Paul Jones

American Pageant Chapter 21

1. Robert E. Lee
Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a career United States
Army officer, an engineer, and among the most celebrated generals in American history.
He is best known for commanding the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the
American Civil War.
2. Thomas J. Jackson
Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson was a Confederate general during the
American Civil War, and probably the most well-known Confederate commander after
General Robert E. Lee. His military career includes the Valley Campaign of 1862 and his
service as a corps commander in the Army of Northern Virginia under Robert E. Lee.
Confederate pickets accidentally shot him at the Battle of Chancellorsville on May 2,
1863, which the general survived, albeit with the loss of an arm to amputation. However,
he died of complications of pneumonia eight days later. His death was a severe setback
for the Confederacy, affecting not only its military prospects, but also the morale of its
army and of the general public.
3. George B. McClellan
George Brinton McClellan was a major general during the American Civil War. He
organized the famous Army of the Potomac and served briefly (November 1861 to March
1862) as the general-in-chief of the Union Army. Early in the war, McClellan played an
important role in raising a well-trained and organized army for the Union. Although
McClellan was meticulous in his planning and preparations, these attributes may have
hampered his ability to challenge aggressive opponents in a fast-moving battlefield
environment. He chronically overestimated the strength of enemy units and was reluctant
to apply principles of mass, frequently leaving large portions of his army unengaged at
decisive points.
4. George B. Meade
George Gordon Meade was a career United States Army officer and civil engineer
involved in coastal construction, including several lighthouses. He fought with distinction
in the Seminole War and Mexican-American War. During the American Civil War he
served as a Union general, rising from command of a brigade to the Army of the
Potomac. He is best known for defeating Confederate General Robert E. Lee at the Battle
of Gettysburg in 1863.
5. William T. Sherman
William Tecumseh Sherman was an American soldier, businessman, educator and
author. He served as a General in the Union Army during the American Civil War (1861–
65), for which he received recognition for his outstanding command of military strategy
as well as criticism for the harshness of the "scorched earth" policies that he implemented
in conducting total war against the Confederate States. Military historian Basil Liddell
Hart famously declared that Sherman was "the first modern general".
6. Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant) (April 27, 1822 – July 23, 1885) was
general-in-chief of the Union Army from 1864 to 1869 during the American Civil War
and the 18th President of the United States from 1869 to 1877.
 7. George Pickett
George Edward Pickett was a career United States Army officer who became a
general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. He is best
remembered for his participation in the futile and bloody assault at the Battle of
Gettysburg that bears his name, Pickett's Charge.
8. David G. Farragut
David Glasgow Farragut was a flag officer of the United States Navy during the
American Civil War. He was the first rear admiral, vice admiral, and full admiral of the
Navy. He is remembered in popular culture for his order at the Battle of Mobile Bay,
usually paraphrased: "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!" to U.S. Navy tradition.
9. John Wilkes Booth
John Wilkes Booth was an American stage actor who assassinated President Abraham
Lincoln at Ford's Theatre, in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865. Booth was a member
of the prominent 19th century Booth theatrical family from Maryland and, by the 1860s,
was a popular actor, well known in both the Northern United States and the South. He
was also a Confederate sympathizer vehement in his denunciation of the Lincoln
Administration and outraged by the South's defeat in the American Civil War. He
strongly opposed the abolition of slavery in the United States and Lincoln's proposal to
extend voting rights to recently emancipated slaves.
10. Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson was the 17th President of the United States (1865–1869). Following
the assassination of President Lincoln, Johnson presided over the immediate aftermath of
the American Civil War.
11. First Battle of Bull Run
The First Battle of Bull Run, also known as the First Battle of Manassas (the name
used by Confederate forces and still often used in the Southern United States), was fought
July 21, 1861, near Manassas, Virginia. It was the first major land battle of the American
Civil War.
12. Battle of Antietam
The Battle of Antietam (also known as the Battle of Sharpsburg, particularly in the
South), fought on September 17, 1862, near Sharpsburg, Maryland, and Antietam Creek,
as part of the Maryland Campaign, was the first major battle in the American Civil War
to take place on Northern soil. It was the bloodiest single-day battle in American history,
with about 23,000 casualties.
13. Battle of Fredericksburg
The Battle of Fredericksburg, the principal battle of the Fredericksburg Campaign,
was fought December 11–15, 1862, in and around Fredericksburg, Virginia, between
General Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia and the Union Army of
the Potomac, commanded by Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside. It is remembered as one of
the most one-sided battles of the American Civil War. The Union Army suffered terrible
casualties in futile frontal assaults on December 13 against entrenched Confederate
defenders on the heights behind the city, bringing to an early end their campaign against
the Confederate capital of Richmond.
14. Battle of Chancellorsville
The Battle of Chancellorsville was a major battle of the American Civil War, fought from
April 30 to May 6, 1863, in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, near the village of
Chancellorsville and the area from there to the east at Fredericksburg. The battle pitted
Union Army Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker's Army of the Potomac against an army half its
size, Gen. Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. It is known as Lee's
"perfect battle" because of his risky but successful division of his army in the presence of
a much larger enemy force. Lee's audacity and Hooker's timid performance in combat
combined to result in a significant Union defeat. The Confederate victory was tempered
by the mortal wounding of Lt. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson to friendly fire, a loss
that Lee likened to "losing my right arm."
15. Battle of Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg, fought in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania,
as part of the Gettysburg Campaign, was the battle with the largest number of casualties
in the American Civil War and is often described as the war's turning point. Union Maj.
Gen. George Gordon Meade's Army of the Potomac defeated attacks by Confederate
Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, ending Lee's invasion of the North.
16. Battle of Vicksburg
The Siege of Vicksburg was the final major military action in the Vicksburg
Campaign of the American Civil War. In a series of maneuvers, Union Maj. Gen. Ulysses
S. Grant and his Army of the Tennessee crossed the Mississippi River and drove the
Confederate army of Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton into the defensive lines surrounding the
fortress city of Vicksburg, Mississippi.
17. Gettysburg Address
The Gettysburg Address is a speech by Abraham Lincoln and is one of the most well
known speeches in United States history. It was delivered at the dedication of the
Soldiers' National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on the afternoon of Thursday,
November 19, 1863, during the American Civil War, four and a half months after the
Union armies defeated those of the Confederacy at the decisive Battle of Gettysburg.
18. Emancipation Proclamation
The Emancipation Proclamation consists of two executive orders issued by United
States President Abraham Lincoln during the American Civil War. The first one, issued
September 22, 1862, declared the freedom of all slaves in any state of the Confederate
States of America that did not return to Union control by January 1, 1863. The second
order, issued January 1, 1863, named ten specific states where it would apply. Lincoln
issued the Executive Order by his authority as "Commander in Chief of the Army and
Navy" under Article II, section 2 of the United States Constitution.
19. Ford’s Theater
Ford's Theatre is an historic theatre in Washington, D.C., used for various stage
performances beginning in the 1860s. It is also the site of the assassination of U.S.
President Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1865. After being shot, the fatally wounded
President was carried across the street to the Petersen House, where he died the next
morning.
20. Thirteenth Amendment
The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution officially abolished and
continues to prohibit slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime.
It was adopted on December 6, 1865, and was then declared in a proclamation of
Secretary of State William H. Seward on December 18.