Famous People of the Civil War

Famous People of the Civil War

Ullysses S. Grant

Ulysses Simpson Grant served effectively with Zachary Taylor's army at Monterey during the Mexican war. Right when the war began Grant obtained a position on the staff of General George McClellan. During the war he showed courage in both physically and morally manners. In February 1862 Grant captured Fort Henry and Fort Donelson with help from the Federal navy. In October he was appointed commander of the Department of Tennessee, and told to take Vicksburg, Mississippi. Earl Van Dorn captured Grant's base at Holly Springs and he had to retreat. In 1864 Grant was promoted to lieutenant general and named general in chief of all federal armies. In April 1865 Grant forced Lee to surrender after an 88 mile pursuit. Grant was elected president in 1868 and served two terms.

Robert E. Lee

During the Mexican war Lee was an engineering officer with Winfield Scott's force. Jefferson Davis appointed Lee a general in the southern army in 1861. He was not successful in preventing an invasion of western Virginia, so he was sent to the Atlantic Coastal defense. In 1862 when Joseph E. Johnston was wounded, Lee became commander of the confederate army in Virginia. In Richmond Lee drove the unionist away from the capital in the Seven Days' Battles. In August he defeated the Northern army in the second Battle of Bull Run. In May 1863 Lee won his greatest victory but also suffered his worst loss in life. The Unionist were driven back with heavy casualties. The following year Lee led his army against a series of bloody attacks against the Northern Army commanded by Ulysses S. Grant. Robert Lee was one of the best commanders during the Civil War and was an American hero.

Stonewall Jackson

Stonewall Jackson was a confederate general in the American Civil War. He joined the Confederate army in 1861 and later fought in the first battle of Bull Run. There he earned his nickname, "like a stone wall". In 1863 Jackson commanded a Confederate army in the Shenandoah Valley, and he defeated Federal generals whose strength was several times his own. In May of 1863 Jackson was in command of more than half of all the Confederate army and made an attack on the Federal army. After returning one night he was accidentally shot by some of his own men.

J.E.B. Stuart

James Ewell Brown Stuart was a Confederate officer in the Civil War. He is probably the most famous soldier in Robert E. Lee's Army. In the Gettysburg campaign, Stuart went on a controversial raid around the Federal army when Lee most needed him to gather intelligence. He arrived after the Battle of Gettysburg was over. A number of people think that the Confederate defeat was mainly Stuart's fault. On May 11, 1864 Stuart was badly wounded. He died the next day.

Joseph Hooker

Hooker was named a general in 1861 an was known as fighting Joe. During the Mexican War he received three brevets for bravery. He commanded the army of the Potomac at the Battle of Chancellorsville, he lost and was replaced before Gettysburg. In November 1863 he won the Battle of Lookout Mountain at Chattanooga. In 1864 Hooker served under William Sherman in Georgia. He resigned because he wasn't promoted after he served in Georgia.

George E. Pickett

George Pickett was a Confederate general during the Civil War. He is most remembered for Pickett's charge at the Battle of Gettysburg. Pickett graduated from West Point in 1846 and remained in the U.S. Army until 1861, when he joined the Confederate army. On July 3, 1863 he led his troops on a spearhead attack on Cemetery Ridge that was supposed to break through the center of the union line. This has been called the Confederacy's "high-water mark".

Harriet Tubman

Harriet Tubman was an abolitionist and a fugitive slave. She was born to slave parents and escaped to freedom. In the 1850's she made many journeys to free slaves through the Underground Railroad. She was aided by abolitionists and Quakers, and John Brown who consulted with her for the Harpers Ferry raid in 1859. During the Civil War she served as an army cook, a nurse, and became a spy for Maryland and Virginia. After the war she ran a home for elderly blacks until her death.

Clara Barton

Clara Barton is most remembered for organizing the American Red Cross Society. As a young girl she was shy, but she overcame her timid nature to become a very influential