Portal:American Civil War

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The American Civil War Portal

The American Civil War (1861–1865) was a sectional rebellion against the United States of America by the Confederate States, formed of eleven southern states' governments which moved to secede from the Union after the 1860 election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States. The Union's victory was eventually achieved by leveraging advantages in population, manufacturing and logistics and through a strategic naval blockade denying the Confederacy access to the world's markets.

In many ways, the conflict's central issues – the enslavement of African Americans, the role of constitutional federal government, and the rights of states – are still not completely resolved. Not surprisingly, the Confederate army's surrender at Appomattox on April 9,1865 did little to change many Americans' attitudes toward the potential powers of central government. The passage of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendments to the Constitution in the years immediately following the war did not change the racial prejudice prevalent among Americans of the day; and the process of Reconstruction did not heal the deeply personal wounds inflicted by four brutal years of war and more than 970,000 casualties – 3 percent of the population, including approximately 560,000 deaths. As a result, controversies affected by the war's unresolved social, political, economic and racial tensions continue to shape contemporary American thought. The causes of the war, the reasons for the outcome, and even the name of the war itself are subjects of much discussion even today. (Full article)

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USS Osage

USS Osage was a single-turreted Neosho-class monitor built for the Union Navy during the American Civil War. After completion in mid-1863 by Edward Hartt, the ship patrolled the Mississippi River against Confederate raids and ambushes as part of Rear Admiral David Porter's Mississippi Squadron. Osage participated in the Red River Campaign in March–May 1864, during which she supported the capture of Fort DeRussy in March and participated in the Battle of Blair's Landing in April. The ship was grounded on a sandbar for six months after the end of the campaign and badly damaged. Osage, after being refloated and repaired, was transferred to the West Gulf Blockading Squadron in early 1865 for the campaign against Mobile, Alabama. During the Battle of Spanish Fort in March 1865 she struck a mine and rapidly sank. The ship was later salvaged and sold in 1867. (Full article...)

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Grand Parade of the States

The American Civil War made a huge impact on Tennessee, with large armies constantly destroying its rich farmland, and every county witnessing combat. It was a divided state, with the Eastern counties harboring pro-Union sentiment throughout the conflict, and it was the last state to officially secede from the Union, in protest at Lincoln's call for troops. Although Tennessee provided a large number of troops for the Confederacy, it would also provide more soldiers for the Union Army than any other state within the Confederacy.

In February 1862, some of the war's first serious fighting took place along the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers, recognized as major military highways, and mountain passes such as Cumberland Gap were keenly competed-for by both sides. The Battle of Shiloh and the fighting along the Mississippi brought glory to the little-known Ulysses S. Grant, while his area commander Henry Halleck was rewarded with promotion to General-in-Chief. The Tullahoma campaign, led by William Rosecrans, drove the Confederates from Middle Tennessee so quickly that they did not take many casualties, and were strong enough to defeat Rosecrans soon afterwards. At Nashville in December 1864, George Thomas routed the Army of Tennessee under John Bell Hood, the last major battle fought in the state. (Full article...)

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Lawrence Sullivan "Sul" Ross (September 27, 1838 – January 3, 1898) was the 19th governor of Texas, a Confederate States Army general during the American Civil War, and the seventh president of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, now called Texas A&M University.

Ross was raised in the Republic of Texas, which was later annexed to the United States. Much of his childhood was spent on the frontier, where his family founded the town of Waco. Ross attended Baylor University (then located in Independence, Texas) and Wesleyan University in Florence, Alabama. On one of his summer breaks, he suffered severe injuries while fighting Comanches. After graduation, Ross joined the Texas Rangers, and in 1860, led Texas Rangers in the Battle of Pease River, where federal troops recaptured Cynthia Ann Parker, who had been captured by the Comanches as a child in 1836. (Full article...)

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Image 1Richmond, Virginia after the American Civil War
Image 2The print version of Sherman in South Carolina: The burning of McPhersonville at McPhersonville, South Carolina, by William Waud
Image 3Charles Pomeroy Stone
Image 4Battle of Harpers Ferry, by Robert Knox Sneden
Image 5Braxton Bragg
Image 6John F. Reynolds, by Alfred Rudolph Waud
Image 7Harriet Tubman
Image 8Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, by Alfred Waud
Image 9Christopher Raymond Perry Rodgers
Image 10Confederate casualties at Chancellorsville during the American Civil War, by the National Archives and Records Administration
Image 11Battle of Franklin, by Kurz and Allison
Image 12George Armstrong Custer, by George L. Andrews
Image 13Atlanta roundhouse ruin at History of Atlanta, by George Barnard
Image 14Abner Doubleday
Image 15First Battle of Bull Run map
Image 16President Rutherford B. Hayes was the 19th President of the USA
Image 17William H. Seward, United States Secretary of State during the American Civil War
Image 18Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
Image 19Daniel McCallum, by the Brady National Photographic Art Gallery
Image 20Charles Griffin
Image 21Pickett's Charge, by Thure de Thulstrup
Image 22Allan Pinkerton, President Lincoln, and John A. McClernand in 1862 by Alexander Gardner
Image 23The burning of Columbia at Columbia, South Carolina in the American Civil War, by William Waud
Image 24Ambrose Burnside, by Matthew Brady
Image 25Quaker guns, by George Barnard and James F. Gibson
Image 26Siege of Yorktown, by James F. Gibson
Image 27Andersonville survivor
Image 28John Lorimer Worden, by Mathew Brady
Image 29George Atzerodt, by Alexander Gardner
Image 30Robert E. Lee, by Levin Corbin Handy
Image 31William Birney
Image 32David Dixon Porter, by Mathew Brady
Image 33Lithographic facsimile of the Bixby letter, by Huber's Museum
Image 34Ulysses S. Grant, by Thure de Thulstrup
Image 35Military execution of the conspirators in the Abraham Lincoln assassination
Image 36African-American Civil War soldiers
Image 37Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, by Thure de Thulstrup
Image 38Battle of Fort Sanders, by Kurz and Allison
Image 39Abraham Lincoln's private secretary and biographer John Hay
Image 40John A. Dahlgren, by Mathew Brady
Image 41The original sketch of Sherman in South Carolina: The burning of McPhersonville, at and by William Waud
Image 42Andersonville Prison at Andersonville National Historic Site, by John L. Ransom
Image 43Francis B. Spinola, Brigadier General for the Union in the American Civil War, and Congressman from New York
Image 44United States President (and former Brigadier-General) Benjamin Harrison
Image 45Christian Fleetwood
Image 46The Chickahominy – Sumner's Upper Bridge at Peninsula campaign, by William McIlvaine

Did you know...

... that during the American Civil War, Zachariah A. Rice wrote more than 63 letters to his wife, offering insight into the military life of a Confederate cavalry officer?
... that Justus H. Rathbone, founder of the Knights of Pythias, served as a hospital steward during the American Civil War?
... that the Native American Osage Battalion was one of the last Confederate units to surrender during the American Civil War?
... that the Battle of Mine Creek was one of the largest battles between mounted cavalry during the American Civil War?
... that The Minute Man was cast from the metal of ten cannons captured from the Confederate Army during the American Civil War?
... that William S. Hillyer transcribed and delivered Union Army general Ulysses S. Grant's famous words, "No terms except an unconditional and immediate surrender can be accepted"?