The attack on Fort Sumter marked the official beginning of the American Civil War—a war that lasted four years, cost the lives of more than 620,000 Americans, and freed 3.9 million enslaved people from bondage.

The First Battle of Bull Run (called First Manassas in the South) cost some 3,000 Union casualties, compared with 1,750 for the Confederates. Its outcome sent northerners who had expected a quick, decisive victory reeling, and gave rejoicing southerners a false hope that they themselves could pull off a swift victory.

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Most importantly, Union victory at Antietam provided President Abraham Lincoln the opportunity he had wanted to announce the Emancipation Proclamation, making the Battle of Antietam one of the key turning points of the American Civil War

With nearly 200,000 combatants—the greatest number of any Civil War engagement—Fredericksburg was one of the largest and deadliest battles of the Civil War. It featured the first opposed river crossing in American military history as well as the Civil War's first instance of urban combat.

The 47-day siege gave control of the Mississippi River to the Union, a critical supply line, and was part of the Union's Anaconda Plan to cut off outside trade to the Confederacy

The Emancipation Proclamation was the necessary legislation that gave slaves their opportunity to free life in the United States. It was the culminating act of many arguments and papers by abolitionists. It was an endearing proclamation by President Lincoln to free slaves. The oppression caused by servitude was lifted

The Battle of Gettysburg fought on July 1–3, 1863, was the turning point of the Civil War for one main reason: Robert E. Lee's plan to invade the North and force an immediate end to the war failed

The Battle of Fort Wagner, also known as the Second Battle of Fort Wagner, was fought on July 18, 1863, during the American Civil War. Union troops commanded by Brigadier General Quincy Gillmore unsuccessfully assaulted Confederate defenders of Fort Wagner, on Morris Island, which protected Charleston Harbor.

Despite this important Union victory, the Confederate government and many of its citizens remained committed to the war effort. Sherman intended his March to the Sea to break the will of the Confederate population. Sherman was a believer in total war.

After shaking hands in agreement, Grant offered to send 25,000 rations to feed Lee's troops, who had eaten little for days. Although several more battles were fought, Lee's surrender was the symbolic end of the Civil War.

President Abraham Lincoln's assassination at Washington's Ford's Theatre on Good Friday, April 14, 1865, shocked the nation and the world. For the first time in its history, the country lost a leader to violence. The country saw one of the most high-profile manhunts in American history.

Though the confederates had bombarded Fort Sumter two months earlier, signaling the start of the Civil War, there had been few additional clashes. On June 3, in Philippi, Virginia, Union forces mounted a two-pronged attack on a small group of Confederates

The Battle of Shiloh was a crucial success for the Union Army, led by Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's Army of the Tennessee (named for the river, not the state). It allowed Grant to begin a massive operation in the Mississippi Valley later that year

The Battle of Belmont was fought on November 7, 1861 in Mississippi County, Missouri. It was the first combat test in the American Civil War for Brig. Gen.