch, and another 20,000 were serving in the navy. Twenty-five black soldiers and sailors were awarded the Medal of Honor for their actions during the American Civil War. After the Confederate victory at Chancellorsville, Virginia, Lee invaded the North and engaged Union forces under George G. Meade at the Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania in July 1863. Momentum swung to the Union side after this battle. Lee was pushed back into Virginia and from then on was forced to fight a defensive war. Lincoln delivered his famous Gettysburg Address the following November.American Civil War: Vicksburg CampaignOverview of the Vicksburg Campaign during the American Civil War.(more)© Civil War Trust (A Britannica Publishing Partner)The war’s turning point in the West occurred with Ulysses S. Grant’s success in the Vicksburg Campaign (1862–63), which brought the entire Mississippi River under Union control. In March 1864 Lincoln gave Grant supreme command of the Union armies. Grant began a strategy of attrition and, despite heavy Union casualties at the battles of the Wilderness and Spotsylvania Court House in Virginia, began to surround Lee’s troops.Meanwhile, in Georgia, William T. Sherman captured and burned Atlanta in September 1864 and then began his devastating March to the Sea to capture Savannah, leaving a trail of near-total destruction.American Civil War: Robert E. Lee surrendersA painting depicts Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendering to Union General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, on April 9, 1865.(more)North Wind Picture Archives/AlamyGrant captured Richmond, Virginia, on April 3, 1865, and accepted Lee’s surrender on April 9 at Appomattox Court House. On April 14 Lincoln was shot in Washington, D.C., by Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth. Lincoln died the following day. Vice President Andrew Johnson became president. On April 26 Sherman received the surrender of Joseph E. Johnston in North Carolina. In Louisiana, Confederate troops under Kirby Smith surrendered to Federal commander Edward Canby on May 26. The port of Galveston, Texas, yielded to Union forces on June 2, and the greatest war on American soil was over.The American Civil War saw the first aerial reconnaissance using balloons, systematic medical care of the wounded, soldiers voting from the field, and modern war production of armaments. So many died in the war that a system of government cemeteries had to be established to bury the dead. The navies of both sides also played a key role in the Civil War. Submarines and ironclads were used in naval battles. After 1863 the Union navy blockaded some 3,500 miles (5,600 kilometers) of Confederate coastline. Lincoln dubbed the navy, “Uncle Sam’s web feet.” American Civil War: Union army volunteerUnion army volunteer, photograph by Mathew Brady, 1861.(more)Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.The Civil War was one of the earliest wars documented on film. Photographs of individuals, battlefields, soldiers’ camps, and more left a compelling record. Particularly notable were the many photographs taken by Mathew Brady. Many authors, including Walt Whitman and Julia Ward Howe, also created an enduring legacy of Civil War poems, songs, and stories.

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The American Civil War was the defining event in our nation’s history. Between 1861 and 1865 10,000 battles and engagements were fought across the continent, from Vermont to the New Mexico Territory, and beyond. Many elements of Civil War scholarship are still hotly debated. The facts on this page are based on the soundest information available. We provide facts, dates, figures, tables and clarification of common misconceptions. View the American Revolution and War of 1812 facts.When did the Civil War begin?When did the Civil War end?What caused the Civil War?What was the Election of 1860?Was Secession legal?What states were in the Confederacy?What were the Union States?What were the Border States?Where was the Civil War fought?How many Civil War battles were there?Why do some battles have different names?What were the bloodiest battles of the Civil War?Were there naval battles during the Civil War?What was the range of Civil War artillery?Are there photographs of Civil War battles?Who won the Civil War?How were the armies organized?What was the average soldier's age?How much were soldiers paid?What did soldiers eat?What did soldiers do in their free time?How did the draft work?What role did African-Americans play in the war effort?Were there black Confederate soldiers?What was the role of Native Americans during the Civil War?How many soldiers fought in the Civil War?How many soldiers died in the Civil War?Did anybody receive the Medal of Honor in the Civil War?What is a casualty?What caused casualties during a battle?What happened to the dead?How advanced was medicine during the Civil War?What happened to prisoners?What was Reconstruction?What are some of the best Civil War books?How much battlefield land has the American Battlefield Trust saved?Q. When did the Civil War begin?The war began when the Confederates bombarded Union soldiers at Fort Sumter, South Carolina on April 12, 1861. The war ended in Spring, 1865. Robert E. Lee surrendered the last major Confederate army to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse on April 9, 1865. The last battle was fought at Palmito Ranch, Texas, on May 13, 1865.Q. When did the Civil War end?In the east, Robert E. Lee surrendered Confederate army to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse on April 9, 1865. General Joseph E. Johnston surrendered approximately 90,000 Confederates stationed in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, on April 26, 1865, at Bennett Place in North Carolina. However, Bennett Place was not the last Confederate surrender, that occurred on June 23, 1865, with Gen. Stand Watie’s Indian Territory troops. The last battle of the Civil War was fought at Palmito Ranch, Texas, on May 13, 1865. Q. What caused the Civil War?While many still debate the ultimate causes of the Civil War, Pulitzer Prize-winning author James McPherson writes that "The Civil War started because of uncompromising differences between the free and slave states over the power of the national government to prohibit slavery in the territories that had not yet become states. When Abraham Lincoln won election in 1860 as the first Republican president on a platform pledging to keep slavery out of the territories, seven slave states in the deep South seceded and formed a new nation, the Confederate States of America. The incoming Lincoln administration and most of the Northern people refused to recognize the legitimacy of secession. They feared that it would discredit democracy and create a fatal precedent that would eventually fragment the no-longer United States into several small, squabbling countries."Learn more about the Trigger Events of the Civil WarQ. What was the Election of 1860?The election of 1860 was one of the most unusual in American history. In a four-way race brought on by a split in the Democratic Party, Abraham Lincoln's name did not even appear on the ballot in most Southern states. In the electoral college, Lincoln solidly carried the free states of the Northeast and Northwest. Breckenridge won the slaveholding states, with the exception of Tennessee, Virginia, and Kentucky in the Upper South, which went to Bell. Douglas, though he made a solid showing in the popular vote, only took electoral votes from Missouri and New Jersey.Abraham Lincoln of Illinois, Republican Party: 39.8%Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois, Northern Democratic Party: 29.5%John C. Breckenridge of Kentucky, Southern Democratic Party: 18.1%John Bell of Tennessee, Constitutional Union Party: 12.6%Q. Was secession legal?No, although it was not ruled illegal until after the war. This was a complex question at the time, with able legal minds to be found arguing both sides, but the United States Supreme Court, in Texas v. White, 74 U.S. 700 (1868), determined that secession was unconstitutional. Chief Justice Salmon Chase wrote in his majority opinion that, "The ordinance of secession...and all the acts of legislature intended to give effect to that ordinance, were absolutely null. They were utterly without operation in law."Q. What states fought for the Confederacy? When did they secede?South Carolina - December 20, 1860Mississippi - January 9, 1861Florida - January 10, 1861Alabama - January 11, 1861Georgia - January 19, 1861Louisiana - January 26, 1861Texas - February 1, 1861Virginia - April 17, 1861Arkansas - May 6, 1861North Carolina - May 20, 1861Tennessee - June 8, 1861These states relied heavily on farming and an agricultural economy, as well as trade with northern states and internationally.Q. What states fought for the Union?Maine, New York, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, California, Nevada, and Oregon fought for the Union and supported Abraham Lincoln. The northern economy was based on industry; factories and production provided most of the wealth. Q. What were the border states?Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Missouri were considered Border States. Q. Where was the Civil War fought?The Civil War was fought in thousands of different places, from southern Pennsylvania to Texas; from New Mexico to the Florida coast. The majority of the fighting took place in the states of Virginia and Tennessee. The Civil War was also contested on the Gulf of Mexico, and the brown water of the Mississippi River and its tributaries, and on the Atlantic Ocean as far off as the coast of France.Q. How many battles were fought during the Civil War?Although over 10,500 military engagements occurred during the Civil War, it is generally accepted that there were 50 major battles of the Civil War, with about 100 other significant battles. The battles were fought in three theaters; the Eastern Theater, the Western Theater, and the Trans-Mississippi Theater. Battles of the Civil WarQ. Why are there alternate names for Civil War battles?Union commanders typically named battles after the nearest river or creek. Confederates typically named battles after the nearest city or town. But these rules did not always apply; they were highly dependent on the names employed by the victors, the public and the media.Q. What were the bloodiest battles of the Civil War?

Gettysburg – 51,000 casualtiesChickamauga – 34,624 casualtiesSpotsylvania – 30,000 casualtiesThe Wilderness – 29,800 casualtiesChancellorsville – 24,000 casualtiesShiloh – 23,746 casualtiesStones River – 23,515 casualtiesAntietam – 22,717 casualtiesSecond Manassas – 22,180 casualtiesVicksburg – 19,233 casualtiesQ. Were there naval battles during the Civil War?Yes, the North and South waged war on the Atlantic Ocean, in the Gulf of Mexico, and in the rivers of the mainland. Cotton trade with Europe was vital to the Southern war effort, which led Union General-in-Chief Winfield Scott to order a strangling blockade known as the "Anaconda Plan." While Southern blockade runners tested this screen, engineers were inventing the first ironclad warships the world had ever seen. On the rivers, gunboats, shore batteries, and island fortresses entered the battle as both sides fought for control of inland arteries that were essential to the fast transport of men and material. The Civil War at sea, mostly notably with the development of the ironclads, changed the trajectory of naval warfare around the globe. | Civil War Navies

The CSS Virginia, left, sank two wooden-hulled ships before being stopped by the USS Monitor.

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Q. What was the range of Civil War artillery?Smoothbore cannons, such as the 12-pounder Napoleon, had a range of around three-quarters of a mile; rifled cannons, such as the 10-pounder Parrott, had a range of one and a half miles, or about double that of a smoothbore. Some larger cannons and imported pieces could fire even farther. Q. Are there photographs of Civil War battles?Photography was a new art form when the Civil War broke out. The cameras and chemicals available at the time were too unwieldy and unstable to accommodate the chaos of a battlefield. Nevertheless, a few photographs of Civil War combat do exist, including images of artillery bombardments, gunboat broadsides, and battle smoke at Nashville and Fredericksburg. Thousands of other Civil War photographs can be found online at the Library of Congress. Learn more about Civil War PhotographyQ. Who won the Civil War?The Federal army was victorious, and the rebellious states returned to the Union.Q. How were the armies organized?

The largest military unit is the army, which is sub-divided into smaller commands. Although organization varied between the armies, the largest sub-section of a given army was the corps, which was typically divided into two or more divisions, each composed of two or more brigades, which were each made up of two or more regiments, with each regiment containing roughly ten companies of ideally 100 men (but more typically near 30). Companies themselves were subdivided into platoons and squads before the army finally reached the level of the individual soldier. Armies were sometimes grouped together in "departments" that were defined by geography and operational objective. Q. What was the average soldier's age?The average Union soldier was 25.8 years old; there is no definite information on the average age of Confederate soldiers, but by the end of the war old men and young boys, who otherwise would have stayed home, were being pressed into service. The average soldier on both sides was a white, native-born, protestant farmer.

Q. How much were soldiers paid?A white Union private made thirteen dollars a month; his black counterpart made seven dollars until Congress rectified the discrepancy in 1864. A Confederate private ostensibly made eleven dollars a month, but often went long stretches with no pay at all.Q. What did soldiers eat?Civil War soldiers' fare varied substantially from army to army and throughout the course of the war for both sides. For the most part, neither side ate particularly well. Hardtack and coffee were the staples, in addition to salt pork, corn meal and whatever fruits, vegetables and berries could be collected on the march. Many Confederate soldiers were in a state of near-starvation by the war's end.Q. What did soldiers do in their free time?When they were not drilling, which made up a considerable portion of their time in camp, soldiers passed the time writing letters, playing games like checkers, dominoes and poker, drinking, smoking, whittling, making music and praying. One soldier summed it up when he wrote to his wife, "Soldiering is 99% boredom and 1% sheer terror."Learn more about Civil War Winter EncampmentsQ. How did the draft work?The Confederacy instituted the first draft in American history in April of 1862. It was clear that the South, with a total population of 9 million (including 4 million slaves), would have to muster all of its manpower to repel the North, which had an 1860 population of around 22 million. The Confederate draft exempted those who owned twenty slaves or more, however, arousing resentment amongst the poor whites who constituted the vast majority of the army. Abraham Lincoln instituted a draft on the Northern states a year later, likewise calling on all able-bodied 18-35 year old men to serve. There were exemptions in the North, too, if those drafted could pay a significant fee or provide a substitute.Q. What role did African-Americans play in the war effort?With the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation in September 1862, African-Americans - both free and runaway slaves - came forward to volunteer for the Union cause in substantial numbers. Beginning in October, approximately 180,000 African-Americans, comprising 163 units, served in the U.S. Army, and 18,000 in the Navy. That month, the 1st Kansas Colored Volunteers repulsed a Confederate attack at Island Mound, Missouri. Men of the U.S.C.T. (United States Colored Troops) units went on to distinguish themselves on battlefields east and west - at Port Hudson, Louisiana; Honey Springs, Oklahoma; Fort Wagner, South Carolina; New Market Heights, Virginia. African Americans constituted 10% of the entire Union Army by the end of the war, and nearly 40,000 died over the course of the war.Native Americans fought on both sides of the Civil War. Many members of tribes fought for the Confederacy because they viewed the system of a confederation of states as easier to negotiate with, as opposed to the federal government who had been difficult, if not impossible, to negotiate with. Members of the "Five Civilized Tribes" of the South had become part of Southern society in many ways including plantations and owning slaves. Stand Watie, a member of the Cherokee Nation, was the highest-ranking Native American on either side of the conflict after earning the rank of general. As the war continued, the Cherokee Nation split over who to support, but eventually issuing their own Emancipation Proclamation. Learn more about African Americans in the Civil WarQ. Were there black Confederate soldiers?Slaves and free blacks were present in the Confederate lines as servants and manual laborers. On March 13, 1865, the Confederate Congress passed a law to allow black men to serve in combat roles, with the provision "that nothing in this act shall be construed to authorize a change in the relation which said slaves shall bear toward their owners," i.e. that black soldiers would still be slaves. On March 14, 1865, the Confederate military issued General Orders No. 14, which provided for the raising of black combat regiments, but there is no official military documentation that indicates these orders were carried out or that any black soldiers were ever properly enlisted in the Confederate army. There are a few photographs of blacks in Confederate uniforms, but these appear to be hoaxes.Learn more about the truths and legends concerning "Black Confederates"Q. What was the role of Native Americans during the Civil War?Native Americans fought on both sides of the Civil War. Many members of tribes fought for the Confederacy because they viewed the system of a confederation of states as easier to negotiate with, as opposed to the federal government which had been difficult, if not impossible, to negotiate with. Members of the "Five Civilized Tribes" of the South had become part of Southern society in many ways including plantations and owning slaves. Stand Watie, a member of the Cherokee Nation, was the highest-ranking Native American on either side of the conflict after earning the rank of general. As the war continued, the Cherokee Nation split over who to support, but eventually issued their own Emancipation Proclamation. Learn more about Native Americans in the Civil War Q. How many soldiers fought in the Civil War?At the beginning of the war the Northern states had a combined population of 22 million people. The Southern states had a combined population of about 9 million. This disparity was reflected in the size of the armies in the field. The Union forces outnumbered the Confederates roughly two to one.

Q. How many soldiers died in the Civil War?Approximately 620,000 soldiers died from combat, accident, starvation, and disease during the Civil War. This number comes from an 1889 study of the war performed by William F. Fox and Thomas Leonard Livermore. Both men fought for the Union. Their estimate is derived from an exhaustive study of the combat and casualty records generated by the armies over five years of fighting. A recent study puts the number of dead as high as 850,000. Roughly 1,264,000 American soldiers have died in the nation's wars--620,000 in the Civil War and 644,000 in all other conflicts. It was only as recently as the Vietnam War that the number of American deaths in foreign wars eclipsed the number who died in the Civil War.

Military Losses in America's Wars

Q. Did anybody receive the Medal of Honor in the Civil War?Yes. There were 1,522 Medals of Honor presented to Northern troops, black and white, during and after the war. The Confederate Army did not have combat medals. Gen. Robert E. Lee explained that the highest honor possible was to be "mentioned in dispatches," in other words, to be included in an officer's report for particularly gallant conduct. John Singleton Mosby, the "Grey Ghost," was mentioned in dispatches more than any other Confederate soldier.Learn more about the Medal of HonorQ. What is a casualty?Too often, people take 'casualty' and 'fatality' to be interchangeable terms. In fact, a casualty is "a military person lost through death, wounds, injury, sickness, internment, or capture or through being missing in action." Essentially, a casualty is any soldier who goes into a fight and does not return fit to take part in the next battle. Many soldiers, especially in the Confederate ranks, became casualties several times: some soldiers were captured multiple times; some were wounded in non-consecutive engagements.Q. What caused casualties during a battle?

Q. What happened to the dead?Typically, soldiers were buried where they fell on the battlefield. Others were buried near the hospitals where they died. At most battlefields, the dead were exhumed and moved to National or Confederate cemeteries, but because there were so many bodies, and because of the time and effort it took to disinter them, there are undoubtedly thousands if not tens of thousands of Civil War soldiers in unknown battlefield graves.Q. How advanced was medicine during the Civil War?Two-thirds of those killed in the Civil War died of disease. Germ theory had not been widely accepted in the medical world at the time of the Civil War and modern antiseptics, which could have greatly reduced the spread of bacteria and the outbreak of disease, did not exist. As George Worthington Adams famously wrote, “The Civil War was fought in the very last years of the medical middle ages.” Chloroform, ether, and whiskey were the main anesthetics. Still, many survived their wounds and had only the dedicated doctors and nurses and their selfless efforts to thank. Medicine is an ever-evolving science. Unfortunately for those who fought in the Civil War, the technology of warfare had surpassed the technology of health care.

Wounded at Savage's Station. This Union hospital was overrun by Confederate troops the day after this image was captured.

Library of Congress

Q. What happened to prisoners?More than 400,000 soldiers were captured over the course of the Civil War. In the first years of the conflict, equal numbers of captured troops were regularly exchanged for one another, helping to keep the total number of prisoners manageable for both sides. Over the course of the war, however, that practice faded from use. By the end of the war, the plight of prisoners of war on both sides had become bleak indeed. Thousands of Southerners died in the freezing camp at Elmira, New York, and the camp at Andersonville, Georgia, which held Union prisoners, has become one of the most infamous in the history of war. Nearly as many men died in captivity during the Civil War as died fighting in Vietnam.Q. What was Reconstruction?Reconstruction was the period of time in which the US government worked to reconstruct the Union and reunite the states. Reconstruction has two main periods. The first was led by President Andrew Johnson and lasted until 1867. The second was led by Republicans in Congress and lasted until 1877. Johnson's Reconstruction was categorized by discriminatory regulation in the South and attacks against blacks and Northerners visiting the South. The second era was categorized by the Reconstruction Amendments, geared towards rights for recently freed former slaves. Q. What are some of the best Civil War books?Battle Cry of Freedom by James McPherson -- Considered by many to be the finest single-volume history of the Civil War era.A Stillness at Appomattox by Bruce Catton -- The third and final volume of Catton's critically-acclaimed Civil War trilogy; winner of the Pulitzer Prize.The Civil War: A Narrative by Shelby Foote -- Three volumes, three thousand pages and more than a million words.The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara -- The best Civil War novel of the 20th century and the inspiration behind Ken Burns' epic documentary.Company Aytch by Sam Watkins -- An illuminating Confederate memoir by a Tennessean who fought practically everywhere in the Western theater.Q. How much battlefield land has the American Battlefield Trust saved?The American Battlefield Trust has saved tens of thousands of acres of precious land. Check out our Saved Lands Map to learn more!Q. How can I get involved in Civil War battlefield preservation?Click here!

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The Battles of the U.S. Civil War

Battles of the U.S. Civil WarEducationSign InMenuDonateMAPMAPThe Battles of the U.S. Civil WarThe Battles of the U.S. Civil WarLearn about the strategic, though often unpredictable, locations of battles during the U.S. Civil War from 1861 to 1865.Grades5 - 12+SubjectsGeography, Social Studies, U.S. History‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌Loading ...Background InfoVocabularyQuestionsBeginning with the first shots fired at Fort Sumter, outside of Charleston, South Carolina, all the way to the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Courthouse, in Virginia, the United States Civil War lasted four tense and violent years. Throughout those four years battles raged all over the southern United States, occuring as far west as Missouri, Arkansas, and even present-day Arizona and as far north as Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.Fighting was concentrated in two main areas. Removed from the coast, much of the fighting took place in Tennessee, a slave state that seceded after the battle at Fort Sumter in 1861. In the east, Northern Virginia (part of a confederate slave state) and southern Maryland (part of a Union slave state) were the site of a great deal of fighting throughout the war.Both the Union and Confederate armies planned their courses of action strategically. The Confederacy tried, unsuccessfully, to weaken the North’s southern border, waging fierce battles in Northern Virginia, while the Union staged intense marches in the South. These fierce Union tours in the South were typified by General William Tecumseh Sherman’s “scorched earth” campaigns through Georgia and up into North Carolina. This stoppage of Confederate forces from entering Northern territory and the subsequent razing of the South (in conjunction with a Union blockade of Confederate seaports) weakened the South and forced an end to what was called—at the time—a “war of attrition."Generals and strategists from both sides of the war used maps to plan effective courses for taking troops into enemy territory. The geography of an area is often used in decision-making during wartime. The placement of Union blockades at Confederate ports is a perfect example of how Northern military strategists were able to use their knowledge of the South’s geography to their advantage.BooksWest Point Civil War AtlasImagesSelected Civil War PhotographsPictures of the Civil WarVideoThe Internet Archive: A House DividedCreditsMedia CreditsThe audio, illustrations, photos, and videos are credited beneath the media asset, except for promotional images, which generally link to another page that contains the media credit. The Rights Holder for media is the person or group credited.WriterBenjamin KesslerEditorJessica Shea, National Geographic Society, National Geographic SocietyProducerBenjamin KesslerotherLast UpdatedOctober 19, 2023User PermissionsFor information on user permissions, please read our Terms of Service. If you have questions about how to cite anything on our website in your project or classroom presentation, please contact your teacher. They will best know the preferred format. When you reach out to them, you will need the page title, URL, and the date you accessed the resource.MediaIf a media asset is downloadable, a download button appears in the corner of the media viewer. If no button appears, you cannot download or save the media.TextText on this page is printable and can be used according to our Terms of Service.InteractivesAny interactives on this page can only be played while you are visiting our website. You cannot download interactives.Related ResourcesNational Geographic Headquarters 1145 17th Street NW Washington, DC 20036ABOUTNational Geographic SocietyNatGeo.comNews and ImpactContact UsExploreOur ExplorersOur ProgramsEducationNat Geo LiveStorytellers CollectiveTraveling ExhibitionsJoin UsWays to GiveApply for a GrantCareersdonateget updatesConnectNational Geographic Society is a 501 (c)(3) organization. © 1996 - 2024 National Geographic Society. All rights reserved.Privacy Notice|Sustainability Policy|Terms of Service|Code of Eth

10 Facts: What Everyone Should Know About the Civil War | American Battlefield Trust

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10 Facts: What Everyone Should Know About the Civil War

The Civil War profoundly shaped the United States as we know it today. Nevertheless, the war remains one of the most misunderstood events in American history. Here are ten basic facts you need to know about America's defining struggle.

November 12, 2013 • Updated January 22, 2024

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Fact #1: The Civil War was fought between the Northern and the Southern states from 1861-1865.The American Civil War was fought between the United States of America and the Confederate States of America, a collection of eleven southern states that left the Union in 1860 and 1861. The conflict began primarily as a result of the long-standing disagreement over the institution of slavery. On February 9, 1861, Jefferson Davis, a former U.S. Senator and Secretary of War, was elected President of the Confederate States of America by the members of the Confederate constitutional convention. After four bloody years of conflict, the United States defeated the Confederate States. In the end, the states that were in rebellion were readmitted to the United States, and the institution of slavery was abolished nation-wide.

Abraham Lincoln in 1865.

Library of Congress

Fact #2: Abraham Lincoln was the President of the United States during the Civil War.Abraham Lincoln grew up in a log cabin in Kentucky. He worked as a shopkeeper and a lawyer before entering politics in the 1840s. Alarmed by his anti-slavery stance, seven southern states seceded soon after he was elected president in 1860—with four more states to soon follow. Lincoln declared that he would do everything necessary to keep the United States united as one country. He refused to recognize the southern states as an independent nation and the Civil War erupted in the spring of 1861. On January 1, 1863, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed the slaves in the areas of the country that "shall then be in rebellion against the United States." The Emancipation Proclamation laid the groundwork for the eventual freedom of slaves across the country. Lincoln won re-election in 1864 against opponents who wanted to sign a peace treaty with the southern states. On April 14, 1865, Lincoln was shot by assassin John Wilkes Booth, a southern sympathizer. Abraham Lincoln died at 7:22 am the next morning. Fact #3: The issues of slavery and central power divided the United States.Slavery was concentrated mainly in the southern states by the mid-19th century, where slaves were used as farm laborers, artisans, and house servants. Chattel slavery formed the backbone of the largely agrarian southern economy. In the northern states, industry largely drove the economy. Many people in the north and the south believed that slavery was immoral and wrong, yet the institution remained, which created a large chasm on the political and social landscape. Southerners felt threatened by the pressure of northern politicians and “abolitionists,” who included the zealot John Brown, and claimed that the federal government had no power to end slavery, impose certain taxes, force infrastructure improvements, or influence western expansion against the wishes of the state governments. While some northerners felt that southern politicians wielded too much power in the House and the Senate and that they would never be appeased. Still, from the earliest days of the United States through the antebellum years, politicians on both sides of the major issues attempted to find a compromise that would avoid the splitting of the country, and ultimately avert a war. The Missouri Compromise, the Compromise of 1850, the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and many others, all failed to steer the country away from secession and war. In the end, politicians on both sides of the aisle dug in their heels. Eleven states left the United States in the following order and formed the Confederate States of America: South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee.Fact #4: The Civil War began when Southern troops bombarded Fort Sumter, South Carolina.When the southern states seceded from the Union, war was still not a certainty. Federal forts, barracks, and naval shipyards dotted the southern landscape. Many Regular Army officers clung tenaciously to their posts, rather than surrender their facilities to the growing southern military presence. President Lincoln attempted to resupply these garrisons with food and provisions by sea. The Confederacy learned of Lincoln’s plans and demanded that the forts surrender under threat of force. When the U.S. soldiers refused, South Carolinians bombarded Fort Sumter in the center of Charleston harbor. After a 34-hour battle, the soldiers inside the fort surrendered to the Confederates. Legions of men from north and south rushed to their respective flags in the ensuing patriotic fervor.

Bombardment of Fort Sumter, Charleston Harbor: 12th & 13th of April, 1861.

Library of Congress

Fact #5: The North had more men and war materials than the South.At the beginning of the Civil War, 22 million people lived in the North and 9 million people (nearly 4 million of whom were slaves) lived in the South. The North also had more money, more factories, more horses, more railroads, and more farmland. On paper, these advantages made the United States much more powerful than the Confederate States. However, the Confederates were fighting defensively on territory that they knew well. They also had the advantage of the sheer size of the Southern Confederacy. Which meant that the northern armies would have to capture and hold vast quantities of land across the south. Still, too, the Confederacy maintained some of the best ports in North America—including New Orleans, Charleston, Mobile, Norfolk, and Wilmington. Thus, the Confederacy was able to mount a stubborn resistance.Fact #6: The bloodiest battle of the Civil War was the Battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.The Civil War devastated the Confederate states. The presence of vast armies throughout the countryside meant that livestock, crops, and other staples were consumed very quickly. In an effort to gather fresh supplies and relieve the pressure on the Confederate garrison at Vicksburg, Mississippi, Confederate General Robert E. Lee launched a daring invasion of the North in the summer of 1863. He was defeated by Union General George G. Meade in a three-day battle near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania that left nearly 51,000 men killed, wounded, or missing in action. While Lee's men were able to gather the vital supplies, they did little to draw Union forces away from Vicksburg, which fell to Federal troops on July 4, 1863. Many historians mark the twin Union victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg, Mississippi, as the “turning point” in the Civil War. In November of 1863, President Lincoln traveled to the small Pennsylvania town and delivered the Gettysburg Address, which expressed firm commitment to preserving the Union and became one of the most iconic speeches in American history. Fact #7: Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee did not meet on the field of battle until May of 1864.Arguably the two most famous military personalities to emerge from the American Civil War were Ohio born Ulysses S. Grant, and Virginia born Robert E. Lee. The two men had very little in common. Lee was from a well respected First Family of Virginia, with ties to the Continental Army and the founding fathers of the nation. While Grant was from a middle-class family with no martial or family political ties. Both men graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point and served in the old army as well as the Mexican-American War. Lee was offered command of the federal army amassing in Washington, in 1861, but he declined the command and threw his hat in with the Confederacy. Lee's early war career got off to a rocky start, but he found his stride in June of 1862 after he assumed command of what he dubbed the Army of Northern Virginia. Grant, on the other hand, found early success in the war but was haunted by rumors of alcoholism. By 1863, the two men were by far the best generals on their respective sides. In March of 1864, Grant was promoted to lieutenant general and brought to the Eastern Theater of the war, where he and Lee engaged in a relentless campaign from May of 1864 to Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House eleven months later. Fact #8: The North won the Civil War.After four years of conflict, the major Confederate armies surrendered to the United States in April of 1865 at Appomattox Court House and Bennett Place. The war bankrupted much of the South, left its roads, farms, and factories in ruins, and all but wiped out an entire generation of men who wore the blue and the gray. More than 620,000 men died in the Civil War, more than any other war in American history. The southern states were occupied by Union soldiers, rebuilt, and gradually re-admitted to the United States over the course of twenty difficult years known as the Reconstruction Era.

A battle-scarred house in Atlanta, Georgia.

Library of Congress

Fact #9: After the war was over, the Constitution was amended to free the slaves, to assure “equal protection under the law” for American citizens, and to grant black men the right to vote. During the war, Abraham Lincoln freed some slaves and allowed freedmen to join the Union Army as the United States Colored Troops (U.S.C.T.). It was clear to many that it was only a matter of time before slavery would be fully abolished. As the war drew to a close, but before the southern states were re-admitted to the United States, the northern states added the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments to the Constitution. The amendments are also known as the "Civil War Amendments." The 13th Amendment abolished slavery in the United States, the 14th Amendment guaranteed that citizens would receive “equal protection under the law,” and the 15th Amendment granted black men the right to vote. The 14th Amendment has played an ongoing role in American society as different groups of citizens continue to lobby for equal treatment by the government. Fact #10: Many Civil War battlefields are threatened by development.The United States government has identified 384 battles that had a significant impact on the larger war. Many of these battlefields have been developed—turned into shopping malls, pizza parlors, housing developments, etc.—and many more are threatened by development. Since the end of the Civil War, veterans and other citizens have struggled to preserve the fields on which Americans fought and died. The American Battlefield Trust and its partners have preserved tens of thousands of acres of battlefield land. Learn More: Civil War Animated Map

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American Civil War | History, Summary, Dates, Causes, Map, Timeline, Battles, Significance, & Facts | Britannica

civil war（内战）一词为什么是内战？其来源是否为英国内战？ - 知乎

Civil War - Causes, Dates & Battles | HISTORY

A Brief Overview of the American Civil War | American Battlefield Trust

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American Civil War: Causes, Dates & Battles | HISTORY

American Civil War | Key Facts | Britannica

Civil War Facts | American Battlefield Trust

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im2.0钱包下载|civil war

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American Civil War | History, Summary, Dates, Causes, Map, Timeline, Battles, Significance, & Facts | Britannica

civil war（内战）一词为什么是内战？其来源是否为英国内战？ - 知乎

Civil War - Causes, Dates & Battles | HISTORY

A Brief Overview of the American Civil War | American Battlefield Trust

Civil war | Definition, Causes, & Theories | Britannica

American Civil War: Causes, Dates & Battles | HISTORY

American Civil War | Key Facts | Britannica

Civil War Facts | American Battlefield Trust

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