HISTORY V111
Section 001
Dr. Powers
Fall, 1997
GUIDE to the MAJOR CAMPAIGNS of the CIVIL WAR
FIRST MANASSAS (Summer, 1861)
INITIATOR: Union
OBJECTIVE(S): Capture Richmond and end the war
COMMANDERS: Irwin McDowell (U)
Pierre G.T. Beauregard; Joseph E. Johnston (C)
MAJOR BATTLE(S): First Manassas (First Bull Run) (July 21)
OUTCOME: Union army retreats to Washington. Offensive fails.
GRANT IN TENNESSEE (Winter/Spring, 1862)
INITIATOR: Union
OBJECTIVE(S): Eliminate Confederate resistance to Union authority in Western Kentucky and Tennessee and beyond!
COMMANDERS: Ulysses S. Grant; Don Carlos Buell (U)
Albert S. Johnston; John B. Floyd (C)
MAJOR BATTLE(S):Fort Henry (February 6)
Fort Donelson (February 15-16)
Shiloh (April 6-7)
OUTCOME: Central and Western Kentucky and Tennessee cleared of Confederate resistance. Grant rises to prominence. Johnston killed.
THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER (Spring, 1862)
INITIATOR: Union
OBJECTIVE(S): Clear the Mississippi River of Confederate obstruction and open it to Union use
COMMANDERS: John Pope; David G. Faragut; Charles Davis (U)
James E. Montgomery; M. Jeff Thompson (C)
MAJOR BATTLE(S):Island # 10 (April 7)
New Orleans (April 18-28)
Memphis (June 6)
OUTCOME: New Orleans and Memphis occupied by Union. Mississippi River's Northern and Southern sections cleared. Vicksburg remains in Confederate hands, impeding free Union transit of the Mississippi.
THE PENINSULA (Spring/Summer, 1862)
INITIATOR: Union
OBJECTIVE(S): Capture Richmond and end the war
COMMANDERS: George B. McClellan (U)
Joseph E. Johnston; Robert E. Lee (C)
MAJOR BATTLE(S):Yorktown (April 4 - May 4)
Williamsburg (May 5)
Seven Pines (Fair Oaks) (May 31-June 1)
Seven Days Battles (June 25 - July 1)
Mechanicsville/Ellison's Mill (June 26)
Gaines' Mill/Boatswain's Swamp (June 27)
Savage Station (June 29)
Glendale/White Oak Swamp/Frazier's Farm (June 30)
Malvern Hill (July 1)
OUTCOME: Union repulsed by Lee's counterattack in Seven Days Battles. Union forces withdraw from the Peninsula. Richmond not captured. Johnston seriously wounded; Lee takes command of the Army of Northern Virginia.
THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY CAMPAIGN (I) (Spring, 1862)
INITIATOR: Confederate
OBJECTIVE(S): Prevent reinforcement of McClellan's army before Richmond by Union troops from Northern Virginia
COMMANDERS: John C. Fremont; Nathaniel Banks;
James Shields (U)
Thomas J. ("Stonewall") Jackson (C)
MAJOR BATTLE(S):Kernstown (March 23)
McDowell (May 8)
Front Royal (May 23)
Winchester (May 25)
Cross Keys (June 8)
Port Republic (June 9)
OUTCOME: Union troops diverted from McClellan to cope with Jackson. Jackson moves to Richmond to take part in the Seven Days Battles.
SECOND MANASSAS (Summer, 1862)
INITIATOR: Confederate
OBJECTIVE(S): Destroy threat to Virginia from John Pope's Army of Virginia before McClellan's forces evacuated from the Peninsula can join them.
COMMANDERS: Robert E. Lee; Thomas J. Jackson (C)
John Pope (U)
MAJOR BATTLE(S):Cedar Mountain (August 9)
Second Manasssas (Second Bull Run) (August 28-30)
OUTCOME: Union Army of Virginia destroyed as an effective fighting force. Union threat to Virginia neutralized for the time being. Pope removed from command, and all forces in the area consolidated once more under McClellan. Sets the stage for the Antietam Campaign.
ANTIETAM (September, 1862)
INITIATOR: Confederate
OBJECTIVE(S): Occupy Western Maryland, induce and support pro-secession sentiment in Maryland, threaten Washington from the rear, bring the Union army into open combat and destroy it, thereby winning the war.
COMMANDERS: Robert E. Lee (C)
George B. McClellan (U)
MAJOR BATTLE(S):South Mountain (September 14)
Harpers Ferry (September 15)
Antietam (Sharpsburg) (September 17)
OUTCOME: Confederates retreat to Virginia. Maryland remains under Union control and does not secede, Washington is saved, Union army remains strong and intact. Foreign recognition of the Confederacy is averted. Provides the occasion for issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation.
PERRYVILLE (Fall, 1862)
INITIATOR: Confederate
OBJECTIVE(S): Establish Confederate military control over Kentucky, and secure Kentucky's effective secession from the Union and accession to the Confederacy. Secure Confederate control of eastern Tennessee. Draw Union forces out of Tennessee. Threaten Ohio, preventing shifting of Union troops to the Eastern theater
COMMANDERS: Braxton Bragg; Leonidas Polk; Edmund Kirby Smith (C)
Don Carlos Buell (U)
MAJOR BATTLE(S):Richmond (August 30)
Perryville (Doctor's Creek) (Oct. 8)
OUTCOME: Union forces temporarily drawn from middle Tennessee. Confederate incursion repulsed. Confederate troops retreat back to Tennessee, with Union forces following. Kentucky remains in Union control.
CORINTH (Fall, 1862)
INITIATOR: Confederate
OBJECTIVE(S): Clear northern Mississippi of Union forces, control the railroad junction at Corinth, prevent reinforcement of Buell in Kentucky by troops from Mississippi, invade Western Tennessee
COMMANDERS: Earl van Dorn; Sterling Price (C)
Ulysses S. Grant; William S. Rosecrans; Edward O.C. Ord (U)
MAJOR BATTLE(S): Iuka (September 19)
Corinth (October 3)
OUTCOME: Confederate objectives completely frustrated. Union retains control of northern Mississippi, reinforcements are sent to Buell.
TENNESSEE (Fall 1862 - Fall 1863)
INITIATOR: Union
OBJECTIVE(S): Clear Confederate Forces from central and eastern Tennessee
COMMANDERS: William S. Rosecrans; Ambrose E. Burnside (U)
Braxton Bragg; James A. Longstreet (C)
MAJOR BATTLE(S):Stones River (Murfreesboro) (Dec. 31, 1862 - Jan. 1, 1863)
Knoxville (September 3, 1863)
Chickamauga (September 18-20)
OUTCOME: Most of Tennessee cleared of Confederate forces, but the Union army is confined and beseiged in Chattanooga.
FREDERICKSBURG (December, 1862)
INITIATOR: Union
OBJECTIVE(S): Capture Richmond and end the war
COMMANDERS: Ambrose E. Burnside (U)
Robert E. Lee (C)
MAJOR BATTLE(S): Fredericksburg (December 13)
OUTCOME: Complete repulse of Union advance. Both armies face each other across the Rappahannock River at Fredericksburg.
VICKSBURG (Fall, 1862 - Summer, 1863)
INITIATOR: Union
OBJECTIVE(S): Capture Vicksburg, cut the Confederacy in two along the Mississippi River, open the Mississippi to Union traffic.
COMMANDERS: Ulysses S. Grant; William T. Sherman; David D. Porter; Nathaniel Banks; David G. Farragut (U)
John Pemberton; Joseph E. Johnston (C)
MAJOR BATTLE(S):Chickasaw Bluffs (December 29)
Port Gibson (May 1)
Jackson (May 14)
Champion's Hill (May 16)
Big Black River (May 17)
Vicksburg (May 19-22)
Seige of Vicksburg (May 23-July 4)
Seige of Port Hudson (May 23 - July 8)
OUTCOME: The Mississippi River is cleared of Confederate control; contact between the Trans-Mississippi region and the rest of the Confederacy is effectively severed; Union transit of the entire Mississippi is secured; Pemberton's entire army surrenders.
CHANCELLORSVILLE (May, 1863)
INITIATOR: Union
OBJECTIVE(S): Destroy the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, capture Richmond, and end the war.
COMMANDERS: Joseph Hooker; John Sedgewick (U)
Robert E. Lee; Thomas J. Jackson;
Jubal Early; Richard Anderson; Lafayette McLaws (C)
MAJOR BATTLE(S):Chancellorsville (May 1 - 3)
Second Fredericksburg (May 3)
Salem Church (May 3)
OUTCOME: Union incursion is repulsed, and the Union army withdraws to the North of the Rappahannock River. Jackson is killed.
GETTYSBURG (Summer, 1863)
INITIATOR: Confederate
OBJECTIVE(S): Carry the war into the North, threaten Washington, maneuver the Union army into the open and destroy it.
COMMANDERS: Robert E. Lee (C)
George G. Meade (U)
MAJOR BATTLE(S):Gettysburg (July 1-3)
OUTCOME: Confederate incusion is repulsed, with heavy losses to the Confederates. Confederate army retreats back into Virginia. Potential foreign recognition of the Confederacy is deterred.
CHATTANOOGA (Fall, 1863)
INITIATOR: Union
OBJECTIVE(S): Break the seige of Chattanooga
COMMANDERS: Ulysses S. Grant; Ambrose E Burnside (U)
Braxton Bragg; James A. Longstreet (C)
MAJOR BATTLE(S):Brown's Ferry (October 28)
Lookout Mountain (November 24)
Missionary Ridge (November 25)
Second Knoxville (November 29)
OUTCOME: Seige of Chattanooga is broken. Knoxville is defended from Confederate attack. Confederate army retreats into North Georgia.
WILDERNESS (Spring, 1964)
INITIATOR: Union
OBJECTIVE(S): Destroy the Confederate army
COMMANDERS: Ulysses S. Grant; George G. Meade (U)
Robert E. Lee (C)
MAJOR BATTLE(S):Wilderness (May 5-6)
Spotsylvania (May 8-12)
Cold Harbor (June 1-3)
Petersburg (June 15-18)
OUTCOME: Confederate army beseiged around Richmond and Petersburg. Union control established through most of northern, central, and eastern Virginia.
THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY CAMPAIGN II (Spring-Fall, 1864)
INITIATOR: Confederate
OBJECTIVE(S): Clear the Valley of Virginia of Federal Forces, relieve pressure on Petersburg by threatening Washington DC.
COMMANDERS: Jubal A. Early (C)
David Hunter, Lew Wallace, George Crook, Philip Sheridan (U)
MAJOR BATTLE(S):Monocacy (July 9)
Demonstration at Washington (July 11-12)
Kernstown (July 23)
Second Winchester (July 24)
Burning of Chambersburg (July 30)
Third Winchester (Opequon Creek (Sept. 19)
Fisher's Hill (Sept. 22)
Cedar Creek (Oct. 19)
OUTCOME: Early drives Hunter out of the Valley and secures it. Confederate forces raid Maryland and Southern Pennsylvania and threaten Washington itself, but retreat in the face of Union reinforcements. Sheridan's counteroffensive effectively eliminates a Confederate presence in the Valley and devastates the region.
NORTH GEORGIA/ATLANTA (May - September, 1864)
INITIATOR: Union
OBJECTIVE(S): Destroy the Confederate Army of Tennessee and capture the railroad junction at Atlanta.
COMMANDERS: William T. Sherman, James B. McPherson, George Thomas, John Schofield (U)
Joseph E. Johnston, John Bell Hood, William J. Hardee (C)
MAJOR BATTLE(S):Dalton (May 9)
Resaca (May 14-15)
Cassville (May 19)
New Hope Church (May 25-28)
Kennesaw Mountain (June 27)
Peachtree Creek (July 20)
Atlanta (July 22)
Ezra Church (July 28)
Jonesboro (August 31)
OUTCOME: Union captures Atlanta. Confederate army is not destroyed, but severely diminished.
SHERMAN'S MARCH (November, 1864 - April, 1865)
INITIATOR: Union
OBJECTIVE(S): Capture Savannah, free Union army of severe dependence upon an extended line of communications, "Make Georgia howl!"
COMMANDERS: William T. Sherman (U)
William J. Hardee (C)
MAJOR BATTLE(S):none of significance
OUTCOME: Savannah captured, army thrives, Georgia howls!
HOOD IN TENNESSEE (November-December, 1864)
INITIATOR: Confederate
OBJECTIVE(S): Draw Union army from Atlanta, take the war into Tennessee, disrupt Union control in Tennessee and Kentucky.
COMMANDERS: John Bell Hood, Nathan B. Forrest (C)
George Thomas, John M. Schofield, James Wilson (U)
MAJOR BATTLE(S):Columbia (November 26)
Spring Hill (November 29)
Franklin (November 30)
Nashville (December 15-16)
OUTCOME: Confederate Army of Tennessee effectively destroyed. Union retains control of North Georgia, Tennessee, and Kentucky.
PETERSBURG/RICHMOND SEIGE (June, 1864 - April, 1865)
INITIATOR: Union
OBJECTIVE(S): Capture Richmond and Petersburg and destroy the Confederate army.
COMMANDERS: Ulysses S. Grant; George G. Meade (U)
Robert E. Lee (C)
MAJOR BATTLE(S):The Crater (July 30)
Fort Harrison (September 29)
Peebles Farm (September 29 - October 1)
Fort Steadman (March 25)
Five Forks (April 1)
OUTCOME: Confederate army is depleted by seige, then forced out of the Richmond-Petersburg lines and into the open. Union captures Richmond and Petersburg.
THE ROAD TO APPOMATTOX (April, 1865)
INITIATOR: Union
OBJECTIVE(S): Destroy the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia
COMMANDERS: U.S. Grant, Philip Sheridan
Robert E. Lee, Richard S. Ewell, Richard Anderson (C)
MAJOR BATTLE(S):Saylers Creek (April 6)
Cumberland Church (High Bridge) (April 7)
Appomattox (April 9)
OUTCOME: The Confederate Army of Northern Virginia surrenders.