Criteria The Purple Heart may be awarded to any member of the Armed Forces of the United States who, while serving under competent authority in any capacity with one of the Armed Forces, has been wounded, kill... The Purple Heart may be awarded to any member of the Armed Forces of the United States who, while serving under competent authority in any capacity with one of the Armed Forces, has been wounded, killed, or who has died or may die of wounds received in armed combat or as a result of an act of international terrorism. MoreHide
Criteria The Purple Heart may be awarded to any member of the Armed Forces of the United States who, while serving under competent authority in any capacity with one of the Armed Forces, has been wounded, kill... The Purple Heart may be awarded to any member of the Armed Forces of the United States who, while serving under competent authority in any capacity with one of the Armed Forces, has been wounded, killed, or who has died or may die of wounds received in armed combat or as a result of an act of international terrorism. MoreHide
Description Principal Cdrs: MG Hooker [US]; Gen Lee and MG Jackson [CS]; Forces Engaged: US 97,382; CS 57,352; Estimated Casualties: US 14,000; CS 10,000; Considered by many historians to be Lee's greatest victorPrincipal Cdrs: MG Hooker [US]; Gen Lee and MG Jackson [CS]; Forces Engaged: US 97,382; CS 57,352; Estimated Casualties: US 14,000; CS 10,000; Considered by many historians to be Lee's greatest victory.Result(s): Confederate victory ... More
Description
Jackson's Valley Campaign was Confederate Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's famous spring 1862 campaign through the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia during the American Civil War.
Description Other Names:Sharpsburg; Principal Cdrs: MG McClellan [US]; Gen Lee [CS]; Forces Engaged: Armies; Estimated Casualties: US 12,401, or 25%; CS 10,316, or 31%; bloodiest single-day battle in American hisOther Names:Sharpsburg; Principal Cdrs: MG McClellan [US]; Gen Lee [CS]; Forces Engaged: Armies; Estimated Casualties: US 12,401, or 25%; CS 10,316, or 31%; bloodiest single-day battle in American history.Result(s): Inconclusive (Union strategic vict... More
Description
Other Names: Marye's Heights; Principal Cdrs: MG Burnside [US]; Gen Lee [CS]; Forces Engaged: US 100,007; CS 72,497; Estimated Casualties: US 13,353; CS 4,576; Result(s): Confederate victory
Description Principal Commanders: BG McDowell [US]; BG Johnston and BG Beauregard [CS]. Forces Engaged: US 28,450; CS 32,230. Description: This was the first major land battle of the armies in Virginia. Result(sPrincipal Commanders: BG McDowell [US]; BG Johnston and BG Beauregard [CS]. Forces Engaged: US 28,450; CS 32,230. Description: This was the first major land battle of the armies in Virginia. Result(s): Confederate victory ... More
Description Bull Run, 16 - 22 July 1861. Lincoln 's decision to attack resulted in the Bull Run Campaign which the Confederacy identified as the First Manassas Campaign. McDowell left Washington on 16 July with aBull Run, 16 - 22 July 1861. Lincoln 's decision to attack resulted in the Bull Run Campaign which the Confederacy identified as the First Manassas Campaign. McDowell left Washington on 16 July with around 35,000 troops and moved slowly 20 miles west to Centreville, Va. Learning of the movement, Johnston adroitly slipped away from Patterson and shipped 9,000 reinforcements by rail to Beauregard, who deployed his army along a stream north of Manassas known as Bull Run. McDowell attacked on 21 July 1861. The main body of attacking force crossed Bull Run at Sudley Springs and succeeded in rolling back Beauregard 's left flank. But the retreating Confederates rallied on a low ridge behind a brigade led by Brig. Gen. Thomas J. Jackson, who that day earned the name "Stonewall." After two hours of fighting Beauregard staged a counterattack that drove the Federals from the field in retreat. Of the troops in the area, not more then 18,500 Federals and possibly 18,000 Confederates got into the fight. The number of casualties is difficult to determine, but a fair estimate puts the Union loss at 500 killed, 1,000 wounded, and 1,200 missing and the Confederate loss at 400 killed, 1,600 wounded, and 13 missing. The wide variety of uniforms worn by participants in the battle had caused much confusion, which led subsequently to the adoption of a gray uniform for Confederate troops and blue for the Federals.
The North was spurred to greater effort because of the defeat at Bull Run, while the South tended to relax in an atmosphere of overconfidence. Nevertheless, both sides spent the remainder of 1861 in earnestly preparing for a hard war. During this period Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan replaced McDowell as commander of the forces around Washington (the Army of the Potomac); and he became General in Chief late in 1861, when the aging Lt. Gen. Winfield Scott retired from active duty. Another important personnel change came in January 1862 when Lincoln dismissed Simon Cameron and named Edwin McM. Stanton as Secretary of War.
Except for the capture of Fort Hatteras and Clark, N.C., and of Port Royal, S.C. and a battle at Wilson's Creek, Mo., in August, there were no significant military actions during the latter half of 1861.... More