Civil War - Timeline

The Appomattox Campaign was the final campaign of General Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia during the Civil War. Union victories at Five Forks, Petersburg, Sailor’s Creek and Appomattox Station trapped Lee’s army and destroyed its remaining supply routes. Lee surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865, ending the Army of Northern Virginia’s participation in the war.

The Army of Missouri was a 12,000-man Confederate force commanded by Major General Sterling Price during a failed expedition into Missouri in the autumn of 1864.

The Atlanta Campaign was an 1864 Union offensive into Northern Georgia, led by General William T. Sherman against the Confederate Army of Tennessee. The campaign started when Sherman advanced from the area near Chattanooga, Tennessee, and ended after John Bell Hood evacuated Atlanta. Sherman occupied the city, securing a major Union victory and strengthening President Abraham Lincoln’s reelection campaign.

The Bermuda Hundred Campaign was a failed Union offensive into Virginia in May 1864. General Benjamin Butler and the Army of the James tried to threaten Richmond and cut the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad, but Confederate forces under General P. G. T. Beauregard stopped the advance. After fighting at Port Walthall Junction, Swift Creek, Chester Station, Proctor’s Creek, and Ware Bottom Church, Confederate defenses trapped Butler’s army on the Bermuda Hundred peninsula.

The Bristoe Campaign was fought from October 13 to November 7, 1863, after the Union victory at the Battle of Gettysburg. General George G. Meade and the Army of the Potomac pursued General Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia during a series of battles and maneuvers. Although Lee opened the campaign with an offensive, Union victories at Bristoe Station and Rappahannock Station helped Meade force Lee to retreat southward.

Key facts about the Battle of Byram's Ford (aka Battle of Big Blue River), which was fought on October 22, 1864, during the Civil War.

Fought on October 22, 1864, the Battle of Byram's Ford (aka Battle of Big Blue River) was the fifth major engagement during Price's Missouri Expedition of 1864.

The Camden Expedition was a Union advance into southwestern Arkansas that was part of the Red River Campaign (March 10–May 22, 1864). The expedition was a failure, leaving Confederate forces in control of the area. Following some of the battles, black Union soldiers and pro-Union Southerners were massacred by Confederates. In the wake of these atrocities, black troops rallied around the slogan “Remember Poison Springs!”

The Carolinas Campaign was a Union military campaign led by General William T. Sherman from February to April 1865, in North Carolina and South Carolina. Sherman marched north from Savannah with nearly 60,000 soldiers, occupied Columbia and Raleigh, and joined forces with General John Schofield and the Army of Ohio. The campaign ended when General Joseph E. Johnston surrendered Confederate forces in the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida at Bennett Place.

The Chattanooga Campaign was a series of Union military operations from September 21 to November 27, 1863, that broke the Confederate Siege of Chattanooga, Tennessee. After General Ulysses S. Grant restored the Union supply line, he launched attacks on Confederate positions at Orchard Knob, Lookout Mountain, and Missionary Ridge, and drove the Confederates away. The Union victories forced Bragg to retreat toward Dalton, Georgia, and secured Chattanooga as an important supply center for General William T. Sherman’s Atlanta Campaign.

The fourth year of the American Civil War continued into the summer of 1864. This timeline covers important moments from May to August, including military and political events that affected the course of the war and the history of the United States.

The Confederate Heartland Campaign, also known as Bragg’s Invasion of Kentucky, was a Confederate invasion of the border state of Kentucky in 1862. Although Confederate forces were largely successful on the battlefield, General Braxton Bragg abandoned the campaign and retreated to Tennessee, leaving Kentucky under Union control.

Early’s Valley Campaign was a Confederate military campaign led by General Jubal Early from June through August 1864. Early’s forces defeated Union troops at Monocacy and threatened Washington, D.C., before Union reinforcements stopped them at Fort Stevens. The campaign ended without a clear winner, but it led General Ulysses S. Grant to send General Philip Sheridan into the Shenandoah Valley to stop Early’s operations.

The East Tennessee Campaign was a Union operation led by General Ambrose Burnside to occupy Knoxville, Tennessee, capture the Cumberland Gap, and remove Confederate forces from northeast Tennessee in 1863. Burnside’s forces entered Knoxville with little resistance, forced the Confederate surrender at the Cumberland Gap, and won engagements at Blountville and Blue Springs. The campaign resulted in a Union victory and secured control of much of East Tennessee.

The Battle of Elkin's Ferry was fought between the United States of America and the Confederate States of America on April 3–4, 1864, during the Civil War and ended in a Union victory. The battle is most well-known as the first engagement of the Union's Camden Expedition.

Fort Pulaski Battle facts, including dates, location, casualties, leaders, who won, and more interesting facts you might not know.

Fought on April 10–11, 1862, the Battle of Fort Pulaski revolutionized siege warfare and effectively strangled shipping to and from the port city of Savannah, Georgia, for the rest of the Civil War.

Fort Wagner Battle facts, including dates, location, casualties, leaders, who won, and more interesting facts you might not know.

On July 18, 1863, the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, one of the Union volunteer army's first colored units, enhanced the reputation of black soldiers in combat by displaying conspicuous valor during the Confederate victory at the Battle of Fort Wagner.

The Franklin-Nashville Campaign was a Confederate offensive conducted in Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee from September 18 to December 27, 1864. General John Bell Hood tried to disrupt Union supply lines and defeat Union forces before they united at Nashville. After failing to stop General John M. Schofield at Columbia and Spring Hill, Hood suffered devastating losses at Franklin before General George H. Thomas defeated his army at Nashville and drove it from Tennessee.