Confederate forces under the command of General Robert E. Lee and Maj. Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson had 40,000 fewer soldiers fighting at the Battle of Chancellorsville, Virginia than Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker’s Union troops.  Nonetheless, General Lee executed what historian John Murrin has labeled “the riskiest operation of his career” coming out victorious on May 8, 1863 after seven days of fighting.  William Swinton, in his 1882 analysis Campaigns of the Army of the Potomac, credits Hooker with the mistake of taking a defensive stance and leaving his “right flank thrown out ‘in the air,’” and giving Lee the opportunity to attack.  The Civil War Preservation Trust provides an interactive map of the battle, which shows the forces’ movements over the course of May 1st.  Though the Confederacy won the Battle of Chancellorsville, Stonewall Jackson was mortally wounded by his own troops on May 2nd, “the event of the Chancellorsville conflict which caused intense sorrow to the enemy [the Confederate troops],” according to Samuel Bates’ The Battle of Chancellorsville (1882), and “was regarded as entailing the greatest injury to their cause.”  The Virginia Military Institute, where Jackson was a member of the faculty from 1851 until 1861, has an online research center with an extensive Stonewall Jackson exhibit. Their Jackson exhibit includes a photo gallery, a collection of Jackson’s papers available as originals or transcriptions, a Jackson family genealogy, as well as an informational timeline and biography. The Battle of Chancellorsville has also been preserved as part of the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania County Battlefields Memorial by the National Parks Service.  The NPS website includes a wide variety of resources for teachers including “troop position maps” for May 2nd and May 3rd, links to General Lee and Hooker’s official reports, as well as an extensive list of suggested readings on the battle which range from firsthand accounts to children’s books.

The battle of Shiloh took place on April 6-7, 1862 in Hardin County, Tennessee between the Union Army of the Tennessee & the Army of the Ohio and the Army of the Mississippi. After several decisive victories, Union forces had largely driven the Confederates out of Kentucky and central Tennessee. However, Confederates regrouped under General Albert Sidney Johnston and they launched a major offensive on April 6 that caught Union forces by surprise. The first day of fighting left thousands of casualties on both sides, including General Johnston, who was mortally wounded. The following day General Johnston’s second in command, General P. G. T. Beauregard, ordered another attack, but he did not know that General Ulysses S. Grant’s depleted forces had been reinforced overnight by General Don Carlos Buell. Eventually General Beauregard decided to withdraw his forces from the battle. On April 8 General Grant sent General William T. Sherman in pursuit of General Beauregard’s troops.

The National Park Service website has several resources that both students and teachers might find useful, including a detailed map, a historic pamphlet, and a short essay about the battle. Anyone planning a field trip to this site should check out this page, which provides important information on the park’s policy for waiving entrance fees for school groups as well as an overview of the various places to visit. Another interesting resource is an animated battle map from Civilwaranimated.com, which also offers animated maps on other key battles like Gettysburg and Vicksburg. The Official Records also published a number of documents related to this battle, including a report by General John A. McClernand. (A full list of reports related to this engagement starts on page 93 of Series 1 – Volume 10 (Part 1)). Union officers like General McClernand immediately recognized that their victory had been a critical one. “Had our army been captured or destroyed…, the rebellion would have rolled back over Tennessee, Kentucky, and Missouri before another army could have been raised and equipped adequate to retrieve the disaster,” as McClernand noted in his report. As for General Grant, this battle completely changed his perspective on what conditions were necessary for the Union to win the Civil War. Grant explained in his Personal Memoirs (1885-1886) that:

“Up to the battle of Shiloh, I, as well as thousands of other citizens, believed that the rebellion against the government would collapse suddenly and soon if a decisive victory could be gained over any of its armies. Donelson and Henry were such victories. An army of more than twenty one thousand men was captured or destroyed….. But when Confederate armies were collected which not only attempted to hold a line farther south, from Memphis to Chattanooga, Knoxville, and on to the Atlantic , but assumed the offensive and made such a gallant effort to regain what had been lost, then, indeed, I gave up all idea of saving the Union except by complete conquest.”

The Battle of Monocacy on July 9, 1864 in Frederick County, Maryland became known as “The battle that saved Washington” as it gave supporting Union troops more time to fill the area and defend the Capital.  The National Park Service ’s website provides resources including a short summary of the battle and a map that shows the location of the battle as well as a detailed overview regarding the preservation of the site.  The Confederate forces were led by Lieutenant General Jubal A. Early whose memoir provides an interesting account of the battle from the Confederate perspective.  Major General Lew Wallace (who later on became better known as the author of the novel Ben Hur) and the Union forces attempted to arrest Early and the Confederate forces, but were defeated.  General Ulysses S. Grant highlighted the importance of the battle through an excerpt from his memoir:

“If Early had been but one day earlier, he might have entered the Capital before the arrival of the reinforcements I had sent.  Whether the delay caused by the battle [Monocacy] amounted to a day or not, General Wallace, on this occasion, by the defeat of the troops under him, contributed to a greater benefit to the cause than often falls to the lot of a commander of an equal force to render by means of a victory.”

There are several other interesting books which could be valuable to learning about the Battle of Monocacy from both the Union and Confederate perspectives.  Along with Early’s memoir, John H. Worsham’s One of Jackson’s Foot Cavalry: His Experience and What He Saw During the War 1861-1865 provides a valuable first hand narrative of the author’s experience as a Confederate soldier who fought in the Battle of Monocacy.  Also, The Land We Love, Volume II is available in full view on Google Books and contains Confederate General Gordon’s report on the battle which may be worthwhile to look at as it also contains reports and correspondence between other Confederate officials.  Since the Civil War Sites Advisory Commission has made the preservation of the Monocacy National Battlefield  one of its top priorities the park holds over one thousand acres and five walking trails which could provide for an interesting field trip .

“I hope to God that I won’t have to witness the same again,” wrote Vinson Holman after his first combat experience at Pea Ridge, Arkansas.  Though Holman’s regiment, the 9th Iowa, lost 216 men to casualties over the course of the three-day battle as documented by the Official Records, the Union victory on March 8, 1862 helped solidify northern control of neighboring Missouri. The Pea Ridge National Military Park preserves 4,300 acres including the entire battlefield and a newly updated visitor center and park museum, making it accessible for field trips. The National Park Service’s website provides resources for teachers that include excerpts from soldier diaries. Private Henry Dysart of the 3rd Iowa was particularly good at recording the daily life of the army soldier. On March 5, 1862, the day before the battle began, Dysart felt that it was worth noting that “Charles W. Gordon private of Co. C. 9th Missouri was drummed out of service to day in the presence of his brigade to the tune of ‘Pop goes the weasel.’” The National Park website also provides a series of visual resources that document Pea Ridge, Arkansas before, after, and during the 1862 battle through historic photographs and artwork.
The Pea Ridge Military Park has also created a comprehensive website, which would be valuable for teachers exploring the many organizational elements that went into fighting the Civil War. The website includes sections that explain the use of battle flags as well as how nineteenth-century infantry, cavalry, and artillery units were organized based on their weaponry and tactics. Each section includes multiple firsthand accounts such as a William L. Fayel’s description of the temporary hospital erected in the Elkhorn Tavern: “we found the lower floors occupied with the wounded so thick that it was difficult to step between them.”

The battle of Chickamauga took place on September 18-20, 1863 between the Army of Tennessee, under the command of General Braxton Bragg and Lt. General James Longstreet, and the Army of the Cumberland, under the command of Major General William Rosecrans and Major General George H. Thomas. General Bragg’s overall objective was to retake Chattanooga, Tennessee, which was an important rail center for the Confederacy. The battle ended in the Union’s defeat, as Confederates encircled  Chattanooga and forced the Union troops to fall back into the city. General Ulysses Grant, who broke the Confederate’s siege of Chattanooga in November 1863 and pushed their forces back into Georgia, removed General Rosecrans from his command. Teachers can find some resources on the battle at the National Park Service website, including a short essay that provides a broad overview of the campaign as well as historic photographs of the battlefield and monuments. (Most of the images were produced after the war). The NPS also has two pamphlets that some might find helpful: The Campaign for Chattanooga (1932), Chickamauga and Chattanooga Battlefields (1956). The Official Records also published a number of documents related to this battle, including Assistant Secretary of War Charles A. Dana’s reports to Secretary of War Edwin Stanton. Dana observed the engagement first hand and his initial dispatch  reflected his fear that the Union had suffered a major defeat. “Chickamauga is as fatal a name in our history as Bull Run,” as Dana explained late in the afternoon on September 20, 1863. He later admitted that his first report “[had] given too dark a view of our disaster,” but Union forces had suffered heavy losses. Some estimates put the total number of casualties at 34,624 (Union 16,170, CSA 18,454). The large number of casualties on both sides was a subject that Confederate General James Longstreet reflected on in his memoir that was published after the war:

“Official reports show that on both sides the casualties – killed, wounded, and missing – embraced the enormous proportion of thirty three per cent. of the troops actually engaged. On the Union side there were over a score of regiments in which the losses in this single fight exceeded 49.4 per cent., which was the heaviest loss sustained by a German regiment at any time during the Franco-German war. The “charge of the Light Brigade” at Balaklava has been made famous in song and history, yet there were thirty Union regiments that each lost ten per cent. more men at Chickamauga, and many Confederate regiments whose mortality exceeded this.”

The Confederate Army attacked Fort Pillow in Lauderdale County, Tennessee on April 12, 1864 in a fight that later became known as the Fort Pillow Massacre since the lives of few Union soldiers were spared.  The National Park Service’s website gives a valuable overview of the fight and its commanding figures in its battle summaries section as well as a map that outlines the territory covered under the website’s Civil War Sites Advisory Commission Report Update and Resurvey.  There is also a concise overview of African American Participation in the Civil War located on the website.   Led by Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest, Confederate forces attacked Fort Pillow which was protected by 295 white Tennessee troops and 262 United States Colored Troops.  Union Army Major Lionel F. Booth was killed during the battle and command was subsequently taken over by Major William F. Bradford.  The atrocities committed by the Confederates were best described by The Rebellion Record:

“Then followed a scene of cruelty and murder without parallel in civilized warfare, which needed but the tomahawk and scalping- knife to exceed the worst atrocities over committed by savages.  The rebels commenced an indiscriminate slaughter, neither sparing age nor sex, white nor black, civilian or soldier.  The officers and men seemed to vie with each other in the devilish work; men, women, and even children, wherever found, were deliberately shot down, beaten, and hacked with sabres; some of the children not more than ten years old were forced to stand up and face their murderers while being shot; the sick and the wounded were butchered without mercy, the rebels even entering the hospital building and dragging them out to be shot or killing them as they lay there unable to offer the least resistance.”

Some other sources that may be valuable to further research on Fort Pillow and can be accessed through Google Books are The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of Union and Confederate Armies as it gives mention of activity at the fort prior to the attack and A History of the Negro Troops in the War of the Rebellion, 1861-1865: Preceded by a Review of the Military Services of Negroes in Ancient and Modern Times which gives an interesting account of the scene at Fort Pillow through the eyes of an African-American soldier.  In terms of modern scholarship, John Cimprich’s Fort Pillow, a Civil War Massacre and Public  Memory provides valuable maps which could help gain a better understanding of the area surrounding the fort.

In Ulysses S. Grant ’s memoir, fully available on Google Books, the brigadier general recollected that from February 11 to 16 1862, his men battled extreme winter conditions that alternated between “rain and snow, thawing and freezing” in addition to engaging the 21,000 Confederate troops entrenched at Fort Donelson . Historians Jack Hurst and Kendall Gott  both argue that the Union’s capture of Fort Donelson was a crucial victory as it opened the western theater to Northern troops and supplies.  Hurst’s book, Men of Fire: Grant, Forrest, and the Campaign that Decided the Civil War, and Gott’s analysis, Where the South Lost the War: An Analysis of the Fort Henry-Fort Donelson Campaign, February 1862, are both available in limited preview on Google Books. A key resource for teachers and researchers is the National Park Service’s website on Fort Donelson.  The website includes informational tools for creating lesson plans and field trips  to Fort Donelson, and also features the Fort Donelson National Cemetery’s website , which includes a “Roll of Honor” that lists the known Union soldiers that were reinterred in the cemetery. The National Park website also includes a special section that documents the evolution of the role of African Americans at Fort Donelson, which ranged from slave labor to employment by the U.S. Quartermaster, later reinforced by the Second Confiscation Act of July 1862.  Grant famously demanded “an unconditional and immediate surrender”  from the remaining Confederate general, Simon B. Buckner at Fort Donelson, which resulted in 12,000 to 15,000 prisoners of war including Flavel Clingan Barber , Dickinson College Class of 1850.

After Confederates fired on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861, President Abraham Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers to restore order in South Carolina. This action pushed Upper South states like North Carolina and Virginia to secede and join the Confederacy. The National Park Service’s website on Fort Sumter provides a good place to start and learn more about this event. You can find historic images and modern day pictures as well as information about their education exhibit. Teachers will want to look at the curriculum material and teachers guide. In addition, the National Park Service has put together a variety of documents and essays that provide more background information on Fort Sumter. Another interesting site to check out is Tulane University’s “Crisis at Fort Sumter,” which provides a detailed timeline of what happened regarding Fort Sumter between December 1860 and April 1861. The timeline is divided into several different sections, such as “Dilemmas of Compromise” and “Final Orders.” House Divided also has some material on the Fort Sumter major topic page, including historic images and a bibliography. You will also find links to profiles of several of the individuals who were involved, such as Major Robert Anderson and Secretary of State William Henry Seward. Be sure to check out the “Documents” tab for President Abraham Lincoln’s letters to General Winfield Scott on March 9, 1861 and to Major Robert Anderson on May 1, 1861.

The Battle of Antietam was a key battle during the Civil War that took place on September 17, 1862. After the engagement, President Abraham Lincoln issued the preliminary announcement of the emancipation proclamation. The National Park Service website on Antietam has a number of great resources, including historic photographs by Alexander Gardner, Captain James Hope’s paintings, and a gallery of antique postcards. Teachers can find curriculum materials as well – these include lesson plans, a primary sources packet, worksheets, and scavenger hunts. Visitors can also find a nice timeline, and details on the Army of the Potomac and Army of Northern Virginia. Historyanimated.com, a non-profit educational foundation, has a great battle animation of Antietam. Antietam on the Web also provides a number of great resources, including links to all 315 of the commanders’ After-Action Reports published in the Official Records.

The 6th USCT Regiment was composed mainly of Pennsylvania men, and was organized at Camp William Penn between July and September 1863.  In October, the regiment was assigned to the Army of the James and stationed near Yorktown, Pennsylvania.  The regiment was also part of a plan to release Union prisoners from Belle Isle near Richmond, Virginia.  After a grueling march in early February 1864, the Union forces arrived to find the Confederate forces prepared to meet them, and the battle was lost.  Afterwords, the regiment was posted near Petersburg building earthworks which Confederate forces attacked in May, prompting a successful counterattack in June 1864:

• “On the 15th of June, the Sixth, together with the Fourth, Fifth, and Twenty second Colored, attacked the left of the rebel earth works in front of Petersburg, and by a determined charge carried the position, resting at midnight within the enemy’s strong fortifications. Early on the morning of the 16th, the colored soldiers of the Army of the James, hailed for the first time, the battle flags of the Army of the Potomac, a division under General Birney, marching in to their relief. The capture of these strong works by the colored troops, was well calculated to inspire respect among the veterans, now rapidly arriving from the Wilderness campaign, for none knew better than they how to appreciate valor. Until near the close of August the Sixth was kept almost constantly on duty in the trenches in front of Petersburg.”

On September 29, 1984, the 6th USCT Regiment fought in the Battle of Chapin’s Farm, which resulted in disastrous casualties for the regiment (of the 367 men entering the battle, 210 were killed, wounded, or missing by the end).  After this battle, the regiment was sent to North Carolina, where it served until the Confederate surrender in April 1865.

The full summary of the 6th USCT Regiment’s actions during the Civil War as well as the complete muster roll is available through Google Books in volume five of Samuel P. Bates, History of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-5 (1871).