CWR - Key Battles of the Civil War Lesson

Key Battles of the Civil War

Union and Confederate forces fought many battles in the Civil War's four years. Land battles were fought mostly in states east of the Mississippi River; sea battles were fought along the Atlantic Coast and in the Gulf of Mexico; and river battles were fought on the Mississippi. The Civil War was incredibly bloody and cost over 600,000 lives. There were various atrocities committed as well, including the deplorable conditions in some prison camps.

A Closer Look - Map of Key Battles

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

View the presentation below to learn more about the atrocities of the Civil War.

View the presentation below by using the arrows at the bottom of the presentation.

Gettysburg Address

In November 1863, Lincoln's Gettysburg Address was another event by which he shaped popular opinion in favor of preserving the Union. The occasion was the dedication of a military cemetery at the Gettysburg battlefield four months after 51,000 people were killed in the battle there. Most of the ceremony was performed by famous orator Edward Everett, who spoke for two hours, as was the manner at that time for an important event. Then Lincoln rose to speak, starting with his famous words "Four score and seven years ago." He spoke for just two minutes in what is now considered one of the greatest speeches in the English language. His address helped raise the spirits of northerners who had grown weary of the war and dismayed by southern victories over the larger Union armies. He convinced the people that the United States was one indivisible nation.

Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address

Abraham Lincoln was reelected president in 1864. When he delivered his second Inaugural Address, Union victory over the Confederacy was certain, and Americans foresaw an end to slavery. Instead of boasting about that victory, Lincoln expressed sorrow that the states had not been able to resolve their differences peacefully. However, he clearly stated that slavery was such an evil that the North was right to have gone to war over the issue. Nevertheless, he urged Americans not to seek revenge on slaveholders and their supporters and military. Instead, he urged reconstruction of the South "with malice toward none; with charity for all." Now at the end of the Civil War, Lincoln formed what would become the popular memory of why the war was necessary. He said it had been fought to preserve the Union as an indivisible nation of citizens who would no longer profit from "wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces"- from taking their earnings from the labor of unpaid slaves. View the presentation below on the Civil War.

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