Information & History:
From the first shots fired at Fort Sumter in 1861, to the final clashes on the road to Appomattox in 1864, the Civil War was the most violent and fateful experience in American history. The issue of slavery divided the North and South, Pro-slavery Southerners threatened to secede from the Union if they were denied their rights. During the winter of 1860-1861, the seven lower southern states seceded one by one. Before President Lincoln took office on March 4, 1861, delegates from those seven states had met at Montgomery, Alabama, adopted a constitution for the Confederate States of America, and formed a provisional government with Jefferson Davis as president. As they seceded, the states seized the national arsenals, forts, and other property within their borders. The war became an issue over the secession from the Union with slavery the dividing point.

1501 Fort Sumter, Charleston, SC, On the morning of April 11, 1861, General P.G.T. Beauregard demanded the surrender of the fort. Major Robert Anderson, commander of the fort, refused. The Confederate batteries fired some 4,000 rounds and claimed 600 direct hits. Astonishingly, no one was killed during the exchange. Today, the fort is a national monument asministered by the Park Service.

1502 Stone House, Manassas, VA, The first major battle of the Civil War was fought on July 21, 1861 at Manassas, VA. The North called it the battle of Bull Run. During the heat of the battle, this handsome stone structure with strong walls was used as a hospital - a refuge for both armies.

1503 Dunker Church, Sharpsburg, MD, The bloodiest, single-day battle of the Civil War, began the morning of September 17,1862, at Antietam Creek. Fighting raged back and forth around the West Woods, David Miller's cornfield, and Dunker Church. This simple white-washed church, caught in the middle, was no match for the battle and suffered severe damage. In 1921, fire destroyed what was left of the structure, and in 1962 it was rebuilt and is a familiar landmark on the Antietam battlefield today.

1504 Chatham, Fredericksburg, VA, During the second year of the Civil War, Chatham, a Georgian mansion on Stafford Heights, served as the front line headquarters for various Union generals. Chatham also served as field hospital where Union soldiers were treated by volunteers such as Clara Barton and Walt Whitman.

1505 Shirley House, Vicksburg, VA, was know as the White House to the Union troops and is the only surviving wartime building in the Vicksburg National Military Park today. It served as headquarters for the 45th Illinois Infantry whose members built hundreds of bombproof shelters around it to protect themselves from Confederate artillary fire.

1506 Wills House, Gettysburg, PA, served as a hospital for Union officers, but it is best remembered as the place where President Abraham Lincoln supposedly put the final touches on his famous Gettysburg Address. Casper sits in the room where Lincoln stayed.

1507 Appomattox Manor, City Point, VA, During the ten-month Union siege of Petersburg, VA, General Grant used the lawn of Appomattox Manor as his headquarters. Tents and cabins occupied nearly every available square foot of ground. The manor house was to be General Grant's personal headquarters but instead he chose one of the log cabins on the estate. Lincoln visited Appomattox two weeks before he was assassinated. Today Appomattox Manor is part of the City Point Unit of Petersburg National Battlefield Park.

1508 McLean House, Appomattox, VA, On the afternoon of April 9, 1865, General Robert E. Lee officially surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant in the parlor of the Mclean House at Appomattox, VA. The house was owned by Wilmer McLean, who had moved his family from Manassas to avoid the war only to have the it end in his parlor. This reconstruction of the original house sits inside the Appomattox National Historical Park.

1509 Battle of Shiloh, Pittsburg Landing, TN, (Part of the limited edition boxed set, not sold separately.) The first major battle in the west was one of the fierest battles in history. In two days, April 6 and 7, 1862, nearly 24,000 men were killed, wounded or missing. Veterans called it Bloody Shiloh and the name stuck. The shiloh National Battlefield Park is located on 3,900 acres in Tennessee.

273 Encampment, The common soldier spent most of his time between battles in camps like this one.

274 Burnside Bridge, Antietam Creek, MD, is the best known landmark inside the Antietam National Battlefield. It was a turning point for the battle. Major General Ambrose E. Burnside's Federal corps struggled all day, captured the bridge, and forced the Confederates to the edge of town. A.P. Hill's Confederate division arrived in time to paralyze the drive and end the fighting for the day.

275 Meeting of Lincoln and McClellan, Sharpsburg, MD,. On October 1, 1862, President Lincoln met with General George McClellan and the Army of the Potomac. The President was searching for an aggressive commander to pursue General Robert E. Lee. Lincoln relieved McClellan of command one month after that fateful meeting, but was not until spring of 1864 that the President would find the replacement that would bring an end to the war, General Ulysses S. Grant.



Above information gleaned from
FJ Designs,
Cat's Meow Village