DK - The American Civil War

n the early months of 1862, the Confederacy faced imminent

defeat. The Union’s naval blockade tightened, enabling the

North to ship the Army of the Potomac to the Virginia Peninsula in

March. The army’s commander, General George B. McClellan, was

slow and over-cautious, but his troop strength gave him a numerical

advantage to take Richmond. Meanwhile, in the Western Theater,

the Union at last found a fighting general in Ulysses S. Grant, whose

victories at Fort Donelson and Shiloh laid open the defenses of

Tennessee. To the south, New Orleans fell to a naval attack in April;

by June most of the Mississippi was in Union hands.

But as spring turned to summer, the Confederates fought back. A

spirited campaign by Jackson in the Shenandoah Valley drew Union

forces away from the drive on Richmond. Then Lee took command

of the Army of Northern Virginia and seized the initiative. He forced

I

Stalemate at sea
Hampton Roads sees the
world’s first engagement
between ironclad warships. In
the duel between USS
Monitor and CSS Virginia on
March 9, 1862, neither ship
inflicts sufficient damage to
defeat her opponent.

Second Bull Run

At the end of August 1862,

Manassas is the site of a major

Union defeat, for the second

time in the war. The victory

of the Army of Northern

Virginia at Second Bull Run

opens the way for Lee’s

Confederate troops to

invade Maryland.

Carnage in Virginia

In a series of battles to the

east of Richmond, Lee

drives the Union Army of

the Potomac back from the

Confederate capital. Known

as the Seven Days Battles,

the campaign puts an end

to the Peninsula Campaign,

although at the cost of over

20,000 killed and wounded.

EASTERN THEATER

Ma

tta

po

ni

Riv

er

James R

iver

Rapp

aha

nn

oc

k (^) R
ive
r
Po
to
ma
c (^) R
ive
r
James (^) R
iver
Sh
en
an
do
ah^ Riv
er
C
h
e
sa
p
e
a
k
e
B
ay
A
T
L
A
N
T
I
C
O
C
E
A
N
A
p
p
a
la
ch
ia
n
M
o
u
n
ta
in
s
NORTH CAROLINA
Cape Charles
Cape Henry
York River
Delaware
Bay
NEW
JERSEY
DELAWARE
MARYLAND
PENNSYLVANIA
VIRGINIA
DISTRICT OF
COLUMBIA
Hampton
Portsmouth
Roanoke
Charlottesville
Petersburg
Harrisonburg
Fredericksburg
Lynchburg
Harpers Ferry
Manassas Centreville
Front Royal
Baltimore
Richmond
Philadelphia
Sharpsburg
WASHINGTON, D.C.
Winchester
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
TERRITORY
CANADA
MEXICO
Union failure
The Battle of Antietam, fought at
Sharpsburg on September 17, is
the costliest single day’s fighting
in the history of the United
States. Union general George
McClellan—here consulting with
Lincoln—fails to prevent Lee’s
Confederates from withdrawing
from Maryland.
CLASH OF ARMIES
States of the Union
Territory gained by the Union
Confederate states
Territory gained by Confederacy
Disputed territory
TERRITORY GAINED BY DECEMBER 1862