It Begins The first guns were fired April 12, 1861.

South Carolina opened fire on a U.S. fort in Charleston harbor.

After Fort Sumter fell, President Lincoln called for 75,000 troops to put down the rebellion.

Reason for the Civil War

The civil war was fought over new states rights. Some states used slavery for their economy. The new territories were part slave and free. Abraham Lincoln did not believe in slavery. When Abraham Lincoln became president, the southern states seceded and the civil war began.

The union and the confederates were the main ones in the war. But others like the British also fought although for different reasons.

Who was Involved?Who was Involved?

Union states

California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin.

Confederate states

South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Jan. Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee

Leaders

The best two leaders were Ulysses S. Grant (Union) and Robert E. Lee (confederate). Abraham Lincolnwas the Commander in Chief of the Union Army. Jefferson Davis was Commander in Chief of the Confederate Army.

Ulysses S. Grant

Ulysses S. Grant (April 27, 1822 – July 23, 1885) was the commanding general of the combined Union armies during the civil war and the eighteenth President of the United States. Grant has been described as the greatest general of his age and one of the greatest strategists of any age.

Robert E. Lee

Robert E. Lee soldier, born in Stratford, Westmoreland County, Virginia, 19 Jan., 1807; died in Lexington, Virginia, 12 Oct., 1870. He was the son of the Revolutionary general Henry Lee. He had graduated from the U. S. military academy at West Point in 1829, ranking second in a class of forty-six, and was commissioned as a 2d lieutenant in the engineers.

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Civil War AlliancesBritish recognition of a new slaveholding nation

seemed improbable, because Parliament had outlawed the slave trade in the British Empire in 1833. But the Union’s blockade of Confederate ports, which cut off Southern cotton exports, changed the situation.

Weapons UsedWeapons used in the civil war included smoothbore muskets, a weapon of limited range and accuracy. Small arms witch where in two categories smoothbore or rifled , rifles, canons, pistols, and a few more weapons like swords and knifes.

Transportation

Travel during the Civil War was very slow. Railroads weren't regulated, so frequent transfers were needed in some areas. Generally, trains and ships provided the fastest transportation but, in some locations, traveling via these methods was impossible if the enemy had control of the ports, depots or railroads. Even traveling by horse was dangerous in some areas.

Civil War BattlesThe Battle of Chancellorsville, the Battle of

Spotsylvania Courthouse, the Battle of Chickamauga, and the Battle of Gettysburg were some of the most important battles.

What Happened to the Prisoners?

There were over 400,000 prisoners during the Civil War. In the very beginning of the Civil War, prisoners of war were exchanged right on the battlefield, a private for a private, a sergeant for a sergeant and a captain for a captain.

Civil War Hero’s

Harriet Tubman: served as a Civil War nurse.

Mary Ann Bickerdyke: Who followed Grant’s army to care for the wounded.

Sally Tompkins: who ran a small private hospital in Richmond, was commissioned by Jefferson Davis as a captain in the Confederate army in recognition of her services.

The Result

The good: It ended slavery.  Since slavery was a major bone of contention between the two regions, ending it helped make the US more of a united whole. The bad: The American Civil War was the most costly of American wars in history. A savage war that split the country in half, the Civil War cost the United States over 600,000 lives, and led to over 1,000,000 casualties.

The End

The civil war finally ended on April 18, 1865, when the leader General Lee signed the documents of surrender at Appomattox Courthouse on April 9, 1865. Approximately 617,000 Americans had died in the war. Let them rest in peace.