Which Battle In Which State? Trivia Quiz

Union and Confederate armies clashed from July 1-3, 1863, near a small town called Gettysburg in Pennsylvania. The fighting actually began before both sides were ready, but the men were at their maximum fighting capability by the second day. Even so, the South was outnumbered by approximately 22,000 men.

General Robert E. Lee made the decision on the third day of fighting to launch the famous Pickett's Charge directly at the Union Army. Over half of General Pickett's men were killed, and Lee called for a retreat. Gettysburg is considered to be the bloodiest battle of the Civil War, with both sides suffering a total of 46,000 casualties and almost 8,000 deaths. The bloodiest single day of fighting had already taken place at Antietam, Maryland, on September 17, 1862. It was in November 1863 when President Abraham Lincoln visited Gettysburg and gave the famous Gettysburg Address, which dedicated the Soldier's National Cemetery there.

There were two battles of Bull Run, which the South called Manassas, during the Civil War. The first, fought on July 21, 1861, is considered to be the first major battle of the war. At this point it is easy to see that people didn't think the war would be that long or even contentious. In fact, many Northerners came out and spread a picnic lunch near the site to watch!

It quickly became apparent that both armies were inexperienced, but with the help from a Confederate spy, Rose Greenhow, Confederates were able to learn information that helped then snag the victory. This was the battle at which Confederate leader, Thomas Jackson, earned the nickname "Stonewall". Both sides suffered terrible casualties, and also learned that the war would not be over as quickly as anticipated.

The Second Battle of Bull Run was more of a real battle and took place on the same spot on August 28-30, 1862. Like the First Battle of Bull Run, it was a Confederate victory.

The first battle of the Civil War took place at Ft. Sumter, South Carolina, on April 12-13, 1861. Ft. Sumter was located on an island near the important trade center, Charleston. South Carolina had already seceded from the Union, when it was occupied by a Union army led by Major Robert Anderson, who found himself in a rather desperate situation shortly after. Low on supplies - especially food - and surrounded by a Confederate army, Anderson still refused to leave the fort.

He ignored the Confederate ultimatum - leave the fort in an hour or else - which led to the South's bombardment of the fort. When he began to run low on ammunition, Anderson surrendered and the South took Ft. Sumter back. Even though neither side suffered any casualties, the battle is important because it marked the beginning of the Civil War.

While the Battle of Atlanta, the main railroad hub in the South, began on July 22, 1864, it was not until September 2 that the Union General Sherman was able to take control of the city. Even though he had few supplies at the conclusion of the siege, Sherman decided to lead his army in a march to the sea to Savannah, one of the South's main ports.

He used the scorched earth approach, living off the land and taking from the people who were unfortunate enough to be in his army's way. Anything of value to the South was annihilated, leaving a long wide path of destruction. Atlanta was taken in time to bolster Lincoln's status in the 1864 presidential election. Many histories believe that the success in taking Atlanta was what helped him win. Savannah was taken in time for Christmas, and Sherman made sure to let President Lincoln know it was his Christmas present from the troops.

The Battle of Mobile Bay involved both the armies and the navies of each side. Fought on August 5, 1864, the Union army first had the task of taking three Confederate forts which defended two main shipping channels that led to the harbor. Once the forts were taken by the Union, the naval battle that ensued was over within a matter of hours.

The Confederates had heavily mined Mobile Bay, making the area extremely dangerous. After Admiral David Farragut's ship had been hit, he famously said, "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead"! By the end of the engagement, the Confederate fleet there only had one remaining ship. The "CSS Tennessee" continued to fight until it had been totally destroyed. Mobile Bay, the last major Confederate port, was occupied by the Union.

The Siege of Vicksburg, located in Mississippi, began on May 18, 1863, and was over by July 4 the same year. Vicksburg was an important port on the Mississippi River, and, at the time, the last one held by the South. Taking the city would enable the North to cut off important Southern supply lines and isolate Confederate states like Texas and Arkansas from the rest of the Confederacy.

Vicksburg wasn't an easy city to take. The Confederate Army and people were heavily defended and dug in. Grant quickly found that storming the city wasn't going to work. Then he decided to simply lay siege to the city, waiting for the people to run out of necessary food and supplies. Disease began to take its toll on the people, and some sources say that in the end they were eating tree bark and rats. The victory gave the Union total control of the Mississippi River, and, along with the victory at Gettysburg, proved to be another important turning point in the war.

The Battle of Shiloh took place on April 6-7, 1862, in Tennessee, which was located in the Western Theater of operations. It was in this arena that Ulysses S. Grant began to make quite a name for himself. He had already led the Union army to victories at Ft. Henry and Ft. Donelson. While waiting for reinforcements on the banks of the Tennessee River at Pittsburg Landing, his army was attacked by a Confederate army.

Although the Confederates were successful on the first day of fighting, by the second day some of Grant's reinforcements began to arrive. This meant that the Southern army was greatly outnumbered, and it eventually retreated. Both sides suffered losses of about 1700 dead in this battle.

A few months after the Battle of Wilson's Creek, the Confederate Army, which included the Missouri State Guard, was near Leetown, in northwest Arkansas. After having been pushed out of Missouri, the Union commander, General Curtis, pursued them, but had to maintain extremely long supply lines in the process.

Even so, the Battle of Pea Ridge, which took place March 7-8, 1862, was a Union victory, allowing the North to regain control of southern Missouri and northern Arkansas. Many of the Missouri Confederates defected after the battle and returned to their homes.

Fighting and skirmishes in the Eastern Theater had been going on for months by the time the Battle of Wilson's Creek was fought, and it is considered to be the first major battle in the Western Theater. After war had been declared, Governor Claiborne Fox Jackson declared that Missouri would remain a neutral state, however, both Union and Confederate sentiments were strong and present there. When Jackson began bringing Confederate arms into St. Louis, it became clear that he hoped Missouri would join the Confederacy.

The Missouri State Guard, a group of Confederate sympathizers led by General Sterling Price, met a Union army led by General Nathanial Lyon near present-day Springfield, Missouri, on August 10, 1861. The battle is considered to be a Confederate victory, even though the Missouri State Guard was too battle weary to pursue Lyon's men as they retreated. Lyon himself was killed during the fighting; he is considered to be the first Union general to be killed in battle. A Confederate victory gave the South control of southwestern Missouri for a time.

Missouri and Kansas had a long history of fighting over the issue of slavery before the Civil War even began. The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 stated that each territory could choose if it wanted to promote slavery; Kansas would eventually enter the Union as a free state in 1861, but, years before that, pro-Union towns like Lawrence, Kansas, were attacked by pro-slavery Border Ruffians from Missouri. The term Bleeding Kansas came into existence.

After war was declared, western Missouri became a hotbed for pro-slavery guerilla fighters, with the most famous being a group called Quantrill's Raiders. They attacked Lawrence on August 21, 1863, killing 150 people in retaliation for Jayhawker attacks on Osceola, Missouri, in 1861. Four days later, Jayhawkers responded by burning homes and farms to the ground in four counties in western Missouri. And the Border War continues to this day - with sports teams, of course!