Civil War Combat

On April 6, 1862, Confederate forces under General Albert Johnston caught Union forces by surprise near Shiloh Church. The battle culminated in an area along an abandoned wagon road later dubbed "The Hornet's Nest" due to the ferocity of the fighting.

Robert E. Lee's invasion of Maryland's Antietam Creek, which became the site of the bloodiest single day in U.S. military history.

Rebels catch the Union by surprise at Shiloh, but Gen. Grant forces them to flee.

In 1864, General Grant doggedly pursued Lee's forces. Both sides met at Cold Harbor, a crossroads near Richmond, where Grant hurled his men against entrenched breastworks, losing 7,000 in 20 minutes.

In 1861, the first major battle of the Civil War was fought. 35,000 Northerners challenged 20,000 Southerners. By the next day, 5,000 men were dead and Stonewall Jackson earned his legendary nickname.

On December 13, 1862, Union General Ambrose Burnside mounted a massive frontal assault on Confederate troops outside of Fredericksburg, Virginia that became one of the Union Army's worst defeats.