Featured Wood Gallery and Museum

​AMERICAN CIVIL WAR 1861-1865
American fought against American! On one side were the forces of the North, or Union. They represented the 23 Northern states of the elected government. On the other side were the forces of the South, or Confederacy, who fought for the 11 Southern states. These rebel states had broken away from the Union and elected their own president.
The South had a population of about 9 million people. Of these, more than 3 million were black slaves. The North found volunteers for its army in a much larger population of more than 21 million.
The President of the Union, Abraham Lincoln, and the President of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis, were both born in Kentucky.
Confederate forces first opened fire at Fort Sumter, Charleston, on 12 April, 1861. Four years later the main Confederate forces under General Robert E Lee surrendered at Appomattox on 9 April, 1865. The last Confederates to surrender did so on 26 May. During this time there were over 10,000 engagements.
During the Civil War, 620,000 men lost their lives, of these 60% died from disease.

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