Lesson 2: The War on the Battlefield

Lesson Focus

Initially, both sides expected a quick fight. This lesson explores how early enthusiasm turned to horror as key battles revealed the grim, bloody reality of a long and difficult war.

People to Know

Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant

Learning Objectives

• Identify the major battles of the war and understand their place in the broader conflict.
• Explain why Antietam, Gettysburg, and Vicksburg were critical turning points that shaped the war's outcome.

Believing the war would be short, the Union army invaded Virginia in July 1861 to capture Richmond.

Near a stream called Bull Run, the two untrained armies clashed in the first major battle.

Confederate reinforcements led to a chaotic Union retreat, proving to both sides that the war would be long and brutal. Note that this battle shattered the North's confidence and ended hopes of a quick victory, a message sent by Confederate general Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson.

After Bull Run, President Lincoln appointed General George McClellan to train the Union army for the war in the eastern theater.

Despite having larger forces, Union generals were repeatedly outmaneuvered by Confederate General Robert E. Lee in a series of battles in 1862 and 1863, including the Second Battle of Bull Run and Chancellorsville.

These Confederate victories resulted in massive Union casualties and kept Union forces from capturing the Confederate capital of Richmond.

After major victories, Robert E. Lee invaded Maryland in September 1862 to threaten Washington, D.C.

Union General George McClellan discovered Lee's battle plans and attacked his divided army at Antietam Creek on September 17, 1862.

The battle became the bloodiest single day of the war, forcing Lee to retreat. This victory gave President Lincoln the confidence to issue the Emancipation Proclamation, changing the focus of the war to ending slavery.

In June 1863, Robert E. Lee again invaded the North, leading to a massive three-day battle at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

Union forces under General Meade held the high ground and repelled Confederate attacks, culminating in the disastrous Pickett's Charge.

Lee retreated on July 4, having suffered devastating casualties. Pay special attention to this: Gettysburg was the turning point of the war, as the South's army could not recover from its losses or launch another major invasion.

The Union's western theater strategy aimed to split the Confederacy by controlling the Mississippi River.

In February 1862, General Ulysses S. Grant began this campaign by capturing Fort Henry and Fort Donelson, then fought the bloody Battle of Shiloh, while Flag Officer David Farragut captured New Orleans.

By the end of 1862, these victories gave the Union control of most of the river, leaving Vicksburg, Mississippi, as the final Confederate stronghold.

As a follow-up to the western campaign, capturing the fortress city of Vicksburg was essential for Union victory.

In a daring campaign in May 1863, General Ulysses S. Grant marched his army around the city, cut his own supply lines, and laid siege to it.

After six weeks of bombardment and starvation, Vicksburg surrendered on July 4, 1863. This victory gave the Union complete control of the Mississippi River, splitting the Confederacy in two.