Anaconda Plan
the Union (Northern) plan devised by General Winfield Scott to blockade the south and restrict its trade to win the war.
Robert E. Lee
Confederate general who had opposed secession but did not believe the Union should be held together by force
Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson
he was a confederate general who was known for his fearlessness in leading rapid marches bold flanking movements and furious assaults. he earned his nickname at the battle of first bull run for standing courageously against union fire. During the battle o
First Battle of Bull Run
First major battle of the Civil War, in which untrained Northern troops and civilian picnickers fled back to Washington. This battle helped boost Southern morale and made the North realize that this would be a long war.
George McClellan
was a major general during the American Civil War. He organized the famous Army of the Potomac and served briefly (November 1861 to March 1862) as the general-in-chief of the Union Army. Early in the war, McClellan played an important role in raising a we
Seven Day's Campaign
The Seven Days Campaign changed the course of the war in Virginia. Lee had relieved the Confederate capital and had seized the initiative in the East, which he maintained until the Battle of Antietam in September. Lee corrected problems plauging his army
quaker gun
a dummy gun or piece of artillery made usually of wood
Battle of Antietam
Civil War battle in which the North suceedeed in halting Lee's Confederate forces in Maryland. Was the bloodiest battle of the war resulting in 25,000 casualties
Ambrose E. Burnside
Union general who was fired after leading his troops through an open field to be slaughtered in the Battle of Fredericksburg
Battle of Fredericksburg
The Union, led by Major General Ambrose Burnside, was defeated and lost 12,000 men. General Robert E. Lee, Commander of the Army of Northern Virginia, was the Confederate general who led in the defeat.
Copper Heads
a portion of Democrats in the North who opposed the Civil War, wanting a peace settlement with the Confederates instead of violence. Republicans called them copper heads because they were comparing them to the poisonous snake.
Joseph Hooker
Union General who replaced General Burnside. Launched campaign against confederate General Robert E. Lee
Merrimac vs. Monitor
first battle meeting of ironclad warships, met on a river and the fighting lasted two days, the result was indecisive
C.S.S. Hunley
Confederate submarine in Charleston. First to sink a ship in a war (Housatonic)
John C. Fremont
an American military officer, explorer, the first candidate of the Republican Party for the office of President of the United States, and the first presidential candidate of a major party to run on a platform in opposition to slavery. Said all slaves were
Benjamin Butler
Union general who was placed in control of New Orleans after it fell to Union forces;, a union leader that took command of New Orleans and issued orders threatening women and was known as Beast Butler
slave contraband
An item taken away from the enemy and used against them. Phrase that was commonly used to describe a slave the union captured.
Emancipation Proclaimation
Issued by Abraham Lincoln on September 22, 1862, it declared that all slaves in the rebellious Confederate states would be free except those under Union control.
Ex Parte Merryman case
Lincoln suspens habeus corpus which is a person's right to have a judge determine the legality of his imprisonment. Judge Taney wrote this paper stating why Lincoln's suspension is unconstitutional.
John Merryman
Arrested for being an active secessionist symapthizer by the military. Habeus Corpus was suspended.
Battle of Chancellorsville
Civil War battle that took place on thickly wooded ground near a Virginia town, Confederate victory because of Lee and Jackson, Jackson killed from friendly fire
Battle at Gettysburg
This was one of the worst battles fought in the North. General Lee tried to attach Washington, DC and his army ran into the Union near this location. They fought for 3 days and 50,000 soldiers were killed. The North won.
Jeb Stuart
in charge of Confederate cavalry; Lee upset with him because he arrives late and without the right things; involved in Gettysburg
Harry Heth
Heth's division made history by inadvertently starting the Battle of Gettysburg
James Longstreet
He was one of the foremost Confederate generals of the American Civil War and the principal subordinate to General Robert E. Lee. He served under Lee as a corps commander for many of the famous battles fought by the Army of Northern Virginia in the Easter
Winfield Hancock
the Democratic candidate for the 1880 election who was a Civil War hero; he hardly lost the popular vote, but soundly lost the electoral vote to Garfield
John Buford
Union general that led a cavalry charge at Gettysburg
Joshua L. Chamberlain
A gallant Union commander of the 20th Maine,
he achieved fame during the Battle of
Gettysburg for his defense of
Little Round Top. Ran out of ammunition so ran down the hill with his men and the bayonets attached to the ends of their rifles and it worked.
Richard Ewell
Confederate general in charge of attacked the right flank of the union army.... did not pursue attack on the 1st day of Gettysburg but pushed the union back north of the town
Jubal Early
commander of one of Ewells divisions cold and dark and will keep his reputation at any cost
Picketts Charge
3rd day of Gettysburg, Lee asked Pickett to lead troops on a mile and a half run where they were then slaughtered by the union army
Ulysses S. Grant
an American general and the eighteenth President of the United States (1869-1877). He achieved international fame as the leading Union general in the American Civil War.
Vicksburg
Grant's best fought campaign, this siege ended in the seizure of the Mississippi River by the Union after a month.
Battle of the Wilderness
Second battle fought in the thickly wooded wilderness near Chancellorville, Virginia; in the battle of May 5-6, 1864, no clear victor emerged, but the battle served to deplete the Army of Northern Virginia Battle between Grant and Lee.
Spotsylvania
Some of the heaviest fighting in the war occured at this battle. the fighting wa so fierce that mini balls cut a 22 inch diameter oak tree down. Lee retreated but Grant continues to follow
Cold Harbor
In a ghastly gamble, on June 3, 1864, Grant ordered a frontal assault on the impregnable position of Cold Harbor. The Union soldiers advanced to almost certain death with papers pinned on their backs bearing their names and addresses. In a few minutes, ab
W.T. Sherman
Was a Union General. Led a total war compaign to the sea during the Civil War. remarked about Chief Jospeh admirably. Took Atlanta. Was called one of the first modern generals to destroy and obliterate.
March of the Sea
Sherman's idea to march his army from Tennessee to Atlanta, Georgia, and then across Georgia to Savannah, Georgia, on the Atlantic seacoast.
Fort Sumter
April 12th, 1861 Federal fort in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina; the confederate attack on the fort marked the start of the Civil War.
Writ of Habeas Corpus
A court order that requires police to bring a prisoner to court to explain why they are holding the person
Abraham Lincoln
16th President 1861-1865, Republican/support in the north, anti-slavery/pro-white/free labor, Emancipation Proclamation. Honest a.f.
border states
Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky and Missouri. They were slave states, but did not secede.
Confederate States of America
11 southern states that seceded from the United States in 1861, Jefferson Davis was the president, Montgomery, AL was the capital
Jefferson Davis
An American statesman and politician who served as President of the Confederate States of America for its entire history from 1861 to 1865
Anaconda Plan
Union war plan by Winfield Scott, called for blockade of southern coast, capture of Richmond, capture Mississippi River, and to take an army through heart of south. Six components which involved liberating slaves, blockading in the Southern area, capturin
Robert E. Lee
A General for the confederates, fought many battles. One of his main plans towards the end of the civil war was to wait for a new president to come into office to make peace with. Fought Peninsular Campaign, 2nd battle of Bull Run, Antietam, Fredericksbur
Monitor and Merrimac
First engagement ever between two iron-clad naval vessels. The two ships battled in a portion of the Chesapeake Bay known as Hampton Roads for five hours on March 9, 1862, ending in a draw. Monitor - Union. Merrimac - Confederacy. Historians use the name
Ulysses S. Grant
an American general and the eighteenth President of the United States (1869-1877), Republican. He achieved international fame as the leading Union general in the American Civil War. He was more successful in foreign affairs, where he was aided by his secr
Trent Affair
In 1861 the Confederacy sent emissaries James Mason to Britain and John Slidell to France to lobby for recognition. A Union ship captured both men and took them to Boston as prisonners. The British were angry and Lincoln ordered their release
cotton diplomacy
Confederate efforts to use the importance of southern cotton to Britain's textile industry to persuade the British to support the Confederacy in the Civil War
Alabama Claims
A series of claims for damages by the government of the US against the government of the United Kingdom for the perceived covert assistance given to the Confederate cause during the American Civil War
Emancipation Proclamation
1863, Lincoln's proclamation made after a crucial victory at Antietam, allowed Lincoln to push for something radical; frees all slaves in areas under rebellion; this excludes the border states, keeping them on the side of the union, prevents foreign power
13th Amendment
1865. Amendment abolishing and continually prohibiting slavery. With limited exception, such as those guilty of committing a crime, it also prevents indentured servitude.
Election of 1864
5 political parties supported candidates for the presidency: War Democrats, Peace Democrats, Copperheads, Radical Republicans, & National Union Party; each political party offered a diff. point of view on how the war should be run & what should be done to
Appomattox Court House
Famous as the site of the surrender of the Confederate Army under Robert E. Lee to Union commander Ulysses S. Grant on April 9th, 1865
Copperheads
A group of northern Democrats who opposed abolition and sympathized with the South during the Civil War
Ex Parte Milligan (1866)
a United States Supreme Court Case that ruled suspension of Habeas Corpus by President Lincoln as unconstitutional and that a civilian cannot be tried in military courts while civil courts are available.
New York Draft Riots
July 1863 just after the Battle at Gettysburg. Mobs of Irish working-class men and women roamed the streets for four days until federal troops suppressed them. They loathed the idea of being drafted to fight a war on behalf of slaves who, once freed, woul
greenbacks
Name for Union paper money not backed by gold or silver. Value would fluctuate depending on status of the war
Morrill Tariff Act (1861)
a major protectionist tariff bill instituted in the US. It was signed into law by Democratic president, Buchanan. The tax is significant for severely altering American commercial policy after a period of relative free trade to several decades of heavy pro
Homestead Act (1862)
Act that allowed a settler to acquire as much as 160 acres of land by living on it for 5 years, improving it, and paying a nominal fee of about $30 - instead of public land being sold primarily for revenue, it was now being given away to encourage a rapid
Morrill Land Grant Act (1862)
(1862) The legislation gave states that had remained in the Union 30,000 acres, multiplied by the number of congressmen representing that state, to establish agricultural and mechanical colleges.
Pacific Railway Act (1862)
Authorized the building of a transcontinental railroad over a northern route in order to link the economies of California and the western territories to the Eastern states
Second American Revolution
Civil War transformed American into a complex modern industrial society of capital, technology, national organizations, and large corporations; Republicans able to stimulate the industrial and commercial growth of US
Matthew Brady
Irish-American photographer who documented the American Civil War
Battles and Campaigns
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Antietam
1862, the first major battle in the American Civil War to take place on Northern soil. It was the bloodiest single-day battle in American history, with almost 23,000 casualties. After this "win" for the North, Lincoln announced the Emancipation Proclamati
Gettysburg
1863-General Lee lead the Confederate troops into Pennsylvania. He surprised the units in this town and the battle was the most crucial and bloodiest of the war. This victory belonged to Lincoln and the Union. Turning point; last offensive attack of the S
Vicksburg
Grant besieged the city from May 18 to July 4, 1863, until it surrendered, yielding command of the Mississippi River to the Union.
Sherman's March
General Sherman led some 60000 troops on a march south across Georgia; burned cities and destroyed everything in his path; killed civilians, destroyed crops. Sherman believed in total war.