Troop engagements of the American Civil War, 1865 facts for kids

This is a list of important battles and small fights from the American Civil War in 1865. This was the final year of the war. During this year, the Union army captured the last big Confederate ports. They also took the Confederate capital city. This led to the surrender of the four main Confederate armies.

The Final Year of the War: 1865

Battles in the East

Capture of Fort Fisher, a key port, in 1865

In the eastern part of the war, Union forces made a big move. On January 15, a combined army and navy force captured Fort Fisher. This fort was at the mouth of the Cape Fear River. Major General Alfred Terry and Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter led this attack.

Taking Fort Fisher meant that the port of Wilmington, North Carolina was closed. This stopped Confederate ships from getting supplies. The Confederates still held Wilmington to move their supplies out. They also wanted to stop Terry from helping William Tecumseh Sherman's army. Sherman was marching north through the Carolinas.

After fixing Fort Fisher, Terry's forces got more help. Major General John Schofield arrived with the XXIII Corps. Schofield then took charge of all Union actions in North Carolina. He began moving towards Wilmington in mid-February. Terry's troops moved along one side of the river. Schofield's corps, with help from Porter's gunboats, moved along the other side.

On February 19, the Union captured Fort Anderson. This forced the Confederates to leave their defenses south of Wilmington. After a few more small fights, Union forces entered Wilmington on February 22.

The Fall of Petersburg and Richmond

On April 1 and 2, Union forces attacked the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. These attacks happened near Petersburg, Virginia. Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant led the Union army. They broke through the Confederate defenses. They also cut off the supply lines south of the city.

Because of this, General Robert E. Lee had to leave Petersburg and Richmond. This ended the nine-month-long Siege of Petersburg. Lee first moved west, hoping to go south to North Carolina. He wanted to join other Confederate forces there.

Lee's army had a head start. But he had to wait at Amelia Court House. Confederate units from Richmond were slow crossing the Appomattox River. This delay allowed Union cavalry and infantry to get ahead of Lee. They reached Jettersville first. This forced Lee to march even farther west than he planned.

Over the next few days, the Union army kept pushing Lee's forces. They attacked from the south and west. This made Lee retreat further west. Finally, at Appomattox Court House, Grant surrounded Lee. Lee was forced to surrender on April 9.

Sherman's March and Johnston's Surrender

Bennett Place, where the Confederate Army of Tennessee surrendered

In the Carolinas, Major General William T. Sherman started marching north. He left Savannah, Georgia, in late February. His plan was to meet Grant's armies near Petersburg, Virginia. Sherman's forces pushed the Confederates out of South Carolina. They did this by moving around their sides.

Sherman's army reached North Carolina in early March. It was split into two parts. Henry Warner Slocum and Oliver Otis Howard led these parts. General P. G. T. Beauregard was the Confederate commander in the Carolinas. But Confederate President Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee thought he couldn't handle the situation.

On February 22, General Joseph E. Johnston became the new commander. He took charge of all Confederate forces in North Carolina. This included the Army of Tennessee. Johnston gathered his forces near Smithfield. He hoped to attack and defeat one part of Sherman's army. He wanted to do this before the other part arrived.

Johnston attacked in the Battle of Bentonville on March 19. He hit Slocum's part of the army. But the Confederates could not win before Howard's part arrived that evening. Johnston waited at Bentonville for two more days. Then he retreated back to Smithfield.

Sherman joined Schofield's force at Goldsboro on March 23. He then spent three weeks resting his troops. He also fixed the railroad to Wilmington. During this time, Johnston stayed near Smithfield. He also rested and reorganized his army. He talked with Lee and agreed to combine their forces. They hoped to defeat either Sherman or Grant before the Union armies could join.

Sherman started moving against Johnston on April 10. This forced the Confederates to leave Smithfield. They retreated towards Greensboro. The Union army captured Raleigh, the state capital, on April 13. After hearing about Lee's surrender, Johnston also surrendered. He gave up his army and other Confederate forces. This happened at the Bennett Place, North Carolina on April 26.

Battles in the West

In the western part of the war, Major General James H. Wilson led his cavalry. He went on a raid through Alabama and Georgia. This started on March 22. His goal was to destroy Confederate factories. The Confederate commander there was Lieutenant General Nathan Bedford Forrest. He had spread his cavalry out during the winter. This made it hard for him to gather them against Wilson.

On April 1, Forrest gathered his forces in Selma, Alabama. Wilson attacked and defeated him in the Battle of Selma. Wilson then continued east into Georgia.

Around Mobile, Alabama, the last port held by the Confederates, Major General Edward Canby began attacking. He started siege operations against the forts protecting the city on March 31. He captured Spanish Fort on April 8. Then he took Fort Blakely the next day. The Confederates left Mobile without a fight on April 11.

Taking Mobile freed up more Union troops. They could then help Wilson's cavalry in the north. This, along with news of the Confederate surrenders in Virginia and North Carolina, convinced Richard Taylor to surrender. Taylor was the Confederate commander in Alabama, Mississippi, and East Louisiana. He surrendered to Canby at Citronelle, Alabama, on May 4. Forrest surrendered his cavalry on May 9.

The Last Surrenders

The parlor of the McLean House, where the Army of Northern Virginia surrendered

News traveled slowly back then. So, Confederate forces in the Trans-Mississippi Theater didn't hear about the surrenders in the east for weeks. The very last organized fight of the war happened at Palmito Ranch, Texas. This was on May 13 and 14. The Confederates actually won this battle.

Confederate Lieutenant General Edmund Kirby Smith surrendered his forces. This happened at Shreveport, Louisiana, on June 2. Confederate forces in the Indian Territory surrendered on June 23.

The Confederate ship CSS Shenandoah was far away. It was in the Pacific Ocean in April and May. The crew only heard the war was over on August 2. A British ship told them. The crew feared being treated as pirates if they surrendered to Union forces. So, the ship sailed to Liverpool, United Kingdom. It surrendered to British authorities on November 6.

Important Fights of 1865