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The
Battle of Gettysburg,
the bloodiest in the entire war, was
fought in the Eastern Theater.
This image available for
photographic prints
and downloads
HERE!
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The Eastern Theater of the
Civil War roughly comprised the area
east of the Appalachians in the vicinity of the rival capitals of
Washington and Richmond. It included the states of
Virginia, West
Virginia, Maryland, and
Pennsylvania, as well as the District of
Columbia and the coastal fortifications and seaports of North
Carolina.
When the war began in the spring of 1861
and the
Confederates declared their capitol at Richmond,
Virginia, the
immediate cry from
Union headquarters was "On to Richmond!" For the
next four years a succession of Northern commanders struggled
desperately to do just that.
Bounded by the Apalachian Mountains to the
west and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, the vast majority of battles
occurred in a relatively small 100 miles strip of
Virginia countryside
between the cities of Washington and Richmond.
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It
was these campaigns that would also become the most famous in the
history of the war, due to their proximity to large populations
centers and the heavy media attention that they received. Both the
bloodiest battle of the war --
Gettysburg, and the
bloodiest single day of the war --
Antietam, were both fought in the Eastern Theater.
The principle
commanders of the Eastern Theater included: For the
Union -
Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant,
Major General
George B. McClellan, Major General John Pope, Major General
Ambrose Burnside, Major General Joseph Hooker, and Major General
George G. Meade. The South was led by
General
Robert E. Lee, General Pierre Gustave Toutant de
Beauregard, General Joseph E. Johnston, Lieutenant General James
Longstreet,
Lieutenant General Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson, and
Lieutenant General Jubal A. Early.
Eastern Theater Campaigns
Blockade of the Chesapeake Bay (May-June 1861)
Operations in Western Virginia (June-December,
1861)
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Philippi (June 3, 1861, West Virginia)
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Rich Mountain (July 11, 1861, West Virginia)
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Kessler's Cross Lanes (August 26, 1861, West
Virginia)
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Carnifex Ferry (September 10, 1861, West
Virginia)
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Cheat Mountain (September 12-15 1861, West
Virginia)
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Greenbrier River (October 3, 1861, West Virginia)
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Camp Alleghany (December 13, 1861, West Virginia)
Manassas Campaign (July 1861)
Blockade of the Carolina Coast
(August 1861)
McClellan's Operations in
Northern Virginia (October-December 1861)
Blockade of the Potomac River
(October 1861-January 1862)
Jackson's Operations Against the
B&O Railroad (January 1862)
Burnside's North Carolina
Expedition (February-June 1862)
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Roanoke Island (February 7-8, 1862, North
Carolina)
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New Berne (March 14, 1862, North Carolina)
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Fort Macon (March 23-April 26, 1862, North
Carolina)
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South Mills (April 19, 1862, North Carolina)
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Tranter's Creek (June 5, 1862, North Carolina)
Jackson's Valley Campaign
(March-June 1862)
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Kernstown I (March 23, 1862,
Virginia)
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McDowell (May 8, 1862,
Virginia)
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Front Royal (May 23, 1862,
Virginia)
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Winchester I (May 25, 1862,
Virginia)
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Cross Keys (June 8, 1862,
Virginia)
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Port Republic (June 9, 1862,
Virginia)
Peninsula Campaign (March 8-July 1
1862)
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Hampton Roads (March 8-9, 1862,
Virginia)
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Yorktown (April 5-May 4, 1862,
Virginia)
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Williamsburg
(May 5, 1862, Virginia)
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Eltham's Landing (May 7, 1862,
Virginia)
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Drewry's Bluff (May 15, 1862,
Virginia)
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Hanover Courthouse (May 27, 1862,
Virginia)
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Seven Pines (May 31-June 1, 1862,
Virginia)
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Oak Grove (June 25, 1862,
Virginia)
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Beaver Dam Creek (June 26, 1862,
Virginia)
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Gaines' Mill (June 27, 1862,
Virginia)
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Garnetts & Goldings Farm (June 27-28, 1862,
Virginia)
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Savage's Station (June 29, 1862,
Virginia)
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White Oak Swamp (June 30, 1862,
Virginia
)
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Glendale (June 30, 1862,
Virginia)
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Malvern Hill (July 1, 1862,
Virginia)
Continued Next Page
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Created in 1861, the
Army of the Potomac
was the major
Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American
Civil War.
This
photo shows some of its officers in 1864.
This image available for
photographic prints and downloads
HERE!
The Battle of Bull's Run (Manassas),
July 21, 1861.
This image available for
photographic prints and downloads
HERE!
New Berne, North Carolina.
This image available for
photographic prints and downloads
HERE!
The Monitor and the Merrimac at
Hampton Roads
Federal Battery,
Yorktown
This image available for
photographic prints and downloads
HERE!
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