It had been a big battle, and the Confederate forces had won.

Jones relented, he did not order his men to apply the torch -- the drove of livestock was driven up the valley, via Beverly, and across the mountains to feed and serve the Confederate army, while Jones and his raiders turned toward Buckhannon to join forces with Imboden.

On April 12, 1861, Confederate forces fired on Union troops at Fort Sumter, forcing them to surrender, and began the war.

Even though they had the advantage of fighting on the defensive, the Confederate forces had " almost as high a percentage of casualties as the Union forces ".

On April 1, 1865, Grant successfully outflanked Lee's forces in the Battle of Five Forks and nearly encircled Petersburg, and the Confederate government evacuated Richmond.

Early in the Civil War, Confederate President Jefferson Davis decided that the Confederacy would attempt to hold as much of its territory as possible and he distributed its military forces around its borders and coasts.

Johnston, who had little choice in allowing Floyd and Pillow to take charge at Fort Donelson on the basis of seniority after he ordered them to add their forces to the garrison, took the blame and suffered calls for his removal because a full explanation to the press and public would have exposed the weakness of the Confederate position.

Hostilities began on April 12, 1861, when Confederate forces fired on a U. S. military installation at Fort Sumter in South Carolina.

* 1862 – American Civil War: The Battle of Shiloh begins – in Tennessee, forces under Union General Ulysses S. Grant meet Confederate troops led by General Albert Sidney Johnston.

* 1861 – American Civil War: The war begins with Confederate forces firing on Fort Sumter, in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina.

* 1864 – American Civil War: The Fort Pillow massacre: Confederate forces kill most of the African American soldiers that surrendered at Fort Pillow, Tennessee.

* 1862 – American Civil War: Battle of Cedar Mountain – At Cedar Mountain, Virginia, Confederate General Stonewall Jackson narrowly defeats Union forces under General John Pope.

His men fought well in the morning, putting up a stout resistance, but as overwhelming Confederate forces massed against them, their line eventually broke and they retreated back through the town of Gettysburg to the relative safety of Cemetery Hill south of town.

* 1647 – The Irish Confederate Wars and Wars of the Three Kingdoms: Battle of Dungan's Hill – English Parliamentary forces defeat Irish forces.

* 1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Gainesville – Confederate forces defeat Union troops near Gainesville, Florida.

* 1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Globe Tavern – Union forces try to cut a vital Confederate supply-line into Petersburg, Virginia, by attacking the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad.

* 1861 – American Civil War: Fort Sumter surrenders to Confederate forces.

* 1864 – American Civil War: The Battle of Plymouth begins – Confederate forces attack Plymouth, North Carolina.

* 1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Mansfield – Union forces are thwarted by the Confederate army at Mansfield, Louisiana.

* 1865 – American Civil War: Union forces capture Richmond, Virginia, the capital of the Confederate States of America.

* 1861 – American Civil War: Battle of Wilson's Creek – the war enters Missouri when a band of raw Confederate troops defeat Union forces in the southwestern part of the state.

* 1865 – American Civil War: A day after his surrender to Union forces, Confederate General Robert E. Lee addresses his troops for the last time.

Sherman's corps overran the Confederate trenches, and the enemy retreated to the protection of the fort and adjacent rifle-pits.

Thomas sent over 14, 000 men toward a minor hill named Orchard Knob and overran the Confederate defenders.

McCulloch commanded the Confederate right wing at the Battle of Pea Ridge ( or Elkhorn Tavern ), Arkansas, and on March 7, 1862, after much maneuvering his troops overran a key Union artillery battery.

Thomas sent over 14, 000 men toward a minor hill named Orchard Knob and overran the Confederate defenders.

Grant's troops overran the surprised Confederate camp and destroyed it.

The neighboring division, under Williams, entrenched hastily and was able to stop the Confederate advance before it overran the entire army, but it suffered 1, 500 casualties in the process.

Again Reverend Corder saved the bridge when Union soldiers planned to destroy it, after filling its two lanes with hay and straw -- but for what reason is not recorded nor remembered, certainly not because of pressure from an opposing Confederate force.

Under Lincoln's leadership, the Union set up a naval blockade that shut down the South's normal trade, took control of the border slave states at the start of the war, gained control of communications with gunboats on the southern river systems, and tried repeatedly to capture the Confederate capital at Richmond, Virginia.

Virginia declared its secession and was rewarded with the Confederate capital, despite the exposed position of Richmond so close to Union lines.

Once the abolition of slavery in the rebel states became a military objective, as Union armies advanced south, more slaves were liberated until all three million of them in Confederate territory were freed.

His Amnesty Proclamation of December 8, 1863, offered pardons to those who had not held a Confederate civil office, had not mistreated Union prisoners, and would sign an oath of allegiance.

Considered by Confederate President Jefferson Davis to be the finest general officer in the Confederacy before the emergence of Robert E. Lee, he was killed early in the Civil War at the Battle of Shiloh and was the highest-ranking officer, Union or Confederate, killed during the entire war.

As the battle progressed, Zollicoffer was killed, Crittenden was unable to lead the Confederate force since he was probably intoxicated and the Confederates were turned back and routed by a Union bayonet charge, suffering 533 casualties from their force of 4, 000.

On February 6, 1862, Union Navy gunboats quickly reduced the defenses of ill-sited Fort Henry, inflicting 21 casualties on the small remaining Confederate force.

The Gallant Dead: Union & Confederate Generals Killed in the Civil War.

Eleven southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America (" the Confederacy "); the other 25 states supported the federal government (" the Union ").

Considering the relative weight given to causes of the Civil War by contemporary actors, historians such as Chandra Manning argue that both Union and Confederate fighting soldiers believed slavery to be the cause of the Civil War.

* 1863 – American Civil War: The Siege of Vicksburg – ships led by Union Admiral David Dixon Porter move through heavy Confederate artillery fire on approach to Vicksburg, Mississippi.

* 1864 – The Union Navy captures Fort Morgan, Alabama, thus breaking Confederate dominance of all ports on the Gulf of Mexico except Galveston, Texas.

* 1865 – American Civil War: The Siege of Petersburg is broken – Union troops capture the trenches around Petersburg, Virginia, forcing Confederate General Robert E. Lee to retreat.

* 1862 – American Civil War: Battle of Baton Rouge – along the Mississippi River near Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Confederate troops attempt to take the city, but are driven back by fire from Union gunboats.

* 1864 – American Civil War: the Battle of Mobile Bay begins – at Mobile Bay near Mobile, Alabama, Admiral David Farragut leads a Union flotilla through Confederate defenses and seals one of the last major Southern ports.