DK - The American Civil War

y 1864, the war had become a grinding, exhausting struggle,

but once Ulysses S. Grant was elevated to overall command

of the Union’s field armies in March, a coordinated strategy to

defeat the Confederacy was finally at hand. In early May, over a

front extending from Virginia to Georgia, Union armies marched off

nearly in unison to begin the spring campaign. The major effort was

in Virginia, where Grant made his headquarters and came to grips

with Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. For six weeks a series

of terrible but inconclusive battles—the Wilderness, Spotsylvania,

Cold Harbor—raged across the woods and fields north of Richmond.

At the same time, General William T. Sherman grappled with the

Confederacy’s other great army, General Joseph E. Johnston’s Army

of Tennessee. After three months of battle and maneuver, Sherman

had the Rebels backed up against the gates of Atlanta. Though

B

Siege of Petersburg

In June, Grant begins an

assault on Petersburg,

a city that is crucial to

supplying Lee’s troops

and the Confederate

capital, Richmond. The

resulting siege lasts nine

months before Lee

abandons the city.

The Wilderness Campaign

The woods, rivers, and

farms of Northern Virginia

are still the cockpit of the

Eastern Theater, where the

battles of the Wilderness

and Spotsylvania are the

scene of the first titanic

clashes between Ulysses S.

Grant and Robert E. Lee.

Bridging the James River

Unable to lure Lee into open

battle, Grant changes his

tactics. Steathily shifting his

forces away from Cold

Harbor and across the James

River, he now seeks to cut

the Confederate supply lines

to Petersburg and Richmond.

EASTERN THEATER

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NORTH CAROLINA
Cape Charles
Cape Henry
York River
Delaware
Bay
WEST
VIRGINIA
NEW
JERSEY
DELAWARE
MARYLAND
PENNSYLVANIA
VIRGINIA
DISTRICT OF
COLUMBIA
Hampton
Portsmouth
Roanoke
Gettysburg
Charlottesville
Petersburg
Harrisonburg
Fredericksburg
Lynchburg
Harpers Ferry
Centreville
Winchester
Spotsylvania
Cold Harbor
Baltimore
Richmond
Philadelphia
WASHINGTON, D.C.
GRANT, SHERMAN, AND TOTAL WAR
Battle of Cold Harbor
Union forces suffer huge
losses at the Battle of Cold
Harbor in June 1864. The
bloody battle causes a surge
of anti-war sentiment in the
Northern states.
States of the Union
Territory gained by the Union
Confederate states
Territory gained by the Confederacy
Disputed territory
TERRITORY GAINED BY DECEMBER 1864
R o c k y M o u n t a i
n
s
(^) Sn
ake River
(^) Col
orado River
P A C I F I C O C E A N
San Francisco
Santa Fe
Sacramento
Portland
Virginia
City
Salt Lake City
CALIFORNIA
OREGON
COLORADO
TERRITORY
WASHINGTON
TERRITORY
UTAH
TERRITORY
NEW MEXICO
TERRITORY
NEVADA
IDAHO
TERRITORY
ARIZONA
TERRITORY
MONTANA
TERRITORY
CANADA
MEXICO