American Civil War: Causes, Dates & Battles

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Spying in the Civil War

Confederate Spies in Washington Located 60 miles south of the Mason‑Dixon Line, Washington, D.C. was full of southern sympathizers when the Civil War broke out in 1861. Virginia’s Governor John Letcher, a former congressman, used his knowledge of the city to set up a nascent spy network in the capital in late April 1861, after […]

Election of 1860

Lincoln’s Political History Abraham Lincoln’s political ambitions began in 1832 when he was just 23 years old and ran for the Illinois House of Representatives. While he lost that election, two years later, he was elected to the state legislature as a member of the Whig party, where he publicly announced his disdain for slavery. […]

Shenandoah Valley Campaigns

During the American Civil War (1861‑65), Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley saw a series of military clashes as Union and Confederate forces attempted to gain control of the area. In the spring of 1862, Confederate General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson led his men more than 650 miles on a campaign that threatened Washington, D.C., and diverted Union forces […]

First Battle of Bull Run

Prelude to the First Battle of Bull Run (Manassas) By July 1861, two months after Confederate troops opened fire on Fort Sumter to begin the Civil War, the northern press and public were eager for the Union Army to make an advance on Richmond ahead of the planned meeting of the Confederate Congress there on […]