Civil War Battles 2025

Confederate forces fired the first shots of the Civil War upon Federal troops at this location at 4:30 a.m. on April 12, 1861.

• Bull Run

• Gettysburg

• Fort Sumter

• Antietam

This battle was an early Confederate victory; many citizens and congressmen brought wine and picnic baskets to watch, expecting a quick and colorful show.

• Shiloh

• Bull Run (Manassas)

• Vicksburg

• Fort Donelson

The Union victory at this fort elated the North and stunned the South, leading to the fall of Clarksville and Nashville.

• Fort Sumter

• Fort Donelson

• Antietam

• Chancellorsville

Nearly 110,000 American troops clashed in a bloody contest that resulted in over 23,000 casualties—more than in all of America's previous wars combined.

• Gettysburg

• Bull Run

• Shiloh

• Vicksburg

This battle ended the Confederate Army’s first invasion of the North and led Lincoln to issue the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation.

• Antietam

• Gettysburg

• Fredericksburg

• Fort Wagner

This was one of the bloodiest battles and marked one of the first urban battles of the war.

• Chancellorsville

• Atlanta

• Fredericksburg

• Petersburg

This decisive event in the Civil War split the South in two and was a crucial Union victory.

• Gettysburg

• Vicksburg

• Bull Run

• Fort Sumter

The bloodiest overall battle of the war and the turning point that ended the South’s hopes of invading the North again.

• Antietam

• Bull Run

• Gettysburg

• Fort Wagner

This is where the Confederate army surrendered, effectively ending the Civil War.

• Appomattox Court House

• Vicksburg

• Petersburg

• Fort Sumter

What made the U.S.S. Monitor vs. C.S.S. Virginia battle significant?

• It was the longest battle of the war

• It introduced ironclad ships and ended the era of wooden navies

• It gave the Union control of New Orleans

• It was fought entirely on land