GRADE 8

 

Soldiers and Battles of the Civil War

Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Infantry

The Fifty-forth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. The 54th Massachusetts Infantry was a volunteer group of African Americans who fought during the Civil War. The unit was made up of former slaves from throughout the North. The regiment was one of the first black units organized in the northern states, and so it was considered an important indication of the possibilities surrounding the use of blacks in combat. Two of its recruits were Lewis N. Douglass and Charles Douglass, sons of the famous ex-slave and abolitionist, Frederick Douglass. More than a century after the war the Fifty-fourth remains the most famous black regiment of the war, due largely to the popularity of the movie "Glory", which recounts the story of the regiment.  
Image of Confederate Soldier and Flag     

Battle of Shiloh  - April 6 - 7, 1862

 Isn't it strange that a battle as bloody as the battle at Shiloh would begin on a Sunday morning and be named for a country church near the battlefield? Maybe the soldiers didn't even see the irony. Then again, maybe someone did.

 Image of Union Soldier and Flag
       

Battle of Antietam - September 17, 1862

"Here is a paper with which if I cannot whip Bobbie Lee, I will be willing to go home...
Image of Confederate Soldier and Flag      This was a day no one would forget. In the two days before the battle many men from both sides maneuvered into positions around Antietam. Each knew the other was there; skirmishes erupted throughout the day on 15 and 16 September. Long range artillery tore through the air in hopes of softening the opposing forces. Everyone knew on the evening of 16 September that the next day would be one to remember. On the morning of 17 September there were 30,000 of Lee's Confederate soldiers facing McClellan's 60,000 Union troops. Artillery shells broke the silence of the morning as daybreak signaled the start of the day and the start of the bloodiest single day in American history and the Civil War. Image of Union Soldier and Flag

 
 

In July of 1863, General Robert E. Lee's Army Of Northern Virginia of 75,000 men and the 97,000 man Union Army Of The Potomac under General George G. Meade met, by chance, when a Confederate brigade sent forward for supplies observed a forward column of Meade's cavalry.

Of the more than 2,000 land engagements of the Civil War, Gettysburg ranks supreme. Although the Battle of Gettysburg did not end the war, nor did it attain any major war aim for the North or the South, it remains the great battle of the war.

Here at Gettysburg on July 1, 2, and 3, 1863, more men actually fought and more men died than in any other battle before or since on North American soil.

 

The Battle Of Gettysburg

 

May 1863 -- The Vicksburg Campaign.

"Vicksburg is the key. The war can never be brought to a close until the key is in our pocket," President Abraham Lincoln said. Southerners agreed. "Vicksburg is the nail head that holds the South's two halves together," said Confederate President Jefferson Davis.


Union General Ulysses S. Grant won several victories around Vicksburg, Mississippi, the fortified city considered essential to the Union's plans to regain control of the Mississippi River. On May 22, Grant began a siege of the city. After six weeks, Confederate General John Pemberton surrendered, giving up the city and 30,000 men. The capture of Port Hudson, Louisiana, shortly thereafter placed the entire Mississippi River in Union hands. The Confederacy was split in two.

The Siege of Vicksburg
 

 

 

 

After a long, strenuous campaign to capture Vicksburg, General U. S. Grant had finally come upon the city that held the Mississippi River for the Confederacy. He had tried to bypass the city from upriver four times and failed. After contemplating his alternatives for the campaign, Grant finally decided to merge his army with the Army of the Gulf to attack Port Hudson and march overland to Vicksburg.

Atlanta's Role in the Civil War


Atlanta played an important role during the Civil War. Do you know what it was?

Founded in 1837 as a railway center for northwestern Georgia, Atlanta's original name was "Terminus." By 1852, its population had reached 3,000, including some 500 slaves. Because of its location and commercial importance, Atlanta was used as a center for military operations and as a supply route by the Confederate army during the Civil War. Therefore, it also became a target for the Union army. General William Tecumseh Sherman and his troops captured the city in 1864. In order to weaken the Confederate military organization, Union troops burned Atlanta to the ground before they moved on. Do you think that burning the city was an extreme action?

Today, Atlanta is the capital of Georgia. It is known for its robust economy and as the birthplace of Martin Luther King Jr.

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