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This was the last important battle of the civil war. The confederates in Texas thought they could keep the war going. The union and the confederacy squared off at Palmito Ranch with a cavalry vs infantry match-up. The confederates with their overpowering cavalry crushed the union but it didn't matter as Robert E. Lee had surrendered more than a month ago.
http://www.americancivilwar.com/texas/palm.html
In this battle after Lee had lost he surrendered. This ended the Civil War in the East region. General Ulysses S. Grant's terms of surrender stated that the soldiers wouldn't be sent to jail, and that they could keep their personal items they brought as long as they handed over their battle supplies. The formal recognition of Surrender was accepted 3 days later in Washington D.C.
http://www.nps.gov/hps/abpp/battles/va097.htm
This campaign's goal was to capture Texas for the union. The union started in south Louisiana as they had previous failures of breaking through Texas ports They then fought through Louisiana until they reached Mansfield, Louisiana where they were forcet to retreat all the way back to Vicksburg ending the campaign.
http://www.civilwarhome.com/redriverrecords.htm
President Lincoln gave this speach to honor all the soldiers that died at The Gettysburg Battle. His most famous words that most know are "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal." This is one of the most famous speeches in american history. It rallied the Union soldiers and turned the war upside down. It was a major point in the war for both sides. If you would like to see the full speech, please click the link below.
http://americancivilwar.com/north/lincoln.html
The union wanted to attack and blockade Texas. They sent four gunboats with 18 guns each, and 4,000 soldiers to take Fort Griffin, which was the fort defending Sabine Pass. There was a small garrison of around 40 men defending Sabine Pass for the C.S.A., with 6 cannons. When the union boats started to shell the fort they were out of range and the confederates couldn't hit them. After 9 hours of union artillery the union started its advance thinking that the confederates had given up. But once they got close the confederacy started its counter-attack. They blew up the ships "Sachem" and "Clifton" and won the battle. The confederate soldiers had shot 107 rounds in 35 minutes, which is less than 2 minutes a shot and at the time, that was above average for standard artillery.
http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/qes02
In June Robert E. Lee decided he would launch an offensive attack on the union. He had reached Gettysburg in early July and started looking for supplies when part of his army spotted the union's cavalry 1 mile out of the town. Fighting began later the same day and the confederacy eventually pushed the union back through the town. On the second day Meade's army had arrived to reinforce the union. Then The confederacy broke through one of the southwestern ranks of the union. They almost captured a strategic hill called little round top, but it was saved by General G.K. Warren of the union. The confederate communications let them down that day as they had opportunities to take the union's supply lines. On day 3 General Pickett of the confederacy tried to save the confederacy attack by sending 15,000 men through to the union's line. They succeeded to reach the union's lines but didn't break them, causing 10,000 casualties and ending the battle. This last stand of the confederacy at Gettysburg is known as Pickett's Charge. The union won the battle, but at a cost of 51,000+ casualties to both sides making it the bloodiest battle of the civil war.
http://www.gettysbg.com/battle.shtml
The Union wanted to capture vicksburg to split the confederacy in half. they also then could have access to the Mississippi river, which was a very important transportation line for the south. The confederates were in a fort and were surrounded by union trenches andboth sides were shooting or shelling the other. Then some miners dug a really big hole for the union that was right next to the fort. Then on June 25th they blew the hole up with 1500 pounds of gunpowder. This caused significant damage to the fort causing the confederates to flee. then the siege ended July 4th when the confederates surrendered Vicksburg.
http://www.civilwarhome.com/siegeofvicksburg.htm
This document, signed by Abraham Lincoln, freed slaves in the rebellious states. However this didn't include union slave states or union occupied slave states. It still changed the character of the war and the spirits of the citizens.
http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/featured_documents/emancipation_proclamation/
This battle started when the union wanted to blockade southern ports. The union had recently just taken Galeveston but the confederacy wanted it back. So the confederacy sent some gun boats in and destroyed boats and killed lots of the union soldiers. the con federacy won the battle but the union still had a blockade.
http://americancivilwar.com/statepic/tx/tx003.html
Fort Sumter was the battle that started the Civil War. P.G.T. Beauregard demanded that the Union surrender the fort but, they wouldn't. So around 4:30 am the confederates bombarded the fort. The unprepared union soldiers then surrendered the next day. There were no casualties during this battle except for a few people firing the surrender cannon as the fort was evacuated.
http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/fort-sumter.html
The Texas seccession convention is created. They vote to secede 166 to 8. Texas secedes on February 1, 1861. Then on March 16, 1861 the convention required all leaders to take a new oath and Sam Houston refused, which ended his government career in texas
http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/mjs01
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