The Civil War (1861-1865) was the last war waged within the boundaries of the United States. It was fought over ideas that were strong enough to split this country apart--namely the right of states to secede from the Union, and the right to keep slaves. Eleven states seceded from the Union to form the Confederate States of America: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia. By the time the war was over, more than 558,000 had died and another 412,000 were wounded.

Both the National Park Service and the park services of many states have preserved the battlefields, forts, cemeteries and other historic sites that played a part in the Civil War. They serve as a lasting reminder of what our country went through to preserve its unity and to ensure freedom for all of its citizens.

The Battle of Mobile Bay (August 2–23, 1864) was a major naval engagement of the American Civil War. Admiral Farragut was determined to take Mobile from the Confederates, but this proved difficult as two forts, Fort Morgan and Fort Gaines, both had to be taken. The Port was eventually closed but the city remained uncaptured until April of 1865. Both Fort Morgan and Fort Gaines can be visited and are administered by the State of Alabama.

The Battle of Pea Ridge (March 7-8, 1862), was the only major engagement of the American Civil War fought in Arkansas. Union soldiers defeated Confederate troops who were aided by 1000 Cherokee. This was the only time Native Americans served in an important Civil War battle. The park includes the battlefield, a reconstructed tavern that was part of the battle, and a segment of the Trial of Tears. The park is administered by the National Park Service.

Fort DeSoto resides on a tiny island near the mouth of Tampa Bay. It was once inhabited by Tocobaga Indians and visited by Spanish explorers. It was surveyed by Robert E. Lee before the Civil War and during the War, Union troops had a detachment there to look for blockade runners. The Fort is administered by Pinellas County.

Located near Andersonville, Georgia, the prison was used to confine captured Union soldiers. Nearly 50,000 prisoners were detained at Andersonville in 1864 and 1865. More than 13,700 prisoners died in confinement. Exposure to the elements—together with inadequate food, impure water, congestion, and filth—led to epidemics of scurvy and dysentery. In 1865 the superintendent of the prison, Major Henry Wirz, was tried by a United States military court, convicted of murder, and hanged. The prison is now administered by the State of Georgia, and can be visited, and the park is administered by the National Park Service.

Fort Pulaski National Monument, located in southeastern Georgia, near Savannah, occupies Cockspur and McQueen islands at the mouth of the Savannah River. It is an enclosed brickwork fortification built between 1829 and 1847 and named in honor of the Polish count Casimir Pulaski, a hero of the American Revolution. The fort has walls 7 to 11 feet thick and 32 feet high and is surrounded by a drawbridge-spanned moat. Seized and garrisoned by Confederate forces at the outbreak of the War in 1861, the fort was bombarded by a Union force for 29 hours on April 10-11, 1862. The fort was extensively damaged and taken by Union forces. Rifled cannon, used for the first time in combat, demonstrated the ineffectiveness of brick and masonry forts against the new weapon. The fort is administered by the National Park Service.

The 2884 acres of Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park preserves a Civil War battleground of the Atlanta Campaign. General Sherman launched a full-scale assault on the Confederates who were entrenched at Kennesaw Mountain. After a fierce battle that saw almost 4000 casualties, the Federals were unable to break through the Confederate line and retreated. The park is administered by the National Park Service.

Fort DeRussy, an earthen fortification with a partly iron-plated battery was designed to resist the fire of Union ironclads that might come up the Red River to attack it. The Union forces set out on March 12, 1864, up the Red River in their quest to take Shreveport. Upon arriving at the fort, the Confederate garrison of 350 men opened fire on the Union forces but later that day, the Union forces scaled the parapet, causing the Confederates to surrender. Fort DeRussy, which some said was impregnable, had fallen and the Red River was open. The site is administered by the National Park Service.

The siege of Port Hudson took place from May 21 to July 9 of 1863. The Union Army moved against the Confederate stronghold at Port Hudson on the Mississippi River. On May 27, after their frontal assaults were repulsed, the Federals settled into a siege that lasted for 48 days. On July 9, 1863, after hearing of the fall of Vicksburg, the Confederate garrison at Port Hudson surrounded, opening the Mississippi River to Union navigation from its source to New Orleans. The site is administered by the Louisiana State Park Service.

Brice’s Cross Roads National Battlefield Site is located in northeastern Mississippi and commemorates the Civil War battle that occurred there on June 10, 1864. The Union Army sought to protect its supply lines to General William T. Sherman in Georgia. Despite a defeat by Confederate troops, the Union Army kept the supply route open. It is administered by the National Park Service.

Tupelo National Battlefield is located in Tupelo, Mississippi, and commemorates the Battle of Tupelo, which took place on July 13-14, 1864. The Confederate Army attempted to cut the Union Army’s access to railroad supply lines necessary for its march on Atlanta. The Union Army defeated the Confederates but eventually retreated. A granite marker in Tupelo commemorates the battle and its soldiers and the site is administered by the National Park Service.

Vicksburg National Military Park, located in Vicksburg, Mississippi, commemorates the American Civil War battles of the Campaign of Vicksburg which took place May 18-July 4, 1863, and were fought for control of the Mississippi River. Confederate forces held off the Union Army for 47 days before surrendering on July 4, 1863. The site is administered by the National Park Service and includes a 16-mile tour of the battle lines, reconstructed forts and trenches, cannons, a restored gunboat, and more than 1300 monuments and markers.

Fort Macon is a casemated masonry fort located 35 miles southeast of New Berne, NC. It protected the channel to Beufort, and during the siege of March 23 to April 26, 1862, the Union force fired on the fort until it finally started to collapse. On April 26, the Confederates hoisted a white flag of surrender. This siege demonstrated the inadequacy of masonry forts against large-bore, rifled artillery. The Fort is administered by the State of North Carolina.

The first engagement of the Civil War took place at Fort Sumter on April 12-13, 1861. After 34 hours of fighting, the Union forces surrendered the fort to the Confederates. From 1863 to 1865, the Confederates at Fort Sumter withstood a 22-month siege by Union forces. During this time, most of the fort was reduced to brick rubble. Fort Sumter is administered by the National Park Service.

The Battle of Chattanooga (November 23-25, 1863) was one of the major engagements of the American Civil War. The Union forces of about 60,000 men were led by General Grant and the Confederate force of approximately 40,000 was under the command of General Bragg. Following an earlier defeat at Chickamauga, in northwest Georgia, the Union army withdrew across the state line to Chattanooga, Tennessee. The Confederates laid siege and cut off Union supply lines and communications. Bragg's army was entrenched on Lookout Mountain. On November 24, Grant ordered an assault on Lookout Mountain, and on November 25 the Union forces scaled the steep slopes of the mountain and caused the panic-stricken Confederate troops to flee. Grant's victory forced the Confederates to evacuate Tennessee and made possible Sherman's subsequent march through Georgia. Union Casualties in the battle were about 5800; Confederate casualties, about 6700. The battlefield was established as the Chicamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park in 1890 and is administered by the National Park Service.

Fort Donelson National Battlefield, located in northern Tennessee, commemorates the American Civil War battle (February 6, 1862) in which Union forces gained their first major victory of the war. The fall of Fort Donelson, a 15-acre fort of 100 huts surrounded by 10-foot-high walls of earth and logs, led the North to its first great victory and a new hero, Ulysses S. Grant, who became known as "Unconditional Surrender" Grant after the battle. The park includes the fort, river batteries, outer defense earthworks, Surrender House (Dover Hotel) and a national cemetery. The site is administered by the National Park Service.

Shiloh National Military Park, located in southern Tennessee, commemorates the Battle of Shiloh (April 7, 1862), one of the bloodiest battles of the American Civil War. On April 6, 1862, Union troops at Pittsburgh Landing near the Tennessee River were surprised and pushed back by the Confederate Army. The Union troops launched a counterattack the next day that forced the Confederates to Corinth, Mississippi, just across the Tennessee border. Of the more than 100,000 troops involved in the fighting, 24,000 were wounded or killed. About 3500 Union soldiers are buried in Shiloh National Cemetery. The park also includes Shiloh Indian Mounds National Historical Landmark, which preserves prehistoric Native American mounds. The park is administered by the National Park Service.

Military presence began here with the establishment of Camp Stockton in 1858 by troops of the 1st and 8th Infantry, US Army. It was named for Commodore Robert Field Stockton, a naval officer who distinguished himself during the Mexican War. The post protected travelers and settlers on the numerous roads and trails that made use of the abundant water supply of Comanche Springs. The US Army withdrew from Texas during the Civil War and abandoned Camp Stockton in 1861. Confederate troops briefly occupied the site until they too, withdrew. By the end of the war, nothing remained of this first post. It has now been rebuilt and is administered as an historic site by the town of Fort Stockton.

During the Civil War, Sabine Pass became a major center for the shipment and trade of cotton in exchange for vital supplies, arms, and medicine for the Confederate Army. Union ships attempted to blockade harbors and disrupt shipments along the Gulf Coast. Lt. Richard W. Dowling, with a small Confederate force, repelled an attempted 1863 invasion of Texas by Union naval gunboats convoying Union soldiers at Sabine Pass near Port Arthur during the Civil War. This small but determined band won their place of honor in Texas and Civil War History. The site is administered by Texas Parks and Wildlife.

Arlington National Cemetery, a United States federal burial ground in northeastern Virginia, is administered by the Department of the Army. The site, on the Potomac River across from Washington, D.C., contains the remains of more than 240,000 veterans, their dependents and political leaders. The Arlington House mansion and grounds belonging to Confederate General Robert E. Lee and his wife, were confiscated in 1864 by the Union Government and 200 acres were set aside for the Union dead. After the war, Robert E. Lee’s son accepted $150,000 in payment for the house and grounds.

The battle of Chancellorsville (May 1-4, 1863) was an important engagement of the American Civil War. The Confederate Army, numbering about 60,000, used strategy to defeat a much larger Union force of 130,000. Stonewall Jackson was one of the generals involved in this battle, and it was here that he was wounded and died 8 days later. The site is administered by the National Park Service.

The Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania County Battlefields Memorial National Military Park are located near Fredricksburg, Virginia. The Battle of Fredricksburg occurred on December 13-15, 1862. It was at Fredericksburg that the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, led by General Robert E. Lee, halted the Union Army of the Potomac, led by General Burnside. The site is administered by the National Park Service.

Manassas National Battlefield Park, located outside Manassas, Virginia, preserves the site of two battles fought during the American Civil War. The first Battle of Bull Run, named for a stream near Manassas, was the earliest major battle of the war and the first Confederate victory. The second Battle of Bull Run was fought on August 29-30, 1862, and in this battle the Confederate troops led by General Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson forced the Union Army to turn back to Washington, D.C. The park is administered by the National Park Service.

The Battle of the Wilderness, fought on May 5-6, 1864, took place in a densely thicketed woodland in northeast Virginia. The engagement involved the Army of Northern Virginia, about 62,000 troops under the Confederate General Robert E. Lee, and the Army of the Potomac, about 115,000 troops under the Union General George Gordon Meade. The Union Commander in Chief, General Ulysses S. Grant, directed Meade's command during the fighting. He was determined to sever Lee’s lines of communication with Richmond. Communication difficulties split the battle into disjointed engagements and the terrain precluded effective use of cavalry or artillery. The infantry fighting, much of it hand to hand, was declared by Grant to be the hardest he had ever seen. The forest caught fire, burning many men to death. Although the Union forces had suffered some 17,500 casualties to the Confederacy's 7000, Grant, instead of retreating, moved south toward Spotsylvania and engaged in another battle there, demonstrating for the first time that his army would be willing to fight every day and suffer tremendous casualties in order to wear down and destroy Lee's army. The site is administered by the National Park Service.