Battle/Events of the Civil War
Created by hamisfun on Nov 24, 2010
Last updated: 11/30/10 at 04:47 AM
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General Robert E. Lee determined to make one last attempt to escape the closing Union pincers and reach his supplies at Lynchburg. At dawn the Confederates advanced, initially gaining ground against Sheridan's cavalry. The arrival of Union infantry, however, stopped the advance in its tracks. Lee's army was now surrounded on three sides. Lee surrendered to Grant on April 9. This was the final engagement of the war in Virginia.
Marching from Cold Harbor, Meade’s Army of the Potomac crossed the James River on transports and a 2,200-foot long pontoon bridge at Windmill Point. Butler’s leading elements crossed the Appomattox River at Broadway Landing and attacked the Petersburg defenses on June 15. The 5,400 defenders of Petersburg under command of Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard were driven from their first line of entrenchments back to Harrison Creek. After dark the XVIII Corps was relieved by the II Corps. On June 16, the II Corps captured another section of the Confederate line; on the 17th, the IX Corps gained more ground. Beauregard stripped the Howlett Line to defend the city, and Lee rushed reinforcements to Petersburg from the Army of Northern Virginia. The II, XI, and V Corps from right to left attacked on June 18 but was repulsed with heavy casualties. By now the Confederate works were heavily manned and the greatest opportunity to capture Petersburg without a siege was lost. The siege of Petersburg began. Union Gen. James St. Clair Morton, chief engineer of the IX Corps, was killed on June 17.
Gen. Robert E. Lee concentrated his full strength against Maj. Gen. George G. Meade's Army of the Potomac at the crossroads county seat of Gettysburg. On July 1, Confederate forces converged on the town from west and north, driving Union defenders back through the streets to Cemetery Hill. During the night, reinforcements arrived for both sides. On July 2, Lee attempted to envelop the Federals, first striking the Union left flank at the Peach Orchard, Wheatfield, Devil's Den, and the Round Tops with Longstreet's and Hill's divisions, and then attacking the Union right at Culp's and East Cemetery Hills with Ewell's divisions. By evening, the Federals retained Little Round Top and had repulsed most of Ewell's men. During the morning of July 3, the Confederate infantry were driven from their last toe-hold on Culp's Hill. In the afternoon, after a preliminary artillery bombardment, Lee attacked the Union center on Cemetery Ridge. The Pickett-Pettigrew assault momentarily pierced the Union line but was driven back with severe casualties. Stuart's cavalry attempted to gain the Union rear but was repulsed. On July 4, Lee began withdrawing his army toward Williamsport on the Potomac River. His train of wounded stretched more than fourteen miles.
The Battle of Chancellorsville was a major battle of the American Civil War, fought from April 30 to May 6, 1863, in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, near the village of Chancellorsville and the area from there to the east at Fredericksburg. The battle pitted Union Army Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker's Army of the Potomac against an army half its size, Gen. Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. It is known as Lee's "perfect battle" because of his risky but successful division of his army in the presence of a much larger enemy force. Lee's audacity and Hooker's timid performance in combat combined to result in a significant Union defeat. The Confederate victory was tempered by the mortal wounding of Lt. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson to friendly fire.
The Chancellorsville campaign began with the crossing of the Rappahannock River by the Union army on the morning of April 27, 1863. Heavy fighting began on May 1. The battle ende whwn the Union forces retreated across the river on the night of May 5 & 6. The battle pitted Union Army Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker's Army of the Potomac against an army half its size, Gen. Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. It is known as Lee's "perfect battle"[3] because of his risky but successful division of his army in the presence of a much larger enemy force. Lee's audacity and Hooker's timid performance in combat combined to result in a significant Union defeat
Lincoln had replaced McCellan with General Ambrose Burnside because he lost patience with McCellan. Burnside then led his men east towards Fredericksburg, Virginia, on the Rappahannok River. The Confederate held off the Union Forces. Later, Burnside retreated. Afterwards, Burnside resigned and Lincoln replaced him with Joseph Hooker.
General Lee planned to surprise Washington D.C. from the North and destroy Northern morale. Lee his 45,000 soldier vanished into the mountains of Maryland. Lee sivided his soldiers. Unluckily, one soldier lost his plans of the army's movements. A Union soldier found it and brought it to McCellen. McCellen attacked on September 17, 1862 along Antietam Creek near Sharpsburg Maryland. After the fighting, the Confederates slipped into Virginia. McCellen's army took too much damage and was not to pursue the retreating Rebels.
Southern overwhelmed McCLellan's troops, Lincoln wanted McClellan to join forces with John Pope. but at the end southerners attack McClellan and John Pope before they could get together and make their plans.
The fall of Fort Donelson allowed a Union advance south toward a railroad center at Corinth, Mississipi. Grant planned to move west along the railroad. He wanted to capture Memphis, Tennessee. General Albert Sidney Johnston planned to attack Grant's troops. Johnston's army was equal to to the Union forces. Johnston attackd before the Union reinforcments arrive The Rebels overran the camp and pushed the Yankees toward the river.
The Battle of Hampton Roads, often called the Battle of Monitor and Merrimack, was a naval battle of the American Civil War, famous for being the first fight between two ironclad warships, the USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia. The principal confrontations took place on March 8 and March 9, 1862, off Sewell's Point, a narrow place near the mouth of Hampton Roads, Virginia. The naval battle lasted two days. The first day saw Virginia wreak havoc on wooden Union ships. However, on the second day Monitor arrived and initiated the famous duel of the ironclads. The battle, though inconclusive, received worldwide publicity. After the battle, it was clear that ironclad ships were the future of naval warfare. Wooden navies became obsolete after this battle, and new technologies were developed to improve the efficiency and the battle-power of iron-clad ships.
The North wanted to drive the South away from Washington D.C. Also, they believed if the Confederate army was destroyed, the war would come to an end. Union General Irvin McDowell move 31,00 Union Troops across the Bull Run. They managed to push back the Confederate Army, but the Confederate Army was better organized using the telegraph and railroad. Therefore, the Union Forces had to retreat.
The fort was short on supplies, and Robert Anderson informs President Lincoln. P.G.T. Beauregard surround the fort with cannons to prevent Lincoln from resupplying. Lincoln sends resupplies to the fort. The Southerners take this as an act of war and began to bombard the fort. The war had began.
President Abraham Lincoln's act that declared slavey illegal in the Confederacy.
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