Leaders, Battles & Events

Confederate gunners fired on Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina, on April 12, 1861. Fort Sumter fell 34 hours later. It was a bloodless opening to the bloodiest war in American history.

View images of the battle of Fort Sumter and ruins of the Fort, which Confederate forces took. The Battle of Fort Sumter took place on April 12, 1861, in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. Fort Sumter is considered to be the site of the first shots fired during the war. After Abraham Lincoln was elected to the presidency, southern states attempted to secede from the Union in protest over what they saw as a threat to states’ rights, particularly in the opposition the new president and northern states had to slavery.

Learn how General George McClellan takes command of the Union Army in this excerpt from The Civil War: A Film by Ken Burns. General McClellan takes command of the Union Army with an elaborate plan to destroy the Confederacy, but does nothing. Key Vocab: George McCellan Union Confederacy

Explore images of the fallen city of Richmond, Virginia, the capital of the Confederate States of America during the Civil War. General Ulysses S. Grant tried unsuccessfully to capture Richmond for nearly a year before he took the city on April 2, 1865. The battle would be a crippling defeat for the South, and led to Robert E. Lee's surrender to Grant one week later on April 9, 1865, at Appomattox Court House.

Explore images of the battlefield of Antietam. On September 17, 1862, Confederate General Robert E. Lee and Maj. General George McClellan faced off in a battlefield near Sharpsburg, Maryland. The battle of Antietam was the single bloodiest day of the Civil War, with 22,720 men killed, wounded, or missing after 12 hours of fighting. The battle was considered a draw from a military perspective, but the Union declared victory. On January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring that all slaves in the south were free.

Explore images taken Charleston, South Carolina during the Civil War. The first shots of the Civil War were fired at Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, on April 12, 1861. Many battles took place in South Carolina during the war, but Charleston suffered particularly, when the Union Army, under commander General William T. Sherman, passed through on its March to the Sea.

On July 3, 1863, in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, the Union Army lured Confederate troops out into the open field. General George Pickett charged, and the tide of the war changed in the Union's favor.

Explore a collection of images taken from the Battle of Gettysburg, including scenes of battlefield and fallen soldiers. This gallery also features an image of Matthew Brady, who documented the Civil War in more than 10,000 photographs. The Battle of Gettysburg was fought from July 1 to July 3, 1863 in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, between Union soldiers from the North and Southern Confederate forces. It is considered to be one of the most important battles of the Civil War, and was a key victory for the Union Army. The Civil War was one of the earliest wars to be documented on camera.

Lincoln feels he has failed the American people, his audience at Gettysburg, and the memory of the dead with his short address, yet the eloquence and grandeur of the 269 words he spoke became enshrined as a standard against which all speeches that came thereafter were measured.

In late May, 1864, Generals Grant and Lee raced for a Virginia crossroads called Cold Harbor, near the Chickahominy River. When the bugles blew for the attack at 4:30 a.m. on June 3, 60,000 Union men started toward the unseen enemy. Within 20 minutes, 7,000 of them had been shot by Confederate forces.

Explore images of the ruins of the city of Petersburg, Virginia. The Commander of the Union Armies, Ulysses S. Grant, believed that capturing the city of Petersburg could be the key to taking Richmond, the capital of the Confederacy. Petersburg was a vital hub for Richmond to receive supplies and communication. Petersburg fell to Grant’s forces on April 2, 1865.

Learn about the march through Georgia by General William Tecumseh Sherman in this excerpt from The Civil War: A Film by Ken Burns. In late 1864, Sherman decides to march his army from Atlanta to Savannah, living off the land, and destroying everything along the way that could aid the Confederate army. On the march, Sherman's army causes $100 million of damage "the South would never forget." John Bell Hood moves his forces into Tennessee, and at the Battle of Franklin clashes with Union troops under General George Thomas.

This activity helps students understand how General William Tecumseh Sherman's March to the Sea was one of the most controversial aspects of the later phases of the Civil War. Sent by Ulysses S. Grant to create havoc and destruction of all resources that would be beneficial to the enemy, Sherman began his Atlanta Campaign in May 1864. Students will view a video clip from Ken Burns: The Civil War that explains how after capturing Atlanta, Sherman marched his army to the sea, capturing the city of Savannah in December, and then marching through South Carolina into North Carolina. Students will then analyze two primary sources. Student questions follow, which can be used for general class discussion or individual assessment. Answers to the questions are included.

Explore images of the city, Confederate defenses, and ruins from the battle that took place in Atlanta, Georgia. The City of Atlanta fell to Union forces, commanded by William Tecumseh Sherman, in July of 1864. The fall of Atlanta was a blow to the Confederate Army and a critical victory for the North and Abraham Lincoln, who used the momentum of the win to fuel his reelection campaign.

Students will view a video clip from Ken Burns: The Civil War and analyze the surrender terms, as well as the events leading to Lee’s surrender. Then they will review selections from General Grant’s memoirs. Discussion questions follow, which can be used for general class discussion or individual assessment. Answers to the questions are included.

Learn how Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant in this excerpt from The Civil War: A Film by Ken Burns. April 7, 1865 — Grant writes to Lee. April 9, 1865 — Lee sends word that he will surrender. Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant meet at Appomattox to work out the terms of the surrender. The formal surrender comes three days later. In Washington, Lincoln quietly rejoices. A few blocks away, John Wilkes Booth plots.

Explore a gallery of Civil War artillery, ordnance, and military supplies. The Civil War was fought in 10,000 locations across the United States. More than three million men fought in battle, and more than 600,000 lost their lives to injuries and disease.

View images of the USS Monitor and other iron-clad gunboats. The Monitor was part of a new class of naval warship, an iron-clad steamship, developed during the Civil War. The Monitor fought the Confederate Army’s CSS Virginia (Merrimack) in the first battle between two iron-clad boats. The battle was considered a draw between the North and South. While impressive in its initial battles, the Monitor was not fit for open sea and the poorly designed ship sank in 1862 off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, with 16 men still aboard it.

Explore a gallery of images about Abraham Lincoln, his wife Mary Todd, and his assassination. Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, the first president from the Republican Party, and the leader of the country during the American Civil War. Lincoln’s firm anti-slavery position led to his Emancipation Proclamation, which declared that slaves living in southern, rebel states were free. His oratorical and writing skills, and firm belief in preserving the future of the Union of the United States, appealed to the best of American ideals. Lincoln served as president from 1861-1865. He was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth in Ford’s Theatre in Washington DC on April 14, 1865.

View a gallery of Civil War leaders and generals, from the President of the Confederate States of America, Jefferson Davis, and the Commander of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, Robert E. Lee, to the Commanding General of the United States Army, Ulysses S. Grant, and General George McClellan. During the years 1861-1865, the Civil War was fought in 10,000 locations across the United States, and nearly tore the country in two. The war claimed more than 600,000 lives, but it would also bring the end of slavery and introduce a new political and economic order to the country.