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The Civil War: 1861–1865
Military Efforts: 1863-1865
U.S. History Textbooks Boundless U.S. History The Civil War: 1861–1865 Military Efforts: 1863-1865
U.S. History Textbooks Boundless U.S. History The Civil War: 1861–1865
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Concept Version 14
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Stalemate in the Eastern Theater

Many of the Civil War's most important and bloodiest battles occurred in the eastern theater between Washington, D.C., and Richmond.

Learning Objective

  • Identify the important battles fought and the states and generals involved in the eastern theater of the Civil War


Key Points

    • Many of the bloodiest days of the Civil War occurred in the eastern theater, including the Battles of Gettysburg and Antietam.
    • The eastern theater of the American Civil War included the states of Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, the District of Columbia, and the coastal fortifications and seaports of North Carolina. The theater was bound by the Appalachian Mountains and the Atlantic Ocean.
    • General Robert E. Lee commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia.
    • The Union Army of the Potomac was led, in turn, by Irvin McDowell, George B. McClellan, John Pope, Ambrose Burnside, Joseph Hooker, George G. Meade, and Ulysses S. Grant.
    • The eastern theater hosted the following important events, in chronological order: the First Battle of Bull Run, the Shenandoah Valley Campaign, the Seven Days Battles and the Peninsula Campaign, the Second Battle of Bull Run, the Battle of Antietam, the Battle of Fredericksburg, the Battle of Chancellorsville, the Battle of Gettysburg, the Overland Campaign, the Shenandoah Valley Campaigns of 1864, and the surrender at Appomattox.

Terms

  • Battle of Gettysburg

    A battle fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. It was the battle with the largest number of casualties in the American Civil War and is often described as the war's turning point.

  • Second Battle of Bull Run

    A battle fought August 28–30, 1862, which was the culmination of Robert E. Lee’s offensive campaign against Union General Alexander Pope’s Army of Virginia while it was isolated from General George McClellan’s Army of the Potomac.

  • Robert E. Lee

    (1807–1870) A career military officer who is best known for having commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War.


Full Text

Background

The eastern theater of the American Civil War included the states of Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, the District of Columbia, and the coastal fortifications and seaports of North Carolina. Operations in the interior of the Carolinas in 1865 are considered part of the western theater, while the other coastal areas along the Atlantic Ocean are included in the lower seaboard theater. The theater was bound by the Appalachian Mountains and the Atlantic Ocean. The eastern theater included the most famous campaigns in the history of the war, if not for their strategic significance, then for their proximity to the large population centers, major newspapers, and capital cities of the opposing parties.

The Second Battle of Bull Run

The Second Battle of Bull Run, fought August 28–30, 1862, was the culmination of Robert E. Lee’s offensive campaign against Union General Alexander Pope’s Army of Virginia while it was isolated from General George McClellan’s Army of the Potomac, which was stationed near Richmond. The battle began with Confederate Major General Stonewall Jackson’s troops capturing a supply depot at Manassas Junction, which threatened Pope’s line of communication with Washington, D.C. Jackson directed attacks against Union forces from the surrounding area, and Lee’s troops broke through light Union resistance at the same time to enter the battlefield. Pope believed Confederate Major General Stonewall Jackson’s corps to be trapped and led the bulk of his army against Jackson’s. Unfortunately, Pope was unaware that Jackson’s troops had actually recently been reinforced on a large scale, and the Union offensive was repulsed with heavy casualties on both sides. The Union army was pushed further back in retreat, allowing Lee an opening to the north into Maryland.

Gettysburg Campaign

In the summer of 1863, Lee's second invasion, the Gettysburg Campaign, reached Pennsylvania, which was farther north than any other major Confederate army had gone previously. The Confederate government agreed to this strategy only reluctantly, because Jefferson Davis was concerned about the fate of Vicksburg, Mississippi, the river fortress being threatened by Ulysses S. Grant's Vicksburg Campaign. The Battle of Gettysburg, fought from July 1 to July 3, is often considered the war's turning point. General George G. Meade defeated Lee in a three-day battle fought by 160,000 soldiers with 51,000 casualties. The battle led to a Confederate retreat, but Union pursuit did not succeed in destroying the Confederate Army. If it had been successful, President Lincoln and others believed the war could have ended.

The Shenandoah Valley was a crucial region for the Confederacy: It was one of the most important agricultural regions in Virginia and was a prime invasion route against the North. The campaign was effectively concluded with a Union victory at the Battle of Cedar Creek on October 19, 1864.

The imaginations of both Northerners and Southerners were captured by the epic struggles between the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, under Robert E. Lee, and the Union Army of the Potomac, under a series of less successful commanders. The bloodiest battle of the war at Gettysburg and the bloodiest single day of the war at Antietam were both fought in this theater. The capitals of Washington, D.C., and Richmond were both attacked or besieged. It has been argued that the western theater was more strategically important in defeating the Confederacy, but it is inconceivable that the civilian populations of both sides could have considered the war to be at an end without the resolution of Lee's surrender at Appomattox Courthouse in 1865.

"President Lincoln on Battle-Field of Antietam."

President Lincoln visiting the Army of the Potomac at the Antietam battlefield, September 1862. Photo by Alexander Gardner.

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