New York 41st Infantry (Union)

First Bull Run

One of earliest battles of the Civil War, it introduced Americans to the idea that this would likely not be a short conflict and blood would be shed:READ MORE

Brigadier GeneralJulius Stahel

Brigadier GeneralLouis Blenker

Cross Keys

Maj. Gen. John C. Frémont's and his 11,000-man Mountain Department army were tasked with keeping Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's two-division force engaged in the Shenandoah Valley and unable to join with Robert E. Lee's army defending Richmond during the Peninsula Campaign against the Confederate capital. In early June, Jackson's men under Maj. Gen. Richard S. Ewell were encamped in the vicinity of Cross Keys on the South Fork of the Shenandoah River. Union screening cavalry approached Jackson f…READ MORE

Second Bull Run

After the early summer collapse of the Union Peninsula Campaign offensive to capture Richmond, Robert E. Lee sought to move his army north and threaten Washington DC before Union forces could regroup.READ MORE

Lieutenant ColonelErnst Von Holmstedt

ColonelLeopold Von Gilsa

Brigadier GeneralNathaniel C. McLean

Fredericksburg

In early November, Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside took command of the Army of the Potomac, and made immediate plans to move the army once again toward Richmond.READ MORE

MajorDetleo Von Einsiedel

ColonelLeopold von Gilsa

Brigadier GeneralCharles Devens Jr.

Brigadier GeneralNathaniel C. McLean

Brigadier GeneralCharles Devens Jr.

Chancellorsville

On April 27, 1863, Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker launched a turning movement designed to pry Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia out of its lines at Fredericksburg.READ MORE

Lieutenant ColonelDetleo von Einsiedel

Brigadier GeneralAdelbert Ames

Brigadier GeneralFrancis C. Barlow

Brigadier GeneralFrancis C. Barlow

Gettysburg

In the summer of 1863, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee launched his second invasion of the Northern states. Lee sought to capitalize on recent Confederate victories and defeat the Union army on Northern soil, which he hoped would force the Lincoln administration to negotiate for peace. Lee also sought to take the war out of the ravaged Virginia farmland and gather supplies for his Army of Northern Virginia. Using the Shenandoah Valley as cover for his army, Lee was pursued first by Union Maj. Gen. Joseph Ho…READ MORE

Lieutenant ColonelDetleo Von Einseidel

Lieutenant ColonelG. DePeyster Arden

ColonelJ. Howard Kitching

ColonelWilhelm Heine

ColonelJ. Howard Kitching

Cedar Creek

Also known as: Cedar Creek, Belle GroveREAD MORE

Five Forks

The Union victory along the White Oak Road on March 31st threatened to destabilize the entire Confederate line west of Petersburg. General Robert E. Lee ordered Maj. Gen. George Pickett with his infantry division and the cavalry divisions of Col. Thomas Munford, Maj. Gen. W.H.F. Lee, and Maj. Gen Thomas Rosser to hold the vital crossroads of Five Forks, along the White Oak Road five miles west of the previous fighting there. Pickett's defensive line was not well constructed, and much of his cavalry force w…READ MORE

Appomattox Court House

Between 26,000 and 28,000 Confederate soldiers surrendered and were paroled.READ MORE