274 



THE CENTURY BOOK OF FACTS. 



mitted suicide. The prisoners were released, 

 and the war terminated. 



American Civil War. This began April 

 13, 1861, with the capture of Fort Sumter, 

 Charleston, by the Confederate forces. The 

 North prepared for the contest with energy, 

 and blockaded the Southern ports. Through- 

 out the war the Confederates chiefly acted up- 

 on the defensive, the Federals or Northern 

 forces, being the attacking party, and possess- 

 ing the advantage of superior forces, money, 

 and war material. The principal generals of 

 the South were Lee, " Stonewall " Jackson, 

 Hood, Albert Sidney Johnston, Longstreet, 

 Bragg, Beauregard, Stuart, Joseph E. Johns- 

 ton ; and of the North, Grant, Sherman, Sher- 

 idan, McClellan, Thomas, Rosecrans, Pope, 

 Butler, Halleck, Baker, Burnside, Fremont, 

 Meade, Banks, and McDowell. In the com- 

 paignof 1861 the advantage was chiefly on the 

 side of the Confederates, who were victorious 

 at Bull Run (Manassas, Va.) and Ball's Bluff, 

 Va. (October 21), but suffered a reverse at 

 Springfield, Mo. (Aug. 10), and lost Fort Hat- 

 teras, N. C., captured by Butler (August 29). 

 During 1862 the Confederates were successful 

 at Bull Run (August 20) and in Virginia 

 (June) at Fredericksburg, Va. (Dec. 10-15), 

 but sustained severe defeats at Mill Springs, 

 Ky. (January 19), Pea Ridge, Ark. (March 

 6-8), Winchester, Va. (March 23), Williams- 

 burgh, Va. Great battles were fought at Shi- 

 loh, Tenn. (April 7), Fair Oaks, Va. (May 

 31, June 1), on the Chickahominy (June 25- 

 July 1) and Antietam Creek, Md. (September 

 17), in none of which either party could claim 

 a victory ; but the battle of Antietam Creek 

 obliged Lee to abandon his invasion of the 

 North. During this year the naval operations 

 of the Federals were generally successful, Ad- 

 miral Farragut running past the forts of the 

 Mississippi and seizing New Orleans (May). 

 The memorable conflict between the ' ' Merri- 

 mac " (Confederate) and the Federal " Moni- 

 tor " resulted (March 9) in the repulse of the 

 former, the " Merrimac" being burned by the 

 Confederates on the capture of their arsenal at 

 Norfolk, Va. (May 11). The war during 1 863 

 was. decidedly in favor of the Federal forces, 

 although the Confederates, under " Stonewall " 

 Jackson, defeated Hooker at Chancellorsville 

 (May 2-4), Jackson subsequently dying from 

 his wounds (May 10), and Lee invaded Mary- 

 land and Pennsylvania. At Gettysburg, Pa. 

 (July 1-3), Lee was defeated, and retreated 

 into Virginia, while at Chattanooga, Tenn. 

 (Nov. 24, 25), the Confederates, under Bragg, 

 sustained a severe repulse. Grant made a suc- 

 cessful campaign in Tennessee, gaining sev- 

 eral battles and capturing Vicksburg, Miss., 



which, after a gallant defense, surrendered 

 (July 4). In August, the siege of Charleston 

 began, and Fort Sumter was destroyed (Au- 

 gust 21, 22), but the city was not taken until 

 i 1865 (February 18). With the appointment 

 of Grant as commander-iii-chief, in the early 

 part of 1864 (March 3), and his vigorous reor- 

 ganization of the army, the power of the North 

 was greatly strengthened. Taking the com- 

 mand of the army of the Potomac, Grant op- 

 posed the Confederates under Lee, while Sher- 

 man operated against Joseph E. Johnston. In 

 the Virginian campaign, after two days' severe 

 fighting (May 3-6) at the Wilderness, the re- 

 sult was indecisive, and Grant's attempt to cut 

 off Lee's army from Richmond was unsuccess- 

 ful. At Atlanta, Ga., Sherman, in three bat- 

 tles (July 20, 22, 28), defeated the Confeder- 

 ates under Hood. In the Shenandoah valley 

 the Federals were victorious in several engage- 

 ments (August), and under Sheridan at Win- 

 chester (September 9), and Cedar Cr^ek (Oc- 

 tober 19). In November General Sherman 

 marched through Georgia to Savannah, which 

 was entered December 21, while at Nashville, 

 | Tenn., the Confederates under Hood were de- 

 feated (December 14-16) by the Federals un- 

 der Thomas. Among the incidents of this 

 year were the sinking (June 19) by the Fed- 

 eral corvette " Kearsarge " of the Confederate 

 steamer " Alabama," commanded by Captain 

 Semmes, which had caused great devastation 

 among the Federal shipping, and the destruc- 

 tion (August 5), by Admiral Farragut, of the 

 Confederate flotilla at Mobile. The war closed 

 in 1865 by the defeat of Lee at Five Forks, 

 Va. (March 31-April 2), by Sheridan, who 

 again defeated Lee at Sailor's Creek (April 6). 

 Lee subsequently surrendered (April 9) his 

 army to Grant, who had occupied Richmond, 

 the capital of the Confederate States (April 2) 

 on its evacuation by the Southern forces. The 

 other Confederate armies soon afterwards sur- 

 rendered. An amnesty, with certain limita- 

 tions, was proclaimed (May 29) by President 

 Andrew Johnson (1865-69), who, as vice- 

 president, succeeded Abraham Lincoln, assas- 

 sinated in Ford's Theater, Washington, by J. 

 Wilkes Booth (April 14), Lincoln having but 

 newly entered on his second term of office. 



Russo-Turkish Wars. Of the many 

 wars between the Muscovite and Mohamme- 

 dan powers, we cite the two latest: (1) The 

 first arose from a demand on the part of Nich- 

 olas, the Czar of Russia, of a protectorate 

 over the Greek Christians in Turkey. The 

 Sultan refused the demand, and appealed to 

 his allies. Russia declared war against Tur- 

 key, November 1, 1853. England and France 

 declared war against Russia, March 27, 28, 





