1861  Abraham Lincoln sends a message to Governor Pickens informing him that Fort Sumter will be reprovisioned and that if the effort is resisted the fort will be reinforced

April 6, 1862

Battle of Shiloh begins
The Civil War explodes in the west as the armies of Union General Ulysses S. Grant and Confederate General Albert Sidney Johnston collide at Shiloh, near Pittsburgh Landing in Tennessee. The Battle of Shiloh became one of the bloodiest engagements of the war, and the level of violence shocked North and South alike.

For six months, Yankee troops had been working their way up the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers. Kentucky was firmly in Union hands, and now the Federals controlled much of Tennessee, including the capital at Nashville. Grant scored major victories at Forts Henry and Donelson in February, forcing Johnston to gather the scattered Rebel forces at Corinth in northern Mississippi. Grant brought his army, 42,000 strong, to rendezvous with General Don Carlos Buell and his 20,000 troops. Grant's objective was Corinth, a vital rail center that if captured would give the Union total control of the region. Twenty miles away, Johnston lurked at Corinth with 45,000 soldiers.

Johnston did not wait for Grant and Buell to combine their forces. He advanced on April 3, delayed by rains and muddy roads that also slowed Buell. In the early dawn of April 6, a Yankee patrol found the Confederates poised for battle just a mile from the main Union army. Johnston attacked, driving the surprised bluecoats back near a small church called Shiloh, meaning "place of peace." Throughout the day, the Confederates battered the Union army, driving it back towards Pittsburgh Landing and threatening to trap it against the Tennessee River. Many troops on both sides had no experience in battle. The chances for a complete Confederate victory diminished as troops from Buell's army began arriving, and Grant's command on the battlefield shored up the sagging Union line. In the middle of the afternoon, Johnston rode forward to direct the Confederate attack and was struck in the leg by a bullet. The ball severed an artery, and Johnston quickly bled to death. He became the highest ranking general on either side killed during the war. General Pierre G. T. Beauregard assumed control, and he halted the advance at nightfall. The Union army was driven back two miles, but it did not break.

The arrival of additional troops from Buell's army provided Grant with reinforcements, while the Confederates were worn out from their march. The next day, Grant pushed the Confederates back to Corinth for a major Union victory.

1863:  
Skirmish at Town Creek, Alabama

Skirmishes near Burlington and at Purgitsville, West Virginia

Skirmish at Nixonton, North Carolina

Skirmish near Green Hill, Tennessee


1864:  
Skirmishes at Little Missouri River, Pemiscot Bayou, and Pine Mountain, Arkansas



April 6, 1865

Battle of Sayler's Creek
Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia fights its last major battle as it retreats westward from Richmond. Lee's army tried to hold off the pursuing Yankees of General Ulysses S. Grant's Army of the Potomac. In fierce hand-to-hand fighting around Sayler's Creek, the Yankees captured 1,700 Confederate troops and 300 supply wagons. As Lee watched his men staggering away from the battlefield, he cried, "My God, has the army been dissolved?" Lee surrendered three days later.

Skirmishes at King’s Store and Lanier’s Mill, Alabama

Skirmish near Charlestown, West Virginia


Primary sources:
Official Records of the War of the Rebellion
A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion ; by Frederick Dyer;
The Civil War Day By Day: An Almanac 1861-1865 by E. B. Long with Barbara Long;
National Archives Guide Index