On April 6, 1862, the Confederate force's surprise attack against the Union in Shiloh, Tenn., results in some of the most brutal fighting of the Civil War.

Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's counter-attack at Shiloh, Tenn., leads to victory; thousands of escaping slaves seek refuge with Union forces advancing into the South; President Abraham Lincoln begins drafting a proclamation addressing slavery and freedom.

The Emancipation Proclamation ends slavery and gives blacks the freedom to fight; on July 4, 1863, the day after Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg, the Confederates surrender Vicksburg, Miss., to Gen. Grant.

The Confederate Army of Northern Virginia succeeds at splitting the Union Army in two during the Battle of Chickamauga; Gen. William Rosecrans is replaced by Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, who plans an offensive.

The Confederate Army falls to a defensive position in Atlanta; President Abraham Lincoln defeats challenger George McClellan; Sherman's March to the Sea.