The Civil War - Activity 3. The Union vs.

Confederate States

*** If you have not gone through the preparation of this topic yet, please click here. ***

*** The red circle(s) on the screen shots indicate the location of the tool or button you must use. ***

1. Click this link.

2. This is the prepared map for this activity. Once the map is loaded, save this map in your Esri account using

“Save.”

3. Click the “Layers” tool.

4. This map shows all of the states that were part of the United States from 1861 to 1865. We will change the

color scheme to show which ones were Union, Confederate, and Border states. The states map layer is from Esri.

If you want to know what a layer is, click here.

5. Click the details of The Civil War 1861-1865 layer.

6. In the “Layer Details” window, click “Configure” in the row labeled “Display.”

7. Click the drop-down menu of “Single Symbol,” and then choose “Unique Values.” Read its definition below.

For more information about “Unique Values,” click here.

8. Make sure that the field of “Attribute” is set to “Group.” Then click “Color Ramp.”

9. Choose one color scheme you want. Once you are done, click the arrow button to go back to “Configure

Display.”

10. Click “Done.” Then click “Map Legend.”

11. Your map may look like the following:

12. Now we will mark major battlefields on the map using a point symbol. The following table is a list of

battlefields. The information is from History Alive! published by TCI (2005, p.307). You need to search their

locations using today’s locations. For “March to the Sea,” we will use a line feature to draw the marching line.

Battle Today’s location Date Victory

Fort Sumter 32°45'8N, 79°52'29W Apr. 12-14, 1861 Confederate

1st Bull Run Manassas, VA Jul. 21, 1861 Confederate

Fort Henry Fort Henry, TN Feb. 6, 1862 Union

Fort Donelson Dover, TN Feb. 13-16, 1862 Union

Hampton Roads Hampton, VA Mar. 8-9, 1862 Indecisive or

draw

Shiloh Shiloh, TN Apr. 6-7, 1862 Union

Seven Days’ Battle Richmond, VA Jun. 25-Jul. 1,

1862 Confederate

2nd Bull Run Manassas, VA Aug. 29-30, 1862 Confederate

Antietam Sharpsburg, MD Sept. 17, 1862 Union

Fredericksburg Fredericksburg, VA Dec. 11-15, 1862 Confederate

Chancellorsville Spotsylvania, VA May 1-4, 1863 Confederate

Vicksburg Vicksburg, MS May 19-Jul. 4,

1863 Union

Gettysburg Gettysburg, PA Jul. 1-3, 1863 Union

Fort Wagner 32°43'7N, 79°53'5W Jul. 18 - Sept. 7,

1863 Confederate

Chickamauga Chickamauga, GA Sept. 19-20, 1863 Confederate

March to the Sea Atlanta, GA to Savannah,

GA Sept. to Dec. 1864

Petersburg Petersburg, VA Jun. 1864 – Apr.

1865 Union

Appomattox

Courthouse Appomattox, VA Apr. 9, 1865 Union

13. Let’s find Fort Sumter on the map. Copy and paste today’s location (lat/long) in the “Find Places” box.

Then hit the enter key.

14. Click the “Add Features” tool.

15. I already created three point symbols for this activity. The red flag is for battles with Union victory, and the

yellow flag is for battles with Confederate victory. The green flag is for battles with indecisive outcomes or

ending in a draw. As you can see in the above table, the Confederates won at Fort Sumter. Therefore, you need

to use the yellow flag.

16. Click the yellow flag symbol, and then put it on the exact location we just found using the “Find Places”

function. Then click the “x” mark in the “Find Places” box to delete the searched location of Fort Sumter.

17. Click the flag symbol that you just added, and then choose “Edit.” Then click “Edit Pop-up.”

18. Change its title to “Fort Sumter, Apr. 12-14, 1861.” You can add more information if you like in the

description box. Then click “OK.”

19. If you do mouse-over on the flag symbol, you will see its battle name and date.

20. Follow the previous steps from #13 to #18 for the other battles except “March to the Sea.” Your map may

look like the following:

21. If two flags overlap because their locations are too close, we need to move the point symbols apart. Click

the overlapped flag symbol (i.e. Fort Wagner), and then click “Edit.” Then click “Edit Shape.”

22. Now you can see the white rectangle of the flag symbol, which means it is now movable. Move the flag

symbol until you can see the other flag symbol. The locations of Fort Henry and Fort Donelson are pretty close.

Move one of them, too.

23. Once you are done, click “Done.”

24. Let’s mark “March to the Sea.” We need to find the locations of Atlanta, GA, and Savannah, GA. First, find

“Atlanta, GA” in the “Find Places” box (refer to step #13). The map shows you its location.

Click the “+” sign, and then choose “Map Notes.”

25. Now you can see a green point symbol.

26. Follow the previous steps from #24 and #25 for Savannah, GA. Your map will have two point symbols like

the following. Click the “Add Features” tool.

27. Click the “Line” tool.

28. Connect Atlanta and Savannah with the “Line” tool. At Savannah, you need to do double-click to finish

drawing a line. Using the “Text” tool, you can add description like the following:

29. Once you are done, click “Done.”

30. This is my final map.

Discussion questions

o (Map in step #11) Why did the Border states choose not to join the Confederacy?

o (Map in step #30) Describe the geographic patterns of the battles over time. Where did they take

place in the early (1861-1862), middle (1863), and the later (1864-1865) parts of the war?

o Why did the battles in 1863 take a place along Mississippi river? What was the goal of the Union

troops?

o What happened during “March to the Sea?” What was its purpose?