The Battle of Gaines’ Mill took place on June 27, 1862 in Hanover County, Virginia and was the third of the Seven Days’ Battles and its largest engagement. After the battle of Beaver Dam Creek, Union Major General George B. McClellan determined to change his base to the James River in order to protect his Army of the Potomac from what he felt was a much superior Confederate Army. Confederate General Robert E. Lee unleashed a relentless attack against Union Brigadier General Fitz John Porter throughout the day. McClellan driven by fear and indecision was convinced that his Union Army was vastly outnumbered and failed to provide adequate reinforcements for Porter’s V Corps. As the battle raged, the Confederate Army awaited the arrival of Major General Stonewall Jackson to turn the tide in the battle. Jackson arrived later than Lee expected which proved costly for the Confederate soldiers. By the time Lee executed his all out attack on the Union Army with Jackson present, it was 7 P.M. and darkness was approaching.

The final assault from the Confederate Army was successful in finally breaking Porter’s line. McClellan eventually provided reinforcements but only about one tenth of the forces he had at his disposal. The Union troops arrived just as Porter’s soldiers fell back into a retreat. The Confederate Army pushed McClellan’s army into a further retreat, ending the Union General’s hopes for capturing Richmond and gave Lee his first major victory of the campaign. The battle was not won without staggering losses from both sides. Estimated casualties for the Confederates totaled 8,700 while the Federals suffered 6,800. McClellan avoided a major defeat but felt that his Army was vastly inferior to the Confederacy, something that would plague McClellan and the Union Army for the rest of his tenure as general-in-chief of the Union Army. In a telegram sent to Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, McClellan professed:

“I have lost this battle because my force was too small…The Government has not sustained this army….If I save this army now, I tell you plainly that I owe no thanks to you or to any other persons in Washington. You have done your best to sacrifice this army.”

The Civil War Preservation Trust website provides a wealth of information on the battle including images, maps, recommended readings, online resources and scholarly articles. The Official Virginia Civil War Battlefield Guide by John S. Salmon is partially available on Google Books and offers a clear overview of the battle with maps and gives directions and information for visiting the battlefield. One of best reviewed and definitive accounts of the battle is featured in Stephen W. Sears’ To the Gates of Richmond: The Peninsula Campaign. For primary accounts from both sides, consult volume 11 of the Official Records.

The Battle of Petersburg, also known as the Assault on Petersburg, took place from June 15-18, 1864 in the city of Petersburg, Virginia.  Led by Union General Ulysses S. Grant, the Union forces left Cold Harbor and attacked the Confederate forces under the command of General Pierre Beauregard.  General William F. Smith’s failure to take advantage of the low number of Confederate forces initially present allowed General Robert E. Lee to send reinforcements and the Confederates were able to defend Petersburg from capture.  This battle marked the beginning of the siege of Petersburg.  The National Park Service’s website includes an overview on the opening of the fighting as well as short biographies  on the commanding officers for each army.  The website also offers lesson plans, travel trunks, and information for teachers on planning a field trip to the battleground.  The Civil War Preservation Trust’s website  provides a list for recommended reading, historical articles, and quick facts on the Battle of Petersburg.  Beauregard commented  on the mistakes of the Union forces that prevented the capture of Petersburg:

“Strange to say, General Smith contented himself with breaking into our lines, and attempted nothing further that night.  All the more strange was this inaction on his part, since General Hancock, with his strong and well-equipped Second Army Corps, had also been hurried to Petersburg, and was actually there, or in the immediate vicinity of the town, on the evening of the 15th.  He had informed General Smith of the arrival of his command and the readiness of his two divisions- Birney’s and Gibbon’s- to give him whatever assistance he might require.  Petersburg at that hour was clearly at the mercy of the Federal commander, who had all but captured it, and only failed of final success because he could not realize the fact of the unparalleled disparity between the two contending forces.”

Some other resources that may be useful are Armistead Long’s Memoirs of Robert E. Lee: His Military and Personal History and Ulysses S. Grant’s Personal Memoirs which could provide opposing views of the Battle of Petersburg from the Union and Confederate commanding generals.  In terms of modern scholarship, James McPherson’s Battle Cry of Freedom is available as a preview on Google Books and contains a concise summary of the events of the battle.  The Battle of Petersburg could be related to a lesson on black soldiers and their role in the Civil War as the 6th and 43rd United States Colored Troop  Regiments either fought in this particular battle or in the following battles during the siege of Petersburg.  The National Park Service also provides an article on black soldiers at the siege which may be helpful to browse.

Early on the morning of July 1, 1863 Union soldiers met Confederate General Robert E. Lee in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania after his initial invasion into the state. The first of three days of battle centered around Gettysburg and saw a promising start for the Confederate force. Confederates successfully pushed Union soldiers out of the town and left the latter force with one of the only remaining defensive positions in the area – Cemetery Hill – located southeast of Gettysburg. After the fighting ceased around 4:30PM, Union General George G. Meade and other military leaders oversaw the arrival of Union reinforcements and prepared for the next day’s battle. Meanwhile, Lee’s forces began securing their occupation of the town and planning the logistics for the new offensive strategy the general had undertaken.

A broad research engine will yield several thousand resources and images pertaining to the Battle of Gettysburg and its first day of combat. Navigating through these sources only highlights a select few that offer a clear, accurate, and useful resource for lesson plans and scholarly research. Fortunately, the National Archives collection of Civil War photographs includes those taken of casualties in the battle and the House Divided record of the battle offers historical maps of the area. Military dispatches from the first day contained in The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, as provided by Cornell University’s Making of America collection, cover the preceding day through to the last dispatch on the evening of July 1^st. By combining each of these online resources into a short film on the Battle of Gettysburg, the U.S. Army’s website offers educators an easily navigable and short exploration of how the battle began and concluded.

Some historians separate the first day of combat in Gettysburg from the rest of the battle. Educators and scholars can view many of these close explorations in part on Google Books, including Warren W. Hassler, Jr.’s The First Day at Gettysburg: Crisis at the Crossroads (1970) and The First Day at Gettysburg: Essays on Confederate and Union Leadership (Edited by Gary W. Gallagher, 1992). More recent publications do not treat the first day as a separate entity, but they expand the historiography of the battle, as seen in Margaret S. Creighton’s The Colors of Courage: Gettysburg’s Forgotten History (2005) and its focus on immigrants and women affected by the battle. For educators searching for modern scholarship on the battle as a symbol of the Civil War and legend in American history, Thomas A. Desjardin’s These Honored Dead: How the Story of Gettysburg Shaped American Memory (2003) revisits the popular story of the Battle of Gettysburg and the persistent myths one can trace back to the first day of combat.

On November 23-25, 1863 the Battle of Chattanooga took place in Hamilton County, Tennessee.  Beginning in late September, the Confederate forces under the direction of General Braxton Bragg  placed Major General William Rosecrans’s Union forces under siege and cut off its supply line.  In October and November, Union General Ulysses S. Grant and the Union soldiers were able to capture Orchard Knob, Lookout Mountain, and also forced the Confederates off of Missionary Ridge.  The National Park Service’s website provides an overview of the battle as well as information on planning a visit to the battlefield.  The website also offers two pamphlets that may be useful: The Campaign for Chattanooga (1932) and Chickamauga and Chattanooga Battlefields (1956). The battle could be connected to a lesson on Sherman’s March to the Sea in 1864 since Union General William T. Sherman was able to use Chattanooga as the base for his march as a result of the Union victory in 1863.  Grant commented on Chattanooga in his memoirs:

“Sherman had, as already stated, crossed to the north side of the Tennessee River at Brown’s ferry, in full view of the troops on Missionary Ridge until they met their assault.  Bragg knew it was Sherman’s troops that had crossed, and, they being so long out of view, may have supposed that they had gone up the north bank of the Tennessee River to the relief of Knoxville and that Longstreet was therefore in danger.  But the first great blunder, detaching Longstreet, cannot be accounted for in any way I know of.  If he had captured Chattanooga, East Tennessee would have fallen without a struggle.  It would have been a victory for us to have got our army away from Chattanooga safely.  It was a manifold greater victory to drive away the besieging army; a still greater one to defeat that army in his chosen ground and nearly annihilate it.” 

Some other resources that may be helpful to browse are Battles and Leaders of the Civil War which gives a firsthand account of the campaign and battle from General Grant, and Three Days Battle at Chattanooga which provides a copy of the dispatch on the battle from General Meigs to the Secretary of War, Edwin M. Stanton.  The Library of Congress’s website contains a few different letters with transcriptions, including one from General Grant reporting the beginning of the conflict and one reporting its end.  Also, the Civil War Preservation Trust’s website provides historical articles on the battle, including “Chattanooga, Lookout Mountain, and Missionary Ridge Battles” that gives a detailed summary of the actions and consequences for the Union and Confederate forces at each location.

On June 9, 1863, the Battle of Brandy Station, also known as the Battle of Fleetwood Hill, took place in Culpeper County, Virginia.  Early in the morning, Union Major General Alfred Pleasonton and his forces began a surprise attack on the Confederates and General James Ewell Brown Stuart.  Brandy Station was one of the largest cavalry battles and marked the opening of the Gettysburg Campaign.  The National Park Service’s website provides a summary of the battle as well as a list of different stops and descriptions of each for those planning on visiting or taking a field trip.  The Brandy Station Foundation has a website that includes tour dates as well as information for visiting  Brandy Station’s “Graffiti House” which contains messages and signatures of Union and Confederate soldiers.  In his book, War Years with Jeb Stuart, W.W. Blackford commented on the battle:

“At that time their cavalry could not stand before us at all, and it was not until the great battle on this same ground on the 9th of June, 1863, “Fleetwood Fight,” that they offered us any determined resistance.  From that time the difficulty of getting remounts acted disastrously upon the strength of our cavalry arm, not only in diminishing the numbers but impairing the spirit of the men.”

Another resource that may be valuable to look at is Henry McClellan’s book I Road with Jeb Stuart: the Life and Campaigns of Major General J.E.B. Stuart; both McClellan and Blackford’s recollections provide a firsthand perspective of General Stuart from men who fought alongside him in battle.  In terms of modern scholarship, Emory Thomas’s Bold Dragoon: The Life of J.E.B. Stuart, available as a preview on Google Books, gives a concise overview of the battle and a map that depicts Stuart’s movements into Pennsylvania during the Gettysburg Campaign.   Also, Brandy Station 1863: First Step Towards Gettysburg  includes a list of all the Union and Confederate troops present at the battle.

The map of the Shelling of Carlisle compiled by Leigh Oczkowski is a virtual tour of the Confederate shelling that occurred on July 1, 1863. The tour begins with the entrance of Major General Fitzhugh Lee into the town of Carlisle and ends at the burning of the Carlisle Barracks. We have created a resource for those visiting the area and those who want to discover the historical past of Carlisle. Each marker on the map gives a brief explanation of what happened in 1863 and shows the location in town today. Such locations include the Old Courthouse downtown, the First Presbyterian Church, buildings on Dickinson College’s campus and the Carlisle Barracks. The purple line indicates the location of the Cumberland Valley Railroad that ran through Carlisle from 1837-1932.Visitors can use this map to explore  the town of Carlisle and view its sights.

The House Divided Research Engine can provide additional information on Carlisle from the Civil War.  House Divided is beginning to post maps on various Civil War topics which can be found on Google Maps.

Corinth, Mississippi, founded in 1854, became an important site for Union and Confederate troops following the Battle of Shiloh in 1862. Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard of the Confederate army set his troops in Corinth in April 1862 until a much larger force led by Maj. Gen. Henry Halleck followed and began to encroach on the Confederate stronghold. On the evening of May 29, after sustaining Union bombardments, the Confederates set up several convincing tricks to mask their retreat and convey the arrival of reinforcements. They cheered when trains arrived and set up deceiving cannon-like log imitations called “quaker guns”.

The actual Battle of Corinth did not take place until October 3 and October 4, 1862. Confederate forces led by Maj. Gen. Earl Van Dorn sought to return Corinth to Confederate control, for since the siege from five months before Union fortifications had strengthened in the small town. Though some Confederate soldiers did break the Union’s barriers around the city, the approaching Confederates retreated from Corinth as Union forces followed them across Tennessee.

The siege and battle at Corinth illustrate important shifts in the early part of the Civil War. Corinth became a key battlefront in 1862 despite being developed less than a decade prior. The “fighting, occupation, and carnage,” as noted by Timothy B. Smith in his article published by the Mississippi Historical Society,  that occurred in this small town show the true scale of the Civil War. Battles did not always take place on the battlefield. Several recent efforts have been made to recognize Corinth in the Civil War, including several landmarks within Corinth. Corinth’s Crossroads Museum and the National Park Service’s Corinth Interpretive Center commemorate the impact of the Civil War felt in the town. Teachers may find useful other photos of Corinth and the park taken by Michael Noirot as part of a photo contest for Corinth on his blog.

Manning Ferguson Force’s From Fort Henry to Corinth provides a summary of the battle from a nineteenth-century perspective. For more modern scholarship on the siege and battle see the National Park Service’s summaries and lessons of the conflict. Michael Ballard dedicates a chapter in Civil War Mississippi: A Guide to the Battle of Corinth and focuses on mistakes made by Van Dorn as the Confederate force sought to regain control in Corinth.

The Battle of Beaver Dam Creek (also known as the Battle of Mechanicsville) took place on June 26, 1862 in Hanover County, Virginia as a part of the Peninsula Campaign.  During this battle, the second of the Seven Days’ Battles, Confederate General Robert E. Lee and his forces attacked Union Brigadier General Fitz John Porter and sustained high casualties as a result.  Although it was declared a Union victory, the Confederate forces were able to push the Union troops to retreat about thirty miles away from Richmond as they advanced.  The National Park Service’s website provides a concise overview of the Battle of Beaver Dam Creek and comments on the preservation of the battlefield for those looking to take a field trip to the area.  The Civil War Preservation Trust ’s website includes a list of recommended readings as well as historical articles on the Seven Days’ Battles.  The website also has a map that depicts the movement of Union and Confederate troops throughout the course of the fighting.  Confederate General Robert E. Lee commented on the battle in his official reports:

“In expectation of Jackson’s arrival on the enemy’s right the battle was renewed at dawn, and continued with animation for about two hours, during which the passage of the creek was attempted and our troops forced their way to its banks, where their progress was arrested by the nature of the stream.  They maintained their position while preparations were being made to cross at another point nearer the Chickahominy, Before they were completed Jackson crossed Beaver Dam above, and the enemy abandoned his intrenchments and retired rapidly down the river, destroying a great deal of property, but leaving much in his deserted camps.”

Another resource that may be interesting to browse on Google Books is Battles and Leaders of the Civil War which gives a firsthand perspective of the Battle of Beaver Dam Creek and offers a map of the plan of battle.  In terms of modern scholarship, Echoes of Thunder: A Guide to the Seven Days’ Battles is available in limited view on Google Books and provides various official reports from different commanding officers.  For those planning on visiting the battlefield, John S. Salmon’s The Official Virginia Civil War Battlefield Guide may be useful as it includes a summary of the battle, directions to the battlefield, and information on other battle sites in the surrounding areas.

Using free tools from Google Maps, we have launched a dynamic new map of Pennysylvania’s hallowed grounds that attempts to chart the burial locations of black soldiers from Pennsylvania who fought in the Civil War. In particular, this map-in-progress highlights cemeteries that hold the remains of the 100 Voices, or representative figures being memorialized by the 2010 PA Grand Review initiative. For example, three members of the 100 Voices are buried at Midland Cemetery in Steelton, Pennsylvania —Lemuel Butler, Andrew Hill and Charles Henderson. Visitors to the dynamic online map will find photographs and exact GPS coordinates of their headstones (courtesy of Calobe Jackson, Jr.) as well as background information on these men. Each online cemetery marker also includes information such as photographs or videos (where available) of the cemetery and whatever additional background information might be contained within Dickinson College’s House Divided research engine or at the Pennsylvania Grand Review website. This particular Hallowed Grounds map is ongoing project that needs your help. Please feel free to contribute photos, videos, GPS coordinates (obtainable through smart phones or GPU handsets) by sending them to us at hdivided@dickinson.edu. Other Civil War Era-related dynamic maps, such as one concerning the Underground Railroad in Pennsylvania or Frederick Douglass’s childhood in Baltimore, have been posted here.

The Battle of Spotsylvania took place from May 8-21, 1864 in Spotsylvania County, Virginia following the Battle of the Wilderness.  Union General Ulysses S. Grant and his forces attacked Confederate General Robert E. Lee during Grant’s attempt to advance to Richmond.  Although the fighting was fierce the Confederate Army was unable to stop the progress of the Union troops as Grant was able to continue moving towards Richmond on May 21.  The National Park Service’s website provides an overview of the battle as well as links to a virtual tour of the battleground.  Also included is information for visiting the battlefield which may be valuable for teachers looking to plan a field trip to the area.  The Civil War Preservation Trust’s website has historical maps as well as a collection of photographs with different markers and monuments located in the battlegrounds.  Gordon C. Rhea commented on the significance of the battle in his book The Battles for Spotsylvania Courthouse and the Road to Yellow Tavern:

“Grant’s simple message carried the matter-of-fact assurance that the general meant to stay the course.  He was holding true to his clear vision of the road to victory.  The Wilderness had sorely tested his resolve, and after two days of bitter combat he was forced to concede that Lee had maneuvered him to impasse.  But he wisely recognized that the Wilderness was just a tactical reverse, not the end of the campaign.  Grant’s strategic objective of destroying Lee’s army remained unchanged.  His task now was to find another way to bring the wily Virginian to battle on terms more favorable to the Federals.”

Another resource which may be useful is The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies which provides several letters of correspondence between different commanding officers during the Battle of Spotsylvania.  James McPherson’s Battle Cry of Freedom, available in limited view on Google Books, gives another overview of the battle and its participants.   Also, the Library of Congress’s collection of Lincoln Papers provides a few different original letters along with transcriptions regarding the battle including one from General Grant to President Abraham Lincoln that gives Grant’s personal account of the Union Army’s progress.