American Civil War Events

The Second Battle of Springfield was a battle in the American Civil War fought January 8, 1863, in Springfield, Missouri. It is sometimes known as The Battle of Springfield. (The First Ba...

The Battle of Arkansas Post, also known as the Battle of Fort Hindman, was a Civil War battle fought January 9–11, 1863, as Union troops under Major General John A. McClernand sought to s...

Description: John S. Marmaduke led a Confederate raid into Missouri in early January 1863. This movement was two-pronged. Col. Joseph C. Porter led one column, comprising his Missouri Cav...

Douglass becomes a recruiter for the 54th Massachusetts Infantry, the first regiment of African-American soldiers; his sons Lewis and Charles join the regiment. Eventually his son Frederi...

Description: Under orders, in late January 1863, Confederate Maj. Gen. Joseph Wheeler, commanding two brigades of cavalry, had taken position on the Cumberland River at Palmyra to disrupt...

Description: To distract attention from a planned cavalry-infantry raid up the Peninsula on Richmond, the Federal army forced several crossings of the Rapidan River on February 6. A II Co...

Other Names: None Location: Bryan County Campaign: Naval Attacks on Fort McAllister (1863) Date(s): March 3, 1863 Principal Commanders: Capt. P. Drayton, U.S.N. [US]; Capt. Ge...

Description: In a period of relative inactivity following the Battle of Stones River, a reinforced Union infantry brigade, under Col. John Coburn, left Franklin to reconnoiter south towar...

Ex parte Milligan, 71 U.S. 2 (1866), was a United States Supreme Court case that ruled that the application of military tribunals to citizens when civilian courts are still operating is u...

Description: Lt. Gen. James Longstreet took charge of the Department of Virginia and North Carolina on February 25 and initiated his Tidewater Operations. He directed D.H. Hill, commander...

Description: Kelly’s Ford was one of the early larger scale cavalry fights in Virginia that set the stage for Brandy Station and cavalry actions of the Gettysburg campaign. Twenty-one hun...

Description: During the inactivity following the Battle of Stones River, a Union brigade-sized reconnaissance force, under Col. Albert S. Hall, left Murfreesboro on March 18. Circling to ...

Description: Union Lt. Col. Edward Bloodgood held Brentwood, a station on the Nashville & Decatur Railroad, with 400 men on the morning of March 25, 1863, when Confederate Brig. Gen. Nath...

Description: While Longstreet operated against Suffolk, D.H. Hill’s column moved against the Federal garrison of Washington, North Carolina. By March 30, the town was ringed with fortific...

The First Battle of Charleston Harbor was an engagement near Charleston, South Carolina that took place April 7 1863, during the American Civil War. The striking force was a fleet of nine...

Description: The 1863 engagement at Franklin was a reconnaissance in force by Confederate cavalry leader Maj. Gen. Earl Van Dorn coupled with an equally inept response by Union Maj. Gen. ...

The Siege of Suffolk was fought around Suffolk, Virginia, from April 11 to May 4, 1863, during the American Civil War. Background In 1863 Lt. Gen. James Longstreet was placed in com...

Other Names: Battery Gregg, Fort Wagner, Morris Island, Fort Sumter Location: Charleston County Campaign: Operations against Defenses of Charleston (1863) Date(s): September 7-8,...

Other Names: Second Assault, Morris Island Location: City of Charleston Campaign: Operations against Defenses of Charleston (1863) Date(s): July 18-September 7, 1863 Principal...

Description: In cooperation with D.H. Hill’s advance on Washington, North Carolina, Lt. Gen. James Longstreet with Hood’s and Pickett’s divisions besieged the Union garrison at Suffolk co...

Other Names: None Location: Lafayette Parish Campaign: Operations in West Louisiana (1863) Date(s): April 17, 1863 Principal Commanders: Brig. Gen. Cuvier Grover [US]; Maj. Ge...

Other Names: Fort Huger, Hill’s Point Location: Suffolk Campaign: Longstreet’s Tidewater Operations (February-May 1863) Date(s): April 11-May 4, 1863 Principal Commanders: Bri...

Description: Brig. Gen. John S. Marmaduke sought to strike Brig. Gen. John McNeil, with his combined force of about 2,000 men, at Bloomfield, Missouri. McNeil retreated and Marmaduke foll...

The Battle of Grand Gulf was fought on April 29, 1863, during the American Civil War. In the Vicksburg Campaign of Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, Union naval forces under Rear Adm. David D. ...

Description: To insure that troops were not withdrawn to Grand Gulf to assist Confederates there, a combined Union army-navy force feigned an attack on Snyder’s Bluff, Mississippi. After ...

Strategy General George Stoneman Stoneman's Raid was a cavalry operation that preceded the start of the Battle of Chancellorsville in the American Civil War. In April, Major General...

Description: Union Col. Abel D. Streight led a provisional brigade on a raid to cut the Western & Atlantic Railroad that supplied Gen. Braxton Bragg’s Confederate army in Middle Tennessee...

Description: Union Brig. Gen. William Vandever pursued Brig. Gen. John S. Marmaduke to Chalk Bluff, where the Confederates hoped to cross the St. Francis River. To ford the river, Marmadu...

On April 27, Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker led the V, XI, and XII Corps on a campaign to turn the Confederate left flank by crossing the Rappahannock and Rapidan Rivers above Fredericksburg. Pa...

Description: Maj. Gen. U.S. Grant launched his march on Vicksburg in the Spring of 1863, starting his army south, from Milliken’s Bend, on the west side of the Mississippi River. He inten...

On May 3, Maj. Gen. A. P. Hill, who had taken command of the Second Corps following Jackson's injuries, was incapacitated. Hill consulted with Brig. Gen. Robert E. Rodes, the next most se...

Description: After occupying Marye’s Heights on May 3, Sedgwick’s VI Corps marched out on the Plank Road with the objective of reaching Hooker’s force at Chancellorsville. He was delayed ...

Description: On May 1, Gen. Robert E. Lee left Maj. Gen. Jubal A. Early’s division to hold Fredericksburg, while marching with the rest of the army to meet Hooker’s main offensive thrust ...

On the evening of May 3 and all day May 4, Hooker remained in his defenses while Lee and Early battled Sedgwick. Sedgwick, after breaking Early's defenses, foolishly neglected to secure F...

Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson died in an outbuilding on the Chandler plantation in the rural community of Guinea Station. Today, the Jackson Shrine is part of Fredericksburg & Spots...

The Battle of Raymond was fought on May 12, 1863, near Raymond, Mississippi, during the Vicksburg Campaign of the American Civil War. The bitter fight pitted elements of Union Army Maj. G...

The Battle of Jackson, fought on May 14, 1863, in Jackson, Mississippi, was part of the Vicksburg Campaign in the American Civil War. Union commander Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and the Ar...

The Battle of Champion Hill, or Bakers Creek, fought May 16, 1863, was the pivotal battle in the Vicksburg Campaign of the American Civil War. Union commander Major General Ulysses S. Gra...

Description: Reeling from their defeat at Champion Hill, the Confederates reached Big Black River Bridge, the night of May 16-17. Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton ordered Brig. Gen. John S. Bow...

Description: In May and June of 1863, Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant’s armies converged on Vicksburg, investing the city and entrapping a Confederate army under Lt. Gen. John Pemberton. On Ju...

On May 19, 1863, General Ulysses S. Grant attempted to take the Confederate stronghold at Vicksburg, Mississippi. After making a daring run past Confederate batteries, Union naval forces...

Description: Early in the morning of May 21, 1863, Maj. Gen. Christopher C. Augur’s Union division advanced from Baton Rouge toward the intersection of Plains Store and Bayou Sara roads o...

The Siege of Port Hudson occurred from May 21 to July 9, 1863, when Union Army troops assaulted and then surrounded the Mississippi River town of Port Hudson, Louisiana, during the Americ...

Description: On June 6, Col. Hermann Lieb with the African Brigade and two companies of the 10th Illinois Cavalry made a reconnaissance toward Richmond, Louisiana. About three miles from ...

The Battle of Brandy Station, also called the Battle of Fleetwood Hill, was the largest predominantly cavalry engagement of the American Civil War, as well as the largest to take place ev...

County: Frederick VA, and City of Winchester General Location: Valley Pike (US 11 at Abrams Creek), Apple Pie Ridge and ``Louisiana Heights'' W of town, West Fort, Fort Milroy, and Sta...

The Battle of Middleburg took place from June 17 to June 19, 1863, in Loudoun County, Virginia, as part of the Gettysburg Campaign of the American Civil War. Confederate Maj. Gen. J.E....

Description:Stuart’s cavalry screened the Confederate infantry as it marched north behind the sheltering Blue Ridge. The pursuing Federals of Kilpatrick’s brigade, in the advance of Gregg...

Other Names: Lafourche Crossing Location: Lafourche Parish Campaign: Taylor’s Operations in West Louisiana (1863) Date(s): June 20-21, 1863 Principal Commanders: Lt. Col. Albe...

Description: On June 21, Union cavalry made a determined effort to pierce Stuart’s cavalry screen. Hampton’s and Robertson’s brigades made a stand at Goose Creek, west of Middleburg, and ...