Major Battles of the Civil War

1ST battle of the Civil War A Union 28,000 men Confederate 33,000, led by General Thomas

JacksonUnion:

Attempted to seize Manassas, VA, vital railroad Confederate troops aligned the creek waiting

for Union forces at Bull Run Confederate forces defeated the Union

Bull Run

Merrimack: An abandoned Union warship used by the South

Salvaged the ship, covered it with thick iron plates, iron-clad.

Renamed it the Virginia North’s wooden ships could not damage the

Confederate ship Monitor: North’s Iron-clad ship

Ships could not sink each other North successful in keeping the Merrimack in harbor

Battle marked a new age for Naval warfare Used ships as models to build more iron-clad ships

Monitor versus the Merrimack

Single bloodiest day of the entire warBoth armies suffered heavy losses, neither was

destroyed Lee, Confederate General, retreated allowing

Union to claim victory Crucial victory for the Union

British government ready to intervene as mediator if General Lee’s invasion had been successful

Impact on WarLincoln used the battle to take action against

slavery5 days later Lincoln announced his plan to free

all enslaved people in the Confederacy

Battle of Antietam

Vicksburg stood on high bluff above the Mississippi RiverGain control of the Mississippi River was a

major war goal Ulysses S. Grant forced Vicksburg surrendered

Impact on War The Union had complete control of the

Mississippi RiverSealed Texas, Louisian,a and Arkansas from

the Confederacy Cut the South in two

Battle Vicksburg

Largest battle of the war, lasting three daysUnion was victorious General Lee (Confederate): The defeat forced Lee to withdraw his army toward Virginia

Destroying Lee’s hope of carrying the fight further up North

Gettysburg Address: Lincoln beautifully addressed what the war had

come to mean Helped war-weary Americans look beyond the

images of the battlefield and focus on their shared ideals

Gettysburg