Color Coding and Map Organization
Civil War Part 1: (this map)
1861 = Light Blue
1862 = Green
1863 = Red (January-August)
Also, viewing locations in Terrain mode may help your understanding of events.

Why the American Civil War was an extension of the American Revolution.
According to Wikipedia, overall, the Northern population was growing much more quickly than the Southern population, which made it increasingly difficult for the South to continue to influence the national government. By the time of the 1860 election, the heavily agricultural southern states as a group had fewer Electoral College votes than the rapidly industrializing northern states. Lincoln was able to win the 1860 Presidential election without even being on the ballot in ten Southern states. Southerners felt a loss of federal concern for Southern pro-slavery political demands, and their continued domination of the Federal government was threatened. This political calculus provided a very real basis for Southerners' worry about the relative political decline of their region due to the North growing much faster in terms of population and industrial output.
Questions: The above sounds like the Civil War was a battle over whether the wealthy southern plantation owners or the wealthy north businessmen would control the nation. Did the fact that the American Revolution began in the charter based colonies that had self-determination within a corporation, while the aristocratic proprietary colonies did not, have anything to do with creating the divide in the new nation? Was the reason for the Civil War written into the U.S. Constitution in that it protects the states rights of both the aristocratic colonies and the self-determined colonies?

Other Interactive Maps on History
Try one of the many other Interactive Maps of Explorers and Historic Events at MyReadingMapped. (http://myreadingmapped.blogspot.com/)

Digitally walk these battlefields in 3D.
You can digitally walk these battlefields in 3D using this Non-Networked Google Earth KML file.

Union blockade of Confederate Ports - 4/1861
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_blockade)
The Union blockade in the American Civil War was a naval tactic by the Northern government to prevent the Confederacy from trading.
The blockade was proclaimed by President Abraham Lincoln in April 1861, and required the closure of 3,500 miles (5,600 km) of Atlantic and Gulf coastline, including twelve major ports, notably New Orleans and Mobile. Many attempts to run the blockade were successful,[1] but those ships fast enough to evade the Union Navy could only carry a small fraction of the supplies needed.[2] These blockade runners were operated largely by the British, making use of neutral ports such as Havana, Nassau and Bermuda. The Union commissioned 500 ships, which destroyed or captured about 1,500 blockade runners over the course of the war.

Battle of Fort Sumter - 4/12/1861
Wikipedia
On Friday, April 12, 1861, at 4:30 a.m., Confederate batteries opened fire, firing for 34 straight hours, on the fort. Edmund Ruffin, noted Virginian agronomist and secessionist, claimed that he fired the first shot on Fort Sumter. His story has been widely believed, but Lieutenant Henry S. Farley, commanding a battery of two 10 inch siege mortars on James Island fired the first shot at 4:30 A.M. (Detzer 2001, pp. 269–71). No attempt was made to return the fire for more than two hours. The fort's supply of ammunition was not suited for the task; also, there were no fuses for their explosive shells, which means that they could not explode. Only solid iron balls could be used against the Rebel batteries. At about 7:00 A.M., Captain Abner Doubleday, the fort's second in command, was given the honor of firing the union's first shot, in defense of the fort. He missed, in part because Major Anderson did not use the guns mounted on the highest tier, the barbette tier (where the guns could engage the confederate batteries better), where the gunners would be more exposed to Confederate fire. The firing continued all day. The Union fired slowly to conserve ammunition. At night the fire from the fort stopped, but the Confederates still lobbed an occasional shell into Sumter. On Saturday, April 13, the fort was surrendered and evacuated. During the attack, the Union colors fell. Lt.Norman J. Hall risked life and limb to put them back up, burning off his eyebrows permanently. A Confederate soldier bled to death having been wounded by a misfiring cannon. One Union soldier died and another was mortally wounded during the 47th shot of a 100 shot salute, allowed by the Confederacy. Afterwards the salute was shortened to 50 shots. Accounts, such as in the famous diary of Mary Chesnut, describe Charleston residents along what is now known as The Battery, sitting on balconies and drinking salutes to the start of the hostilities.

Battle of Fort Monroe - 4/20/1861
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Monroe#1860.E2.80.9361)
On April 20 the Union Navy burned and evacuated the Norfolk Navy Yard, destroying nine ships in the process, keeping Fort Monroe at Old Point Comfort as the last bastion of the United States in Tidewater Virginia. The Confederacy's occupation of Norfolk gave it a major shipyard and thousands of heavy guns, but they held it for only one year. Confederate Brigadier General Walter Gwynn, who commanded the Confederate defenses around Norfolk, erected batteries at Sewell's Point, both to protect Norfolk and to control Hampton Roads.

Battle of Sewell's Point - 5/18/1861
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Sewell%27s_Point)
The Battle of Sewell's Point was an inconclusive exchange of cannon fire between the Union gunboat USS Monticello, supported by the USS Thomas Freeborn, and Confederate batteries on Sewell's Point that took place on May 18, 19 and 21, 1861, in Norfolk County, Virginia in the early days of theAmerican Civil War. Little damage was done to either side. By the end of April 1861, USS Cumberland and a small number of supporting ships were enforcing the Union blockade of the southeastern Virginia ports at the southern end of the Chesapeake Bay and had captured several ships which attempted to pass the blockade. USS Monticello's bombardment of the Sewell's Point battery was one of the earliest Union Navy actions against Confederate forces during the Civil War. [A 2]

Battle of Aquia Creek - 5/29/1861
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Aquia_Creek)
The Battle of Aquia Creek was an exchange of cannon fire between Union Navy gunboats and Confederate shore batteries in Stafford County, Virginia which took place from May 29, 1861 to June 1, 1861 during the early days of the American Civil War. The Confederates set up several shore batteries to block Union military and commercial vessels from moving in the Chesapeake Bay and along the lower Potomac River as well as for defensive purposes. The battery at Aquia also was intended to protect the railroad terminal at that location. The Union forces sought to destroy or remove these batteries as part of the effort to blockade Confederate States coastal and Chesapeake Bay ports. The battle was tactically inconclusive. Each side inflicted little damage and no serious casualties on the other. The Union vessels were unable to dislodge the Confederates from their positions or to inflict serious casualties on their garrisons or serious damage to their batteries. The Confederates manning the batteries were unable to inflict serious casualties on the Union force or serious damage on their vessels.

Battle of Philippi (West Virginia) - 6/3/1861
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Philippi_Races)
The Battle of Philippi—also known mockingly as "The Philippi Races"—was fought on June 3, 1861, in and around Philippi, Virginia (now West Virginia) as part of the Western Virginia Campaign of the American Civil War. It was the first organized land action in the war (the impromptu Battle of Fairfax Court Housetook place two days earlier), but is often treated dismissively as a skirmish rather than a significant battle.[2]

Battle of Big Bethel - 6/10/1861
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Big_Bethel)
The Battle of Big Bethel, also known as the Battle of Bethel Church or Great Bethel was one of the earliest land battles of the American Civil War (Civil War) after the surrender of Fort Sumter. The battle between Union Army and Confederate States Army forces on June 10, 1861 took place in Hampton and York County, Virginia, (near the present-day unincorporated community of Tabb). While small in comparison to the many larger, bloodier and more significant battles later in the war, the Battle of Big Bethel and all early Civil War military engagements attracted considerable notice, press coverage and exaggerated importance because of the newness of the war and the general feeling the war would be short.

First Battle of Boonville - 6/17/1861
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Boonville)
The First Battle of Boonville was a minor skirmish of the American Civil War, occurring on June 17, 1861, near Boonville in Cooper County, Missouri. Although casualties were extremely light, the battle's strategic impact was far greater than one might assume from its limited nature. The Union victory established what would become an unbroken Federal control of the Missouri River, and helped to thwart efforts to bring Missouri into the Confederacy.

Battle of Hoke's Run - 7/2/1861
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Hoke%27s_Run)
The Battle of Hoke's Run, also known as the Battle of Falling Waters or Hainesville, took place on July 2, 1861, in Berkeley County, Virginia (now West Virginia) as part of the Manassas Campaign of the American Civil War. Notable as an early engagement of Confederate Colonel Thomas J. Jackson and his Brigade of Virginia Volunteers, nineteen days before their famous nickname would originate, this brief skirmish was hailed by both sides as a stern lesson to the other.[1] Acting precisely upon the orders of a superior officer[2] about how to operate in the face of superior numbers, Jackson's forces resisted General Robert Patterson's Union forces briefly and then slowly retreated over several miles.

Battle of Carthage - 7/5/1861
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Carthage_(1861)
The Battle of Carthage, also known as the Battle of Dry Fork, took place at the beginning of the American Civil War on July 5, 1861, in Jasper County, Missouri. The experienced Colonel Franz Sigel commanded 1,100 Federal soldiers intent on keeping Missouri within the Union. The Missouri State Guard was commanded by Governor Claiborne F. Jackson himself and numbered over 4,000 soldiers led by a hero of Mexico, Sterling Price, along with 2,000 unarmed troops who did not participate in the battle. The battle was a strategic victory by the Missouri State Guard in large part owing to new tactics introduced on the battlefield by independent partisan rangers serving with Capt. Jo Shelby.[2] Carthage played a part in determining Missouri's course during the war, as it helped spark recruitment for the Southern regiments.[citation needed].

Battle of Rich Mountain -7/11/1861
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Rich_Mountain)
The Battle of Rich Mountain took place on July 11, 1861, in Randolph County, Virginia (now West Virginia) as part of the Operations in Western Virginia Campaign during the American Civil War.
A sharp two-hour fight ensued in which the Confederates were split in two. Half escaped to Beverly and on over the Shawnee Trail, but Pegram and the others (including the "Sydney Boys", a regiment formed from the students of Hampden-Sydney College) surrendered on July 13.

Battle of Blackburn's Ford - 7/18/1861
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Blackburn%27s_Ford)
The Battle of Blackburn's Ford took place on July 18, 1861, in Prince William County and Fairfax County, Virginia, as part of the First Manassas Campaign of the American Civil War. A Union brigade was ordered to probe the Confederate defenses along Bull Run to locate the Confederate left. At Blackburn's Ford, the brigade attempted to cross but Confederate fire broke up the attack and Union commanders decided to cross the creek farther upstream.

Manassas I (First Battle of Bull Run) - 7/21/1861
Wikipedia
Battle Animation from CivilWarAnimated.com (http://civilwaranimated.com/BullRunAnimation.html)
The First Battle of Bull Run, also known as First Manassas (the name used by Confederate forces), was fought on July 21, 1861, in Prince William County, Virginia, near the city of Manassas. It was the first major land battle of the American Civil War.
Just months after the start of the war at Fort Sumter, the Northern public clamored for a march against the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia, which they expected to bring an early end to the rebellion. Yielding to political pressure, Brig. Gen. Irvin McDowell led his unseasoned Union Army across Bull Run against the equally inexperienced Confederate Army of Brig. Gen. P. G. T. Beauregard camped near Manassas Junction. McDowell's ambitious plan for a surprise flank attack on the Confederate left was poorly executed by his officers and men; nevertheless, the Confederates, who had been planning to attack the Union left flank, found themselves at an initial disadvantage.
Confederate reinforcements under Brig. Gen. Joseph E. Johnston arrived from the Shenandoah Valley by railroad and the course of the battle quickly changed. A brigade of Virginians under the relatively unknown brigadier general from the Virginia Military Institute, Thomas J. Jackson, stood their ground and Jackson received his famous nickname, "Stonewall Jackson". The Confederates launched a strong counterattack, and as the Union troops began withdrawing under fire, many panicked and the retreat turned into a rout. McDowell's men frantically ran without order in the direction of Washington, D.C. Both armies were sobered by the fierce fighting and many casualties, and realized the war was going to be much longer and bloodier than either had anticipated.

Battle of Athens - 8/5/1861
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Athens_(1861)
The Battle of Athens was an American Civil War skirmish that took place in northeast Missouri in 1861 near present Revere and southeast Iowa along the Des Moines River across from Croton (3 miles southeast of Farmington). The Union victory has the distinction of being the most northerly of Civil War Battles fought west of the Mississippi, and also of being the only such battle fought along the Iowa border.

The Battle of Wilson's Creek - 8/10/1861
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Wilson's_Creek)
Battle Animation from CivilWarAnimated.com (http://civilwaranimated.com/WilsonAnimation.html)
The Battle of Wilson's Creek, also known as the Battle of Oak Hills, was the first major battle of the Trans-Mississippi Theater of the American Civil War. Fought on August 10, 1861, near Springfield, Missouri between Union forces and the Missouri State Guard, it is sometimes called the "Bull Run of the West."

Battle of Kessler's Cross Lanes - 8/26/1861
Wikipedia
On August 26, Brig. Gen. John B. Floyd, commanding Confederate forces in the Kanawha Valley, crossed the Gauley River to attack Col. Erastus Tyler's 7th Ohio Regiment encamped at Kessler's Cross Lanes. The Union forces were surprised and routed. Floyd then withdrew to the river and took up a defensive position at Carnifex Ferry. During the month, Gen. Robert E. Lee arrived in western Virginia and attempted to coordinate the forces of Brig. Gens. Floyd,Henry A. Wise, and William W. Loring.

Battle of Hatteras Inlet Batteries - 8/28/1861
The Battle of Hatteras Inlet Batteries, sometimes known as the Battle of Forts Hatteras and Clark, was a small but significant engagement in the early days of the American Civil War. Two Confederate forts on the North Carolina Outer Banks were subjected to an amphibious assault by Union forces that began on 28 August 1861. The ill-equipped and undermanned forts were forced to endure bombardment by seven Union warships, to which they were unable to reply. Although casualties were light, the defenders chose not to continue the one-sided contest, and on the second day they surrendered. As immediate results of the battle, Confederate interference with Northern maritime commerce was considerably reduced, while the Union blockade of Southern ports was extended. More importantly, the Federal government gained entry into the North Carolina Sounds. Several North Carolina cities (New Bern, Washington, Elizabeth City, and Edenton among them) were directly threatened. In addition, the sounds were a back door to the Confederate-held parts of Tidewater Virginia, particularly Norfolk.

Battle of Dry Wood Creek - 9/2/1861
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Dry_Wood_Creek)
Lane's battalion soon encountered Price's men near Big Dry Wood Creek, roughly 12 miles from the fort. Lane surprised the Confederates, but the Southerners' numerical superiority soon determined the encounter’s outcome. After a sharp skirmish lasting two hours, they forced the Union cavalry to retire to Fort Scott and captured their mules. Lane secured the fort, then proceeded towards Kansas City. The Missouri State Guard continued on towards Lexington, while Price recruited more guardsmen.

Battle of Carnifex Ferry - 9/10/1861
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Carnifex_Ferry)
The Battle of Carnifex Ferry took place on September 10, 1861, in Nicholas County, Virginia (now West Virginia), as part of the Operations in Western Virginia Campaign during the American Civil War. The battle resulted in a Unionstrategic victory that contributed to the eventual Confederate withdrawal from western Virginia. The campaign helped pave the way for the subsequent creation of the separate state of West Virginia.

Battle of Cheat Mountain - 9/12/1861
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cheat_Mountain)
The Battle of Cheat Mountain, also known as the Battle of Cheat Summit Fort, took place from September 12 to 15, 1861, in Pocahontas County and Randolph County, Virginia (now West Virginia) as part of the Western Virginia Campaign during the American Civil War. It was the first battle of the Civil War in which Robert E. Lee led troops into combat. During the battle, Lee attempted to surround the Union garrison atop Cheat Mountain, but the attack was never launched, due to false information from prisoners and poor communications among the various Confederate commands.

First Battle of Lexington, MO - 9/13/1861
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Lexington_I)
The First Battle of Lexington also known as the Battle of the Hemp Bales, was an engagement of the American Civil War, occurring from September 13 to September 20, 1861, between the Union Army and the pro-Confederate Missouri State Guard, in Lexington, the county seat of Lafayette County, Missouri. The State Guard's victory in this battle bolstered the already-considerable Southern sentiment in the area, and briefly consolidated Confederate control of the Missouri Valley.

Battle of Liberty 9/17/1861
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Liberty)
The Battle of Liberty (also known as the Battle of Blue Mills Landing or the Battle of Blue Mills) was a battle of the American Civil War that took place on 17 September 1861, in Clay County, Missouri. Union forces unsuccessfully attempted to prevent pro-Confederate Missouri State Guards from northern Missouri from crossing the Missouri River near the confluence with the Blue River to reinforce Sterling Price at Lexington.

Battle of Barbourville - 9/19/1861
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Barbourville)
The Battle of Barbourville was one of the early engagements of the American Civil War. It took place on September 19, 1861, in Knox County, Kentucky during the campaign known as the Kentucky Confederate Offensive. The battle is considered the first Confederate victory in the commonwealth, and threw a scare into Federal commanders, who rushed troops to central Kentucky to try to repel the invasion, which was finally stopped at the Battle of Camp Wildcat in October.

Battle of Greenbrier River - 10/3/1861
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Greenbrier_River)
The Battle of Greenbrier River, also known as the Battle of Camp Bartow, took place on October 3, 1861 in Pocahontas County, Virginia (now West Virginia) as part of the Operations in Western Virginia Campaign during the American Civil War.

Battle of Santa Rosa Island - 10/9/1861
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Santa_Rosa_Island)
After midnight on October 9, Brig. Gen. Richard Anderson crossed from the mainland to Santa Rosa Island with 1,200 men in two small steamers to surprise the Union camps and capture Fort Pickens. He landed on the north beach about four miles east of Fort Pickens and divided his command into three columns. After proceeding about three miles, the Confederates surprised the 6th Regiment, New York Volunteers, in its camp and routed the regiment. Gen. Anderson then adopted a defensive stance to entice the Federals to leave the fort and attack. Receiving reinforcements, Col. Harvey Brown sallied against the Confederates, who reembarked and returned to the mainland.

Battle of Ball's Bluff - 10/21/1861
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ball%27s_Bluff)
The Battle of Ball's Bluff, also known as the Battle of Harrison’s Island or the Battle of Leesburg, was fought on October 21, 1861, in Loudoun County, Virginia, as part of Union Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan's operations in Northern Virginia during the American Civil War.
While a minor engagement in comparison with the battles that would take place in years to follow, it was the second largest battle of the Eastern Theater in 1861, and in its aftermath had repercussions in the Union Army's chain of command structure and raised separation of powers issues under the United States Constitution during the war.

Battle of the Head of Passes - 10/12/1861
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Head_of_Passes)
The Battle of the Head of Passes was a bloodless naval battle of the American Civil War. It was a naval raid made by the Confederate river defense fleet, also known as the “mosquito fleet” in the local media, on ships of the Union Blockade squadron anchored at the Head of Passes. The mosquito fleet was supported by three fire rafts, which were ignited and followed the ironclad ram CSS Manassas into the action. The attack occurred after moonset in the early hours of October 12, 1861, and routed the Union fleet, which fled in disorder down the Southwest pass of the delta. After sunrise Commodore George N. Hollins ordered the mosquito fleet to withdraw upriver.[1]:84-94

Battle of Camp Wildcat - 10/21/1861
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Camp_Wild_Cat)
The Battle of Camp Wildcat (also known as Wildcat Mountain and Camp Wild Cat) was one of the early engagements of the American Civil War. It occurred October 21, 1861, in northern Laurel County, Kentucky during the campaign known as the Kentucky Confederate Offensive. The battle is considered one of the very first Union victories, and marked the second engagement of troops in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

Battle of Fredericktown - 10/21/1861
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fredericktown)
Thompson spent the early morning hours trying to determine the enemy's numbers and disposition. Unable to do so, he placed his troops and artillery in ambush along the road and awaited the Union forces. The bulk of the Missouri State Guard force was hidden from view on wooded high ground that formed a U overlooking the road. Forward of the main body, Col. Aden Lowe's infantry regiment waited in a cornfield as bait. Close behind was a supporting 12-pounder cannon as well as three 6-pounders farther to the rear and flank.
About noon Plummer arrived with his column and a detachment of Col. William P. Carlin's troops. Capt. Stewart's Illinois cavalry company made the initial contact. Col. Ross's 17th Illinois infantry engaged Lowe's troops first with skirmishers, then the main line of the regiment. A section of Union artillery was brought into service against the Missourians' 12-pounder, which responded. The 20th Illinois and 11th Missouri (Union) applied pressure to both flanks of Lowes's force as more Union artillery joined the battle. Lowe, having waited too long to disengage, was killed by a shot to the head, and his regiment retreated taking heavy casualties.
The 1st Indiana Cavalry attempted to pursue and to capture the exposed 12-pounder, but were stopped with heavy casualties by the fire of Thompson's forces on both ridges. They called for infantry support and the 17th Illinois surged forward to claim the now abandoned piece. As more Union infantry poured onto the field, Thompson began an orderly withdrawal of the guardsmen. In this he mostly succeeded, except for some routing cavalry.

First Battle of Springfield, MO - 10/25/1861
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Battle_of_Springfield)
As Frémont neared Springfield, the local state guard commander, Colonel Julian Frazier, sent out requests to nearby localities for additional troops. Frémont camped on thePomme de Terre River, about 50 miles from Springfield. Zagonyi's scouting column, though, continued on to Springfield, and Frazier's mixed force of 1,000 to 1,500 infantry and cavalry prepared to meet it.
Zagonyi's combined force of 326 men approached Springfield on the Mt. Vernon Road.[6] Frazier set up an ambush along the road that Zagonyi traveled. Zagonyi ordered a charge from the timbered bottomland of today's Jordan Creek, exhorting his men with "We have been called holiday warriors for the pavements of St. Louis...Leth the watchword be 'Fremont and the Union.'"[7] After three charges the Confederates fled in disorder. Zagonyi's men continued into town, hailed Federal sympathizers and released Union prisoners. Leery of a Confederate counterattack, Zagonyi departed Springfield before night, but Frémont's army returned, in force, a few days later and set up camp in the town.

Battle of Port Royal -11/7/1861
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Port_Royal)
The Battle of Port Royal was one of the earliest amphibious operations of the American Civil War, in which a United States Navy fleet and United States Army expeditionary force captured Port Royal Sound, South Carolina, betweenSavannah, Georgia and Charleston, South Carolina, on November 7, 1861. The sound was guarded by two forts on opposite sides of the entrance, Fort Walker on Hilton Head Island to the south and Fort Beauregard on Phillip's Island to the north. A small force of four gunboats supported the forts, but did not materially affect the battle.

Battle of Belmont - 11/7/1861
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Belmont)
The Battle of Belmont was fought on November 7, 1861, in Mississippi County, Missouri. It was the first combat test in the American Civil War for Brig. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, the future Union Army general in chief and eventual U.S. president; Grant's troops in this battle were the "nucleus" of the Union Army of the Tennessee.[2]
On November 6, Grant moved by riverboat from Cairo, Illinois, to attack the Confederate fortress at Columbus, Kentucky. The next morning, he learned that Confederate troops had crossed the Mississippi River to Belmont, Missouri. He landed his men on the Missouri side and marched to Belmont. Grant's troops overran the surprised Confederate camp and destroyed it. However, the scattered Confederate forces quickly reorganized and were reinforced from Columbus. They then counterattacked, supported by heavy artillery fire from across the river. Grant retreated to his riverboats and took his men to Paducah, Kentucky. The battle was relatively unimportant, but with little happening elsewhere at the time, it received considerable attention in the press.

Battle of Ivy Mountain - 11/8/1861
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ivy_Mountain)
The Big Sandy Expedition was an early campaign in Kentucky that began in mid-September 1861 when Brig. Gen.William "Bull" Nelson received orders to organize a new brigade at Maysville, Kentucky and conduct an expedition into the Big Sandy Valley region of Eastern Kentucky and stop the build-up of Rebel forces under Col. John S. Williams. This was done in three phases. From September 21 to October 20, 1861, Nelson assembled a brigade of 5,500 Union volunteers from Ohio and Kentucky. On October 23, the southern prong secured Hazel Green and the northern prongWest Liberty. The two prongs were consolidated at Saylersville (Licking Station) and they began the final phase on October 31. This led to the Battle of Ivy Mountain on November 8 and the withdrawal of Rebel forces from Pikeville (Piketon) on November 9, 1861.

The Battle of Chusto-Talasah - 12/9/1861
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Chusto-Talasah)
A series of battles were fought in December in bad weather between the Confederate Cherokee and Choctaw Indiansand the Union Creek and Seminole Indians (led by the Muscogee Creek chief Opothleyahola) who supported the Federal government. Following Opothleyahola and his Union force’s defeat at Round Mountain, he retreated northeastward in search of safety. On December 9, 1861, the force was at Chusto-Talasah (Caving Banks) on the Horseshoe Bend of Bird Creek when Col. Douglas H. Cooper’s 1,300 Confederates attacked about 2:00 p.m. Chief Opothleyahola knew Cooper was coming and had placed his troops in a strong position in heavy timber at Horseshoe Bend.
For almost four hours, Cooper attacked and attempted to outflank the Federals, finally driving them across Bird Creek just before dark. Cooper camped there overnight but did not pursue the Federals because he was short of ammunition. The Confederates claimed victory. Chief Opothleyahola and his band moved off in search of security elsewhere. Their loss was estimated by Cooper as 500 (some accounts suggest 412). Confederate casualties were 15 killed and 37 wounded.[2]
Although the Confederates had gained a minor tactical victory, they would win a resounding one later in the month at Chustenahlah.

Battle of Camp Allegheny -12/13/1861
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Camp_Alleghany)
In December, Confederate forces under Col. Edward Johnson occupied the summit of Allegheny Mountain to defend the Staunton-Parkersburg Pike. A Union force under Brig. Gen. Robert H. Milroy attacked Johnson at sunrise on December 13.
In a piercing winter wind, fighting continued for much of the sunny morning as each side maneuvered on the hillside fields and woods to gain the advantage. On the right flank, Milroy had posted a strong force in a mountain clearing, among the fallen timber, stumps and brush, which proved to be too difficult for the Confederate infantry to drive off. A Confederate artillery battery unlimbered and unleashed a "storm of round shot and canister among them, knocking their timber defences about their heads, and making their nest too hot to hold them..." Finally, Milroy's troops were repulsed, and he retreated to his camps at Green Spring Run near Cheat Mountain. Johnson's losses were high: 25 men were killed and 97 were wounded in the engagement, plus 23 went missing.

Battle of Rowlett's Station - 12/17/1861
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Rowlett%27s_Station)
The bridge was completed on December 17, and four more companies crossed the river. In the meantime, Brig. Gen. Thomas C. Hindman directed a Confederate force ofTexas Rangers, Arkansas infantry, and Mississippi artillery to destroy the bridge. Advancing into the woods, the Union forces discovered enemy skirmishers south of Woodsonville. The latter retreated until their cavalry joined them, and then attacked the Yankee companies. This was the first time in the Civil War that cavalry faced infantry.[citation needed]
The Union companies fell into square formation. The Texas Rangers responded by charging the position wildly. In the ensuing battle, Colonel Terry of the Rangers was mortally wounded. On the Union side, Lt. Max Sachs of the 32nd Indiana and four of his men found themselves isolated by the Rangers, but repeatedly defied their demands to surrender, and they continued to fight until Sachs was struck down. The Rangers charged three times, but were finally forced to retreat. Colonel Willich, who was away at division headquarters at the time, soon returned and ordered a withdrawal to a stronger position. The Confederates, fearing imminent approach of McCook's forces, also withdrew.

Battle of Dranesville - 12/20/1861
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Dranesville)
The Battle of Dranesville was a small battle during the American Civil War that took place between Confederate forces under General J.E.B. Stuart and Union forces under General Edward O.C. Ord on December 20, 1861, in Fairfax County, Virginia, as part of Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan's operations in northern Virginia. The two forces on similar winter-time patrols encountered and engaged one another in the crossroads village of Dranesville. The battle resulted in a Union victory.

Battle of Chustenahlah - 12/26/1861
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Chustenahlah)
On December 25, he was informed that Cooper’s force could not join him for a while, but he decided to attack the next day, despite being outnumbered and facing severe cold weather conditions. McIntosh assaulted the camp at noon. The 1,700 pro-Union defenders were secluded in the underbrush along the slope of a rugged hill. McIntosh devised a plan to converge on the crest, with the South Kansas-Texas Cavalry (also known as the 3rd Texas) ordered to charge directly up the steep bluff on foot. The 11th Texas advanced to their left using a defile for concealment, while the 6th Texas circled to the right. As the Confederate attack progressed, the Native Americans began to fall back, taking cover for a while and then moving back. The retreat became a rout as the Federals reached their camp. The Indians attempted to make a stand there but were forced away again by 4:00 p.m. The survivors fled; many went all the way to Kansas where they found loyal Unionists. Three hundred Cherokees under Col. Stand Watie intercepted the fleeing Creeks and Seminoles, killing 15 of them. Chief Opothleyahola’s band mounted no further resistance, and nearly 2,000 of them died on or shortly after the trek to Fort Row, Kansas, mostly due to exposure and disease.[2]
The victorious Confederates captured 160 women and children, 20 blacks, 30 wagons, 70 yoke of oxen, about 500 Indian horses, several hundred head of cattle, 100 sheep, and large quantities of supplies. Casualties were 9 killed and 40 wounded for the Confederates. Col. McIntosh in his official report estimated the Indians' loss as 250.[3]

Battle of Mount Zion Church - 12/28/1861
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mount_Zion_Church)
On December 28 at about 2 a.m., Prentiss set out with his entire force to meet Dorsey's force. While the State Guardsmen numbered around 900, most appear to have been local volunteers, many of whom were not armed with military weapons (although many had personal civilian firearms of various types). A detachment of Prentiss's force routed one company of Guardsmen on the road from Hallsville around 100 yards east of Mount Zion Church and learned that the rest of the force was in the churchyard, situated on a high hill. The main campground was actually in a thicketted hollow immediately east of the church. Prentiss advanced on the State Guard positions, making three charges.[1] At the third, the Confederates exhausted their ammunition, fell back to their wagons, and were overrun. The battle ended around 11 a.m.[2][3]

Battle of Cockpit Point - 1/1/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cockpit_Point)
On January 1, 1862, Cockpit Point was shelled by Anacostia (Lieutenant Oscar C. Badger commanding) and Yankee (Lieutenant Eastman commanding), with neither side gaining an advantage, though Yankee was slightly damaged.

Battle of Hancock - 1/1/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Hancock)
On January 1, 1862, Confederate general Stonewall Jackson led his men from Winchester to Bath in an attempt to disturb traffic on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. Jackson's men reached the Potomac River opposite the garrisoned town of Hancock, Maryland on January 5, after a skirmish with Union soldiers.[1] Jackson's artillery opened fire on the town from Orrick's Hill but it resulted in only minor damage. Union garrison commander Brig. Gen. Frederick W. Lander refused to surrender to Jackson, who continued the bombardment for two days while unsuccessfully searching for a safe river crossing.[1] On January 7, the Confederate soldiers withdrew and set out for Romney, West Virginia.[1]

Battle of Roan's Tan Yard - 1/8/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Roan%27s_Tan_Yard)
The Battle of Roan's Tan Yard (also known as Silver Creek) was an action during the American Civil War, occurring on January 8, 1862, in Randolph County, Missouri.
Rumors and sightings of a Confederate force in the Howard County area had circulated for more than a week, but the Union troops could not locate them. On January 7, 1862, information came to hand that Col. John A. Poindexter and his force of 800 Confederate recruits were camped on Silver Creek. Detachments from various Union units came together and headed towards the Confederate camp which was about 14 miles northwest of Fayette. After finding the camp despite heavy fog, the Federal troops attacked in the late afternoon, routing the enemy in only 40 minutes and sending those that were not killed, wounded, or captured fleeing for safety. Two companies of Federal cavalry were ordered to cut off the Confederates' retreat, but darkness and heavy fog, together with thick underbrush, rendered it impossible.
Afterwards, the Union force destroyed the camp to prevent its further use. The Confederates could no longer use their Randolph County base for recruiting and raiding.

Battle of Middle Creek - 1/10/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Middle_Creek)
More than a month after Confederate Colonel John S. Williams left Kentucky, following the fight at Ivy Mountain, Brig. Gen. Humphrey Marshall led another force into Eastern Kentucky to continue recruiting activities. From his headquarters in Paintsville, on the Levisa Fork of the Big Sandy River, northwest of Prestonsburg, Marshall recruited volunteers. He raised a force of more than 2,000 men by early January, but could only partially equip them.
Union Brig. Gen. Don Carlos Buell directed Col. James A. Garfield to force Marshall to retreat back into Virginia. Leaving Louisa, Garfield took command of the 18th Brigade and began his march south on Paintsville. He compelled the Confederates to abandon Paintsville and retreat to the vicinity of Prestonsburg. Garfield slowly headed south, but swampy areas and numerous streams slowed his movements, and he arrived in the vicinity of Marshall on the 9th. Heading out at 4:00 a.m. on January 10, Garfield marched a mile west near the Forks of Middle Creek, fought off some Confederate cavalry, and turned west to attack Marshall. Marshall had put his men in line of battle north and east of the creek near its forks. Garfield attacked shortly after noon, and the fighting continued for most of the afternoon until Union reinforcements arrived in time to dissuade the Confederates from assailing the Federal left. Instead, the Confederates retired south and were ordered back to Virginia on January 24. Garfield's force moved to Prestonsburg after the fight and then retired to Paintsville. Union forces had halted the Confederate 1861 offensive in Kentucky, and Middle Creek demonstrated that their strength had not diminished.

Battle of Mill Springs - 1/19/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mill_Springs)
The Battle of Mill Springs, also known as the Battle of Fishing Creek in Confederate terminology, and the Battle of Logan's Cross Roads in Union terminology, was fought in Wayne and Pulaski counties, near current Nancy, Kentucky, on January 19, 1862, as part of the American Civil War. The Union victory concluded an early Confederate offensive campaign in eastern Kentucky.

Battle of Fort Henry - 2/6/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fort_Henry)
Tilghman realized that it was only a matter of time before Fort Henry fell. Only nine guns remained above the water to mount a defense. While leaving artillery in the fort to hold off the Union fleet, he ordered the majority of his force to march, under the command of Col. Adolphus Heiman, on the overland route to Fort Donelson, 12 miles (19 km) away. Fort Heiman was abandoned on February 4, and all but a handful of artillerymen left Fort Henry on February 5. (Union cavalry pursued the retreating Confederates, but the poor conditions of the roads prevented any serious confrontation and they took only a few captives.) Tilghman, as was his custom, spent the night of February 5–6 1.5 miles upstream from the fort on the steamer Dunbar. Around midnight he sent an update of the situation to Johnston.[15]
Foote's seven gunboats arrived at Fort Henry on the morning of February 6. After an initial call to surrender was rejected by Tilghman, the fleet began bombarding the fort. This was the first engagement for the Western Flotilla, using newly designed and hastily constructed ironclads. Foote deployed the four ironclads in a line abreast, followed by the three wooden ships, which held back for long-range, but less effective, fire against the fort. It was primarily the low elevation of Fort Henry's guns that allowed Foote's fleet to escape serious destruction; the Confederate fire was able to hit the ships only where their thin armor was strongest. One ship was seriously damaged, causing many casualties. A chance 32-pound shot from Fort Henry penetrated the ironclad USS Essex and hit her middle boiler, sending scalding steam throughout half of the ship. Thirty-two crewmen were killed or wounded, including her commander, William D. Porter, and the ship was out of action for the remainder of the campaign.[16]

Battle of Roanoke Island - 2/7/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Roanoke_Island)
The opening phase of what came to be called the Burnside Expedition, the Battle of Roanoke Island was an amphibious operation of the American Civil War, fought on February 7–8, 1862, in the North Carolina Sounds a short distance south of the Virginia border. The attacking force consisted of a flotilla of gunboats of the Union Navy drawn from the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, commanded by Flag Officer Louis M. Goldsborough, a separate group of gunboats under Union Army control, and an army division led by Brig. Gen. Ambrose Burnside. The defenders were a group of gunboats from the Confederate States Navy, termed the Mosquito Fleet, under Capt. William F. Lynch, and about 2,000 Confederate soldiers commanded locally by Brig. Gen. Henry A. Wise. The defense was augmented by four forts facing on the water approaches to Roanoke Island, and two outlying batteries. At the time of the battle, Wise was hospitalized, so leadership fell to his second in command, Col. Henry M. Shaw.

Battle of Elizabeth City - 2/10/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Elizabeth_City)
The Battle of Elizabeth City of the American Civil War was fought in the immediate aftermath of the Battle of Roanoke Island. It took place on 10 February 1862, on the Pasquotank River near Elizabeth City, North Carolina. The participants were vessels of the U.S. Navy's North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, opposed by vessels of the Confederate Navy's Mosquito Fleet; the latter were supported by a shore-based battery of four guns at Cobb's Point (now called Cobb Point), near the southeastern border of the town. The battle was a part of the campaign in North Carolina that was led by Major General Ambrose E. Burnside and known as the Burnside Expedition. The result was a Union victory, with Elizabeth City and its nearby waters in their possession, and the Confederate fleet captured, sunk, or dispersed.

Battle at Fort Donelson - 2/11/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fort_Donelson)
Battle animation from CivilWarAnimated.com (http://civilwaranimated.com/HenryAnimation.html)
The Battle of Fort Donelson was fought from February 11 to 16, 1862, in the Western Theater of the American Civil War. The capture of the fort by Union forces opened the Cumberland River, an important avenue for the invasion of the South. The success elevated Brig. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant from an obscure and largely unproven leader to the rank of major general, earning him the nickname "Unconditional Surrender" Grant in the process (using his first two initials, "U.S.").
The battle followed the capture of Fort Henry on February 6. Grant moved his army 12 miles overland to Fort Donelson on February 12 and 13 and conducted several small probing attacks. (Although the name was not yet in use, the troops serving under Grant were the nucleus of the Union's Army of the Tennessee.[4]) On February 14, U.S. Navy gunboats under Flag Officer Andrew H. Foote attempted to reduce the fort with naval gunfire, but were forced to withdraw after sustaining heavy damage from Donelson's water batteries.
On February 15, with their fort surrounded, the Confederates, commanded by Brig. Gen. John B. Floyd, launched a surprise attack against Grant's army, attempting to open an avenue of escape. Grant, who was away from the battlefield at the start of the attack, arrived to rally his men and counterattack. Despite achieving a partial success and opening the way for a retreat, Floyd lost his nerve and ordered his men back to the fort.
On the following morning, Floyd and his second-in-command, Brig. Gen. Gideon J. Pillow, panicked and relinquished command to Brig. Gen. Simon Bolivar Buckner (later Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky), who agreed to accept the unconditional surrender terms offered by Grant.

Battle of Island #10, New Madrid, Mo - 2/28/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Island_Number_Ten)
The Battle of Island Number Ten was an engagement at the New Madrid or Kentucky Bend on the Mississippi River during the American Civil War, lasting from February 28 to April 8, 1862. The position, an island at the base of a tight double turn in the course of the river, was held by the Confederates from the early days of the war. It was an excellent site to impede Union efforts to invade the South along the river, as vessels would have to approach the island bows on and then slow down to make the turns. For the defenders, it also had an innate weakness in that it depended on a single road for supplies and reinforcements, so that if an enemy force could cut that road, the garrison would be trapped.

Battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas - 3/6/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Pea_Ridge)
Battle animation from CivilWarAnimated.com (http://civilwaranimated.com/PeaRidgeAnimation.html)
The Battle of Pea Ridge (also known as the Battle of Elkhorn Tavern) was a land battle of the American Civil War, fought on March 6–8, 1862, at Pea Ridge in northwest Arkansas, near Garfield. Union forces led by Brig. Gen. Samuel R. Curtis moved south from central Missouri, driving Confederate forces into northwestern Arkansas. Maj. Gen. Earl Van Dorn reorganized the Confederate army and launched a counter-offensive, hoping that a victory would enable the Confederates to recapture northern Arkansas and Missouri. In a two–day battle, Curtis held off the Confederate attack on the first day and drove Van Dorn's force off the field on the second day. The outcome of the battle essentially cemented Union control of Missouri and northern Arkansas. The battle was one of the few during the war in which a Confederate army outnumbered its Union opponent.

Battle of the Iron Clads (Hampton Roads) - 3/8/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Hampton_Roads)
The Battle of Hampton Roads, often referred to as either the Battle of the Monitor and Merrimack (or Virginia) or the Battle of Ironclads, was the most noted and arguably most important naval battle of the American Civil War from the standpoint of the development of navies. It was fought over two days, March 8–9, 1862, in Hampton Roads, a roadstead in Virginia where the Elizabeth andNansemond Rivers meet the James River just before it enters Chesapeake Bay. The battle was a part of the effort of the Confederacy to break the Union blockade, which had cut off Virginia's largest cities, Norfolk and Richmond, from international trade.[2][3]

Battle of New Bern - 3/14/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_New_Bern)
The Battle of New Bern (also known as the Battle of New Berne) was fought on 14 March 1862, near the city of New Bern, North Carolina, as part of the Burnside Expedition of the American Civil War. The US Army's Coast Division, led by Brigadier General Ambrose E. Burnside and accompanied by armed vessels from the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, were opposed by an undermanned and badly trained Confederate force of North Carolina soldiers and militia led by Brigadier General Lawrence O'B. Branch. Although the defenders fought behind breastworks that had been set up before the battle, their line had a weak spot in its center that was exploited by the attacking Federal soldiers. When the center of the line was penetrated, many of the militia broke, forcing a general retreat of the entire Confederate force. General Branch was unable to regain control of his troops until they had retreated to Kinston, more than 30 miles (about 50 km) away. New Bern came under Federal control, and remained so for the rest of the war.

First Battle of Kernstown - 3/23/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Battle_of_Kernstown)
The First Battle of Kernstown was fought on March 23, 1862, in Frederick County and Winchester, Virginia, the opening battle of Confederate Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's campaign through the Shenandoah Valley during the American Civil War.
Attempting to tie down the Union forces in the Valley, under the overall command of Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks, Jackson received incorrect intelligence that a small detachment under Col.Nathan Kimball was vulnerable, but it was in fact a full infantry division more than twice the size of Jackson's force. His initial cavalry attack was forced back and he immediately reinforced it with a small infantry brigade. With his other two brigades, Jackson sought to envelop the Union right by way of Sandy Ridge. But Col. Erastus B. Tyler's brigade countered this movement, and, when Kimball's brigade moved to his assistance, the Confederates were driven from the field. There was no effective Union pursuit.
Although the battle was a Confederate tactical defeat, it represented a strategic victory for the South by preventing the Union from transferring forces from the Shenandoah Valley to reinforce the Peninsula Campaign against the Confederate capital, Richmond. Following the earlier Battle of Hoke's Run, the First Battle of Kernstown may be considered the second among Jackson's rare defeats.

Battle of Fort Macon - 3/23/1862
Wikipedia: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Fort_Macon)
The Siege of Fort Macon took place from March 23 to April 26, 1862, on the Outer Banks of Carteret County, North Carolina. It was part of Union Army General Ambrose E. Burnside's North Carolina Expedition during the American Civil War.
In late March, Major General Burnside’s army advanced on Fort Macon, a casemated masonry fort that commanded the channel to Beaufort, 35 miles (56 km) southeast of New Bern. The Union force invested the fort with siege works and on April 25 opened an accurate fire on the fort, soon breaching the masonry walls. Within a few hours the fort's scarp began to collapse, and in late afternoon the Confederate commander, Colonel Moses J. White, ordered the raising of a white flag. Burnside's terms of surrender were accepted, and the Federal troops took possession of the fort the next morning.

Siege of Yorktown - 4/5/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Yorktown_(1862))
The Battle of Yorktown or Siege of Yorktown was fought from April 5 to May 4, 1862 , as part of the Peninsula Campaign of the American Civil War. Marching from Fort Monroe, Union Maj. Gen.George B. McClellan's Army of the Potomac encountered Maj. Gen. John B. Magruder's small Confederate force at Yorktown behind the Warwick Line. McClellan suspended his march up the Peninsula toward Richmond and settled in for siege operations.
On April 5, the IV Corps of Brig. Gen. Erasmus D. Keyes made initial contact with Confederate defensive works at Lee's Mill, an area McClellan expected to move through without resistance. Magruder's ostentatious movement of troops back and forth convinced the Federals that his works were strongly held. As the two armies fought an artillery duel, reconnaissance indicated to Keyes the strength and breadth of the Confederate fortifications, and he advised McClellan against assaulting them. McClellan ordered the construction of siege fortifications and brought his heavy siege guns to the front. In the meantime, Gen. Joseph E. Johnston brought reinforcements for Magruder.
On April 16, Union forces probed a point in the Confederate line at Dam No. 1. The Federals failed to exploit the initial success of this attack, however. This lost opportunity held up McClellan for two additional weeks while he tried to convince the U.S. Navy to bypass the Confederates' big guns at Yorktown and Gloucester Point and ascend the York River to West Point and outflank the Warwick Line. McClellan planned a massive bombardment for dawn on May 5, but the Confederate army slipped away during the night of May 3 toward Williamsburg.
The battle took place near the site of the 1781 siege of Yorktown, the final battle of the American Revolutionary War in the east.

Battle of Shiloh - 4/6/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Shiloh)
Battle animation from CivilWarAnimated.com (http://civilwaranimated.com/ShilohAnimation.html)
The Battle of Shiloh, also known as the Battle of Pittsburg Landing, was a major battle in the Western Theater of the American Civil War, fought April 6–7, 1862, in southwestern Tennessee. A Union army under Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant had moved via the Tennessee River deep into Tennessee and was encamped principally at Pittsburg Landing on the west bank of the river. Confederate forces under Generals Albert Sidney Johnston and P. G. T. Beauregard launched a surprise attack on Grant there. The Confederates achieved considerable success on the first day, but were ultimately defeated on the second day.
On the first day of the battle, the Confederates struck with the intention of driving the Union defenders away from the river and into the swamps of Owl Creek to the west, hoping to defeat Grant's Army of the Tennessee before the anticipated arrival of Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Buell's Army of the Ohio. The Confederate battle lines became confused during the fierce fighting, and Grant's men instead fell back to the northeast, in the direction of Pittsburg Landing. A position on a slightly sunken road, nicknamed the "Hornet's Nest", defended by the men of Brig. Gens. Benjamin M. Prentiss's and W. H. L. Wallace's divisions, provided critical time for the rest of the Union line to stabilize under the protection of numerous artillery batteries. Gen. Johnston was killed during the first day of fighting, and Beauregard, his second in command, decided against assaulting the final Union position that night.
Reinforcements from Buell and from Grant's own army arrived in the evening and turned the tide the next morning, when the Union commanders launched a counterattack along the entire line. The Confederates were forced to retreat from the bloodiest battle in United States history up to that time, ending their hopes that they could block the Union advance into northern Mississippi.

Battle of Fort Pulaski - 4/10/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ft._Pulaski)
The Battle of Fort Pulaski was fought April 10–11, 1862, during the American Civil War. Union forces on Tybee Island and naval operations conducted a 112-day siege, then captured theConfederate-held Fort Pulaski after a 30-hour bombardment. The battle is important for innovative use of rifled guns which made existing coastal defenses obsolete. The Union initiated large scale amphibious operations under fire.
The fort's surrender strategically closed Savannah as a port. The Union extended its blockade and aids to navigation down the Atlantic coast, then redeployed most of its 10,000 troops. The Confederate army-navy defense blocked Federal advance for over three months, secured the city, and prevented any subsequent Union advance from seaward during the war. Coastal rail connections were extended to blockaded Charleston, South Carolina.
Fort Pulaski is located on Cockspur Island, Georgia, near the mouth of the Savannah River. The fort commanded seaward approaches to the City of Savannah. It was commercially and industrially important as a cotton exporting port, railroad center and the largest manufacturing center in the state, including a state arsenal and private shipyards.[7] Two southerly estuaries led to the Savannah River behind the fort. Immediately east of Pulaski, and in sight of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, lay Tybee Island with a lighthouse station.

Battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip - 4/18/1862
The Battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip (April 18–28, 1862) was the decisive battle for possession of New Orleans in the American Civil War. The two Confederate forts on the Mississippi Riversouth of the city were attacked by a Union Navy fleet. As long as the forts could keep the Federal forces from moving on the city, it was safe, but if they were negated, there were no fall-back positions to impede the enemy advance.

Battle of South Mills - 4/19/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_South_Mills)
The Battle of South Mills, also known as the Battle of Camden, took place on April 19, 1862 in Camden County, North Carolina as part of Union Army Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside's North Carolinaexpedition during the American Civil War.
Learning that the Confederates were building ironclads at Norfolk, Burnside planned an expedition to destroy the Dismal Swamp Canal locks to prevent transfer of the ships to Albemarle Sound. He entrusted the operation to Brig. Gen. Jesse L. Reno's command, which embarked on transports from Roanoke Island on April 18. By midnight, the convoy reached Elizabeth City and began disembarking troops. On the morning of April 19, Reno marched north on the road to South Mills. At the crossroads a few miles below South Mills, elements of Col. Ambrose R. Wright's command delayed the Federals until dark. Reno abandoned the expedition and withdrew during the night to the transports at Elizabeth City. The transports carried Reno's troops to New Bern where they arrived on April 22.

Capture of New Orleans - 4/25/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capture_of_New_Orleans)
The capture of New Orleans (April 25 – May 1, 1862) during the American Civil War was an important event for the Union. Having fought past Forts Jackson and St. Philip, the Union was unopposed in its capture of the city itself, which was spared the destruction suffered by many other Southern cities. However, the controversial and confrontational administration of the city by its military governor caused lasting resentment. This capture of the largest Confederate city was a major turning point and an incident of international importance.

Siege of Corinth - 4/29/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Corinth)
The Siege of Corinth (also known as the First Battle of Corinth) was an American Civil War battle fought from April 29 to May 30, 1862, in Corinth, Mississippi. The town was a strategic point at the junction of two vital railroad lines, the Mobile and Ohio Railroad and the Memphis and Charleston Railroad. The siege ended as the Confederates withdrew. The Union forces under Ulysses Grant took control and made it the base for his operations to seize control of the Mississippi River Valley, and especially the Confederate stronghold of Vicksburg.[3]

Battle of Williamsburg - 5/5/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Williamsburg)
The Battle of Williamsburg, also known as the Battle of Fort Magruder, took place on May 5, 1862, in York County, James City County, and Williamsburg, Virginia, as part of the Peninsula Campaignof the American Civil War. It was the first pitched battle of the Peninsula Campaign, in which nearly 41,000 Federals and 32,000 Confederates were engaged, fighting an inconclusive battle that ended with the Confederates continuing their withdrawal.
Following up the Confederate retreat from Yorktown, the Union division of Brig. Gen. Joseph Hooker encountered the Confederate rearguard near Williamsburg. Hooker assaulted Fort Magruder, an earthen fortification alongside the Williamsburg Road, but was repulsed. Confederate counterattacks, directed by Maj. Gen. James Longstreet, threatened to overwhelm the Union left flank, until Brig. Gen. Philip Kearny's division arrived to stabilize the Federal position. Brig. Gen. Winfield S. Hancock's brigade then moved to threaten the Confederate left flank, occupying two abandoned redoubts. The Confederates counterattacked unsuccessfully. Hancock's localized success was not exploited. The Confederate army continued its withdrawal during the night in the direction of Richmond, Virginia.[1]

Battle of Eltham's Landing - 5/7/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Eltham%27s_Landing)
The Battle of Eltham's Landing, also known as the Battle of Barhamsville, or West Point, took place on May 7, 1862, in New Kent County, Virginia, as part of the Peninsula Campaign of the American Civil War. Brig. Gen. William B. Franklin's Union division landed at Eltham's Landing and was attacked by two brigades of Brig. Gen. G. W. Smith's command, reacting to the threat to the Confederate army's trains on the Barhamsville Road. Franklin's movement occurred while the Confederate army was withdrawing from the Williamsburg line, but he was unable to interfere with the Confederate movement.

Battle of McDowell - 5/8/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_McDowell)
Some historians consider the battle of McDowell the beginning of Jackson's 1862 Valley Campaign, while others prefer to include the First Battle of Kernstown, Stonewall's only defeat. The battle of McDowell is studied today by military historians for several reasons. At the tactical level, it can be argued that the Union forces achieved a draw. Milroy's "spoiling attack" surprised Jackson, seized the initiative, and inflicted heavier casualties, but did not drive the Confederates from their position. At the strategic level, the battle of McDowell and the resultant withdrawal of the Union army was an important victory for the South. The battle demonstrated Jackson's strategy of concentrating his forces against a numerically inferior foe, while denying his enemies the chance to concentrate against him. Jackson rode the momentum of his strategic win at McDowell to victory at Front Royal (May 23) and First Winchester (May 25).[3]

Battle of Drewry's Bluff - 5/15/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Drewry%27s_Bluff)
The Battle of Drewry's Bluff, also known as the Battle of Fort Darling, or Fort Drewry, took place on May 15, 1862, in Chesterfield County, Virginia, as part of the Peninsula Campaign of theAmerican Civil War. Five Union Navy warships, including the ironclads USS Monitor and Galena, steamed up the James River to test the defenses of Richmond, Virginia, the Confederate capital. They encountered submerged obstacles and deadly accurate fire from the batteries of Fort Darling at Drewry's Bluff, which inflicted severe damage on Galena. The Union Navy was forced to turn back.

Battle of Princeton Court House - 5/15/1862
Union soldiers of Brig. Gen. Jacob D. Cox's District of Kanawha threatened the East Tennessee & Virginia Railroad. By mid-May, the Federals, although ousted from Pearisburg, held Mercer County and braced for a lunge at the railroad. Confederate Brig. Gen. Humphrey Marshall arrived from Abingdon, Virginia, with the Army of East Kentucky.
Seizing the initiative, Marshall bested Cox's two brigades during three days of fighting, May 15 to May 17, in Mercer County, centering on Princeton Courthouse. There were 129 casualties in total.

Front Royal - 5/23/1862
Wikipedia (https://maps.google.com/?vector=0)
The Battle of Front Royal, also known as Guard Hill or Cedarville, was fought May 23, 1862, in Warren County, Virginia, as part of Confederate Army Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's Campaign through the Shenandoah Valley during the American Civil War. Front Royal demonstrated Jackson's use of Valley topography and mobility to unite his own forces while dividing those of his enemies. At a minimal cost, he forced the withdrawal of a large Union army by striking at its flank and threatening its rear.

First Battle of Winchester - 5/25/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Battle_of_Winchester)
Battle animation from CivilWarAnimated.com (http://civilwaranimated.com/ValleyAnimation.html)
The First Battle of Winchester, fought on May 25, 1862, in and around Frederick County, Virginia, and Winchester, Virginia, was a major victory in Confederate Army Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's Campaign through the Shenandoah Valley during the American Civil War. Jackson enveloped the right flank of the Union Army under Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks and pursued it as it fled across the Potomac River into Maryland.

Battle of Hanover Court House - 5/27/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Hanover_Court_House)
The Battle of Hanover Court House, also known as the Battle of Slash Church, took place on May 27, 1862, in Hanover County, Virginia, as part of the Peninsula Campaign of the American Civil War.
On May 27, elements of Brig. Gen. Fitz John Porter's V Corps extended north to protect the right flank of Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan's Union Army of the Potomac. Porter's objective was to deal with a Confederate force near Hanover Court House, which threatened the avenue of approach for Union reinforcements that were marching south from Fredericksburg. The smaller Confederate force, under Colonel Lawrence O'Bryan Branch, was defeated at Peake's Crossing after a disorganized fight. The Union victory was moot, however, for the Union reinforcements were recalled to Fredericksburg upon word of Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks's rout in the Shenandoah Valley at First Winchester.

First Battle of Chattanooga - 5/29/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Chattanooga_I)
After Mitchel received command of all Federal troops between Nashville and Huntsville on May 29, he ordered Brig. Gen. James Negley with a small division to lead an expedition to captureChattanooga. This force arrived before Chattanooga on June 7. Negley ordered the 79th Pennsylvania Infantry out to reconnoiter. It found the Confederates entrenched on the opposite side of the river along the banks and atop Cameron Hill. Negley brought up two artillery batteries to open fire on the Rebel troops and the town and sent infantry to the river bank to act as sharpshooters. The Union bombardment of Chattanooga continued throughout June 7 and until noon on June 8. The Confederates replied, but it was uncoordinated since the undisciplined gunners were allowed to do as they wished. On June 10, Smith, who had arrived on June 8, reported that Negley had withdrawn and the Confederate loss was minor. This attack on Chattanooga was a warning that Union troops could mount assaults when they wanted.[1] The attack also prompted Edmund Kirby Smith to withdraw Confederate troops from other areas to defend Chattanooga. This redeployment of troops allowed George W. Morgan to capture the Cumberland Gap on June 18, 1862.

Seven Pines Cross Road - 5/31/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Seven_Pines)
Battle animation from CivilWarAnimation.com (http://civilwaranimated.com/PeninsulaAnimation.html)
The Battle of Seven Pines, also known as the Battle of Fair Oaks or Fair Oaks Station, took place on May 31 and June 1, 1862, in Henrico County, Virginia, as part of the Peninsula Campaign of the American Civil War. It was the culmination of an offensive up the Virginia Peninsula by Union Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan, in which the Army of the Potomac reached the outskirts of Richmond.
On May 31, Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston attempted to overwhelm two Federal corps that appeared isolated south of the Chickahominy River. The Confederate assaults, although not well coordinated, succeeded in driving back the IV Corps and inflicting heavy casualties. Reinforcements arrived, and both sides fed more and more troops into the action. Supported by the III Corps and Maj. Gen. John Sedgwick's division of Maj. Gen. Edwin V. Sumner's II Corps (which crossed the rain-swollen river on Grapevine Bridge), the Federal position was finally stabilized. Gen. Johnston was seriously wounded during the action, and command of the Confederate army devolved temporarily to Maj. Gen. G.W. Smith. On June 1, the Confederates renewed their assaults against the Federals, who had brought up more reinforcements, but made little headway. Both sides claimed victory.[1]
Although the battle was tactically inconclusive, it was the largest battle in the Eastern Theater up to that time (and second only to Shiloh in terms of casualties thus far, about 11,000 total) and marked the end of the Union offensive, leading to the Seven Days Battles and Union retreat in late June.[4]

Battle of Tranter's Creek - 6/5/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Tranter%27s_Creek)
The Battle of Tranter's Creek was fought on June 5, 1862, in Pitt County, North Carolina, as part of Union Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside's North Carolina expedition during the American Civil War.
On June 5, Col. Robert Potter, garrison commander at Washington, North Carolina, ordered a reconnaissance in the direction of Pactolus. The 24th Massachusetts, under Lt. Col. F. A. Osborne, advanced to the bridge over Tranter's Creek, where it encountered the 44th North Carolina, under Col. George Singletary. Unable to force a crossing, Osborne fired his artillery (Companies A–G, 1st New York Marine Artillery) at the mill buildings in which the Confederates were barricaded. Singletary was killed in the bombardment, and his troops retreated. The Federals did not pursue and returned to their fortifications at Washington.

First Battle of Memphis - 6/6/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Memphis)
The First Battle of Memphis was a naval battle fought on the Mississippi River immediately above the city of Memphis on June 6, 1862, during the American Civil War. The engagement was witnessed by many of the citizens of Memphis. It resulted in a crushing defeat for the Rebels, and marked the virtual eradication of a Confederate naval presence on the river. Despite the lopsided outcome, the Union Army failed to grasp its strategic significance. Its primary historical importance is that it was the last time civilians with no prior military experience were permitted to command ships in combat. As such, it is a milestone in the development of professionalism in the United States Navy.[1]

Battle of Cross Keys - 6/8/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cross_Keys)
The Battle of Cross Keys was fought on June 8, 1862, in Rockingham County, Virginia, as part of Confederate Army Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's campaign through the Shenandoah Valley during the American Civil War. Together, the battles of Cross Keys and Port Republic the following day were the decisive victories in Jackson's Valley Campaign, forcing the Union armies to retreat and leaving Jackson free to reinforce Gen. Robert E. Lee for the Seven Days Battles outside Richmond, Virginia.

Port Republic - 6/9/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Port_Republic)
The Battle of Port Republic was fought on June 9, 1862, in Rockingham County, Virginia, as part of Confederate Army Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's campaign through the Shenandoah Valley during the American Civil War. Port Republic was a fierce contest between two equally determined foes and was the most costly battle fought by Jackson's Army of the Valley during its campaign. Together, the battles of Cross Keys (fought the previous day) and Port Republic were the decisive victories in Jackson's Valley Campaign, forcing the Union armies to retreat and leaving Jackson free to reinforce Gen. Robert E. Lee for the Seven Days Battles outside Richmond, Virginia.

J.E.B. Stuart's Reconniter Ride - 6/10/1862
blueandgraytrail.com
On June 10, 1862, Robert E. Lee told Jeb Stuart to assemble his men and reconnoiter the right flank of the Army of the Potomac under the command of George McClellan. Although General Lee had just assumed command of the Army of Northern Virginia, he had a lot of faith in his fellow Virginia - Lee was Superintendent at West Point when Stuart was a cadet and it was Stuart who accompanied Lee to Harper's Ferry to deal with abolitionist John Brown.
The flamboyant cavalryman didn't take much time in proposing a complete circuit around the Union Army, heading to the north end of the lower peninsula (near the York River) and returning to Richmond along the James. The following day Lee gave him an unspecific order, telling him to exercise "due caution." Both Lee and Stuart interpreted that to mean "go ahead, but be careful."

Battle of James Island - 6/16/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Secessionville)
In early June 1862, Union Maj. Gen. David Hunter transported the Union divisions of Brig. Gens. Horatio G. Wright and Isaac I. Stevens, under the immediate direction of Brig. Gen. Henry Benham, to James Island, where they entrenched at Grimball's Landing near the southern flank of the Confederate defenses. Benham landed 6,500 men from the 3rd New Hampshire, 8th Michigan, 7th Connecticut, 28th Massachusetts, and 79th New York "Highlanders" on the southeastern end of James Island, and marched toward Charleston. Confederate Brig. Gen. Nathan "Shanks" Evans, who had been given command of the 3000 Confederate defenders of James Island on June 14, barely had time to assess his new command. At about 4:30 am on June 16 the Northern troops attacked the Confederate fort at Secessionville where Colonel T. G. Lamar commanded about 500 men who had a number of very heavy artillery guns and a good field of fire. After an intense battle the fort's defenders, augmented during the fight by approximately 1000 men from nearby Confederate units, prevailed. Confederate losses were approximately 200 men in comparison with nearly 700 lost by the enemy.

Battle of St. Charles - 6/17/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Saint_Charles)
On the morning of June 17, 1862, USS Mound City, St. Louis, Lexington, Conestoga, and transports, under the command of Cdr. Augustus Kilty, proceeded up White River towards St. Charles, Arkansas, attempting to resupply Maj. Gen. Samuel R. Curtis's army near Jacksonport. A few miles below Saint Charles, the 46th Indiana Infantry, under the command of Col. Graham N. Fitch, disembarked, formed a skirmish line, and proceeded upriver towards the Rebel batteries on Saint Charles bluffs, under the command of Capt. Joseph Fry, C.S.N. At the same time, the Union gunboats went upriver to engage the Rebel batteries; Mound City was hit and her steam drum exploded scalding most of the crew to death. More than 125 sailors from the Mound City were killed, but the other ship was towed to safety. Col. Fitch halted the gunboat activities to prevent further loss and then undertook an attack on the Confederate batteries with his infantry. The 46th Indiana turned the Rebel flank which ended the firing from the batteries and left Saint Charles open to Federal occupation.

Battle of Simmon's Bluff - 6/21/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Simmon%27s_Bluff)
Union forces had laid siege to Charleston, which was being resupplied from a nearby railroad. Union forces were eager to capture the city, so they sent the 55th Pennsylvania Infantry regiment to sever the rail line. The 55th Pennsylvania departed by sea shortly before the battle in search of a place to land closer to the railroad. On June 21, the 55th Pennsylvania came ashore at Wadmelaw Sound. Union forces discovered an encampment of the 16th South Carolina Infantry regiment, and quickly razed the encampment and engaged the Confederate forces.[1] The Confederates scattered after the encampment was razed and were unable to launch an effective counterattack. There were no reports of injuries on either side. After the raid, the Union forces returned to their ships and abandoned their original objective, which was to interrupt the rail line to Charleston.[2]

Battle of Oak Grove - 6/25/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Oak_Grove)
The Battle of Oak Grove, also known as the Battle of French's Field or King's School House, took place on June 25, 1862, in Henrico County, Virginia, the first of the Seven Days Battles (Peninsula Campaign) of the American Civil War. Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan advanced his lines with the objective of bringing Richmond within range of his siege guns. Two Union divisions of the III Corps attacked across the headwaters of White Oak Swamp, but were repulsed by Maj. Gen. Benjamin Huger's Confederate division. McClellan, who was 3 miles (4.8 km) in the rear, initially telegraphed to call off the attack, but ordered another attack over the same ground when he arrived at the front. Darkness halted the fighting. Union troops gained only 600 yards (550 m), at a cost of over a thousand casualties on both sides.

Battle of Mechanicsville - 6/26/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mechanicsville)
The Battle of Beaver Dam Creek, also known as the Battle of Mechanicsville or Ellerson's Mill, took place on June 26, 1862, in Hanover County, Virginia, as the first major engagement[4] of the Seven Days Battles during the Peninsula Campaign of the American Civil War. It was the start of Confederate General Robert E. Lee's counter-offensive against the Union Army of the Potomac, under Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan, which threatened the Confederate capital of Richmond. Lee attempted to turn the Union right flank, north of the Chickahominy River, with troops under Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson, but Jackson failed to arrive on time. Instead, Maj. Gen. A.P. Hill threw his division, reinforced by one of Maj. Gen. D.H. Hill's brigades, into a series of futile assaults against Brig. Gen. Fitz John Porter's V Corps, which occupied defensive works behind Beaver Dam Creek. Confederate attacks were driven back with heavy casualties. Porter withdrew his corps safely to Gaines Mill.

Battle of Gaine's Mill - 6/27/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Gaines'_Mill)
The Battle of Gaines's Mill, sometimes known as the First Battle of Cold Harbor or the Battle of Chickahominy River, took place on June 27, 1862, inHanover County, Virginia, as the third of the Seven Days Battles (Peninsula Campaign) of the American Civil War. Following the inconclusive Battle of Beaver Dam Creek (Mechanicsville) the previous day, Confederate General Robert E. Lee renewed his attacks against the right flank of the Union Army, relatively isolated on the northern side of the Chickahominy River. There, Brig. Gen. Fitz John Porter's V Corps had established a strong defensive line behind Boatswain's Swamp. Lee's force was destined to launch the largest Confederate attack of the war, about 57,000 men in six divisions. Porter's reinforced V Corps held fast for the afternoon as the Confederate attacked in a disjointed manner, first with the division of Maj. Gen. A.P. Hill, then Maj. Gen. Richard S. Ewell, suffering heavy casualties. The arrival of Maj. Gen. Stonewall Jackson's command was delayed, preventing the full concentration of Confederate force before Porter received some reinforcements from the VI Corps.
At dusk, the Confederates finally mounted a coordinated assault that broke Porter's line and drove his men back toward the Chickahominy river. The Federals retreated across the river during the night. The Confederates were too disorganized to pursue the main Union force. Gaines's Mill saved Richmond for the Confederacy in 1862; the tactical defeat there convinced Army of the Potomac commander Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan to abandon his advance on Richmond and begin a retreat to the James River. The battle occurred in almost the same location as the 1864 Battle of Cold Harbor and had a similar number of total casualties.

Battle of Garnett's & Golding's Farm - 6/27/1862
While Lee's main attack at Gaines' Mill was progressing on June 27, the Confederates south of the Chickahominy performed a reconnaissance in force to determine the location of McClellan's retreating army. Brig. Gen. John B. Magruder, who up to this time had engaged the Union forces on the Peninsula primarily with theatrical diversions, ordered Brig. Gen. Robert A. Toombs's brigade forward to "feel the enemy." Toombs, a Georgia politician with a disdain for professional officers, instead launched a sharp attack at dusk against Brig. Gen. William F. "Baldy" Smith's VI Corps division near Old Tavern at the farm of James M. Garnett. The attack was easily repulsed by the brigade of Brig. Gen. Winfield S. Hancock, inflicting 271 casualties among the Georgians.[4]
On June 28, Toombs again was ordered to conduct a reconnaissance, but turned it into an attack over the same ground, meeting the enemy at the farm of Simon Gouldin (also known as Golding). Toombs took it upon himself to order his fellow brigade commander, Brig. Gen. George T. Anderson, to join the assault. Two of Anderson's regiments, the 7th and 8th Georgia, preceded Toombs's brigade into the assault and were subjected to a vigorous Federal counterattack by the 49th Pennsylvania and 43rd New York, losing 156 men.[5]

Savage's Station - 6/29/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Savage's_Station)
The Battle of Savage's Station took place on June 29, 1862, in Henrico County, Virginia, as fourth of the Seven Days Battles (Peninsula Campaign) of theAmerican Civil War. The main body of the Union Army of the Potomac began a general withdrawal toward the James River. Confederate Brig. Gen. John B. Magruder pursued along the railroad and the Williamsburg Road and struck Maj. Gen. Edwin Vose Sumner's II Corps (the Union rearguard) with three brigades near Savage's Station, while Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's divisions were stalled north of the Chickahominy River. Union forces continued to withdraw across White Oak Swamp, abandoning supplies and more than 2,500 wounded soldiers in a field hospital.

Battle of Tampa - 6/30/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Tampa)
On June 30, U.S.S. Sagamore,[5] a Union gunboat came into Tampa Bay, opened her ports, and turned her broadside on the town. The gunboat then launched a boat with 20 men flying a flag of truce. In his post-action report, Captain J. W. Pearson, CSA, reported to Gen. Joseph Finegan, CSA, what transpired. “I immediately manned one of my boats with 18 men met them in the bay, determined that they should not land on my shore, and on meeting the boat the lieutenant in command reported he had been sent by Captain Drake to demand an unconditional surrender of the town. My reply to him was that we did not understand the meaning of the word surrender; there was no such letter in our book; we don’t surrender. He then said they would commence shelling the town at 6 o’clock, and I told him to pitch in. We then gave three hearty cheers for the Southern Confederacy and the Federal boat crew said nothing…. At 6 o’clock they promptly opened fire on us with heavy shell and shot, and after two from them we opened from our batteries, consisting of three 24-pounder cannon. Both parties then kept up a regular fire until 7 p.m.” At that point, U.S.S Sagamore withdrew. On July 1, between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m., the gunboat fired from beyond the range of the Confederate cannon. After a two hour break for lunch, U.S.S Sagamore fired two more rounds, weighed anchor, and sailed away. There were no Confederate casualties.[6]

Battle of White Oak Swamp - 6/30/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_White_Oak_Swamp)
The Battle of White Oak Swamp took place on June 30, 1862 in Henrico County, Virginia as part of the Seven Days Battles (Peninsula Campaign) of the American Civil War. As the Union Army of the Potomac retreated southeast toward the James River, its rearguard under Maj. Gen. William B. Franklin stopped Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's divisions at the White Oak Bridge crossing, resulting in an artillery duel, while the main Battle of Glendale raged two miles (3 km) farther south around Frayser's Farm. White Oak Swamp is generally considered to be part of the larger Glendale engagement. Because of this resistance from Brig. Gen. William B. Franklin's VI Corps, Jackson was prevented from joining the consolidated assault on the Union Army at Glendale that had been ordered by General Robert E. Lee, producing an inconclusive result, but one in which the Union Army avoided destruction and was able to assume a strong defensive position at Malvern Hill.

Battle of Frayser's Farm - 6/30/1862
sonofthesouth.net
The battle of Glendale or Frayser’s Farm was the crisis of the “Seven Days.” Had Lee been able to concentrate his whole strength against the Federals it is probable that McClellan would never have reached the James. But Longstreet and Hill fought unsupported. As the former very justly complained, 50,000 men were within hearing of the guns but none came to co-operate, and against the two Confederate divisions fought the Third Federal Army Corps, reinforced by three divisions from the Second, Fifth, and Sixth.

Battle of Malvern Hill -7/1/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Malvern_Hill)
The Battle of Malvern Hill, also known as the Battle of Poindexter's Farm, took place on July 1, 1862, in Henrico County, Virginia, on the seventh and last day of the Seven Days Battles (Peninsula Campaign) of the American Civil War. Gen. Robert E. Lee launched a series of disjointed assaults on the nearly impregnable Union position on Malvern Hill. The Confederates suffered more than 5,300 casualties without gaining an inch of ground. Despite his victory, Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan withdrew to entrench at Harrison's Landing on the James River, where his army was protected by gunboats, ending the Peninsula Campaign.

Battle of Cotton Plant - 7/7/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cotton_Plant)
During the summer of 1862, Union Maj. Gen. Samuel R. Curtis planned to move his army toward Helena, Arkansas, in search of supplies to replace those that had been promised but never delivered by the US Navy. The Confederates skirmished with Union troops as the Federals marched south along the White Rivertoward the supply flotilla waiting at Clarendon. On July 7, 1862, Confederate Maj. Gen. Thomas C. Hindman ordered Brig. Gen. Albert Rust to stop them at theCache River. Rust moved too slowly, so the forward elements of his force did not strike until 4 miles south of the river on Parley Hill's plantation near Cotton Plant. The outnumbered Illinois and Wisconsin infantry commanded by Union Col. Charles E. Hovey repulsed repeated, poorly organized attacks by Confederate Col. William H. Parsons's two Texas cavalry regiments. The Confederates fled when Federal reinforcements arrived. On July 8, the 2nd Wisconsin Cavalry, under the command of newly promoted Brig. Gen. Cadwallader C. Washburn, pursued the Confederates to the Cache River, destroying two ferry boats and capturing several prisoners.
Curtis proceeded to Clarendon, only to find that the flotilla had departed the previous day. He turned east toward Helena and occupied it on July 12. Federal forces controlled the town for the duration of the war. Nevertheless, Hindman, despite suffering defeat, remained between Curtis and Little Rock, his objective.

First Battle of Murfreesboro - 7/13/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Battle_of_Murfreesboro)
The First Battle of Murfreesboro was fought on July 13, 1862, in Rutherford County, Tennessee, as part of the American Civil War. Troops under Confederatecavalry commander Brig. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest surprised and quickly overran a Federal hospital, the camps of several small Union units, and the jail and courthouse in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. All of the Union units surrendered to Forrest, and the Confederates destroyed much of the Union's supplies and destroyed railroad track in the area. The primary consequence of the raid was the diversion of Union forces from a drive on Chattanooga.

Battle of Baton Rouge - 8/5/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Baton_Rouge_(1862)
Breckinridge moved to the Comite River, 10 miles (16 km) east of Baton Rouge, by August 4, and then marched the men closer at night. The Confederates lost the element of surprise when they were discovered by Union sentries. Despite this, the attack was launched at daybreak on August 5.
The Union troops were in the center of Baton Rouge, while the Confederates were lined up in two divisions, north of the city. The action occurred around Florida Street, and began with the Confederates pushing their opponents all the way across town. Bitter fighting took place, especially around Magnolia Cemetery. The Union commander, Brigadier General Thomas Williams, was killed in action. Colonel Thomas W. Cahill took over.
The colonel led a retreat back to prepared defensive lines near the Penitentiary, under the protection of the Union warships. The Confederate troops began coming under fire from the gunboats. The Confederate ram Arkansas arrived not long after but her engines failed just four miles above the city. Her commander ordered her set afire to prevent her capture. Without any prospect of naval support, Breckenridge was unable to attack the Union positions and withdrew. Union troops evacuated the city a week later, concerned for the safety of New Orleans, but returned that autumn. Confederates occupied Port Hudson, which they held for almost another year.

Battle of Kirksville - 8/6/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Kirksville)
Union Colonel John McNeil of the 2nd Missouri Cavalry and his troops, totalling about 1,000, had been pursuing Porter for more than a week. Before noon on August 6, McNeil attacked Porter in the town of Kirksville, where the Confederates had concealed themselves in homes and stores and among the crops in the nearby fields, especially in the county courthouse and the commercial buildings on the square. Their presence was discovered by a Union detachment that volunteered to ride around the square in order to draw fire and cause the Confederates to reveal themselves — an act of courage which cost two Union soldiers their lives. McNeil deployed his artillery before moving in a broad line towards the town square. The subsequent cannon fire demoralized the defenders, some of whom retreated behind a rail fence, west of the square.
The Union troops then advanced in two wings, with Lt. Col. William F. Shaffer (Merrill's Horse) in command of the Union right wing and Major Henry Clay Caldwell of the 3rd Iowa in charge of the left. As the two wings met, they succeeded in driving the Confederates from the courthouse. Porter's remaining forces yielded ground and joined the others behind the rail fence. From this position, the Confederates poured heavy fire into McNeil’s men, but were ultimately overwhelmed. The battle began at 11 a.m. and was over by 2 p.m.
The Federals then secured the town, capturing numerous prisoners, and driving away the remaining Confederates. Three days later, another Union force arrived and finished the work begun at Kirksville, virtually destroying Porter's command.[2]

Battle of Cedar Mountain - 8/9/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cedar_Mountain)
The Battle of Cedar Mountain, also known as Slaughter's Mountain or Cedar Run, took place on August 9, 1862, in Culpeper County, Virginia, as part of theAmerican Civil War. Union forces under Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks attacked Confederate forces under Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson near Cedar Mountain as the Confederates marched on Culpeper Court House to forestall a Union advance into central Virginia. After nearly being driven from the field in the early part of the battle, a Confederate counterattack broke the Union lines resulting in a Confederate victory. The battle was the first combat of the Northern Virginia Campaign.

First Battle of Donaldsonville - 8/9/1862
A number of incidents of artillery firing on Union steamers passing up and down the Mississippi River at Donaldsonville, Louisiana, influenced the U.S. Navy to undertake a retaliatory attack. Rear Adm. David G. Farragut sent the town notice of his intentions and suggested that the citizens send the women and children away. He then anchored in front of the town and fired upon it with guns and mortars. Farragut also sent a detachment ashore that set fire to the hotels, wharf buildings, and the dwelling houses and other buildings of Capt. Phillippe Landry. Landry, thought to be the captain of the partisan unit, purportedly fired on the landing party during the raid. Some citizens protested the raid, but, generally, firing on Union ships ceased thereafter.

First Battle of Independence - 8/11/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Battle_of_Independence)
Col. John T. Hughes’s Confederate force, including the partisan leader William Quantrill, attacked Independence before dawn, in two columns using different roads. They drove through the town to the Union Armycamp, delivering a deadly volley to the sleeping men. Captain Breckenridge suggested surrender, but Captain Jacob Axline formed the Federal troops behind a rock wall and a nearby ditch while the Confederates rifled through their camp, looking for ammunition. The Rebels made several attacks against Axline's wall, but never succeeded in taking it. Here Colonel Hughes was killed, while Thompson and Hays were wounded.
Lt. Col. Buel attempted to hold out with part of his force in the bank building he used as his headquarters. He was forced to surrender after an adjacent building was set afire. Through a flag of truce, Buel arranged a meeting with the new Confederate commander, Col. Gideon W. Thompson, who had replaced Colonel Hughes, killed earlier. Buel surrendered, and about 150 of his men were paroled; the remainder had escaped, hidden, or been killed.

Battle of Lone Jack - 8/15/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Lone_Jack)
The Battle of Lone Jack was a battle of the American Civil War, occurring on August 15–August 16, 1862 in Jackson County, Missouri. The battle was part of the Confederate guerrilla and recruiting campaign in Missouri in 1862.
After five hours of fighting and the loss of Foster, rebel Col. Coffee and his 800 men reappeared north of town causing Foster’s successor, Capt. Milton H. Brawner, to order a retreat. The men left the field in good order and returned to Lexington. The cannon were hastily spiked or disabled and hidden before the Federals departed. The Confederates secured a victory, but the approach of Union forces including Blunt and Fitz Henry Warren forced the Rebels to withdraw on August 17. General Fitz Warren occupied the town that day.[7]
Foster was later criticized for attacking on the first day while being outnumbered and for not awaiting reinforcement. However, Fitz Warren's command did not arrive until two days later, and Blunt's three days after Foster arrived. The Federals fought more vigorously because many believed Quantrill's raiders were present and would be brutal to prisoners.[citation needed]

First Battle of Rappahannock Station - 8/22/1862
In early August, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee determined that Union Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan's army was being withdrawn from the Virginia Peninsula to reinforce Maj. Gen. John Pope. He sent Maj. Gen. James Longstreet's wing from Richmond to join Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's wing of the army near Gordonsville and arrived to take command himself on August 15. On August 20 and 21, Pope withdrew to the line of the Rappahannock River. On August 23, Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart's cavalry made a daring raid on Pope's headquarters at Catlett Station, showing that the Union right flank was vulnerable to a turning movement.
Over the next several days, August 22 to August 25, the two armies fought a series of minor actions along the Rappahannock River, including Waterloo Bridge, Lee Springs, Freeman's Ford, and Sulphur Springs, resulting in a few hundred casualties combined. Together, these skirmishes primed Pope's army along the river, while Jackson's wing marched via Thoroughfare Gap to capture Bristoe Station and destroy Federal supplies at Manassas Junction, far in the rear of Pope's army.

Manassas Station Operations (Stonewall Jackson) - 8/25/1862
On the evening of August 26, after passing around Union Maj. Gen. John Pope's right flank via Thoroughfare Gap, Confederate Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's wing of the army struck the Orange & Alexandria Railroad at Bristoe Station and before daybreak August 27 marched to capture and destroy the massive Union supply depot at Manassas Junction. This surprise movement forced Pope's Army of Virginia into an abrupt retreat from his defensive line along the Rappahannock River.
On August 27, Jackson routed a Union brigade near Union Mills (Bull Run Bridge), inflicting several hundred casualties and mortally wounding Union Brig. Gen. George W. Taylor. Maj. Gen. Richard S. Ewell's Confederate division fought a brisk rearguard action against Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker's Union division at Kettle Run, resulting in about 600 casualties. Ewell held back Union forces until dark. That night, Jackson marched his divisions north to the Bull Run battlefield, where he took position behind an unfinished railroad grade.

Battle of Thoroughfare Gap - 8/28/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Thoroughfare_Gap)
The Battle of Thoroughfare Gap, also known as Chapman's Mill, took place on August 28, 1862, in Fauquier County and Prince William County, Virginia, as part of the Northern Virginia Campaign of the American Civil War. Confederate forces under Maj. Gen. James Longstreet successfully drove back Union forces under Brig. Gen. James B. Ricketts and Col. Percy Wyndham, allowing his corps to unite with that of Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson prior to the Second Battle of Bull Run (Second Manassas).

Manasses II (Bull Run II) -8/29/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Battle_of_Bull_Run)
Battle animation from CivilWarAnimated.com (http://civilwaranimated.com/ManassasTwoAnimation.html)
The Second Battle of Bull Run or Second Manassas was fought August 28–30, 1862[1] in Prince William County, Virginia, as part of the American Civil War. It was the culmination of an offensive campaign waged by Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia against Union Maj. Gen. John Pope's Army of Virginia, and a battle of much larger scale and numbers than the First Battle of Bull Run (First Manassas) fought in 1861 on the same ground.
Following a wide-ranging flanking march, Confederate Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson captured the Union supply depot at Manassas Junction, threatening Pope's line of communications with Washington, D.C. Withdrawing a few miles to the northwest, Jackson took up defensive positions on Stony Ridge. On August 28, 1862, Jackson attacked a Union column just east of Gainesville, at Brawner's Farm, resulting in a stalemate. On that same day, the wing of Lee's army commanded by Maj. Gen. James Longstreet broke through light Union resistance in the Battle of Thoroughfare Gap and approached the battlefield.
Pope became convinced that he had trapped Jackson and concentrated the bulk of his army against him. On August 29, Pope launched a series of assaults against Jackson's position along an unfinished railroad grade. The attacks were repulsed with heavy casualties on both sides. At noon, Longstreet arrived on the field from Thoroughfare Gap and took position on Jackson's right flank. On August 30, Pope renewed his attacks, seemingly unaware that Longstreet was on the field. When massed Confederate artillery devastated a Union assault by Maj. Gen. Fitz John Porter's V Corps, Longstreet's wing of 25,000 men in five divisions counterattacked in the largest, simultaneous mass assault of the war.[4] The Union left flank was crushed and the army was driven back to Bull Run. Only an effective Union rear guard action prevented a replay of the First Manassas disaster. Pope's retreat to Centreville was nonetheless precipitous.[5]

Battle of Richmond, KY - 8/29/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Richmond)
Brig. Gen. Patrick Cleburne led Smith's advance with Col. John S. Scott's cavalry out in front. The Confederate cavalry, while moving north from Big Hill on the road to Richmond, Kentucky, on August 29, encountered Union troopers and began skirmishing. After noon, Union artillery and infantry joined the fray, forcing the Confederate cavalry to retreat to Big Hill.[3]
At that time, Brig. Gen. Mahlon D. Manson, who commanded Union forces in the area, commanded a brigade to march to Rogersville, toward the Rebels. Fighting for the day stopped after pursuing Union forces briefly skirmished with Cleburne's men in late afternoon. That night, Manson informed his superior, Bull Nelson, of his situation, and he ordered another brigade to be ready to march in support, when required.[3]
Kirby Smith ordered Cleburne to attack in the morning and promised to hurry reinforcements (Brig. Gen. Thomas J. Churchill's division). Cleburne started early, marching north, passed through Kingston, dispersed Union skirmishers, and approached Manson's battle line near Zion Church. As the day progressed, additional troops joined both sides. Following an artillery duel, the battle began, and after a concerted Confederate attack on the Union right, the Union troops gave way. Retreating into Rogersville, they made another futile stand at their old bivouac.[3]
By now, Smith and Nelson had arrived and taken command of their respective armies. Nelson rallied some troops in the cemetery outside Richmond, but they were routed.[3]

Battle of Chantilly - 9/1/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Chantilly)
The Battle of Chantilly (or Ox Hill, the Confederate name) took place on September 1, 1862, in Fairfax County, Virginia, as the concluding battle of the Northern Virginia Campaign of the American Civil War. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's corps of the Army of Northern Virginia attempted to cut off the line of retreat of the Union Army of Virginia but was attacked by two Union divisions. During the ensuing battle, both Union division commanders were killed but the Union attack halted Jackson's advance.

Battle of Birch Coulee - 9/2/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Birch_Coulee)
The Battle of Birch Coulee occurred September 2, 1862 during the Dakota War of 1862. After the Battle of Fort Ridgely and the Battle of New Ulm, Colonel Henry Hastings Sibley was planning to punish the Sioux and to obtain the release of the settlers they were holding captive. While Sibley was training soldiers and attempting to organize supplies, he was reminded that the bodies of many settlers killed by the Indians still remained unburied on the battlefields. Sibley sent out a burial party of about 170 men from Fort Ridgely on August 31, 1862.

Battle of Harper's Ferry - 9/12/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Harpers_Ferry)
The Battle of Harpers Ferry was fought September 12–15, 1862, as part of the Maryland Campaign of the American Civil War. As Gen. Robert E. Lee's Confederate army invaded Maryland, a portion of his army under Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson surrounded, bombarded, and captured the Union garrison at Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia), a major victory at relatively minor cost.

Battle of South Mountain -9/14/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_South_Mountain)
The Battle of South Mountain—known in several early Southern accounts as the Battle of Boonsboro Gap—was fought September 14, 1862, as part of the Maryland Campaign of the American Civil War. Three pitched battles were fought for possession of three South Mountain passes: Crampton's, Turner's, and Fox's Gaps. Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan, commanding the Union Army of the Potomac, needed to pass through these gaps in his pursuit of Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. Despite being significantly outnumbered, Lee's army delayed McClellan's advance for a day before withdrawing.

Battle of Munfordville - 9/15/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Munfordville)
In late August 1862, Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg's army left Chattanooga, Tennessee and marched into Kentucky. Pursued by Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Buell's Union Army, Bragg approached Munfordville, a station on the Louisville & Nashville Railroad and the location of the railroad bridge crossing Green River, in mid-September. Col. John T. Wilder commanded the Union garrison at Munfordville, which consisted of three regiments behind extensive fortifications. Wilder refused Brig. Gen. James R. Chalmers's demand to surrender on September 14. Union forces repulsed Chalmers's attacks that day, forcing the Confederates to conduct siege operations September 15 and September 16.
Late on September 16, realizing that Buell's forces were near and not wishing to kill or injure innocent civilians, the Confederates sent another demand for surrender. Wilder entered enemy lines under a flag of truce, and Confederate Maj. Gen. Simon B. Buckner escorted him to view the Confederate strength to convince him resistance was futile. Realizing the odds he faced, Wilder agreed to surrender. The formal ceremony took place the next day. With the railroad and bridge, Munfordville was an important transportation center, and Confederates' control hampered the movement of Union supplies and men.

Antietam I (Sharpsburg) - 9/17/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antietam_National_Battlefield)
Battle animation from CivilWarAnimated.com (http://civilwaranimated.com/AntietamAnimation.html)
Morning phase
The Battle began at dawn on September 17, 1862, when Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker began the Union artillery bombardment of the Confederate positions of Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson in the Miller cornfield. Hooker's troops advanced behind the falling shells and drove the Confederates from their positions. Around 7 a.m. Jackson reinforced his troops and pushed the Union troops back. Union Maj. Gen. Joseph K. Mansfield sent his men into the fray and regained some of the ground lost to the Confederates.[14]
Midday phase
As the fighting in the cornfield was coming to a close, Maj. Gen. William H. French was moving his Federals forward to support Maj. Gen. John Sedgwick and veered into Confederate Maj. Gen. D.H. Hill's troops posted in the Sunken Road. Fierce fighting continued here for four hours before the Union troops finally took the road.[14]
Afternoon phase
On the southeast side of town, Union Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside's XI Corps had been trying to cross Antietam Creek since mid-morning, being held up by only 500 Georgia sharpshooters. Around 1 p.m., they finally crossed Burnside's Bridge and took the heights. After a 2 hour lull to reform the Union lines, they advanced up the hill, driving the Confederates back towards Sharpsburg. But for the timely arrival of Maj. Gen. A.P. Hill's division from Harpers Ferry, Burnside would have entered Sharpsburg. Instead, the Union troops were driven back to the heights above the bridge.[14]
Conclusion
The battle was over with the Union sitting on three sides, waiting for the next day. During the night of the 18th, General Lee pulled his troops back across the Potomac River, leaving the battle and the town to General McClellan.

Battle of Shepherdstown - 9/19/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Shepherdstown)
Shortly before dusk on September 19, Union Brig. Gen. Charles Griffin sent two regiments, the 1st U.S. Sharpshooters and the 4th Michigan, across the Potomac River at Boteler's Ford. They attacked Pendleton's rearguard, capturing four artillery pieces before being recalled. Pendleton incorrectly reported to Gen. Robert E. Lee that he had lost all 44 guns of his artillery reserve.
Early on September 20, Porter sent two brigades across the Potomac on a reconnaissance-in-force. Major Charles Lovell's Brigade of Regulars encountered Maj. Gen. A. P. Hill's "Light Division" about a mile from the river. While withdrawing back to the ford Hill's men attacked under a withering hail of federal artillery fire, which inflicted tremendous casualties. Col. James Barnes's brigade was ordered to the top of the bluffs to cover the retreat, and two more Federal brigades were ordered to cross to the Virginia side of the river. After a violent clash along the heights bordering the river, Porter ordered a withdrawal. However, the colonel of the inexperienced 118th Pennsylvania (the "Corn Exchange" Regiment) refused to retire until orders were received through the proper chain of command. In this engagement, their first time under fire, the 118th Pennsylvania were driven in by four Confederate brigades and suffered 36% losses. Casualties on both sides amounted to just under 700, making this the bloodiest battle ever fought on West Virginia soil.

Battle of Iuka - 9/19/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Iuka)
The Battle of Iuka was fought on September 19, 1862, in Iuka, Mississippi, during the American Civil War. In the opening battle of the Iuka-Corinth Campaign, Union Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans stopped the advance of the army of Confederate Maj. Gen. Sterling Price.
Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant brought two armies to confront Price in a double envelopment: Rosecrans's Army of the Mississippi, approaching Iuka from the southwest, and three divisions of his own Army of the Tennessee under Maj. Gen. Edward O. C. Ord, approaching from the northwest. Although Grant and Ord planned to attack in conjunction with Rosecrans when they heard the sound of battle, an acoustic shadow suppressed the sound and prevented them from realizing that the battle had begun. After an afternoon of fighting, entirely by Rosecrans's men, the Confederates withdrew from Iuka on a road that had not been blocked by the Union army, marching to rendezvous with Confederate Maj. Gen. Earl Van Dorn, with whom they would soon fight the Second Battle of Corinth.

Battle of Wood Lake - 9/23/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Wood_Lake)
The troops camped east of Lone Tree or Battle Lake, a small lake drained by a creek running northeast to the Minnesota River, about five miles north of what is now Echo, Minnesota. Sibley's guide thought the lake was Wood Lake, which was about three and a half miles to the west, so the battle is actually misnamed. The Third Minnesota camped along the crest south of the creek, and the sixth Minnesota was next to the small lake. The Seventh Minnesota was at the right rear behind the creek’s ravine. All units and the wagon train and artillery were partially enclosed by trenches. [1]
Little Crow planned to ambush the soldiers the next morning when they were marching, strung out along the road when the troops would be in a long, poorly defended column. In the morning, a few soldiers from the Third Minnesota regiment in several wagons left camp early in search of food from the Upper Sioux Agency near present day Rock Valle Church. Some of the wagons were not on the road, and were headed straight at some of Little Crow's men as they lay in the grass thus compelling them to rise up and fire. This brought on the fight, and veteran troops from the Third Regiment recently returned from fighting Confederates in the south, ran to assist their comrades, aided by the Renville Rangers. They advanced about a half mile from the camp until both flanks were threatened. Sibley ordered Lt. Colonel William R. Marshall with six companies and an artillery piece to advance and repulse the Indians on the right flank. On the left end of the line, Major Robert N. McLaren led his men around the lake to defeat an attempted flanking attack. The battle lasted about two hours, during which Chief Mankato was killed by a cannonball.

First Battle of Sabine Pass - 9/24/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Battle_of_Sabine_Pass)
When the Union squadron neared Fort Sabine, Crocker ordered his ships to begin an artillery bombardment of the enemy position. Confederate forces numbering thirty infantry and artillerists manning the artillery batteries, additionally supported by thirty cavalrymen, were unable to effectively return fire as the outdated guns were unable to reach the Union fleet. The commanding officer, Major Josephus S. Irvine (CSA), ordered his artillery spiked and then retreated during the night. Without a significant military presence, the town of Sabine Pass, surrendered the following day. On October 08, 1862, Galveston, Texas was captured.

First Battle of Newtonia -9/30/1862
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Battle_of_Newtonia)
On the 29th, Union scouts approached Newtonia but were chased away. Other Federal troops appeared in nearby Granby where there were lead mines, and Cooper sent some reinforcements there. The next morning, Union columns appeared before Newtonia and fighting ensued by 7:00 am. The Federals began driving the enemy, but Confederate reinforcements arrived, swelling the numbers. The Northerners gave way and retreated in haste. As they did so, additional Union reinforcements appeared and helped to stem their retreat. They soon renewed the attack, threatening the Confederate's right flank. But newly arrived Confederates stopped the assault and eventually forced the Federals to finally retire.
Pursuit of the Federals continued after dark. Union gunners posted artillery in the roadway to halt the pursuit. As Confederate gunners observed the enemy artillery fire for its location, they fired back, creating panic. The Union retreat turned into a rout as some ran all the way to Sarcoxie, more than ten miles away. Although the Confederates won the battle, they were unable to maintain themselves in the area given the great number of Union troops. Most Confederates retreated into northwest Arkansas. The 1862 Confederate victories in southwestern Missouri at Newtonia and Clark’s Mill were the South’s apogee in the area; afterwards, the only Confederates in the area belonged to raiding columns.
Newtonia was one of the few battles during the Civil War in which Native Americans played a significant role on both sides.

Battle of Saint (or St.) John's Bluff -10/1/1862
Early in the war, Confederate Brigadier General Joseph Finnegan established an artillery battery on St. John's Bluff near Jacksonville, Florida, to stop the movement of Union Navy ships up the St. Johns River. This was part of a series of Confederate defensive works that had been constructed near Fort Caroline. But once Union forces had occupied the town of Jacksonville, it became necessary for them to also reduce the enemy batteries along the St. Johns River to consolidate control of the general area.
Union Brigadier General John Milton Brannan embarked with about 1,500 infantry aboard the transports Boston, Ben DeFord, Cosmopolitan, and Neptune at Hilton Head, South Carolina, on September 30, 1862. The flotilla arrived at the mouth of the St. John's River on October 1, where Commander Charles Steedman's gunboats— USS Paul Jones, USS Cimarron, USS Uncas, USS Patroon, USS E. B. Hale, and USS Water Witch—joined them.
By midday, the gunboats approached the bluff, while Brannan began landing troops at Mayport Mills. Another Union infantry force landed at Mount Pleasant Creek, about five miles in the rear of the Confederate battery, and began marching overland on October 2. Outmaneuvered, Lieutenant Commander Charles F. Hopkins, the local Confederate commander, abandoned the position after dark. When the gunboats approached the bluff the next day, its guns were silent.

Second Battle of Corinth - 10/3/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Battle_of_Corinth)
The Second Battle of Corinth (which, in the context of the American Civil War, is usually referred to as the Battle of Corinth, to differentiate it from the Siege of Corinth earlier the same year) was fought October 3–4, 1862, in Corinth, Mississippi. For the second time in the Iuka-Corinth Campaign, Union Maj. Gen. William Rosecrans defeated a Confederate army, this time one under Maj. Gen. Earl Van Dorn.
After the Battle of Iuka, Maj. Gen. Sterling Price marched his army to meet with Van Dorn's. The combined force, under the command of the more senior Van Dorn, moved in the direction of Corinth, a critical rail junction in northern Mississippi, hoping to disrupt Union lines of communications and then sweep into Middle Tennessee. The fighting began on October 3 as the Confederates pushed the Federal army from the rifle pits originally constructed by the Confederates for the Siege of Corinth. The Confederates exploited a gap in the Union line and continued to press the Union troops until they fell back to an inner line of fortifications.
On the second day of battle, the Confederates moved forward to meet heavy Union artillery fire, storming Battery Powell and Battery Robinett, where desperate hand-to-hand fighting occurred. A brief incursion into the town of Corinth was repulsed. After a Federal counterattack recaptured Battery Powell, Van Dorn ordered a general retreat. Rosecrans did not pursue immediately and the Confederates escaped destruction.

Battle of Galveston Harbor - 10/4/1862
Colonel Joseph J. Cook, Confederate military commander in the area, would not come out to the Union ship or send an officer to receive the communication, so Harriet Lane weighed anchor and returned to the fleet. Four Union steamers, with a mortar boat in tow, then entered the harbor and moved to the same area where Harriet Lane had anchored. Observing this activity, Confederates at Fort Point fired one or more shots and the U.S. Navy ships answered. Eventually, the Union ships disabled the one Confederate gun at Fort Point and fired at other targets.
Two Rebel guns from Fort Bankhead were also fired at the flotilla but did no damage and were ignored by the Navy. The boat that Colonel Cook had dispatched now approached the Union vessels and two Confederate officers boarded USS Westfield. Renshaw demanded an unconditional surrender of Galveston or he would begin bombarding the town again. Cook refused Renshaw's terms, and conveyed to Renshaw that upon him rested the responsibility of destroying the town and killing women, children, and immigrants.
Renshaw threatened to resume the shelling and made preparations for towing the mortar boat into position. One of the Confederate officers then asked if he could be granted time to talk with Colonel Cook again. This officer, a major, negotiated with Renshaw for a four day truce to evacuate the women, children, and aliens from the city. Cook approved the truce but added a stipulation that if Renshaw would not move troops closer to Galveston, Cook would not permit his men to come below the city.

Battle of Hatchie's Bridge- 10/5/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Hatchie%27s_Bridge)
Van Dorn's (Confederate) Army of Tennessee retreated from Corinth, Mississippi, on October 4, 1862, but Union Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans did not send forces in pursuit until the morning of October 5. Maj. Gen. Edward O.C. Ord, commanding a detachment of Ulysses S. Grant's Army of the Tennessee, was, pursuant to orders, advancing on Corinth to assist Rosecrans. On the night of October 4–5, he camped near Pocahontas. Between 7:30 and 8:00 a.m. the next morning, his force encountered Union Maj. Gen. Stephen A. Hurlbut's 4th Division, District of Jackson, in the Confederates’ front. Ord took command of the now-combined Union forces and pushed Van Dorn’s advanced element, Maj. Gen. Sterling Price's Army of the West, back about five miles to the Hatchie River and across Davis's Bridge. After accomplishing this, Ord was wounded in the ankle and Hurlbut assumed command. While Price's men were hotly engaged with Ord's force, Van Dorn's scouts looked for and found another crossing of the Hatchie River. Van Dorn then led his army back to Holly Springs. Grant ordered Rosecrans to abandon the pursuit. Ord had forced Price to retreat, but the Confederates escaped capture or destruction. Although they should have done so, Rosecrans's army had failed to capture or destroy Van Dorn's force.[1][2][3]

Battle of Perrysville, TN - 10/8/1862
Wikipedia on Perryville (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Perryville)
Battle animation from CivilWarAnimated.com (http://civilwaranimated.com/StoneAnimation.html)
On October 7, Buell's army, in pursuit of Bragg, converged on the small crossroads town of Perryville in three columns. Union forces first skirmished with Confederate cavalry on the Springfield Pike before the fighting became more general, on Peters Hill, when the Confederate infantry arrived. Both sides were desperate to get access to fresh water. The next day, at dawn, fighting began again around Peters Hill as a Union division advanced up the pike, halting just before the Confederate line. After noon, a Confederate division struck the Union left flank—the I Corps of Maj. Gen. Alexander M. McCook—and forced it to fall back. When more Confederate divisions joined the fray, the Union line made a stubborn stand, counterattacked, but finally fell back with some units routed.[6]
Buell, several miles behind the action, was unaware that a major battle was taking place and did not send any reserves to the front until late in the afternoon. The Union troops on the left flank, reinforced by two brigades, stabilized their line, and the Confederate attack sputtered to a halt. Later, three Confederate regiments assaulted the Union division on the Springfield Pike but were repulsed and fell back into Perryville. Union troops pursued, and skirmishing occurred in the streets until dark. By that time, Union reinforcements were threatening the Confederate left flank. Bragg, short of men and supplies, withdrew during the night, and continued the Confederate retreat by way of Cumberland Gap into East Tennessee.[6]
Considering the casualties related to the engaged strengths of the armies,[2] the Battle of Perryville was one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War. It was the largest battle fought in the state of Kentucky.[7]

Battle of Old Fort Wayne - 10/22/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Old_Fort_Wayne)
Brig. Gen. James G. Blunt and his Cherokee, Indiana, and Kansas troops from the First Division of the Army of the Frontier attacked Col. Douglas H. Cooper and his Confederate command on Beatties Prairie near Old Fort Wayne at 7:00 a.m. on October 22, 1862. The Confederates put up stiff resistance for a half hour, but overwhelming numbers forced them to retire from the field in haste, leaving artillery and equipage behind. This was a setback in the 1862 Confederate offensive that extended from the Tidewater in the East to the plains of the Indian Territory of the West.

Battle of Georgia Landing 10/27/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Georgia_Landing)
On October 25, Weitzel and his men arrived at Donaldsonville, where the Lafourche meets the Mississippi River, and began an advance up the east bank of the bayou. The Confederates, under the command of Brig. Gen. Alfred Mouton attempted to concentrate to meet the threat. By October 27, the Confederates had occupied a position on the bayou above Labadieville. A little more than half the force was on the east bank while the rest of the men were on the west bank near Georgia Landing, generally without means of concentrating on one side or the other.
As the Federal troops continued down the east bank, they encountered the Confederates at about 11:00 a.m. and began skirmishing. The Confederates fell back quickly. Weitzel then began crossing his men to the west bank to attack the troops there. For some time, these Confederate troops fought resolutely and brought the Union assault to a standstill, but they ran out of artillery ammunition and had to withdraw to Labadieville, opening up this portion of the Lafourche to the Union.

Battle of Clark's Mill - 11/7/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Clark%27s_Mill)
Having received reports that Confederate troops were in the area, Capt. Hiram E. Barstow, Union commander at Clark's Mill, sent a detachment toward Gainesville and he led another southeastward. Barstow's men ran into a Confederate force, skirmished with them and drove them back. His column then fell back to Clark's Mill where he learned that another Confederate force was coming from the northeast. Unlimbering artillery to command both approach roads, Barstow was soon engaged in a five-hour fight with the enemy. Under a white flag, the Confederates demanded a surrender, and the Union, given their numerical inferiority, accepted. The Confederates paroled the Union troops and departed after burning the blockhouse at Clark's Mill. Clark's Mill helped the Confederates to maintain a toehold in southwest Missouri.

Battle of Cane Hill - 11/28/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cane_Hill)
The Battle of Cane Hill was part of a Confederate attempt to drive the Union forces back into Missouri and recapture ground lost during the Pea Ridge campaign of early 1862, when Union forces had secured parts of northern Arkansas. Now, Confederate General Thomas C. Hindman moved his army of 11,000 soldiers into Fort Smith, Arkansas, and prepared to move across the Boston Mountains into the extreme northwestern corner of the state. Awaiting him there was Blunt with 5,000 troops. Hindman hoped to attack Blunt's force, which was over 70 miles (110 km) from the nearest Union reinforcements. Hindman dispatched Marmaduke and 2,000 cavalry troopers to hold Blunt in place while Hindman moved the rest of his force through the mountains.
Blunt disrupted the Confederate plan by advancing south when he heard of Marmaduke's approach. Marmaduke was not prepared to meet Blunt, who was 35 miles (56 km) further south than expected. Marmaduke's troops were surprised and outnumbered when Blunt suddenly attacked on November 28. Marmaduke began a hasty retreat and ordered Col. Jo Shelby's cavalry to fight a delaying action while the rest of the Confederates headed for the mountains. Blunt pursued Marmaduke's forces for 12 miles (19 km) before the Confederates reached the safety of the hills. Though the conflict lasted for nine hours, casualties were light. The Union troops suffered 41 men killed or wounded, while the Confederates lost 45.

Battle of Hartsville - 12/7/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Hartsville)
Guarding the river crossing at Hartsville was the 39th Brigade, XIV Corps, Army of the Cumberland, consisting of the 106th Ohio Infantry, 108th Ohio Infantry, 104th Illinois Infantry, and 2nd Indiana Cavalry. The brigade was commanded by Col. Absalom B. Moore. Under the cover of darkness, Morgan crossed the river in the early morning of December 7, 1862, with about 1,300 men, mainly Kentuckians, outnumbered by about 1,000 troops to the Union brigade. Another Union force, three times that size, was encamped nine miles away at Castalian Springs, close enough to hear the guns, but too far away to interfere.
Morgan's attack took the Union camp by surprise. One account from a participant indicates that the Confederates were able to get past the picket line by wearing blue uniforms, another that they wore civilian clothes and posed as refugees. The attack began at 6:45 a.m. with a simultaneous artillery bombardment and an infantry attack, while cavalry struck the flanks and rear. One of Moore's units ran after an hour, which caused confusion and helped to force the Federals to fall back. By 8:30 a.m., the Confederates had surrounded the Federals, convincing Col. Moore to surrender.

Battle of Fredericksburg - 12/11/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fredericksburg)
Battle animation from CivilWarAnimated.com (http://civilwaranimated.com/FredericksburgAnimation.html)
The Battle of Fredericksburg was fought December 11–15, 1862, in and around Fredericksburg, Virginia, between General Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia and the Union Army of the Potomac, commanded by Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside. The Union army's futile frontal attacks on December 13 against entrenched Confederate defenders on the heights behind the city is remembered as one of the most one-sided battles of the American Civil War, with Union casualties more than twice as heavy as those suffered by the Confederates.
Burnside's plan was to cross the Rappahannock River at Fredericksburg in mid-November and race to the Confederate capital of Richmond before Lee's army could stop him. Bureaucratic delays prevented Burnside from receiving the necessary pontoon bridges in time and Lee moved his army to block the crossings. When the Union army was finally able to build its bridges and cross under fire, urban combat resulted in the city on December 11–12. Union troops prepared to assault Confederate defensive positions south of the city and on a strongly fortified ridge just west of the city known as Marye's Heights.
On December 13, the "grand division" of Maj. Gen. William B. Franklin was able to pierce the first defensive line of Confederate Lt. Gen. Stonewall Jackson to the south, but was finally repulsed. Burnside ordered the grand divisions of Maj. Gens. Edwin V. Sumner and Joseph Hooker to make multiple frontal assaults against Lt. Gen. James Longstreet's position on Marye's Heights, all of which were repulsed with heavy losses. On December 15, Burnside withdrew his army, ending another failed Union campaign in the Eastern Theater.

Battle of Kinston - 12/14/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Kinston)
A Union expedition led by Brig. Gen. John G. Foster left New Bern in December to disrupt the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad at Goldsborough. The advance was stubbornly contested by Brig. Gen. Nathan Evans's brigade near Kinston Bridge on December 14, but the Confederates were outnumbered and withdrew north of the Neuse River in the direction of Goldsborough. Foster continued his movement the next day, taking the River Road, south of the Neuse River.

Battle of White Hall - 12/15/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_White_Hall)
According to the report of the Union commanders, the Federals demonstrated against the Confederates for much of the day on December 16, attempting to fix the Confederates in position, while the main Union column continued toward the railroad.
Local historians dispute this account, claiming that one of the Union objectives of the Goldsboro Campaign (also known as Foster's Raid) was to destroy an ironclad ramming boat that the Confederates were building on the north bank of the Neuse river at that location. This boat (CSS Neuse) was one of several identical boats that were being built in upriver locations throughout the South, their purpose being to break the Union naval blockade. Only one of these boats (CSS Albermarle) was completed in time to be useful, and succeeded in sinking several Union ships at New Bern, North Carolina, and opening that port to Confederate shipping.
The Union plan was to take the bridge at Whitehall (present-day Seven Springs), destroy the CSS Neuse, and proceed by shorter route to destroy the rail line at Goldsboro. The Confederates had superior defensive position, and they burned the bridge to prevent the Union forces from crossing. The Federals spent most of the day of December 16 bombarding the town with artillery fire to destroy the Confederate defenses and to attempt to destroy the boat. Meanwhile Union riflemen aimed sniping fire at the Confederate forces defending the boat. Local legend says that the Union riflemen were firing high all day, because the south bank of the river (where the Federals were) is actually higher than the north bank, but the river creates an optical illusion that the two banks are level.

Battle of Goldsboro Bridge - 12/17/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Goldsboro_Bridge)
Foster's men began destroying the tracks north toward the Goldsborough Bridge. Clingman's Confederate brigade delayed the advance, but was unable to prevent the destruction of the bridge. Foster's troops overpowered the small number of defending Confederate soldiers and successfully burned down the bridge. His mission accomplished, Foster departed to return to their base at New Bern. On their way back, Foster's men were again attacked by Confederate forces, but they repulsed the assault, taking far less casualties than the enemy.

Battle of Jackson, Tennessee - 12/19/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Jackson_(TN)
As Forrest continued his advance the next day, Sullivan ordered Col. Adolph Englemann to take a small force northeast of Jackson. At Old Salem Cemetery, acting on the defensive, Englemann's two infantry regiments repulsed a Confederate mounted attack and then withdrew a mile closer to town. To Forrest, the fight amounted to no more than a feint and show of force intended to hold Jackson's Union defenders in place while two mounted columns destroyed railroad track north and south of the town and returned. This accomplished, Forrest withdrew from the Jackson area to attack Trenton and Humboldt. Thus, although the Federals had checked a demonstration by a portion of Forrest's force, a major accomplishment, other Confederates had fulfilled an element of the expedition's mission.[1]

Battle of Chickasaw Bayou - 12/26/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Chickasaw_Bayou)
On December 26, three Union divisions under Sherman disembarked at Johnson's Plantation on the Yazoo River to approach the Vicksburg defenses from the northeast while a fourth landed farther upstream on December 27. On December 27, the Federals pushed their lines forward through the swamps toward the Walnut Hills, which were strongly defended. On December 28, several futile attempts were made to get around these defenses. On December 29, Sherman ordered a frontal assault, which was repulsed with heavy casualties, and then withdrew. This Confederate victory frustrated Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's attempts to take Vicksburg by a direct approach.

Battle of Parker's Cross Roads - 12/31/1862
Dunham's and Forrest's march routes brought them into contact at Parker's Crossroads on December 31, 1862. Skirmishing began about 9:00 a.m., with Forrest taking an initial position along a wooded ridge northwest of Dunham at the intersection. Confederate artillery gained an early advantage. Dunham pulled his brigade back a half mile and redeployed, facing north. His Federals repelled frontal feints until attacked on both flanks and rear by Forrest's mounted and dismounted troops.
During a lull, Forrest sent Dunham a demand for an unconditional surrender. Dunham refused and was preparing for Forrest's next attack when Fuller's Union brigade arrived from the north and surprised the Confederates with an attack on their rear; Confederate security detachments had failed to warn of Fuller's approach. "Charge 'em both ways," ordered Forrest. The Confederates briefly reversed front, repelled Fuller, then rushed past Dunham's demoralized force and withdrew south to Lexington, Tennessee.

Second Battle of Murfreesboro - 12/31/1862
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Stones_River)
Union Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans's Army of the Cumberland marched from Nashville, Tennessee, on December 26, 1862, to challenge General Braxton Bragg's Army of Tennessee at Murfreesboro. On December 31, each army commander planned to attack his opponent's right flank, but Bragg struck first. A massive assault by the corps of Maj. Gen. William J. Hardee, followed by that of Leonidas Polk, overran the wing commanded by Maj. Gen. Alexander M. McCook. A stout defense by the division of Brig. Gen. Philip Sheridan in the right center of the line prevented a total collapse and the Union assumed a tight defensive position backing up to the Nashville Turnpike. Repeated Confederate attacks were repulsed from this concentrated line, most notably in the cedar "Round Forest" salient against the brigade of Col. William B. Hazen. Bragg attempted to continue the assault with the corps of Maj. Gen. John C. Breckinridge, but the troops were slow in arriving and their multiple piecemeal attacks failed.
Fighting resumed on January 2, 1863, when Bragg ordered Breckinridge to assault the well-fortified Union position on a hill to the east of the Stones River. Faced with overwhelming artillery, the Confederates were repulsed with heavy losses. Aware that Rosecrans was receiving reinforcements, Bragg chose to withdraw his army on January 3 to Tullahoma, Tennessee.

Second Battle of Galveston - 1/1/1863
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Galveston)
Two Confederate cottonclads, The CS Bayou City and the CS Neptune, sailed from Houston to Galveston in an effort to engage the Union Fleet in Galveston Harbor consisting of USS Clifton, USS Harriet Lane, USS Westfield, USS Owasco, USS Corypheus and USS Sachem.[1] Outnumbered six to two by the Northern ships, the Neptune was severely damaged by the Union Fleet and eventually sank. While the Neptune was quickly disabled, the Bayou City succeeded in capturing the USS Harriet Lane.[2]
During this time, the USS Westfield was grounded on a sandbar. A three-hour truce was called for by Magruder, but Union Fleet Commander William B. Renshaw, ignoring the negotiation offer, attempted to destroy the grounded Westfield with explosives rather than let it fall into enemy hands.
Renshaw and several Union troops were subsequently killed when the explosives were set off too early. Union troops on shore were convinced that their own ships were surrendering and, therefore, laid down their arms. The remaining U.S. ships did not surrender and succeeded in retreating to Union-controlled New Orleans.[3][4]

Second Battle of Springfield - 1/8/1863
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Battle_of_Springfield)
As the morning of January 8, 1863 dawned, two of the Confederate columns under Marmaduke approached Springfield from the south. Since Porter's and MacDonald's columns had yet to arrive, Marmaduke occupied the early morning with foraging and capturing some of the Enrolled Missouri Militia about five miles (8 km) from Springfield. With MacDonald finally present by 10:00 a.m., the Confederates dismounted two regiments about three miles (5 km) from Springfield and advanced to feel out the Union lines and develop their strength. After the Confederates had pushed two Union Missouri State Militia Cavalry Regiments two miles (3 km) north, the smoking ruins of burning homes on the outskirts of Springfield came into view. To provide an unobstructed view for his artillery inside Fort No. 4 (located on the east side of South Avenue between Elm and Cherry Streets), Brown at the last minute ordered ten homes burned along South Avenue.
Colonel Joseph Orville Shelby took command of the tactical operations, launching piecemeal assaults upon the Union center and west flank. The Confederates advanced over open ground against Fort Number 4, seeking such shelter as they could get from tree stumps, piles of rock, and the charred remains of the homes burned by the Union forces. Despite repeated efforts, the assault on the fort failed.
Shelby then resolved to take Springfield by an oblique attack from the west. The Confederates were drawn by the cover offered by a ravine that led uphill toward town from what is now the intersection of Grand Avenue and Grant Street. At the head of this draw stood a two-story brick academy surrounded by a stockade. Used by the Federals as a prison, it stood near the northwest corner of what is now the intersection of Campbell Avenue and State Street. The Union forces failed to garrison the college stockade, so the Confederates were able to seize the building easily and use it as their own fortress to return the fire from Fort No. 4. However, heavy fighting soon erupted around the stockade as the Union forces attempted to retake the college and stockade. The Confederates found a local advantage in numbers and pressed their own attack. This phase of the assault saw the most severe casualties, hand-to-hand fighting, and the capture of a cannon by the Confederates. Union troops on the west flank also were pushed back to College Street from their original position along the Old Wire Road and State Street. But Union reinforcements halted the Confederate drive and even pushed back the Confederates to the vicinity of State Street.
With the sun sinking, Marmaduke launched a final assault against Fort No. 4. The Union forces again repelled the attack. As night fell, the Confederates withdrew down the Ozark Road to the Phelps farm (now Phelps Grove Park). The Battle of Springfield had ended, and the Union supply depot was safe.

Battle of Fort Hindman - 1/9/1863
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Arkansas_Post)
As McClernand's soldiers moved against the fort, Porter's gunboats; Baron DeKalb, Louisville and Cincinnati, moved against the fort. The Navy pounded the fort at a range of 400 yards. The Union tinclad Rattler moved in too close, ran aground and took heavy fire at point blank range from the fort. After several hours the Naval bombardment had inflicted heavy losses to the Confederate artillery.[7] Meanwhile, McClernand sent an army lieutenant up a tree to observe if Morgan and Sherman's troops were in place. The lieutenant reported they were in place and ready to assault, but Sherman's troops were still moving into position through muddy swamps. By the time the Navy's attack concluded it was too dark for the infantry to assault although some skirmishing had taken place.
On the morning of January 11, McClernand's forces were deployed in an arc facing Fort Hindman and its rifle-pits. Running West to East were the divisions of Steele, Stuart, Smith with Osterhaus achored on the Arkansas River. Churchill's defenses were manned by Colonel James Deshler's brigade on the left and Colonel Robert Garland's brigade on the right. McClernand's infantry attacked around 1:00pm and made little progress at first. At the same time Porter's gunboats moved in to attack aided by Colonel Lindsey's brigade across the river. Within an hour the fort's east face was reduced to rubble and its artillery silenced.[8] Steele's attack on the west was led by the brigades of Brig. Gens. Charles E. Hovey and John M. Thayer with Francis P. Blair, Jr. in reserve. To the east Stuart supported with the brigades of Colonels Giles Smith and Thomas Kilby Smith against the rifle pits of Deshler's Arkansas and Texas soldiers. In the center A.J. Smith spearheaded his attack with Brig. Gen. Stephen G. Burbridge's brigade supported by Colonel William J. Landram. Burbridge's men became embroiled in small arms fight which caused more than 1/3 of all Union casualties.[7] Osterhaus advanced against the fort with Colonel Lionel A. Sheldon's single brigade.
At 4:30pm McClernand was planning to order one massive assault against the defenders when white flags of surrender began to appear.

Battle of Hartville - 1/9/1863
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Hartville)
Marmaduke believed he was being pressed by several forces, so he diverted Porter and Shelby's columns along another road to Hartville. Meanwhile, observing this movement, Merrill marched his force directly to Hartville where it took a strong defensive position on covered, high ground west of the courthouse. Shelby and Porter's brigades attempted to dislodge Merrill's force, but it was too strongly positioned. Over a four-hour period several Confederate assaults were made, each being repulsed in turn. Eventually Merrill withdrew most of his force, although a third of the men under Lt. Col Dunlap never received the order and remained on the field until nightfall.

Second Battle of Fort Donelson - 2/3/1863
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Dover_(1863))
In late January 1863, Confederate Maj. Gen. Joseph Wheeler, commanding two brigades of cavalry, took position on the Cumberland River at Palmyra to disrupt Union shipping. The Federals, however, apprised of Wheeler's intent, refrained from sending any boats up or downriver. Unable to disrupt Union shipping and realizing that he and his men could not remain in the area indefinitely, Wheeler decided to attack the garrison at Dover, Tennessee, which informers reported was small and could easily be overwhelmed. The Rebels set out for Dover and between 1:00 and 2:00 p.m., on February 3, began an attack. The 800-man garrison, under the command of Colonel Abner C. Harding, was in and about the town of Dover where they had chosen camps that commanded the area and had dug rifle pits and battery emplacements. The Confederates mounted a determined attack using artillery fire with great skill, but were repulsed with heavy losses. By dusk, both sides were mostly without ammunition. The Confederates surveyed the Union defenses and decided that the enemy was too well-placed to allow capture. Wheeler's force retired. The Federals sent out a pursuit but to no avail. The Confederates had failed to disrupt shipping on the Cumberland River and capture the garrison at Dover. This Confederate failure left the Union in control in Middle Tennessee and a bitter Brig. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest denounced Wheeler, a favorite of Gen. Braxton Bragg, saying he would not again serve under him.

First Battle of Fort McAllister - 3/3/1863
Rear Adm. Samuel F. Du Pont ordered three ironclads—USS Patapsco, Passaic, and Nahant— to test their guns and mechanical appliances and practice artillery firing by attacking the Confederate defenses at Fort McAllister, then a small three-gun earthwork battery. One of his goals was to determine how effective fire from the monitors' big guns would be against an earthen shore battery.
On March 3, 1863, the three ironclads conducted an eight-hour bombardment. The bombardment did not destroy the battery, but it did some damage, while the three ironclads received some scratches and dents from return fire from the fort. The tests were helpful for knowledge and experience gained, but Fort McAllister did not fall, showing that the ironclads’ firepower alone could not destroy an earthen fort.

Battle of Thompson's Station - 3/5/1863
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 toward Columbia. Four miles from Spring Hill, Coburn attacked with his right wing, a Confederate Army force composed of two regiments; he was repelled. Then, Maj. Gen. Earl Van Dorn seized the initiative. Brig. Gen. W.H. "Red" Jackson's dismounted 2nd Division made a frontal attack, while Brig. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest's division swept around Coburn's left flank, and into his rear. After three attempts, characterized by hard fighting, Jackson carried the Union hilltop position as Forrest captured Coburn's wagon train and blocked the road to Nashville in his rear. Out of ammunition and surrounded, Coburn surrendered, along with all but two of his field officers. Union influence in Middle Tennessee subsided for a while.
Van Dorn and Forrest received help with their victory from an unlikely participant. Miss Alice Thompson, age 17 at the time, was visiting the residence of Lieutenant Banks. The Third Arkansas Cavalry regiment was advancing through the yard, lost their Colonel (Samuel G. Earle), their color bearer and the regiment was thrown into disorder. Miss Alice Thompson rushed out, raised the flag and led the regiment to victory. The enemy lauded her action.[1]

Battle of Fort Anderson - 3/13/1863
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fort_Anderson)
Lt. Gen. Longstreet took charge of the Department of Virginia and North Carolina on February 25 and initiated his Tidewater Operations. He directed Maj. Gen. D.H. Hill, commander of the North Carolina District, to advance on the Union stronghold of New Bern with about 12,000 men. Maj. Gen. William H. C. Whiting, who commanded the Wilmington garrison, refused to cooperate. After an initial success at Deep Gully on March 13, Hill sent Brig. Gen. J. Johnston Pettigrew against the well-entrenched Federals at Fort Anderson on March 14–15, the opposite side of the river from New Bern. Pettigrew was forced to retire upon the arrival of Union gunboats. The city's garrison was heavily reinforced, and Hill withdrew to threaten Washington, North Carolina.

Battle of Kelly's Ford - 3/17/1863
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Kelly%27s_Ford)
The Battle of Kelly's Ford, also known as the Battle of Kellysville, took place on March 17, 1863, in Culpeper County, Virginia, as part of the cavalry operations along the Rappahannock River during the American Civil War. It set the stage for Brandy Station and other cavalry actions of the Gettysburg Campaign that summer. Twenty-one hundred troopers of Brig. Gen. William W. Averell's Union cavalry division crossed the Rappahannock to attack the Confederate cavalry that had been harassing them that winter. Brig. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee counterattacked with a brigade of about 800 men. After achieving a localized success, Union forces withdrew under pressure in late afternoon, without destroying Lee's cavalry.

Battle of Vaught's Hill - 3/20/1863
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Vaught%27s_Hill)
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 the northeast, Hall encountered Confederate Brig. Gen. John Hunt Morgan's cavalry command, which caused him to fall back to a position east of Milton. Pursuing Hall, Morgan's men caught up with him on the morning of March 20, at Vaught's Hill. Dismounted, Morgan struck at both Union flanks, even to the point of encircling Hall's hilltop position. Hall conducted a perimeter defense and withstood all Confederate attacks, which lasted till after 2:00 p.m. Morgan continued to bombard the Union force until 4:30 p.m., when he broke off the engagement, after learning that Union reinforcements were in route from Murfreesboro. Union forces continued to strengthen their position in Middle Tennessee.

Battle of Brentwood - 3/25/1863
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Brentwood)
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. Nathan Bedford Forrest, with a powerful column, approached the town. The day before, Forrest had ordered Col. J. W. Starnes, commanding the 2nd Brigade, to go to Brentwood, cut the telegraph, tear up railroad track, attack the stockade, and cut off any retreat. Forrest and the other cavalry brigade joined Bloodgood about 7:00 a.m. on March 25. A messenger from the stockade informed Bloodgood that Forrest's men were about to attack and had destroyed railroad track. Bloodgood sought to notify his superiors and discovered that the telegraph lines were cut. Forrest sent in a demand for a surrender under a flag of truce but Bloodgood refused. Within a half hour, though, Forrest had artillery in place to shell Bloodgood's position and had surrounded the Federals with a large force. Bloodgood decided to surrender. Forrest and his men caused a lot of damage in the area during this expedition, and Brentwood, on the railroad, was a significant loss to the Federals.

Battle of Washington, NC - 3/30/1863
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Washington)
A Federal relief column under Brig. Gen. Henry Prince sailed up the Tar River. Once Prince saw the Rebel batteries, he simply turned the transports around. A second effort under Brig. Gen. Francis Barretto Spinola moved overland from New Bern. Spinola was defeated along Blount's Creek and returned to New Bern. Foster decided that he would escape Washington and personally lead the relief effort leaving his chief-of-staff, Brig. Gen. Edward E. Potter in command at Washington. On April 13, the USS Escort braved the Confederate batteries and made its way into Washington. The Escort delivered supplies and reinforcements in the form of a Rhode Island regiment. It was aboard this ship on April 15 that Foster made his escape. The ship was badly damaged and the pilot mortally wounded, but Foster made it out.
About the same time Foster made an escape, Hill was faced with numerous reasons that ultimately led to his withdrawal: the completion of his foraging efforts, Union supplies reaching the Federal garrison, and finally a message arrived from Longstreet requesting reinforcements for an assault on Suffolk. Hill broke off the siege on April 15 and began to withdraw Garnett's brigade fronting Washington's defenses.[6]
Meanwhile, Foster had made it back to New Bern and immediately began organizing a relief effort. He ordered General Prince to march along the railroad towards Kinston to hold off Confederates in the vicinity of Goldsboro, while Foster personally led a second column north from New Bern towards Blount's Creek where General Spinola had earlier been turned back. On April 18, Foster ordered Spinola to drive the Confederates from their road block at Swift Creek guarding the direct road from Washington to New Bern. At the same time, General Henry M. Naglee attacked the Confederate rear guard near Washington capturing several prisoners and a regimental battle flag. On April 19 Foster returned to the Washington defenses[7] and by April 20 the Confederates had completely withdrawn from the area.

First Battle of Charleston Harbor - 4/7/1863
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 ironclad warships of the Union Navy, including seven monitors that were improved versions of the original USS Monitor. AUnion Army contingent associated with the attack took no active part in the battle. The ships, under command of Rear Admiral Samuel Francis Du Pont, attacked the Confederate defenses near the entrance to Charleston Harbor. Navy Department officials in Washington hoped for a stunning success that would validate a new form of warfare, with armored warships mounting heavy guns reducing traditional forts.

Battle of Franklin 4/10/1863
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Battle_of_Franklin)
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. Gordon Granger. Van Dorn advanced northward from Spring Hill, Tennessee, on April 10, making contact with Federal skirmishers just outside Franklin. Van Dorn's attack was so weak that when Granger received a false report that Brentwood to the north was under attack, he believed it and sent most of his cavalry northward thinking that Van Dorn was undertaking a diversion.
When the truth became known—there was no threat to Brentwood—Granger decided to attack Van Dorn, but was surprised to learn that a subordinate had already done so, without orders. Brig. Gen. David S. Stanley, with a brigade from the 4th U.S. Cavalry, had crossed the Harpeth River at Hughes's Ford, behind the Confederate right rear. Stanley attacked and captured Freeman's Tennessee Battery on the Lewisburg Road, but lost it when Brig. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest counterattacked. This incident in his rear caused Van Dorn to cancel his operations and withdraw to Spring Hill, leaving the Federals in control of the area.

Battle of Fort Bisland - 4/12/1863
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fort_Bisland)
When Banks departed New Orleans, he planned to capture Taylor's army in its entirety. On April 9, two divisions from the XIX Corps crossed Berwick Bay from Brashear City (present day Morgan City, Louisiana) to the west side at Berwick. On April 11, Banks began his advance in earnest. Taylor was well aware of Banks' advance because of successful scouting by his cavalry under Brig. Gen. Thomas Green. Green shadowed Banks' army and reported back to Taylor every detail of the maneuvers of the Union army.
On April 12, Banks sent a third division, under Brig. Gen. Cuvier Grover, up the Atchafalaya River to land in the rear of Franklin, intending to intercept a Confederate retreat from Fort Bisland or turn the enemy's position. General Taylor sent some of Green's cavalry to the front to ascertain the enemy's strength and slow his advance. He also sent troops under Brig. Gen. Alfred Mouton to impede the advance of Grover's division. Late in the day, Union troops of Brig. Gen. William H. Emory's division arrived and formed a battle line outside the Fort Bisland's defenses. An artillery barrage ensued from both sides until dark when the Federal troops fell back to camp for the night.
About 9:00 a.m. on April 13, Union forces again advanced on Fort Bisland. Banks had three brigades under in position south of the Bayou Teche. The brigades were deployed with Godfrey Weitzel on the left, Halbert E. Paine on the right (anchored on Bayou Teche) with Timothy Ingraham in support. Opposing the Union forces south of the Teche was the "Arizona Brigade" commanded by Brig. Gen. Henry Hopkins Sibley. North of Bayou Teche was the Union brigade of Oliver P. Gooding who faced off against Mouton's Confederate brigade.
Combat did not begin until after 11:00 a.m. and continued until dusk. In addition to Confederate forces in the earthworks, the gunboat Diana, which had been captured and was now in Confederate hands, shelled the Union troops. U.S. gunboats joined the fray in late afternoon.
By early evening, fire had halted. Later that night, Taylor learned that the Union division that went up the Atchafalaya and landed in his rear was now in a position to cut off a Confederate retreat. Taylor began evacuating supplies, men, and weapons, leaving a small force to slow any enemy movement. The next morning, Banks and his men found the fort abandoned.

Battle of Irish Bend -4/13/1863
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Irish_Bend)
On the morning of April 13, 1863, Grover's division landed in the vicinity of Franklin and scattered Confederate troops attempting to stop them from disembarking. That night Grover ordered the division to cross Bayou Teche and prepare for an attack towards Franklin, Louisiana, at dawn. Meanwhile, however, Major General Richard Taylor reacted, feeling the obvious threat to his rear. He started withdrawing his forces from Fort Bisland, and his advance guard arrived quickly. On the morning of April 14, Taylor and his men were at Nerson's Woods, around a mile and a half above Franklin. As Grover's lead brigade marched out a few miles, it found Taylor's men on its right and skirmishing began. The fighting became intense; the Confederates attacked, forcing the Federal soldiers to fall back. The gunboat Diana arrived and anchored the Confederate right flank on the Teche. Still, Grover's men outnumbered the Confederates and when he paused to deploy his full force, Taylor withdrew rather than risk a pitched battle against superior numbers. Grover's men had taken the strategic position they sought. This victory, along with the one at Fort Bisland, two days earlier, assured the success of the expedition into west Louisiana.

Battle of Vermillion Bayou -4/17/1863
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Vermillion_Bayou)
As Richard Taylor's small army was withdrawing up the Teche, they crossed a bridge going over Vermillion Bayou. In order to slow Banks' army down, Taylor's men lit the bridge on fire and stopped for a rest. Banks, who was in pursuit of Taylor, split his army into two columns and sent one towards the bridge and the other column around the side.
As soon as the first column came within sight of the bridge, Confederate artillery began shelling the Union soldiers. After a while, Union artillery came up and a series of counter-battery exchanges ensued.
During the night, Taylor, knowing himself to be outnumbered, withdrew his force again.

Battle of Suffolk at Hill's Point - 4/19/1863
On April 19, a detachment of the 8th Connecticut and the 89th New York landed on Hill's Point at the confluence of the forks of the Nansemond River. This amphibious force assaulted Fort Huger from the rear, quickly capturing its garrison, thus reopening the river to Union shipping. On April 24, Brig. Gen. Michael Corcoran's Union division mounted a reconnaissance-in-force from Fort Dix against Maj. Gen. George E. Pickett's extreme right flank. The Federals approached cautiously and were easily repulsed. On April 29, Gen. Robert E. Lee directed Longstreet to disengage from Suffolk and rejoin the Army of Northern Virginia at Fredericksburg. By May 4, the last of Longstreet's command had crossed the Blackwater River en route to Richmond.

Battle of Cape Girardeau - 4/26/1863
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cape_Girardeau)
On the night of April 25, in anticipation of the attack, General McNeil ordered the evacuation of women and children via steamboat to a safe location upriver.[19] Also during the night two gunboats and a steamer arrived with additional troops to support McNeil’s forces.[20] With the gunboats in place McNeil did not foresee any threat from the Mississippi River side of the city, so he had cannons moved from Forts A and D along the river to Forts B and C on the western side of the city.[18] In all, McNeil's forces totaled about 4,000 men, including supporting regiments from Iowa, Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Illinois,[21] though it should be noted that some of these regiments may have arrived after the action had ended.[20]
Shelby’s column arrived at Cape Girardeau early on April 26.[22] With General Marmaduke’s full division then on the western edge of the city, it assumed a formation that consisted of Colonel Burbridge’s brigade in the center, Shelby’s on the left, and Carter’s on the right. The line extended from just east of St. Mary’s Cemetery on the north (near the present intersection of Missouri Ave and Mississippi St) to Gordonville Road on the south. Its center was on the Jackson Road.[20]
The attack began around 10:00 am on April 26.[23] Unsuccessful charges were made by cavalry units from both sides, the Federal troops being driven back by Colonel Shelby's superior cavalry forces and the Confederates being met with heavy fire from field artillery and the guns of Forts B and C.[24] The artillery fire between the forts and Shelby's Brigade made up the bulk of the action.[25] The fighting lasted approximately four to five hours, ceasing sometime after 2:00 pm when General Marmaduke ordered his forces to withdraw.[26]

Battle of Grand Gulf - 4/29/1863
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Grand_Gulf)
Admiral Porter led seven ironclad river gunboats in an attack on the fortifications and batteries at Grand Gulf, Mississippi, with the intention of silencing the Confederate guns and then securing the area with troops of Maj. Gen. John A. McClernand's XIII Corps who were on the accompanying transports and barges. The attack by Benton, Lafayette, Tuscumbia, Carondelet, Louisville, Mound City, and Pittsburgh began at 8 a.m. and continued until about 1:30 p.m. During the fight, the armored vessels moved within 100 yards of the Confederate guns at Fort Cobun. The union gunboats successfully silenced the lower batteries of Fort Wade, but the upper batteries at Fort Cobun remained out of reach and continued to fire.
The Union ironclads (one of which, the Tuscumbia, had been put out of action) and the transports drew off. After dark, however, the ironclads engaged the Confederate guns again while the steamboats and barges ran the gauntlet.

Battle of Snyder's Bluff - 4/29/1863
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Snyder%27s_Bluff)
To ensure 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 noon on April 29, Lt. Cdr. K. Randolph Breese, with his eight gunboats and ten transports carrying Maj. Gen. Francis Blair's division, inched up the Yazoo River to the mouth of Chickasaw Bayou where they spent the night. At 9 a.m. the next morning, the force, minus one gunboat, continued upriver to Drumgould's Bluff and engaged the enemy batteries. During the fighting, the Choctaw suffered more than fifty hits, but no casualties occurred. Around 6 p.m., the troops disembarked and marched along Blake's Levee toward the guns. As they neared Drumgould's Bluff, a battery opened on them, creating havoc and casualties. The Union advance halted and, after dark, the men reembarked on the transports. The next morning, transports disembarked other troops. The swampy terrain and enemy heavy artillery fire forced them to retire. The gunboats opened fire again, about 3 p.m. on May 1, causing some damage. Later, the boats' fire slackened and stopped altogether after dark. Sherman had received orders to land his troops at Milliken's Bend, so the gunboats returned to their anchorages at the mouth of the Yazoo.

Battle of Day's Gap - 4/30/1863
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Day%27s_Gap)
On April 30 at Day's Gap on Brindley Mountain, Forrest caught up with Streight's expedition and attacked his rear guard. Streight's men managed to repulse this attack and as a result they continued their march to avoid any further delays and envelopments caused by the Confederate troops.

Battle of Chancellorsville - 4/30/1863
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Chancellorsville)
Battle animation from CivilWarAnimated.com (http://civilwaranimated.com/ChancellorsvilleAnimation.html)
The Battle of Chancellorsville was a major battle of the American Civil War, and the principal engagement of the Chancellorsville Campaign.[4] It was fought from April 30 to May 6, 1863, in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, near the village of Chancellorsville. Two related battles were fought nearby on May 3 in the vicinity of Fredericksburg. The campaign pitted Union Army Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker's Army of the Potomac against an army less than half its size, Gen. Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. Chancellorsville is known as Lee's "perfect battle" because his risky decision to divide his army in the presence of a much larger enemy force resulted in a significant Confederate victory. The victory, a product of Lee's audacity and Hooker's timid decision making, was tempered by heavy casualties and the mortal wounding of Lt. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson to friendly fire, a loss that Lee likened to "losing my right arm."
The Chancellorsville Campaign began with the crossing of the Rappahannock River by the Union army on the morning of April 27, 1863. Union cavalry under Maj. Gen. George Stoneman began a long distance raid against Lee's supply lines at about the same time. This operation was completely ineffectual. Crossing the Rapidan River via Germanna and Ely's Fords, the Federal infantry concentrated near Chancellorsville on April 30. Combined with the Union force facing Fredericksburg, Hooker planned a double envelopment, attacking Lee from both his front and rear.
On May 1, Hooker advanced from Chancellorsville toward Lee, but the Confederate general split his army in the face of superior numbers, leaving a small force at Fredericksburg to deter Maj. Gen. John Sedgwick from advancing, while he attacked Hooker's advance with about 4/5ths of his army. Despite the objections of his subordinates, Hooker withdrew his men to the defensive lines around Chancellorsville, ceding the initiative to Lee. On May 2, Lee divided his army again, sending Stonewall Jackson's entire corps on a flanking march that routed the Union XI Corps. While performing a personal reconnaissance in advance of his line, Jackson was wounded by fire from his own men, and Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart temporarily replaced him as corps commander.
The fiercest fighting of the battle—and the second bloodiest day of the Civil War—occurred on May 3 as Lee launched multiple attacks against the Union position at Chancellorsville, resulting in heavy losses on both sides. That same day, Sedgwick advanced across the Rappahannock River, defeated the small Confederate force at Marye's Heights in the Second Battle of Fredericksburg and then moved to the west. The Confederates fought a successful delaying action at the Battle of Salem Church and by May 4 had driven back Sedgwick's men to Banks's Ford, surrounding them on three sides. Sedgwick withdrew across the ford early on May 5, and Hooker withdrew the remainder of his army across U.S. Ford the night of May 5–6. The campaign ended on May 7 when Stoneman's cavalry reached Union lines east of Richmond.

Battle of Port Gibson - 5/1/1863
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Port_Gibson)
General Carr scouted the ground before him and determined that a frontal assault through the canebrakes would be fruitless. He devised a turning movement whereby one brigade would move slowly forward through the canebrake while the second brigade would descend into the Widow's Creek bottoms and from there strike for the Confederate left flank. Brig. Gen. Alvin P. Hovey's 12th Division arrived and surged forward just as Carr's men were storming the Confederate position. Both flanks having been turned, Green's men broke and ran. McClernand stopped to reorganize and then, always the politician, launched into a series of grandiose speeches until Grant pointed out that the Confederates had merely withdrawn to a more tenable position. Reinforced by Brig. Gen. A. J. Smith's 10th Division and Stevenson's Brigade of McPherson's XVII Corp, McClernand resumed the pursuit. With 20,000 men crowded into a 1.5-mile (2.4 km) front, McClernand's plan appeared to be to force his way past the Confederate line. A flanking assault by Col. Francis Cockrell's Missourians crumpled the Federal right flank and gave McClernand pause. Sundown found the two sides settling into a stalemate along a broad front on the Rodney Road several miles from Port Gibson.
On the Bruinsburg Road front, Osterhaus had been content to pressure Tracy's command with federal sharpshooters and artillery, occasionally launching an unsupported regiment against the Confederate line. Maj. Gen. James B. McPherson showed up late in the afternoon with John E. Smith's brigade. Donning a cloak to disguise his rank, he reviewed the front lines and quickly devised a turning movement that would render untenable the entire Confederate right flank. Twenty minutes after the troops had been staged for the assault, the Confederates were retreating into the Bayou Pierre bottoms, having left behind several hundred prisoners. The road to his rear now threatened, Bowen commenced retreating through Port Gibson to the north shore of Bayou Pierre.

Battle of Chalk Bluff - 5/1/1863
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Chalk_Bluff)
Marmaduke departed his camps in Arkansas in the spring of 1863 with 5,000 cavalrymen, bound for southeastern Missouri. In sharp fighting at the Battle of Cape Girardeau, Marmaduke was defeated, and he began a withdrawal on April 27 towards Helena, Arkansas. His line of march was on a road on Crowley's Ridge, a long rise that offered protection for his flanks, as the surrounding terrain was mainly marshy. Union forces under Vandever had pursued Marmaduke through Missouri to Chalk Bluff, Arkansas, where Marmaduke planned to cross the St. Francis River, whose steep chalky white clay banks made fording the river difficult for cavalry.
In an attempt to protect his men while they were crossing the river, Marmaduke set up a rear guard along the ridge that he hoped would protect his engineers and pioneers as they constructed a bridge strong enough to allow the passage of his entire division. He formed an initial defensive line at the hamlet of Four Mile, while posting his reserves in a second line a mile away at Gravel Hill, on the crest of the ridge above the river. They began digging entrenchments to forestall any Union attack.
Fighting began on May 1 and continued into the next day. Vandever's men were unable to drive the Confederates from the heights. Although Marmaduke's rear guard sustained heavy casualties, it delayed the numerically superior Union forces long enough as to allow for the construction team to finish building the bridge and allow Marmaduke’s main force to cross the river. However, because of the heavy casualties that were suffered by the Confederates, Marmaduke was forced to end the expedition and return to his camp.
While, in some respects, Marmaduke tactically won the Battle of Chalk Bluff, the Union forces claimed a strategic victory since he had abandoned his spring offensive.

Second Battle of Fredericksburg - 5/3/1863
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fredericksburg_II)
Sedgwick moved his forces into Fredericksburg during dawn on May 3, uniting with Gibbon's division which had crossed the river just before dawn. Sedgwick originally planned to attack the ends of Marye's Heights but a canal and a stream blocked the Union forces. He then decided to launch an attack on the Confederate center on the heights, which was manned by Barksdale's brigade, with John Newton's division; this attack was defeated. Colonel Thomas M. Griffin of the 18th Mississippi Infantry granted the Union forces a truce in order to gather in their wounded. During this truce, the Union commanders noticed that the flank of Barksdale's left regiment was unprotected.[8]
Sedgwick launched another attack against this flank and Barksdale's front using elements from all three VI Corps divisions, which pushed the Confederate forces off the ridge, capturing some artillery. The first men to mount the stone wall were from the 5th Wisconsin and the 6th Maine Infantry regiments. Barksdale retreated to Lee's Hill, where he attempted to make another stand but was again forced to retreat southward.[9]

Battle of Salem Church - 5/3/1863
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Salem_Church)
At first Sedgwick believed that he faced a single brigade of infantry, so about 3:30 p.m. he attacked the Confederate positions with only W.T.H. Brooks's division. Brooks succeeded in driving back McLaws's right flank but a counterattack stopped the Union attack and forced Brooks to retreat back to his original position; sunset ended the combat before any further units were involved. During the night, Lee ordered Early to attack Sedgwick's left flank in the morning, while McLaws attacked the Union right.[6] Also during the night, Sedgwick received no further orders from Hooker other than authorization to retreat across the river if Sedgwick thought the move was necessary.[7]
At 7 a.m. on May 4, Early recaptured Marye's Heights then turned west until he arrived at Sedgwick's main lines, halting after coming under heavy fire. During the remainder of the morning, Early launched a series of uncoordinated attacks on Sedgwick's position, all of which were defeated. Lee arrived at McLaws' headquarters at 11 a.m.; when McLaws informed him that he did not feel strong enough to launch an attack and asked for reinforcements. Anderson was ordered to bring the other three brigades of his division and position them between McLaws and Early; he then launched additional attacks, which were also defeated.[8]

Battle of Raymond - 5/12/1863
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Raymond)
During the morning of the 12th, the Confederates enjoyed a two-to-one advantage in numbers, as they faced off across Fourteen Mile Creek against a single Federal brigade. However, as morning turned to noon and the Confederates waited in ambush, the remainder of the Federal division secretly deployed into the fields beside the brigade, giving the Union troops a three to one advantage in numbers and a seven to one advantage in artillery.[2] The ranking Confederate officer, Brig. Gen. John Gregg, attempted to achieve tactical surprise and rout the Federal force as it crossed the creek, but he was in turn tactically surprised and routed from the field by the Union XVII Corps under the command of Maj. Gen. James B. McPherson. The Union casualties at Raymond were 68 killed, 341 wounded, and 37 missing. The Confederate casualties were nearly double: 100 killed, 305 wounded, and 415 captured.[3][4][5]
The small battle had an inordinately large impact on the Vicksburg Campaign. Union interdiction of the railroad interrupted Pemberton's attempt to further consolidate his forces and prevented him from linking up with his commanding officer, Gen. Joseph E. Johnston. As a result, Pemberton was limited to three options: abandon Vicksburg, withdraw into the city and accept a siege, or fight a meeting engagement against a superior force. Facing conflicting orders from his superiors and open insurrection from his subordinates, Pemberton would be forced into the latter choice on May 16, 1863, at the Battle of Champion Hill.

Organize 54th Regiment, Massachusetts Infantry (Colored) - 5/13/1963
bjmjr.net (http://www.bjmjr.net/cwnorth/54massvi.htm)
Organized at Readville and mustered in May 13, 1863. Left Boston on Steamer "De Molay" for Hilton Head, S. C., May 28, arriving there June 3. Attached to U. S. Forces, St. Helena Island, S. C., 10th Army Corps, Dept. of the South, to July, 1863. 3rd Brigade 1st Division, Morris Island, S. C., 10th Army Corps, July, 1863. 3rd Brigade, Morris Island, S. C., to August, 1863. 4th Brigade, Morris Island, S. C., to November, 1863. 3rd Brigade, Morris Island, S. C., to January, 1864. Montgomery's Brigade, District of Hilton Head, S. C., to February, 1864. Montgomery's Brigade, District of Florida, February, 1864. 3rd Brigade, Ames' Division, District of Florida, to April, 1864. Folly and Morris Islands, S. C., Northern District, Dept. South, to October, 1864. 1st Separate Brigade, Dept. South, to November, 1864. 2nd Brigade, Coast Division, Dept. South, to February, 1865. 1st Separate Brigade, Northern District, Dept. South, to March, 1865. 1st Separate Brigade, District of Charleston, S. C., Dept. South, to June, 1865. 3rd Sub-District, District of, Charleston, Dept. South Carolina, to August, 1865.

Battle of Jackson, Mississippi - 5/14/1863
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Jackson_(MS)
Johnston consulted with the local commander, Brig. Gen. John Gregg, and learned that only about 6,000 troops were available to defend the town. Johnston ordered the evacuation of Jackson, but Gregg was to defend Jackson until the evacuation was completed. By 10 a.m., both Union army corps were near Jackson and had engaged the enemy. Rain, Confederate resistance, and poor defenses prevented heavy fighting until around 11 a.m., when Union forces attacked in numbers and slowly but surely pushed the enemy back. In mid-afternoon, Johnston informed Gregg that the evacuation was complete and that he should disengage and follow.[1]

Battle of Champion Hill - 5/16/1863
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Champion%27s_Hill)
On May 16, at about 7:00 a.m., the Union forces engaged the Confederates and the Battle of Champion Hill began. Pemberton's force drew up into a three mile (5 km)-long defensive line that ran from southwest to northeast along a crest of a ridge overlooking Jackson Creek. Grant observed in his Personal Memoirs, "... where Pemberton had chosen his position to receive us, whether taken by accident or design, was well selected. It is one of the highest points in that section, and commanded all the ground in the range."
Pemberton was unaware that one of the three Union columns was moving along the Jackson Road against his unprotected left flank on Champion Hill. For protection, Pemberton posted Brig. Gen. Stephen D. Lee's Alabama brigade atop Champion Hill where they could watch for the reported Union column moving to the crossroads. Lee spotted the Union troops and they soon saw him. If this force were not stopped, it would cut the Rebels off from their Vicksburg base. Pemberton received warning of the Union movement and sent troops to his left flank. Union forces at the Champion House moved into action and emplaced artillery to begin firing.
When Grant arrived at Champion Hill around 10:00 a.m., he ordered the attack to begin. John A. McClernand's corps attacked on the left, James B. McPherson's on the right; William T. Sherman's corps was well behind the others, departing Jackson. By 11:30 a.m., Union forces had reached the Confederate main line and at about 1:00 p.m., they took the crest while the troops from Carter L. Stevenson's division retired in disorder. McPherson's corps swept forward, capturing the crossroads and closing the Jackson Road escape route. The division of John S. Bowen then counterattacked in support of Stevenson, pushing the Federals back beyond the Champion Hill crest before their surge came to a halt. They had insufficient troops to hold that position, however. Pemberton directed William W. Loring to send forces from the southern area of the line (where they were only lightly engaged with McClernand's ineffective attack) to reinforce the Hill, but Loring refused, citing a strong Union presence to his front.
Grant then counterattacked, committing forces that had just arrived from Clinton by way of Bolton. Pemberton's men could not stand up to this assault, so he ordered his men from the field to the one escape route still open: the Raymond Road crossing of Bakers Creek. By now, Loring had acceded to Pemberton's direction and marched toward the fighting, but by a circuitous route that kept them out of action. Brig. Gen. Lloyd Tilghman's brigade formed the rearguard, and they held at all costs, including the loss of Tilghman, a victim of artillery fire. In the late afternoon, Union troops seized the Bakers Creek Bridge, and by midnight, they occupied Edwards. The Confederates fell back to a defensive position at the Big Black River in front of Vicksburg. The Battle of Big Black River Bridge there the next day would be the final chance for Pemberton to escape.

Battle of Big Black River Bridge - 5/17/1863
Three divisions of Maj. Gen. John A. McClernand's XIII Corps moved out from Edwards Station (now the town of Edwards, Mississippi) on the morning of May 17. The corps encountered the Confederates behind breastworks of cotton bales fronted by a bayou and abatis. They took cover as enemy artillery began firing. Union Brig. Gen. Michael K. Lawler formed his 2nd Brigade, Eugene A. Carr's 14th Division, which surged out of a meander scar, across the front of the Confederate forces, through waist-deep water, and into the enemy's breastworks, held by Brig. Gen. John C. Vaughn's East Tennessee Brigade.
Confused and panicked, the Confederates began to withdraw across the Big Black River by two routes: the railroad bridge and the steamboat Dot, used as a bridge across the river. As soon as they had crossed, the Confederates set fire to the bridge and steamboat, preventing close Union pursuit. The fleeing Confederates who arrived in Vicksburg later that day were disorganized.

Siege of Vicksburg - 5/18/1863
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Vicksburg)
Battle animation from CivilWarAnimated.com (http://civilwaranimated.com/VicksburgAnimation.html)
The Siege of Vicksburg (May 18 – July 4, 1863) was the final major military action in the Vicksburg Campaign of the American Civil War. In a series of maneuvers, Union Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and his Army of the Tennessee crossed the Mississippi River and drove the Confederate Army of Vicksburg led by Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton into the defensive lines surrounding the fortress city of Vicksburg, Mississippi.
When two major assaults (May 19 and 22, 1863) against the Confederate fortifications were repulsed with heavy casualties, Grant decided to besiege the city beginning on May 25. With no reinforcement, supplies nearly gone, and after holding out for more than forty days, the garrison finally surrendered on July 4. This action (combined with the surrender of Port Hudson to Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks on July 9) yielded command of the Mississippi River to the Union forces, who would hold it for the rest of the conflict.
The Confederate surrender following the siege at Vicksburg is sometimes considered, when combined with Gen. Robert E. Lee's defeat at Gettysburg by Maj. Gen. George G. Meade the previous day, the turning point of the war. It also cut off communication with Confederate forces in the Trans-Mississippi Department for the remainder of the war.

Battle of Plains Store - 5/21/1863
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Plains_Store)
Union cavalry under Brig. Gen. Benjamin H. Grierson, leading the advance of Augur's division, began skirmishing with Confederate forces under Col. Frank W. Powers. Union infantry approached and the fighting escalated. Col. William R. Miles left Port Hudson at noon, but when he reached the field, Powers's forces had already retreated and the fighting subsided. Miles nevertheless attacked, and at first succeeded in pushing back the Union infantry. Augur rallied his troops and counterattacked, driving the Confederates from Plains Store and back to the Port Hudson defenses, ending the battle.

Siege of Port Hudson - 5/22/1863
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Port_Hudson)
The Siege of Port Hudson occurred from May 22 to July 9, 1863, when Union Army troops assaulted and then surrounded the Mississippi River town of Port Hudson, Louisiana, during the American Civil War. In cooperation with Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's offensive against Vicksburg, Mississippi, Union Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks's army moved against the Confederate stronghold at Port Hudson. On May 27, 1863, after their frontal assaults were repulsed, the Federals settled into a siege that lasted for 48 days. Banks renewed his assaults on June 14 but the defenders successfully repelled them. On July 9, 1863, after hearing of the fall of Vicksburg, the Confederate garrison of Port Hudson, under General Franklin Gardner, surrendered, opening the Mississippi River to Union navigation from its source to the Gulf of Mexico.[4]

Scouting of Harriet Tubman and the Combahee River Raid - 6/2/1863
Later that year, Tubman became the first woman to lead an armed assault during the Civil War.[109] When Montgomery and his troops conducted an assault on a collection of plantations along the Combahee River, Tubman served as a key adviser and accompanied the raid. On the morning of June 2, 1863, Tubman guided three steamboats around Confederate mines in the waters leading to the shore.[110] Once ashore, the Union troops set fire to the plantations, destroying infrastructure and seizing thousands of dollars worth of food and supplies.[111] When the steamboats sounded their whistles, slaves throughout the area understood that it was being liberated. Tubman watched as slaves stampeded toward the boats. "I never saw such a sight," she said later,[112] describing a scene of chaos with women carrying still-steaming pots of rice, pigs squealing in bags slung over shoulders, and babies hanging around their parents' necks. Although their owners, armed with handguns and whips, tried to stop the mass escape, their efforts were nearly useless in the tumult.[111] As Confederate troops raced to the scene, steamboats packed full of slaves took off toward Beaufort.[113]
More than 700 slaves were rescued in the Combahee River Raid.[114][115] Newspapers heralded Tubman's "patriotism, sagacity, energy, [and] ability",[116] and she was praised for her recruiting efforts - most of the newly liberated men went on to join the Union army.[117] Tubman later worked with Colonel Robert Gould Shaw at the assault on Fort Wagner, reportedly serving him his last meal.[118] She described the battle by saying: "And then we saw the lightning, and that was the guns; and then we heard the thunder, and that was the big guns; and then we heard the rain falling, and that was the drops of blood falling; and when we came to get the crops, it was dead men that we reaped."[119]

Battle of Milliken's Bend - 6/7/1863
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Milliken%27s_Bend)
On the morning of June 6, Union Colonel Hermann Lieb with the African Brigade and two companies of the 10th Illinois Cavalry made a reconnaissance toward Richmond. About three miles from Richmond, Lieb encountered enemy troops at the Tallulah railroad depot and drove them back but then retired, fearing that many more Rebels might be near. While retiring, a squad of Union cavalry appeared, fleeing from a force of Rebels. Lieb got his men into battle line and helped disperse the pursuing enemy. He then retired to Milliken's Bend and informed his superior by courier of his actions. The 23rd Iowa Infantry and two gunboats came to his assistance.
Walker proceeded east from Richmond at 7 p.m. June 6. At midnight, he reached Oaklawn Plantation, which was situated about 7 miles from Milliken's Bend to the north and an equal distance from Young's Point to the south. Here, he split his command. Leaving one brigade in reserve at Oaklawn, he sent one brigade under the command of Brig. Gen. Henry E. McCulloch north to Milliken's Bend, and a second brigade under the command of Brig. Gen. James M. Hawes south to Young's Point.
Around 3:00 a.m. on June 7, Confederates appeared in force and drove in the pickets. They continued their movement towards the Union left flank. The Federal forces fired some volleys that caused the Rebel line to pause momentarily, but the Texans soon pushed on to the levee where they received orders to charge. In spite of receiving more volleys, the Rebels came on, and hand-to-hand combat ensued. In this intense fighting, the Confederates succeeded in flanking the Union force and caused tremendous casualties with enfilade fire. The Union force fell back to the river’s bank. About that time Union gunboats Choctaw and Lexington appeared and fired on the Rebels. The Confederates continued firing and began extending to their right to envelop the Federals but failed in their objective. Fighting continued until noon when the Confederates withdrew. The Union pursued, firing many volleys, and the gunboats pounded the Confederates as they retreated to Walnut Bayou.

Battle of Brandy Station - 6/9/1963
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Brandy_Station)
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 ever to take place in the Americas.[3] It was fought at the beginning of the Gettysburg Campaign by the Union Army cavalry under Major General Alfred Pleasonton against Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart's Confederate cavalry on June 9, 1863.
Pleasonton launched a surprise dawn attack on Stuart's cavalry at Brandy Station, Virginia. After an all-day fight in which fortunes changed repeatedly, the Federals retired without discovering General Robert E. Lee's infantry camped near Culpeper. This battle marked the end of the Confederate cavalry's lopsided dominance in the East. From this point in the war, the Federal cavalry gained strength and confidence.

Second Battle of Winchester - 6/13/1863
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Battle_of_Winchester)
The Second Battle of Winchester was fought between June 13 and June 15, 1863 in Frederick County and Winchester, Virginia as part of the Gettysburg Campaign during the American Civil War. As Confederate Lieutenant General Richard S. Ewell moved down the Shenandoah Valley in the direction of Pennsylvania, his corps defeated the Union Army garrison commanded by Major General Robert H. Milroy, capturing Winchester and numerous Union prisoners.

Battle of Aldie - 6/17/1863
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Aldie)
About 4 p.m., Gregg's advance column of the 2nd and 4th New York, 6th Ohio, 1st Maine, 1st Rhode Island, and 1st Massachusetts, under the command of Brig. Gen. Judson Kilpatrick arrived in Aldie. Just west of the village the 1st Massachusetts encountered Munford's pickets and drove them back. Around the same time, the rest of Munford's brigade (the 1st, 4th, and 5th Virginia Cavalry, under the command of Col. Williams Carter Wickham) arrived at Dover Mills, a small hamlet on the Little River west of Aldie. Wickham ordered Col. Thomas L. Rosser to take the 5th Virginia to locate a campsite closer to Aldie. As they moved east they ran into the Massachusetts men and easily drove them back through Aldie to the main Union body. After positioning his sharpshooters (50 men of Company I under Capt. Reuben F. Boston) east of the William Adam farmhouse, Rosser deployed west along a ridge that covered the two roads leading out of Aldie and awaited the arrival of the Federals, as well as Munford and Wickham. As Rosser withdrew west, the 1st Massachusetts, with aid from the 4th New York, charged against what they believed to be a retreat. Rosser's line held and he mounted a countercharge in concert with a sharp volley from the sharpshooters he had placed on his left and easily drove the Federals back, securing his hold on the Ashby's Gap Turnpike.
Kilpatrick then turned his attention towards the Snicker's Gap Turnpike. An artillery duel ensued and more cavalry on both sides soon arrived. A furious fight erupted, which at first went in favor of Munford as Federal charges were met, stopped, and then forced back by the withering volley of sharpshooters entrenched along a stone wall. The 1st Massachusetts Cavalry was trapped in a blind curve on the Snicker's Gap Turnpike and was destroyed, losing 198 of 294 men in the eight companies that were engaged. One detachment under Henry Lee Higginson was virtually wiped out in hand-to-hand fighting. The tide finally turned as Union reinforcements charged into the fray in the fading light and the 6th Ohio overran Boston's detachment on the Ashby's Gap Turnpike, capturing or killing most of his men. The fighting died down around 8 p.m. as Munford withdrew his command west towards Middleburg.

Battle of Middleburg - 6/17/1863
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Middleburg)
Confederate Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart, screening Robert E. Lee's invasion route, sparred with Maj. Gen. Alfred Pleasonton's Union cavalry. On June 17, Col. Alfred N. Duffié's isolated 1st Rhode Island Cavalry Regiment was attacked by the brigades of Thomas T. Munford and Beverly Robertson. The 1st Rhode Island was routed, taking about 250 casualties. On June 19, J. Irvin Gregg's brigade advanced, driving Stuart's cavalry one mile beyond the town. Both sides were reinforced, and mounted and dismounted skirmishing continued. Stuart was gradually levered out of his position but fell back to a second ridge, still covering the approaches to the Blue Ridge gap.

Battle of LaFourche Crossing - 6/20/1863
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_LaFourche_Crossing)
Brigadier General William H. Emory, commanding the defenses of New Orleans, assigned Lieutenant Colonel Albert Stickney to command in Brashear City and to stem the Confederate raid if possible. Emory informed Stickney of Major’s descent on LaFourche Crossing and ordered him to send troops. Feeling that no threat to Brashear City existed, Stickney, himself, led troops off to LaFourche Crossing, arriving on the morning of June 20. That afternoon, Stickney's scouts reported that the enemy was advancing rapidly.
Confederate forces began driving in Stickney’s pickets around 5:00 p.m.. Southern cavalry then advanced, but was driven back. After Union troops fired a few rounds, the Confederates withdrew in the direction of Thibodeaux. In the late afternoon of June 21, the Confederates engaged the Union pickets, and fighting continued for more than an hour before the Rebels retired. At about 6:30 p.m., the Confederates reappeared in force, started an artillery duel, and charged the Union lines at 7:00 p.m. An hour later, the Confederates disengaged and retired toward Thibodeaux. The Union held the field. Despite the defeat, Major’s raiders continued on to Brashear City.

Battle of Upperville - 6/21/1863
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Upperville)
John Buford's Federal column had detoured to attack the new Confederate left flank near Upperville, while J. Irvin Gregg's and Judson Kilpatrick's brigades advanced from the east along the Ashby's Gap Turnpike. Buford soon encountered "Grumble" Jones and Chambliss's Confederate brigades, escorting Stuart's supply train just north of Upperville, and attacked. Meanwhile, Kilpatrick's troopers attacked Hampton and Robertson on a ridgeline east of Upperville known as Vineyard Hill. Some of the Union cavalrymen made it as far as the village before being repulsed.
After furious mounted fighting, Stuart finally withdrew to take a strong defensive position in Ashby's Gap, even as Confederate infantry began crossing the Potomac River into Maryland. As cavalry skirmishing diminished in the next few days, Stuart made the fateful decision to strike east and make a circuit of the Union army as it marched toward Gettysburg.
Upperville was significant in that Stuart's successful delaying tactics prevented Pleasonton from making an accurate assessment of the location of Lee's infantry divisions, thereby depriving the Federals of much valued intelligence of their enemy's whereabouts and objectives.

Battle of Hoover's Gap - 6/24/1863
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Hoover%27s_Gap)
On June 23, 1863, Rosecrans deployed forces to feign an attack on Shelbyville while massing forces against Bragg's right. His troops struck out toward the gaps. On June 24, Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas's men, spearheaded by Colonel John T. Wilder's "Lightning Brigade", attacked Hoover's Gap. Wilder's mounted infantry pushed ahead and reached the gap nearly 9 miles ahead of Thomas's main body.[3] Wilder's men were armed with new Spencer repeating rifles and when they attacked the Confederate 1st (3rd) Kentucky Cavalry Regiment, under Colonel J. Russell Butler, was easily pushed aside.[2] As Butler's unit fell back the entire 7 mile length of Hoover's Gap, it ran into Brig. Gen. William B. Bate's brigade of Maj. Gen. Alexander P. Stewart's division.[2]
Wilder entrenched on the hills south of the gap and determined to hold this extremely advanced position.[3] Bate's brigade counterattacked throughout the day but could not dislodge the Federals. Wilder received orders from Thomas to fall back through the gap. Wilder refused claiming he could still hold his ground. Meanwhile, Brig. Gen. Bushrod Johnson's brigade arrived and now Bate and Johnson planned a final attack on Wilder. This attack was also repulsed and by 7:00 p.m. units from Lovell Rousseau and John M. Brannan's divisions of Thomas's corps arrived at the gap.[3]
Just before noon on June 26, Stewart sent a message to Johnson and Bate stating that he was pulling back and they should also.[2] Although slowed by rain, Rosecrans moved on, forcing Bragg to retreat from his defensive line and fall back to Tullahoma. After reaching Tullahoma, Rosecrans sent Wilder's Lightning Brigade ahead to hit the railroad in Bragg's rear. Arriving too late to destroy the Elk River railroad bridge, the Federals destroyed railroad track around Decherd.

Second Battle of Donaldsonville - 6/28/1863
On the night of June 27, Green, within a mile and a half of the fort, began moving troops ahead to attack. The attack started soon after midnight, and the Confederates quickly surrounded the fort and began passing through the various obstructions. Unfortunately, those troops attacking along the levee came to a ditch, unknown to them, too wide to cross, that saved the day for the Union garrison. A Union gunboat, USS Princess Royal, came to the garrison's aid also and began shelling the attackers. Futile Confederate assaults continued for some time but they eventually ceased their operations and retired.

Battle of Goodrich's Landing - 6/29/1863
In June 1863, Confederates from Gaine's Landing, Arkansas, undertook an expedition to Lake Providence, Louisiana in an effort to disrupt the Union assault on Vicksburg. At Goodrich's Landing, the Union had constructed fortifications on top of an old Indian mound, which guarded a military supply depot. The Confederates planned to attack the fort on June 29, but decided to demand an unconditional surrender first, which the Union forces accepted. Later in the day, Confederate Col. W.H. Parsons encountered companies of the 1st Kansas Mounted Infantry and routed them. The Confederates then seized Union Army supplies stored at the landing, and began burning cotton on surrounding plantations (the Governor of Louisiana had issued orders for all cotton crops within the state to be destroyed, thereby keeping it out of Union hands). By the next morning, U.S. Naval boats had landed the Mississippi Marine Brigade, under the command of Brig. Gen. Alfred W. Ellet, at Goodrich's Landing. At dawn, he set out with Col. William F. Wood's black troops to find the Confederate raiders. Ellet's cavalry encountered the enemy first and began skirmishing. The fight became more intense as Wood's forces approached. Parsons eventually disengaged and fell back, taking his captured supplies with him.

Battle of Cabin Creek - 7/1/1863
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cabin_Creek)
Williams arrived at the crossing on 1 July and learned of the intentions of Watie's force from captured confederate soldiers.[1][2] Watie's battle line extended around one mile either side of the crossing in trenches dug into the brush lining the creek.[1][2] Owing to the unusually high water level in the creek, which reached above shoulder height, Williams chose to delay his attack on the confederates until the following day and corralled his wagons defensively on a nearby prairie.[1][4][2]
Williams ordered a half-hour artillery bombardment before launching an assault with the Third Indian Home Guard. They failed to make it across the now waist-deep creek, pushed back by heavy confederate fire, and so the Ninth Kansas Cavalry were ordered to charge under the covering fire of the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry.[2][5] With the cavalry having gained a bridgehead across the creek, Williams led the men of his own regiment, the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry, in a headlong charge across the stream and into the brush.[6] This forced the confederates back and Williams pursued them for a quarter of a mile as they attempted to rally in a clearing.[6] Williams then led his convoy to successfully resupply Fort Gibson.[1][3] Confederate casualties amounted to 65 men killed with the Union Army suffering between 3 and 23 dead with 30 wounded.[3][6]

Battle of Gettysburg - 7/1/1863
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Gettysburg)
Battle animation from CivilWarAnimated.com (http://civilwaranimated.com/GettysburgAnimation.html)
The Battle of Gettysburg (local Listeni/ˈɡɛtɨsbɜrɡ/, with an /s/ sound)[6] was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania between Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War. The battle involved the largest number of casualties of the entire war[7] and is often described as the war's turning point.[8] Union Maj. Gen. George Meade's Army of the Potomac defeated attacks by Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, ending Lee's invasion of the North.
After his success at Chancellorsville in Virginia in May 1863, Lee led his army through the Shenandoah Valley to begin his second invasion of the North—the Gettysburg Campaign. With his army in high spirits, Lee intended to shift the focus of the summer campaign from war-ravaged northern Virginia and hoped to influence Northern politicians to give up their prosecution of the war by penetrating as far as Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, or even Philadelphia. Prodded by President Abraham Lincoln, Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker moved his army in pursuit, but was relieved just three days before the battle and replaced by Meade.
Elements of the two armies initially collided at Gettysburg on July 1, 1863, as Lee urgently concentrated his forces there, his objective being to engage the Union army and destroy it. Low ridges to the northwest of town were defended initially by a Union cavalry division under Brig. Gen. John Buford, and soon reinforced with two corps of Union infantry. However, two large Confederate corps assaulted them from the northwest and north, collapsing the hastily developed Union lines, sending the defenders retreating through the streets of town to the hills just to the south.
On the second day of battle, most of both armies had assembled. The Union line was laid out in a defensive formation resembling a fishhook. In the late afternoon of July 2, Lee launched a heavy assault on the Union left flank, and fierce fighting raged at Little Round Top, the Wheatfield, Devil's Den, and the Peach Orchard. On the Union right, Confederate demonstrations escalated into full-scale assaults on Culp's Hill and Cemetery Hill. All across the battlefield, despite significant losses, the Union defenders held their lines.
On the third day of battle, July 3, fighting resumed on Culp's Hill, and cavalry battles raged to the east and south, but the main event was a dramatic infantry assault by 12,500 Confederates against the center of the Union line on Cemetery Ridge, known as Pickett's Charge. The charge was repulsed by Union rifle and artillery fire, at great losses to the Confederate army.

Vicksburg Surrenders - 7/4/1863
On July 3, Pemberton sent a note to Grant, who, as at Fort Donelson, first demanded unconditional surrender. But Grant reconsidered, not wanting to feed 30,000 hungry Confederates in Union prison camps, and offered to parole all prisoners. Considering their destitute state, dejected and starving, he never expected them to fight again; he hoped they would carry home the stigma of defeat to the rest of the Confederacy. In any event, it would have occupied his army and taken months to ship that many troops north.[38] Most of the men who were paroled on July 6 were exchanged and received back into the Confederate Army on August 4, 1863, at Mobile Harbor, Alabama. They were back in Chattanooga, Tennessee, by September and some fought in the Battles for Chattanooga in November and against Sherman's invasion of Georgia in May 1864. The Confederate government protested the validity of the paroles on technical grounds and the issue was referred to Grant who, in April 1864, was general in chief of the Army. The dispute effectively ended all further prisoner exchanges during the war except for hardship cases.[39]

Battle of Helena - 7/4/1863
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Helena)
Holmes planned for a dawn attack with Marmaduke's 1,700 dismounted cavalry attacking fortified Rightor Hill northwest of the town and capturing the artillery battery stationed there. General Fagan's 1,300 men were assigned to capture Hindman's Hill southwest of the city. Brig. Gen. Lucius M. Walker was assigned the task of guarding Marmaduke's flank and preventing Union reinforcements from reaching Rightor Hill. The main attack however, would take place in the center with Sterling Price's 3,100 men seizing Graveyard Hill and the battery protecting it.[citation needed]
Marmaduke's assault ran into trouble quickly and began taking artillery and small arms fire from his left flank. Walker was supposed to intervene for Marmaduke, but failed to come to his aid out of concern for his own exposed position. Walker's failure would eventually lead to bad blood between Marmaduke and Walker that would end in a bloody duel during the campaign for Little Rock. [4]
The southwest and center elements of the Confederate attack also suffered from failed communications and misinterpreted orders. Fagan and Price failed to coordinate their attacks due to Holmes' vague order to "attack at daylight". Price interpreted this order to mean an attack at sunrise and Fagan interpreted it to mean an attack at first light.
Fagan was surprised to find his attack on Hindman Hill was opposed by artillery fire from Graveyard Hill. Fagan had expected Price to be engaged already with that battery. Fagan's artillery had not been able to reach the battlefield because of felled trees blocking the road. Fagan had no artillery available to silence the Federal guns and had no choice but to order his troops to try to take the hill while under artillery fire. Fagan's men reached the summit of the hill and managed to seize the outer fortifications but were pinned down just short of the summit by the two Union batteries..[5]
Price's assault on the center of the Union lines did not commence for almost an hour after Fagan's attack began. Price's men charged the Federal lines but were repulsed by concentrated artillery fire from the batteries and the USS Tyler. Price's Confederates made two more desperate charges before successfully capturing the guns on Graveyard Hill. Price attempted to turn the guns on the remaining Federals but found that the guns had been successfully disabled before their capture.[6]

Battle of Williamsport - 7/6/1863
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Williamsport)
During the night of July 4–July 5, Gen. Robert E. Lee's battered Confederate army began its retreat from Gettysburg, moving southwest on the Fairfield Road toward Hagerstown and Williamsport, screened by Maj. Gen.J.E.B. Stuart's cavalry. The Union infantry followed cautiously the next day, converging on Middletown, Maryland.
On July 7, Brig. Gen. John D. Imboden stopped Brig. Gen. John Buford's Union cavalry from occupying Williamsport and destroying Confederate trains. Brig. Gen. Judson Kilpatrick's cavalry division drove two Confederate cavalry brigades through Hagerstown before being forced to retire by the arrival of the rest of Stuart's command. Lee's infantry reached the rain-swollen Potomac River but could not cross, the pontoon bridge having been destroyed by a cavalry
On July 11, Lee entrenched a line, protecting the river crossings at Williamsport and waited for Maj. Gen. George G. Meade's Army of the Potomac to advance. On July 12, Meade reached the vicinity and probed the Confederate line. On July 13, skirmishing was heavy along the lines as Meade positioned his forces for an attack. In the meantime, the river fell enough to allow the construction of a new bridge, and Lee's army began crossing the river after dark on
On the morning of July 14, Kilpatrick's and Buford's cavalry divisions approached from the north and east respectively. Before allowing Buford to gain a position on the flank and rear, Kilpatrick attacked the rearguard division of Maj. Gen. Henry Heth taking more than 500 prisoners. Confederate Brig. Gen. J. Johnston Pettigrew was mortally wounded in the fight.
On July 16, Brig. Gen. David McM. Gregg's cavalry approached Shepherdstown where the brigades of Brig. Gens. Fitzhugh Lee and John R. Chambliss, supported by Col. Milton J. Ferguson's brigade, held the Potomac River fords against the Union infantry. Fitzhugh Lee and Chambliss attacked Gregg, who held out against several attacks and sorties, fighting sporadically until nightfall when he withdrew.

Battle of Boonsboro - 7/8/1863
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Boonsboro)
Confederate Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart faced a difficult assignment—locate the Union cavalry and prevent it from severing Gen. Lee's avenue of retreat to Williamsport and the Potomac River. The result was the biggest and most sustained cavalry battle in Maryland during the campaign. The Battle of Boonsboro occurred along the National Road on Wednesday, July 8, 1863.
Stuart, with five cavalry brigades, advanced from the direction of Funkstown and Williamsport. He first encountered Federal resistance at Beaver Creek Bridge, 4.5 miles (7.2 km) north of Boonsboro. By 11 a.m., the Confederate cavalry had pushed forward to several mud-soaked fields, where fighting on horseback was nearly impossible, forcing Stuart's troopers and Brig. Gens. H. Judson Kilpatrick's and John Buford's Union cavalry divisions to dismount and slug it out like infantry.
By mid-afternoon, the Union left under Kilpatrick crumbled as the Federals ran low on ammunition under increasing Confederate pressure. Stuart's advanced ended about 7 p.m., however, when Union infantry arrived—the first to engage in battle since Gettysburg. Stuart withdrew north to Funkstown, but he had gained another day for Lee's retreating army. Two days later, he would again delay the Federal pursuit at the Battle of Funkstown.[2]

Battle of Corydon - 7/9/1863
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Corydon)
The Battle of Corydon was a minor engagement that took place July 9, 1863, just south of Corydon, which had been the original capital of Indiana until 1825, and was the county seat of Harrison County. The attack occurred during Morgan's Raid in the American Civil War as a force of 2,500 cavalry invaded the North in support of the Tullahoma Campaign. It was the only pitched battle of the Civil War that occurred in Indiana, and no battle has occurred within Indiana since.[2]

First Battle of Fort Wagner - 7/10/1863
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Battle_of_Fort_Wagner)
On July 10, Union artillery on Folly Island (which had been occupied in April 1863) and naval gunfire from Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren's four ironclad warships bombarded the Confederate defenses protecting the southern end of Morris Island. This provided cover for the landing of Brig. Gen. George C. Strong's brigade, which crossed Lighthouse Inlet and landed at the southern tip of the island. Strong's troops advanced, capturing several batteries, moving about three miles to within range of Fort Wagner. Also known as Battery Wagner, it was a heavily gunned redoubt that covered nearly the entire width of the northern end of Morris Island, facing Sumter. Strong's report described the advance:
The two columns now moved forward, under a lively discharge of shell, grape, and canister, converging toward the works nearest the southern extremity of the island, and thence along its commanding ridge and eastern coast, capturing successively the eight batteries, of one heavy gun each, occupying the commanding points of that ridge, besides two batteries, mounting, together, three 10-inch seacoast mortars.[4]
On July 11, Strong's brigade attacked at dawn, advancing through a thick fog, attempting to seize Fort Wagner. Although the men of the 7th Connecticut Infantry overran a line of rifle pits, they were repulsed by the 1,770-man force under Confederate Col. Robert F. Graham. Heavy artillery fire from Fort Wagner prevented other units from joining the attack.[2]

Battle of Kock’s Plantation - 7/12/1863
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Kock%27s_Plantation)
The Battle of Kock’s Plantation (also spelled Cox’s Plantation and Saint Emma Plantation) was a battle fought July 12–13, 1863, in Ascension Parish, Louisiana, during the American Civil War. It was part of a campaign entitled "Taylor's Operations in West Louisiana (1863)." The Confederate States Army victory left them in control of much of the interior of the Acadiana region.
Following the surrender of Port Hudson, two Union divisions were shifted to Donaldsonville by transports, to move inland and pacify the interior. They marched up Bayou Lafourche, a division on each bank. Confederate Brig. Gen. Tom Green posted a brigade on the east side of the bayou and placed his second brigade on the other side.
As the Union forces advanced, skirmishing occurred on July 11 and 12. On the morning of the 13th, a foraging detachment set out along both banks of the bayou. Upon reaching Kock’s Plantation (Saint Emma Plantation), they met Rebel skirmishers that forced them back. Then, Green's Confederates flung their might against the Union troops, which kept retiring although they tried to make stands at various points. The Union troops eventually fell back to the protection of the guns in Fort Butler at Donaldsonville, about six miles from Kock’s Plantation. A much smaller Rebel force had routed the Yankees. The expedition failed, leaving the Confederates in control of the interior.

Battle of Honey Springs - 7/17/1863
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Honey_Springs)
His attack began on July 17, with desultory morning skirmishing that revealed many of the Confederate soldiers had wet gunpowder, causing numerous misfires and accidents. The main Union attack began at mid-afternoon, and the beginning of a rain squall intensified the Confederate's ammunition problems. Opposing artillerymen each eliminated one gun on the opposing side during an early artillery duel. Then Blunt saw an opportunity, and ordered the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry to attack. Colonel James M. Williams led the Colored infantry forward, but the Confederates held their ground. Williams was wounded but the Colored troops conducted a disciplined withdrawal and sporadic firing continued. During this period the 2nd Indian Home Guards, fighting for the Union, accidentally strayed into no man's land between the Confederate and Union lines. The Federal commanders gave the order for the Home Guards to fall back, the Confederates assumed it was an order to retreat and attacked. The Confederates charged into an established defensive line held by the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry, which repulsed the charge.[1]
Cooper pulled his men back towards the depot to obtain new ammunition, but the Federals continued to press his army closely. Heavy fighting occurred when Cooper's men made a stand at a bridge over Elk Creek, roughly 1/4 of a mile south of the original position. Union forces continued driving them back further and gradually beginning to turn Cooper's left, causing a general Confederate retreat. Cooper attempted to fight a rearguard action, making a last stand another 1/2 mile south near Honey Springs Depot. Despite a notable half-hour stand by the Choctaw and Chickasaw regiment, most of the badly-organized, disheartened, and in many cases due to their poor powder, unarmed Indians and Texans simply continued to flee. Victorious Union forces took possession of the Honey Springs depot, burning what couldn't be immediately used, and occupying the field. Blunt trumpeted the battle as a major victory, claiming Union losses of only 76, with enemy casualties in excess of 500, although Cooper reported only 181 Confederate casualties.

Second Battle of Fort Wagner - 7/18/1863
The Second Battle of Fort Wagner, also known as the Second Assault on Morris Island or the Battle of Fort Wagner, Morris Island, was fought on July 18, 1863, during the American Civil War. Union Army troops commanded by Brig. Gen. Quincy Gillmore, launched an unsuccessful assault on the Confederate fortress of Fort Wagner, which protected Morris Island, south of Charleston Harbor. The battle came one week after the First Battle of Fort Wagner.

Battle of Buffington Island - 7/19/1863
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Buffington_Island)
On the foggy morning of July 19, two Federal brigades under August Kautz and Henry M. Judah finally caught up with Morgan and attacked his position on the broad flood plain just north of Portland, nearly encircling the Confederates as another column under James M. Shackelford arrived on the scene. In the spirited early fighting, Maj. Daniel McCook, the 65-year-old patriarch of the famed Fighting McCooks, was mortally wounded. Nearly 3,000 Federals were soon engaged with Morgan's outnumbered and exhausted men. In addition, two Union gunboats, the U.S.S. Moose and the U.S.S. Allegheny Belle, steamed into the narrow channel separating Buffington Island from the flood plain and opened fire on Morgan's men, spraying them with shell fragments. Soon they were joined by a third gunboat.
Morgan, his way to the Buffington Island ford now totally blocked, left behind a small rear guard and tried to fight his way northward along the flood plain, hoping to reach yet another ford. It proved to be an exercise in futility, as Morgan's force was split apart by the converging Federal columns and 52 Confederates were killed, with well over one hundred badly wounded in the swirling fighting. Morgan and about 700 men escaped encirclement by following a narrow path through the woods. However, his brother-in-law and second-in-command, Col. Basil W. Duke, was captured, as were over 750 of Morgan's cavalrymen, including his younger brother John Morgan. Duke formally surrendered to Col. Isaac Garrard of the 7th Ohio Cavalry.
Morgan's beleaguered troops soon headed upstream for the unguarded ford opposite Belleville, West Virginia, where over 300 men successfully crossed the Ohio River to avoid capture, most notably Col. Adam "Stovepipe" Johnson and famed telegrapher George Ellsworth. General Morgan, who was halfway across the ford, noted with dismay that his remaining men were trapped on the Ohio side as the Federal gunboats suddenly loomed into view. He wheeled his horse midchannel and rejoined what was left of his column on the Ohio riverbank. Over the next few days, they failed to find a secure place to cross the river, and Morgan's remaining force was captured on June 26 in northern Ohio following the Battle of Salineville.

Battle of Manassas Gap - 7/23/1863
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Manassas_Gap)
At dawn, French began his attack with the New York Excelsior Brigade, led by Brig. Gen. Francis B. Spinola, against Brig. Gen. Ambrose R. Wright's brigade of Georgians, under the command of Col. Edward J. Walker of the 3rd Georgia Regiment, defending the pass. The fight was slow at first, with the superior Union force using its numbers to push Walker from his defensive position back through the gap. In the late afternoon, around 4:30 p.m., French made a concerted assault on Walker's brigade, driving them from the gap. The Confederates were quickly reinforced by Maj. Gen. Robert E. Rodes's division and artillery, stalling the Union advance. By dusk, the Union attack became uncoordinated and was abandoned. During the night, Confederate forces withdrew into the Luray Valley. On July 24, the Union army occupied Front Royal, but Lee's army was safely beyond pursuit.[2]

Battle of Big Mound - 7/24/1863
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Big_Mound)
Anticipating a meeting between Sibley and Standing Buffalo, a group of Sioux and Sibley’s scouts gathered peacefully on a hill, called Big Mound, 300 to 400 yards from Sibley’s camp. An army surgeon, Dr. Josiah S. Weiser, approached Big Mound to greet several Indian friends, but was suddenly shot and killed by Tall Crown, a follower of Inkpaduta. The scouts and the Sioux opened fire on each other and the battle began.[8]
Sibley estimated that he faced 1,000 to 1,500 Indian warriors. They took cover behind hills and in ravines. Sibley sent forward two companies of Mounted Rangers to drive the Indians away from Big Mound and supported them with more soldiers and a six-pounder cannon. On reaching the top of Big Mound, Sibley could see the Indian warriors retreating, guarding the women and children of the Indian camp fleeing westward with their possessions.[9] The Santee were poorly armed. Only about one half had firearms and those had little ammunition.[10]
Several hundred of the Mounted Rangers pursued the Indian warriors, protecting the flight of their women and children, until nightfall. Most of Sibley’s infantry devoted themselves to destroying the large quantities of jerky, buffalo robes, cooking utensils, and other goods left behind by the Sioux in their hasty flight.[11]
Sibley intended for the Rangers to continue the pursuit of the Sioux the next day, camping where they were for the night. However, by a mistaken order, the Rangers were ordered instead to return to their base, 12 miles from where they were. They arrived exhausted and Sibley was forced to rest his soldiers and horses the next day, July 25, before continuing his pursuit on July 26. Sibley’s casualties for the day were three dead and four wounded. In Sibley's official airport he estimated that 80 Indians had been killed and wounded, but his diary said that only 9 were killed.[12]

Battle of Dead Buffalo Lake - 7/26/1863
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Dead_Buffalo_Lake)
Sibley marched to Dead Buffalo Lake on July 26 and about noon camped near the shores of the small lake. Mounted Sioux appeared shortly on the hills surrounding the lake and Sibley's camp, threatening an attack. Sibley advanced his artillery, two companies of infantry, and his pioneers to a position about 600 yards in advance of his camp and opened fire at long range on the Indians. The Indians withdrew to a safe distance.[4]
The objective of the Sioux seems to have been to capture the army’s pack train of horses and mules and immobilize Sibley. They first attempted an assault on Sibley's left flank, but were checked by a company of mounted rangers and two companies of infantry. The Indians then disappeared into the hills. Several muleteers in Sibley's camp assumed the engagement was over and took the livestock out of the defense lines to graze. The Sioux re-appeared in force on the right flank and made another effort to capture the stock, but were repulsed in a brief close-quarter fight by two companies of cavalry and 6 companies of infantry. Sitting Bull, armed with only a whip, was said to have counted coup on a muleteer and captured his mule. Failing in their mission to capture most of the horses and mules, the Indians then retired from the field and the battle was over.[5]
One soldier was killed. The soldiers estimated they had killed 15 Sioux.[6] The number of Indian combatants and Indian casualties were often overestimated by the army.

Battle of Salineville - 7/26/1863
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Salineville)
Union General Shackelford continued in pursuit of Morgan, leading a mixed command of cavalry, artillery, and mounted infantry from Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Michigan, and Ohio, as well as the Steubenville Militia. Morgan's weary men were isolated, under constant pursuit, and heading deeper into enemy territory. Eventually, Morgan was flanked and cut off by Union forces on July 26, 1863 at Salineville, near Lisbon, Ohio. Badly outnumbered, Morgan attempted to cut his way out from the estimated 3,000 Federals. He lost 364 men (including 23 dead, several wounded, and nearly 300 captured) in a firefight that lasted no more than an hour and a half. Remarkably, General Morgan and a small number of his men initially managed to elude capture. However, at 2:00 p.m., they surrendered to Union Maj. George W. Rue of the 9th Kentucky Cavalry near West Point, Ohio approximately 8 miles northeast of Salineville. Today, a historical marker commemorates the location of the surrender.
Major Rue later reported that General Morgan, upon first seeing the Major and his troops approaching, surrendered to one of his own prisoners, an Ohio Militia captain named Burbridge, who then immediately paroled Morgan and his fellow officers, an act that would have allowed them to return home to Kentucky as noncombatants. Rue disregarded that "surrender" and insisted that Morgan formally surrender to the Union forces, ignoring the paroles. Troops escorted Morgan to Columbus, Ohio, where he and many of his officers were imprisoned in the Ohio Penitentiary. Many of his captured soldiers were sent to Camp Chase and other prisoner of war camps in the North.

Battle of Stony Lake - 7/28/1863
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Stony_Lake)
The Sioux apparently hoped to surprise Sibley, strike at a weak point, and force him to abandon his pursuit. Warned of their approach, Sibley closed up his stretched-out column of soldiers, sent out skirmishers, and deployed his artillery. The Sioux warriors appeared shortly on hills in a semi-circle with an arc of 5 or 6 miles around Sibley’s forces. Sibley estimated their numbers at 2,200 to 2,500.[3] The Sioux said their force totaled 1,600 warriors. Most of the Indians, however, were armed only with bows and arrows and muskets, thus ineffective fighting at distances of more than 100 yards.[4]
Nearly surrounding Sibley’s column, but having failed to surprise him, the Sioux probed for weak spots. Colonel James H. Baker’s 10th Minnesota Regiment was in Sibley’s van and advanced, firing volleys and supported by two mountain howitzers. The Sixth Minnesota and Seventh Minnesota Regiments deployed to the left and right of Sibley’s wagon train. Charges by companies of infantry dislodged the Indians from several hills. Shortly, the Sioux gave up the battle and faded away. Sibley was unable to pursue them as his horses and men were tired.[5]
Sibley did not suffer any casualties. Sioux casualties are unknown, but probably light. Three Indians were seen to have been knocked off their horses by an artillery round[6]

Second Battle of Charleston Harbor - 8/17/1863
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Charleston_Harbor)
After being repulsed twice trying to take Fort Wagner by storm, Maj. Gen. Quincy Adams Gillmore decided on a less costly approach and began laying siege to the fort.
Despite trenching difficulties, by mid-August Gillmore had his siege guns within range of Fort Sumter. On August 17, he opened fire and during the first day of the bombardment nearly 1,000 shells were fired.[13] By August 23, the masonry had been turned to rubble and Beauregard removed as many of the fort's guns as possible. Gillmore wired the War Department that "Fort Sumter is a shapeless and harmless mass of ruin".[14] However, the bombardment of Fort Sumter would continue in general until December 31, 1863.[15]

Second Battle of Chattanooga - 8/21/1863
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Battle_of_Chattanooga)
On August 21, Wilder reached the Tennessee River opposite Chattanooga and ordered the 18th Indiana Light Artillery (Capt. Eli Lilly's battery) to begin shelling the town. The shells caught many soldiers and civilians in town in church observing a day of prayer and fasting. The bombardment sank two steamers docked at the landing and created a great deal of consternation amongst the Confederates.[1]

Lawrence Massacre
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Massacre)

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