The Civil War-1861-1865
1863-1864 Timeline
July 1-3, 1863-Gettysburg: Gettysburg was the battle with the largest number of causalities. Union Maj. General George Mead defeated Gen. Robert E. Lee's Confederate forces, virtually ending Lee's invasion of the North. Gettysburg, along with the victory at Vicksburg, is generally considered to be the turning point of the Civil War, in favor of the Union.
July 4, 1863-The Battle of Vicksburg: Union Maj. General Ulysses S. Grants Army of Tennessee, crossed the Mississippi River and drove the Confederate army of Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton into the defensive lines surrounding the city of Vicksburg. The Confederates eventually ran out of food and supplies and surrendered on 4 July 1863. The fall of Port Hudson on July 9th yielded the Mississippi river to the Union, who held the area for the rest of the conflict.
September 19-20, 1863-The Battle of Chickamauga: The battle was the largest defeat of Union forces, in the Western Theater of the Civil War and second only to Gettysburg in the number of casualties. It consisted of Union forces led by Maj. Gen. William Rosecrans and Confederate forces under the command of Gen. Braxton Bragg.
November 23-25, 1863-Battle of Chattanooga: Confederate General Braxton Bragg's army occupied the mountains that ringed the vital railroad center at Chattanooga bombarding the Union forces in the valley below. General Grant was brought in to save the situation and from Nov. 23-25, broke trough the Confederate blockade. The victory, set up General Sherman's Atlanta Campaign.
1864 Timeline
May 5-7, 1864-Battle of the Wilderness: General Grant was promoted to commander of the union armies. His plan was to engage and destroy Lee's forces in Virginia. A three day battle ensued with no clear winner, however Grants decision to continue the fight, gave him the edge in the battle.
May 8-21, 1864-Battle of Spotsylvania: General Grant's second skirmish with Lee, occurred at Spotylvania. Lee was making his second attempt to halt the spring offensive of Union forces under Gen. Grant and Maj. Gen. George Meade. Only a week after the bloody Battle of the Wilderness, it pitted 52,000 Confederates against a Union army of nearly a 100,000. Although Lee, inflicted heavy losses on the Union, the Confederates suffered losses of it's most experienced officers and units, and had to pull reinforcements from other areas. It was another close victory for Grant.
May 31-June 12, 1864-The Battle of Cold Harbor: One of Gen. Grants final battles, was against Lee at Cold Harbor. The Union, lost over 10,000 men in twelve days. It would be Lee's final victory of the war.
Civil War Timeline-1864 (Con't)
Sources/Credits
Excerpts from Wikipedia.org-Civil War Battles
Civil War Battles
Excerpts from, Time Line of the Civil War-1861
Compiled by Joanne Freeman with a special debt to the Encyclopedia of American History by Richard B. Morris.
Library of Congress
Battle of Spottsylvania-1864-
Wikipedia-PD