The Battle of Cold Harbor was fought during the American Civil War near Mechanicsville, Virginia, from May 31 to June 12, 1864, with the most significant fighting occurring on June 3. It was one of the final battles of Union Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's Overland Campaign, and is remembered as one of American history's bloodiest, most lopsided battles. Thousands of Union soldiers were killed or wounded in a hopeless frontal assault against the fortified positions of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's army.
The Second Battle of Bull Run or Battle of Second Manassas was fought August 28–30, 1862, in Prince William County, Virginia, as part of the American Civil War. It was the culmination of the Northern Virginia Campaign waged by Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia against Union Maj. Gen. John Pope's Army of Virginia, and a battle of much larger scale and numbers than the First Battle of Bull Run fought on July 21, 1861 on the same ground.
The Battle of Antietam, or Battle of Sharpsburg particularly in the Southern United States, was a battle of the American Civil War fought on September 17, 1862, between Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and Union Gen. George B. McClellan's Army of the Potomac near Sharpsburg, Maryland and Antietam Creek. Part of the Maryland Campaign, it was the first field army–level engagement in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War to take place on Union soil. It remains the bloodiest day in American history, with a combined tally of 22,727 dead, wounded, or missing. Although the Union army suffered heavier casualties than the Confederates, the battle was a major turning point in the Union's favor.
The First Battle of Bull Run, also known as the Battle of First Manassas, was the first major battle of the American Civil War. The battle was fought on July 21, 1861, in Prince William County, Virginia, just north of the city of Manassas and about thirty miles west-southwest of Washington, D.C. The Union's forces were slow in positioning themselves, allowing Confederate reinforcements time to arrive by rail. Each side had about 18,000 poorly trained and poorly led troops. It was a Confederate victory, followed by a disorganized retreat of the Union forces.
The Seven Days Battles were a series of seven battles over seven days from June 25 to July 1, 1862, near Richmond, Virginia, during the American Civil War. Confederate General Robert E. Lee drove the invading Union Army of the Potomac, commanded by Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan, away from Richmond and into a retreat down the Virginia Peninsula. The series of battles is sometimes known erroneously as the Seven Days Campaign, but it was actually the culmination of the Peninsula Campaign, not a separate campaign in its own right.
The Battle of Seven Pines, also known as the Battle of Fair Oaks or Fair Oaks Station, took place on May 31 and June 1, 1862, in Henrico County, Virginia, nearby Sandston, as part of the Peninsula Campaign of the American Civil War. It was the culmination of an offensive up the Virginia Peninsula by Union Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan, in which the Army of the Potomac reached the outskirts of Richmond.
The Battle of Beaver Dam Creek, also known as the Battle of Mechanicsville or Ellerson's Mill, took place on June 26, 1862, in Hanover County, Virginia, was the first major engagement of the Seven Days Battles during the Peninsula Campaign of the American Civil War. It was the start of Confederate General Robert E. Lee's counter-offensive against the Union Army of the Potomac, under Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan, which threatened the Confederate capital of Richmond. Lee attempted to turn the Union right flank, north of the Chickahominy River, with troops under Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson, but Jackson failed to arrive on time. Instead, Maj. Gen. A.P. Hill threw his division, reinforced by one of Maj. Gen. D.H. Hill's brigades, into a series of futile assaults against Brig. Gen. Fitz John Porter's V Corps, which occupied defensive works behind Beaver Dam Creek. Confederate attacks were driven back with heavy casualties. Porter withdrew his corps safely to Gaines Mill, with the exception of Company F of the 8th Pennsylvania Reserve Regiment who did not receive the orders to retreat.
The Battle of Cheat Mountain, also known as the Battle of Cheat Summit Fort, took place from September 12 to 15, 1861, in Pocahontas County and Randolph County, Virginia as part of the Western Virginia Campaign during the American Civil War. It was the first battle of the Civil War in which Robert E. Lee led troops into combat. During the battle, Lee attempted to surround the Union garrison atop Cheat Mountain, but the attack was never launched, due to false information from prisoners and poor communications among the various Confederate commands.
The Battle of Blackburn's Ford took place on July 18, 1861, in the Confederate state of Virginia, as part of the Manassas campaign of the American Civil War. Union general Irvin McDowell's Army of Northeastern Virginia was marching south towards the Confederate capital of Richmond, and encountered the Confederate Army of the Potomac under the command of P. G. T. Beauregard. McDowell sent troops from Daniel Tyler's division to probe the Confederate defenses along Bull Run Creek to locate the Confederate left flank. At Blackburn's Ford, the Union troops attempted to cross but Confederate fire broke up the attack. The repulse at Blackburn's Ford led McDowell to seek to attack the Confederates at a different point along their line, leading to the First Battle of Bull Run three days later.
The Battle of Appomattox Court House, fought in Appomattox County, Virginia, on the morning of April 9, 1865, was one of the last battles of the American Civil War (1861–1865). It was the final engagement of Confederate General in Chief, Robert E. Lee, and his Army of Northern Virginia before they surrendered to the Union Army of the Potomac under the Commanding General of the United States Army, Ulysses S. Grant.
The eastern theater of the American Civil War consisted of the major military and naval operations in the states of Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, the District of Columbia, and the coastal fortifications and seaports of North Carolina.
The 3rd Vermont Infantry Regiment was a three-years infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It served in the eastern theater, predominantly in the VI Corps, Army of the Potomac, from July 1861 to July 1865. It was a member of the Vermont Brigade.
The 1st West Virginia Cavalry Regiment served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Although it started slowly, it became one of the most active and effective of the West Virginia Civil War regiments—and had 14 Medal of Honor recipients, the most for any West Virginia regiment during the war. It was originally called the 1st Virginia Cavalry, not to be confused with the Confederate 1st Virginia Cavalry. Some reports added "Union," "Loyal" or "West" when identifying this regiment. After the Unionist state of West Virginia was officially admitted to the Union in 1863, the regiment became the 1st West Virginia Cavalry Regiment. The National Park Service identifies it as the 1st Regiment, West Virginia Cavalry.
The 22nd Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment in the Union army during the American Civil War. The 22nd Massachusetts was organized by Senator Henry Wilson and was therefore known as "Henry Wilson's Regiment." It was formed in Boston, Massachusetts, and established on September 28, 1861, for a term of three years.
Nathaniel Collins McLean, was a lawyer, farmer, and Union general during the American Civil War. He was appointed colonel of the 75th Ohio Infantry Regiment in 1861 and led the regiment in several battles before commanding a brigade. During the Second Battle of Bull Run, his brigade's determined defense of Chinn Ridge probably saved the Union Army from a disaster. He led a brigade at the Battle of Chancellorsville in 1863, for a month in the Atlanta campaign in 1864, and in the Carolina campaign in 1865. After the war, he returned to his law practice in Cincinnati, moved to Minnesota, and moved again to New York where he died.
The Battle of Marion was a military engagement fought between units of the Union Army and the Confederate Army during the American Civil War near the town of Marion, Virginia. The battle was part of Union Maj. Gen. George Stoneman's attack upon southwest Virginia, aimed at destroying Confederate industrial infrastructure near Saltville and Marion. Union Cavalry and Infantry regiments—some 4,500 soldiers in total—left Tennessee on December 17 for southwestern Virginia.
The Battle of Bentonville was fought in Johnston County, North Carolina, near the village of Bentonville, as part of the Western Theater of the American Civil War. It was the last battle between the armies of Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman and Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston.
William Whann Mackall was a Seminole Wars veteran, Mexican–American War veteran and Confederate States Army brigadier general during the American Civil War. He was a United States Army officer for 24 years before he resigned his commission in order to join the Confederate Army. After the Civil War, he was a farmer in Fairfax County, Virginia.
The 45th New York Infantry Regiment, also known as the 5th German Rifles, was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was composed almost entirely of German immigrants. Formed approximately five months after the start of hostilities, the unit's service spanned almost the entirety of the war, and it saw action in several of the war's noteworthy battles, in both the Eastern and Western Theaters.
The Battle of Garnett's and Golding's Farms took place June 27–28, 1862, in Henrico County, Virginia, as part of the Seven Days Battles of the American Civil War's Peninsula Campaign. While the battle at Gaines's Mill raged north of the Chickahominy River, the forces of Confederate general John B. Magruder conducted a reconnaissance in force that developed into a minor attack against the Union line south of the river at Garnett's Farm. The Confederates attacked again near Golding's Farm on the morning of June 28 but in both cases were easily repulsed. The action at the Garnett and Golding farms accomplished little beyond convincing McClellan that he was being attacked from both sides of the Chickahominy.
