American Civil War

April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865 · Eastern United States

Result Union victory

War in the United States from 12 April 1861 to 26 May 1865 between the Union (the North) and the Confederacy (the South), formed in 1861 by states that seceded to preserve slavery after Abraham Lincoln's 1860 election victory; it began when the Confederacy bombarded Fort Sumter. Union victory dissolved the Confederacy and abolished slavery, freeing four million African Americans.

Union

Confederacy

Other

Strength and losses

Strength
2,200,000
Casualties
828,000
Deaths
365,000
Wounded
282,000
Captured
181,193

United States Strength 2,213,363 · Killed 140,414 · Deaths 364,511 · Wounded 281,881

Strength
750,000–1,000,000
Casualties
864,000
Deaths
290,000
Wounded
137,000
Captured
436,658

Confederate States of America Strength c. 1,050,000 · Killed c. 74,524 · Deaths c. 133,821

Killed
c. 618,000

Units

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Army of the Cumberland William S. Rosecrans Major general · 1862–1863 George H. Thomas Major general · 1863–1865 Cavalry Corps (Army of the Cumberland) Robert B. Mitchell Brigadier general · 1863 Eli Long Colonel · 1863–1864 Washington Elliott Brigadier general · 1864 IV Corps (Union Army) Also under Army of the Ohio Gordon Granger Major general · 1863–1864 Oliver O. Howard Major general · 1864 David S. Stanley Major general · 1864–1865 Reserve Corps (Army of the Cumberland) Gordon Granger Major general · 1863 XIV Corps (Union Army) Also under Army of Georgia William S. Rosecrans Major general · 1862–1863 George H. Thomas Major general · 1863 John M. Palmer Major general · 1863–1864 Jefferson C. Davis Major general · 1864–1865 Richard W. Johnson Major general · 1864 14th Ohio Infantry Regiment 2nd Ohio Infantry Regiment XX Corps (Union Army) Also under Army of Georgia Joseph Hooker Major general · 1864 Alpheus S. Williams Major general · 1864 Henry W. Slocum Major general · 1864 Alpheus S. Williams Major general · 1864–1865 Joseph A. Mower Major general · 1865 XX Corps (Union Army, 1863) Alexander McDowell McCook Major general · 1863 XXI Corps (Union Army, 1863) Thomas Leonidas Crittenden Major general · 1863 Cavalry Division, Army of the Cumberland David S. Stanley Brigadier general Provisional Detachment (District of the Etowah) James B. Steedman Major general Army of the Frontier Army of the Gulf Benjamin Franklin Butler Major general · 1862 Nathaniel P. Banks Major general · 1862–present Corps d'Afrique Daniel Ullman Brigadier general · 1863–1864 1st Louisiana Native Guard (Union) Army of the James Benjamin Franklin Butler Major general · 1864–1865 E. O. C. Ord Major general · 1865 Terry's Provisional Corps Alfred Howe Terry Major general · 1865–present XVIII Corps (Union army) John G. Foster Major general · 1862–1864 William Farrar Smith Major general · 1864 E. O. C. Ord Major general · 1864 Godfrey Weitzel Major general · 1864 XXIV Corps (Union army) Alfred Howe Terry Major general · 1864–1865 First Division, XXIV Corps Second Division, XXIV Corps Adelbert Ames Brigadier general · 1864–present XXV Corps (Union army) Godfrey Weitzel Major general · 1864–present Third Division, XXV Corps Charles J. Paine Brigadier general · 1864–present Army of the Mississippi John Alexander McClernand Major general · 1863 XIII Corps (Union army) Ulysses S. Grant Major general · 1862 John Alexander McClernand Major general · 1862–1863 George W. Morgan Brigadier general · 1863 John Alexander McClernand Major general · 1863 E. O. C. Ord Major general · 1863–present XV Corps (Union Army) William Tecumseh Sherman Major general · 1862–1863 Francis P. Blair Jr. Major general · 1863–1864 John A. Logan Major general · 1864 Morgan L. Smith Brigadier general · 1864 John A. Logan Major general · 1864 Peter J. Osterhaus Brigadier general · 1864–1865 John A. Logan Major general · 1865 William B. Hazen Major general · 1865 Army of the Ohio Don Carlos Buell Major general · 1861–1862 Ambrose Burnside Major general · 1863 John G. Foster Major general · 1863–1864 John Schofield Major general · 1864 Jacob D. Cox Brigadier general · 1864 John Schofield Major general · 1864–1865 John Schofield Major general · 1865 XXIII Corps (Union Army) George L. Hartsuff Major general · 1863 Mahlon D. Manson Brigadier general · 1863–1864 John Schofield Major general · 1864 Jacob D. Cox Brigadier general · 1864 John Schofield Major general · 1864 Jacob D. Cox Brigadier general · 1864 John Schofield Major general · 1864–1865 Jacob D. Cox Major general · 1865 Army of the Potomac George B. McClellan Major general · 1861–1862 Ambrose Burnside Major general · 1862–1863 Joseph Hooker Major general · 1863 George Meade Major general · 1863–1865 Cavalry Corps (Union Army) Also under Army of the Shenandoah (Union) George Stoneman Major general · 1863 Alfred Pleasonton Major general · 1863–1864 Philip Henry Sheridan Major general · 1864 David McMurtrie Gregg Brigadier general · 1864–1865 Wesley Merritt Major general · 1865 Center Grand Division, Army of the Potomac Joseph Hooker Major general · 1862–1863 III Corps (Union Army) Samuel P. Heintzelman Major general · 1862 George Stoneman Major general · 1862–1863 Daniel Sickles Major general · 1863 David B. Birney Major general · 1863 Daniel Sickles Major general · 1863 David B. Birney Major general · 1863 William H. French Major general · 1863–1864 David B. Birney Major general · 1864 William H. French Major general · 1864 V Corps (Union Army) Fitz John Porter Major general · 1862 Joseph Hooker Major general · 1862 Daniel Butterfield Major general · 1862 George Meade Major general · 1862–1863 Charles Griffin Brigadier general · 1863 George Sykes Major general · 1863 George Meade Major general · 1863 Andrew A. Humphreys Major general · 1863 George Meade Major general · 1863 George Sykes Major general · 1863 Samuel W. Crawford Brigadier general · 1863 George Sykes Major general · 1863–1864 Gouverneur Kemble Warren Major general · 1864–1865 Samuel W. Crawford Brigadier general · 1865 Gouverneur Kemble Warren Major general · 1865 Charles Griffin Major general · 1865 20th Maine Infantry Regiment IV Corps (Union Army) Erasmus D. Keyes Major general · 1862–1863 IX Corps (Union Army) Also under Army of the Ohio, Right Grand Division, Army of the Potomac, and Army of the Tennessee Ambrose Burnside Major general · 1862 Jesse L. Reno Major general · 1862 Jacob D. Cox Brigadier general · 1862 Orlando B. Willcox Brigadier general · 1862–1863 John G. Parke Major general · 1863–1864 John G. Parke Major general · 1864 Ambrose Burnside Major general · 1864 John G. Parke Major general · 1864–1865 Left Grand Division, Army of the Potomac William Buel Franklin Major general · 1862–1863 I Corps (Union Army) Irvin McDowell Major general · 1862 Irvin McDowell Major general · 1862 James B. Ricketts Brigadier general · 1862 Joseph Hooker Major general · 1862 Joseph Hooker Major general · 1862 George Meade Brigadier general · 1862 John F. Reynolds Major general · 1862–1863 Abner Doubleday Major general · 1863 John Newton Brigadier general · 1863–1864 Iron Brigade Also under V Corps (Union Army) and Army of Virginia Rufus King Brigadier general · 1861–1862 John Gibbon Brigadier general · 1862 Solomon Meredith Brigadier general · 1862–1863 Reserve Grand Division, Army of the Potomac Franz Sigel Major general · 1862–1863 Right Grand Division, Army of the Potomac Edwin V. Sumner Major general · 1862–1863 II Corps (Union Army) Edwin V. Sumner Major general · 1862 Darius N. Couch Major general · 1862 John Sedgwick Major general · 1862–1863 Oliver O. Howard Major general · 1863 Darius N. Couch Major general · 1863 Winfield Scott Hancock Major general · 1863 John Gibbon Brigadier general · 1863 Winfield Scott Hancock Major general · 1863 Alexander Hays Brigadier general · 1863 Gouverneur Kemble Warren Major general · 1863–1864 Winfield Scott Hancock Major general · 1864 David B. Birney Major general · 1864 Winfield Scott Hancock Major general · 1864 Andrew A. Humphreys Major general · 1864–1865 Irish Brigade (Union Army) Thomas Francis Meagher Brigadier general · 1862–1863 1st Minnesota Infantry Regiment Cavalry Division, Army of the Potomac George Stoneman Brigadier general · 1862 Alfred Pleasonton Brigadier general · 1862–1863 VI Corps (Union Army) Also under Army of the Shenandoah (Union) and Left Grand Division, Army of the Potomac William Buel Franklin Major general · 1862 William Farrar Smith Major general · 1862–1863 John Newton Brigadier general · 1863 John Sedgwick Major general · 1863–1864 James B. Ricketts Brigadier general · 1864 John Sedgwick Major general · 1864 Horatio Gouverneur Wright Major general · 1864 Horatio Gouverneur Wright Major general · 1864 James B. Ricketts Brigadier general · 1864 George W. Getty Brigadier general · 1864 Horatio Gouverneur Wright Major general · 1864 Horatio Gouverneur Wright Major general · 1864–1865 George W. Getty Brigadier general · 1865 Horatio Gouverneur Wright Major general · 1865 XI Corps (Union Army) Also under Army of the Cumberland and Reserve Grand Division, Army of the Potomac Franz Sigel Major general · 1862–1863 Carl Schurz Major general · 1863 Franz Sigel Major general · 1863 Carl Schurz Major general · 1863 Oliver O. Howard Major general · 1863 Carl Schurz Major general · 1863 Oliver O. Howard Major general · 1863–1864 Carl Schurz Major general · 1864 Oliver O. Howard Major general · 1864 XII Corps (Union Army) Also under Army of the Cumberland and Reserve Grand Division, Army of the Potomac Alpheus S. Williams Brigadier general · 1862 Joseph K. Mansfield Major general · 1862 Alpheus S. Williams Brigadier general · 1862 Henry W. Slocum Major general · 1862–1863 Alpheus S. Williams Brigadier general · 1863 Henry W. Slocum Major general · 1863 Alpheus S. Williams Brigadier general · 1863 Henry W. Slocum Major general · 1863–1864 XIX Corps (Union army) Nathaniel P. Banks Major general · 1862–present Army of the Shenandoah (Union) Philip Henry Sheridan Major general · 1864–1865 Army of the Southwest Army of the Tennessee Ulysses S. Grant Major general · 1862–1863 William Tecumseh Sherman Major general · 1863–1864 James B. McPherson Major general · 1864 John A. Logan Major general · 1864 Oliver O. Howard Major general · 1864–1865 John A. Logan Major general · 1865 XVI Corps (Union army) Andrew J. Smith Major general · 1864 Thomas E. G. Ransom Brigadier general · 1864 Andrew J. Smith Major general · 1865 XVII Corps (Union Army) James B. McPherson Major general · 1862–1864 Francis P. Blair Jr. Major general · 1864 Thomas E. G. Ransom Brigadier general · 1864 Francis P. Blair Jr. Major general · 1864–1865 Detachment, Army of the Tennessee Andrew J. Smith Major general · 1864–1865 Army of the West (Union) Nathaniel Lyon Brigadier general · ?–1861 Samuel D. Sturgis Major · 1861–present First Brigade, Army of the West Samuel D. Sturgis Major Fourth Brigade, Army of the West George Deitzler Colonel Second Brigade, Army of the West Franz Sigel Colonel Third Brigade, Army of the West George L. Andrews Lieutenant colonel 1st Missouri Infantry Regiment (Union) Denver City Home Guard Department of Pennsylvania Department of West Virginia Benjamin Franklin Kelley Brigadier general · 1863–1864 Franz Sigel Major general · 1864 David Hunter Major general · 1864 George Crook Major general · 1864–1865 Department of the Ohio George B. McClellan Major general · 1861 Department of the South Quincy Adams Gillmore Major general · 1863–1864 X Corps (Union army) Quincy Adams Gillmore Major general · 1863–1864 Second Division, X Corps Truman Seymour Brigadier general · ?–1863 Strong's Brigade George Crockett Strong Brigadier general · ?–1863 Home Guard (United States) Union Army Balloon Corps Union Army of Kentucky United States Army Corps of Engineers Utah Territorial Militia 1st Missouri US Reserve Corps Infantry Regiment Cavalry Corps, Military Division of the Mississippi James H. Wilson Major general · 1864–1865 VII Corps (Union army) VIII Corps (Union army) Veteran Corps of Artillery Kanawha Division Republican Blues 10th Infantry Regiment (United States) 11th Maine Infantry Regiment 11th United States Colored Infantry Regiment (New) 122nd Illinois Infantry Regiment 147th Regiment (United States) 14th Infantry Regiment (United States) 14th Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment 16th Infantry Regiment (United States) 16th Ohio Infantry Regiment 18th Infantry Regiment (United States) 199th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment 19th Infantry Regiment (United States) 1st Air Defense Artillery Regiment 1st Cavalry Regiment (United States) 1st Colorado Infantry Regiment 1st Maine Cavalry Regiment 1st Maine Infantry Regiment 1st Massachusetts Cavalry Regiment 1st West Virginia Cavalry Regiment 1st West Virginia Infantry Regiment 21st Ohio Infantry Regiment 22nd Infantry Regiment (United States) 23rd Infantry Regiment (United States) 2nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment 2nd Cavalry Regiment (United States) 2nd Colorado Infantry Regiment 2nd Florida Cavalry Regiment (Union) 2nd Infantry Regiment (United States) 2nd Missouri Infantry Regiment (Union) 2nd New York Cavalry Regiment 2nd United States Colored Infantry Regiment 2nd West Virginia Infantry Regiment 33rd Ohio Infantry Regiment 3rd Cavalry Regiment (United States) 3rd New York Cavalry Regiment 3rd West Virginia Cavalry Regiment 42nd Massachusetts Infantry Regiment 46th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment 4th Cavalry Regiment (United States) 4th Infantry Regiment (United States) 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment Robert Gould Shaw Colonel · 1863 5th Cavalry Regiment 5th Infantry Regiment (United States) 5th Minnesota Infantry Regiment 5th United States Colored Cavalry Regiment 62nd Ohio Infantry Regiment 67th Ohio Infantry Regiment 6th Indiana Infantry Regiment 6th Ohio Cavalry Regiment 7th Indiana Infantry Regiment 7th Infantry Regiment (United States) 8th Ohio Cavalry Regiment 8th Regiment Heavy Artillery U.S. Colored Troops 9th Illinois Infantry Regiment 9th Indiana Infantry Regiment 9th New York Infantry Regiment Chatham Artillery 1st U.S. Artillery, Battery E Fort Sumter Garrison Robert Anderson Major · 1860–1861 East Gulf Blockading Squadron Mississippi River Squadron Andrew Hull Foote Flag officer · 1861–1862 Charles Henry Davis Flag officer · 1862 David Dixon Porter Rear admiral · 1862–1864 North Atlantic Blockading Squadron David Dixon Porter Rear admiral · 1864–1865 USS Monitor South Atlantic Blockading Squadron John Adolphus Dahlgren Rear admiral · 1863–1865 USS Housatonic West Gulf Blockading Squadron David Farragut Rear admiral · 1862–present USS Hartford CSS General Sumter USS General Bragg USS Kearsarge John Ancrum Winslow
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Left Wing, Army of Northern Virginia Gustavus Woodson Smith Major general · ?–1862 Stonewall Jackson Lieutenant general · ?–1862 Reserve, Army of Northern Virginia John B. Magruder Major general · ?–1862 Right Wing, Army of Northern Virginia James Longstreet Lieutenant general · ?–1862 Second Corps, Army of Northern Virginia Also under Army of the Valley Stonewall Jackson Lieutenant general · 1862–1863 A. P. Hill Major general · 1863 Richard S. Ewell Lieutenant general · 1863–1864 Jubal Early Lieutenant general · 1864 John B. Gordon Major general · 1864–1865 A. P. Hill's Light Division A. P. Hill Major general · 1862–1863 Third Corps, Army of Northern Virginia A. P. Hill Lieutenant general · 1863–1865 Jubal Early Lieutenant general · 1864 Stonewall Brigade Also under Army of the Valley and Army of the Potomac (Confederate) Stonewall Jackson Major general · 1861 Army of Tennessee Braxton Bragg General · 1862–1863 Joseph E. Johnston General · 1863–1864 John Bell Hood General · 1864–1865 Joseph E. Johnston General · 1865 First Corps, Army of Tennessee Leonidas Polk Lieutenant general · 1862–1863 Benjamin F. Cheatham Major general · 1863 William J. Hardee Lieutenant general · 1863 Benjamin F. Cheatham Major general · 1863 William J. Hardee Lieutenant general · 1863–1864 Patrick Cleburne Major general · 1864 William J. Hardee Lieutenant general · 1864 Benjamin F. Cheatham Major general · 1864–1865 William B. Bate Major general · 1865 Cleburne's Division Patrick Cleburne Major general · 1862–1864 Reserve Corps (Army of Tennessee) William H. T. Walker Major general · 1863 Second Corps, Army of Tennessee Braxton Bragg Major general · 1862 William J. Hardee Lieutenant general · 1862–1863 Daniel Harvey Hill Lieutenant general · 1863 John C. Breckinridge Major general · 1863 John Bell Hood Lieutenant general · 1863–1864 Stephen D. Lee Lieutenant general · 1864–1865 Daniel Harvey Hill Lieutenant general · 1865 Third Corps, Army of Tennessee Simon Bolivar Buckner Major general · 1863 Leonidas Polk Lieutenant general · 1864 Alexander P. Stewart Lieutenant general · 1864–1865 William W. Loring Major general · 1865 Edward C. Walthall Major general · 1865 Army of Western Louisiana Army of the Potomac (Confederate) P. G. T. Beauregard Brigadier general · 1861 Joseph E. Johnston General · 1861–1862 Army of the Shenandoah (Confederate) Joseph E. Johnston General · 1861 Army of the South Joseph E. Johnston General · 1865 Cavalry Command, Army of the South Wade Hampton III Lieutenant general · 1865 Wheeler's Cavalry Corps Joseph Wheeler Major general · 1862–1865 Army of the Valley Confederate Army of the Northwest Robert S. Garnett Brigadier general · 1861 Henry R. Jackson Brigadier general · 1861 William W. Loring Brigadier general · 1861–1862 Confederate States Marine Corps Department No. 1 Mansfield Lovell Major general · ?–1862 Department of Mississippi and East Louisiana John C. Pemberton Lieutenant general · 1862–present Army of Vicksburg John C. Pemberton Lieutenant general · 1862–1863 Bowen's Division John Stevens Bowen Major general · ?–1863 Forney's Division John H. Forney Major general · ?–1863 Smith's Division Martin L. Smith Major general · ?–1863 Stevenson's Division Carter L. Stevenson Major general · ?–1863 District of East Louisiana Franklin Gardner Major general · 1862–1863 Center Wing, Port Hudson William N. R. Beall Brigadier general · 1862–1863 Left Wing, Port Hudson Isaiah G. W. Steedman Colonel · ?–1863 Right Wing, Port Hudson William R. Miles Colonel · ?–1863 Department of North Carolina Braxton Bragg General · 1865 District of Cape Fear William H. C. Whiting Major general · ?–1865 Fort Fisher Garrison William Lamb Colonel · ?–1865 Hoke's Division Robert Hoke Major general Department of North Carolina and Southern Virginia P. G. T. Beauregard General · 1864 Department of Richmond Richard S. Ewell Lieutenant general · 1864–1865 Department of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida P. G. T. Beauregard General William J. Hardee Lieutenant general · 1864–1865 Fort Wagner Garrison William Booth Taliaferro Brigadier general · ?–1863 Department of Western Virginia John C. Breckinridge Major general · 1864 John C. Breckinridge Major general · 1864 Missouri State Guard Sterling Price Major general · 1861–1865 Fourth Division, Missouri State Guard William Y. Slack Brigadier general Second Division, Missouri State Guard James S. Rains Brigadier general Seventh Division, Missouri State Guard James H. McBride Brigadier general Sixth Division, Missouri State Guard Mosby M. Parsons Brigadier general Third Division, Missouri State Guard John Bullock Clark Jr. Brigadier general Provisional Confederate Forces at Charleston P. G. T. Beauregard Brigadier general · 1861 Western Army Benjamin McCulloch Brigadier general · ?–1862 Pearce's Division, Arkansas State Troops Nicholas Bartlett Pearce Brigadier general McCulloch's Brigade Benjamin McCulloch Brigadier general · ?–1862 Forrest's Cavalry Corps Nathan Bedford Forrest Lieutenant general · 1863–1865 Shelby's Iron Brigade 11th Virginia Cavalry Regiment 14th Virginia Cavalry Regiment 1st Alabama Cavalry Regiment (Confederate) 1st Maryland Cavalry Battalion (Confederate) 1st Virginia Cavalry Regiment 24th Virginia Infantry Regiment 25th Virginia Infantry Regiment 2nd Florida Cavalry Regiment (Confederate) 2nd Maryland Cavalry Battalion 2nd Virginia Cavalry Regiment 31st Virginia Infantry Regiment 3rd Virginia Cavalry Regiment 4th North Carolina Infantry Regiment 4th Virginia Cavalry Regiment 5th Virginia Cavalry Regiment 8th Confederate Cavalry Regiment 1st Georgia Sharpshooter Battalion Kilcrease Light Artillery Fort Hindman Garrison Thomas James Churchill Brigadier general · ?–1863 Deshler's Brigade James Deshler Colonel · ?–1863 Dunnington's Brigade John W. Dunnington Colonel · ?–1863 Garland's Brigade Robert R. Garland Colonel · ?–1863 Confederate States Navy River Defense Fleet James Edward Montgomery Captain · 1862 CSS Little Rebel Colonel Lovell General Beauregard General Earl Van Dorn General M. Jeff Thompson Laurent Millaudon CSS Alabama Raphael Semmes CSS Louisiana Charles F. McIntosh Commander · 1862 CSS Tennessee Franklin Buchanan Admiral · 1864 CSS Virginia Catesby ap Roger Jones H. L. Hunley

Battles and events 310

Key events

1861 33 events
1862 86 events
1863 63 events
1864 104 events
1865 24 events

Before and after

Followed from
Kansas–Nebraska Act May 30, 1854
Dred Scott v. Sandford March 6, 1857
John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry October 16–18, 1859
Led to
Emancipation Proclamation January 1, 1863
Reconstruction era April 9, 1865 – January 20, 1877

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American Civil War
 
 
 
 
 

Also involved 185

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