Western Theatre In The Civil War Essay

There are many events in the civil war that took place in the Western Theater, most were overshadowed by the events in the Eastern Theater. Events like The Battle of Wilson’s Creek, which was one of the bloodiest battles of the civil war or William T. Sherman’s charge took place and truly decided the outcome of whether the Union would preserve or crumble. Alas, they were overshadowed by events like the Battle of Gettysburg or the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. On August 10, 1861; The Battle of Wilson’s Creek took place, with over twenty-five hundred people died on both sides. During this fight, General Lyon was killed by General Ben Mcculloch's confederate troops, and was replaced by major Samuel D. Sturgis. This was the first big lost of the Union. This fight gave the Confederacy control of southern Missouri. After this happened, General William T. Sherman began his infamous Atlanta campaign. During this campaign, a series of battles were fought like The Battle of Pickett's Mill on May 25th, 1864. He captured Atlanta on July 22, 1864, securing Abraham lincoln’s re-election.

Kentucky’s reasons for remaining neutral was to lead the nation to a new age of peace and prosperity, because they had very important ties to both sides of the war, and because it was torn between which side it liked better. By choosing neutrality in a battle of brothers, they knew that their land would be the battleground for multiple parts of the war. Kentucky was one of the places the “brother against brother” conflict was present. But, because of the actions of Confederate General Leonidas Polk, Kentucky issued the Union for help in 1862. After this, Kentucky gave up being neutral and became a Union state. While this was going on a different type of fighting was happening in Kentucky,