States Rights

The idea that the union binding (Those United States) is an agreement between the states and that they therefore can overrule federal law

Anaconda Plan

The Union planned a blockade that would not allow supplies of any sort into the Confederacy; control the Mississippi and Atlantic/Gulf of Mexico

Thomas J. Jackson

Earned the nickname "Stonewall" during a battle at Manassas, Virgina; Confederate general

First Battle of Manassas

First major battle of the war fought just outside Washington D.C. It was a Confederate victory, and both sides realized that they needed to prepare for a long, difficult war.

George B. McClellan

Union General who failed to press his advantage at the Battle of Antietam, and was later relieved of his command by President Lincoln

Army of the Potomac

Name for the major Union force deployed near Washington, commanded by General McClellan during the Civil War.

Ironclad

Warship covered with protective iron plates

Virginia - C.S.S. Virginia

A Southern ironclad that threatened to break the union blockade. Was originally named the U.S.S. Merrimac but southerners renamed it to the C.S.S. Virginia.

Monitor - U.S.S. Monitor

The unions own Iron Clad. 2 guns mounted in a revolving turret that could fire in any direction.

Valley Campaign

Jackson, with a scant fighting force of less than 15,000 Confederates, ranged up and down Virginia's Shenandoah Valley, defeating two separate armies and effectively pinning down 50,000 Federal troops before slipping out of the valley for Richmond to help

Army of Northern Virginia

Major confederate army. number one task was to protect Richmond.

Joseph E. Johnston

Commander of the Army of Northern Virginia until wounded and replaced by Lee

Robert E. Lee

American soldier, he refused Lincoln's offer to head the Union army and agreed to lead Confederate forces. He successfully led several major battles until his defeat at Gettysburg, and he surrendered to the Union's commander General Grant at Appomattox Co

Seven Days' Battles

(1862) A series of Civil War battles in which Confederate army successes forced the Union army to retreat from Richmond, Virginia, the Confederate capital

J.E.B. Stuart

Confederate soldier known for his BOLD raids of seeking out information about enemy positions. Fought at the Battle of Bull Run or Manassas, Fredericksburg, and commanded the army at Chancellorsville

Second Battle of Manassas

AKA Second Bull Run. Pope's Union army was sent reeling back to Washington and Lee had practically driven all Federal troops from Virginia

Battle of Antietam

Lee's attack on Maryland in hopes that he could take it from the Union, bloodiest day of the war, stalemate, McClellan replaced by Burnside, stalemate, South would never be so close to victory again

Battle of Fredricksburg

during this battle, Lee's men dug into the crest of a hill and mowed down wave after wave of chargning union forces. Union worst defeat led by Burnside.

Battle of Chancellorsville

The Union was defeated again with the Confederacy being led by Robert E. Lee. General Thomas Stonewall Jackson was accidentally wounded here by one of his own men.

Pickett's Charge

A failed Confederate assault against Union lines during the Battle of Gettysburg. Named for Confederate General George Pickett, who led the attack. Ended in defeat and death of 10,000 Confederate soldiers. Marked "high-water mark" of Confederacy; southern

Battle of Gettysburg

Turning point of the Civil War that made it clear the North would win. 50,000 people died, and the South lost its chance to invade the North.

Gettysburg Address

A famous speech by President Lincoln on the meaning of the Civil War, given in November 1863 at the dedication of a national cemetery on the site of the Battle of Gettysburg

Ulysses S. Grant

an American general and the eighteenth President of the United States. He achieved international fame as the leading Union general in the American Civil War.

Fort Henry

Grant's first military success. The fort lay on the Tennessee River.

Fort Donelson

Grant captured this fort on the Cumberland and because of the capture, all of Kentucky and most of western Tennessee came under Union control.

Battle of Shiloh

Confederate forces suprised union troops & drove them across the Tennesee river; union got backup and won the battle but it was one of the most bloody battles in the civil war

David G Farragut

Admiral of the Union Navy during the Civil War. Led the daring attack on New Orleans the led to the Union's control of the Mississippi River.

Vicksburg

Grant besieged the city from May 18 to July 4, 1863, until it surrendered, yielding command of the Mississippi River to the Union.

George Thomas

US hero at the Battle of Chickamauga;, Commanded the Army of the Cumberland under Sherman during the Atlanta campaign

Braxton Bragg

Confederate general during the American Civil War who was defeated by Grant in the battle of Chattanooga (1817-1876) but won the battle of Chickamauga

Battle of Perryville

Battle of the culmination of the Confederate Offensive (Kentucky Campaign) Confederate Braxton Bragg's army won against Carlos Buell's army. Considered a strategic Union victory since Bragg withdrew to Tennessee soon after, and the Union retained control

Battle of Stones River

This battle took place in Murfreesboro on New Year's Eve 1862 and ended on January 2, 1863. The union,under the leadership of Major General William Rosencrans, had more casualties, but they stayed in Murfreesboro after General Bragg retreated, boosting Un

Battle of Chickamauga

this battle was important because it was over a southern railroad center; This battle also resulted in a Confederate victory.

Battle of Missionary Ridge

Grant ordered George Thomas to create a diversion. Union surprised Southerners and took the ridge. Bragg retreated to Georgia and Jefferson Davis replaced him with Joseph Johnston; Grant promoted to commander of Union forces

blockade runners

small, fast vessels the South used to smuggle goods past the blockade, usually under the cover of night

conscription

Forced recruitment into the army to meet the needs of war.

New York draft riot

1863. After conscription was enacted, New Yorkers, sparked by New York's Irish American population, rioted. The Irish were angry at being drafted to fight to free Africans who would then come compete for their jobs. Racial murder of African Americans. Bui

border states

States bordering the North: Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky and Missouri. They were slave states, but did not secede.

West Virginia

By the end of 1861, it had liberated the antisecession mountain people of the region who created their own state government loyal to the Union; the state was admitted to the Union as West Virginia in 1863.

Copperheads

a group of northern Democrats who opposed abolition and sympathized with the South during the Civil War

Trent affair

The incident in which a Union warship stopped a British steamer and removed two Confederate diplomats

Emancipation Proclamation

Issued by Abraham Lincoln on September 22,1862 it declared that all slaves in the confederate states would be free

Wilderness Campaign

Union campaign in the Civil War; Grant was transferred to the east with the goal of ending the war with an assault on Richmond.

Battle of Cold Harbor

Yet another battle between the forces of Grant and Lee. Despite suffering enormous casualties, Grant refused to stop attacking Lee. This would eventually lead Lee to run out of men and surrender at Appomattox.

William Tecumseh Sherman

general who was commander of all Union troops in the West he captured Atlanta and led a destructive march to the sea that cut the Confederacy in two

Battle of Atlanta

Union troops under Sherman cut off the railroads supplying Atlanta and burned the city

March to the Sea

Sherman's march through Georgia from Atlanta to Savannah from November 15 to December 21, 1864, during which Union soldiers carried out orders to destroy everything in their path.

Battle of Nashville

One of the largest victories achieved by the Union Army. The Army of Tennessee was destroyed and would never fight again. Confederate General John Bell Hood resigned his command.

siege of Petersburg

last major battle of the civil war
the union layed a 10 month siege
Sherman was coming from the south, and so Lee wouldn't be able to hold out against the union
Lee was forced to retreat
longest siege in american history

Appomattox Court House

the Virginia town where Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant ending the Civil War, Palm Sunday, April 9, 1865