American Civil War
April 12, 1861 – April 9, 1865
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American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865) was fought in the United States between the Union (the North) and the Confederacy (the South), which was formed in 1861 by states that seceded from the Union to preserve slavery. Decades of controversy over slavery came to a head when Abraham Lincoln won the 1860 presidential election; the war began when the Confederacy bombarded Fort Sumter in South Carolina. The war ended with Union victory, the dissolution of the Confederacy, and the abolition of slavery, freeing four million African Americans.
Commanders
Union 7
Confederates 3
Battles 27
- Battle of Fort Sumter April 12–13, 1861
- Battle of Philippi June 3, 1861
- Battle of Wilson's Creek August 10, 1861
- Battle of Seven Pines May 31 – June 1, 1862
- Battle of Memphis June 6, 1862
- Battle of Antietam September 17, 1862
- Battle of Fredericksburg December 11–15, 1862
- Battle of Stones River December 31, 1862 – January 2, 1863
- Battle of Arkansas Post January 9–11, 1863
- Battle of Chancellorsville April 30 – May 6, 1863
- Siege of Vicksburg May 18 – July 4, 1863
- Siege of Port Hudson May 22 – July 9, 1863
- Battle of Gettysburg July 1–3, 1863
- Battle of Chickamauga September 18–20, 1863
- Battle of the Wilderness May 5–7, 1864
- Battle of Spotsylvania May 8–21, 1864
- Battle of New Market May 15, 1864
- Battle of Cold Harbor May 31 – June 12, 1864
- Battle of the Crater July 30, 1864
- Battle of Mobile Bay August 5, 1864
- Battle of Jonesborough August 31 – September 1, 1864
- Battle of Franklin November 30, 1864
- Battle of Nashville December 15–16, 1864
- Battle of Bentonville March 19–21, 1865
- Battle of Five Forks April 1, 1865
- Battle of Sailor's Creek April 6, 1865
- Battle of Appomattox Court House April 9, 1865
Also participating
Benjamin Harrison
Union
William McKinley
Union