American Civil War Quiz
Fort Sumter, Gettysburg, Sherman's march and Appomattox: 15 questions on the war that remade America.
In which year did the American Civil War begin?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
1861
Abraham Lincoln's election in November 1860 prompted seven southern states to secede, and the war began in April 1861 when Confederate forces fired on a federal fort in South Carolina. Fighting continued for four years until the spring of 1865.
Traditional estimates put the death toll at about 620,000 soldiers, though recent research suggests the true figure may be closer to 750,000.
The first shots of the war were fired on which fort in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Fort Sumter
Confederate batteries bombarded the federal garrison at Fort Sumter for 34 hours from 12 April 1861 until Major Robert Anderson surrendered. Remarkably, nobody on either side was killed during the bombardment itself.
Anderson returned to raise the same flag over the ruined fort on 14 April 1865, the very day Lincoln was shot.
Who served as president of the Confederate States of America throughout the war?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Jefferson Davis
Jefferson Davis, a Mississippi senator and former US Secretary of War, was chosen as provisional president in February 1861 and elected to a six-year term that November. He was captured in Georgia in May 1865.
Davis spent two years imprisoned at Fort Monroe but was never brought to trial, and he later wrote a two-volume defence of the Confederacy.
Which general commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia from 1862 until the end of the war?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Robert E. Lee
Lee took command in June 1862 after Joseph Johnston was wounded and led the army through the Seven Days, Second Bull Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville and Gettysburg before surrendering it in April 1865.
Lincoln's government offered Lee command of Union forces in 1861, but he refused to fight against his home state of Virginia.
Which three-day battle in Pennsylvania in July 1863 is usually described as the turning point of the war?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Gettysburg
Lee's invasion of the North ended at Gettysburg, where Union forces under George Meade repulsed the Confederates over 1 to 3 July 1863. Pickett's Charge on the final day was shattered, and Lee never again mounted a major offensive.
Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, delivered at the dedication of the cemetery in November 1863, ran to only about 270 words.
Which Union general accepted Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House on 9 April 1865?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Ulysses S. Grant
Grant, by then commander of all Union armies, offered generous terms at Wilmer McLean's house: Confederate soldiers were paroled and allowed to keep their horses and sidearms. Grant later served two terms as president.
Wilmer McLean had moved to Appomattox after the First Battle of Bull Run was fought on his farm in 1861, so the war began and ended on his property.
Who shot President Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington on 14 April 1865?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
John Wilkes Booth
Booth, a well-known actor and Confederate sympathiser, shot Lincoln in the head during a performance of Our American Cousin and escaped on horseback. Lincoln died the next morning, and Booth was shot dead in a Virginia barn twelve days later.
The same night Lewis Powell stabbed Secretary of State William Seward in his home, but Seward survived his wounds.
What was the first major land battle of the war, fought near Manassas, Virginia, in July 1861?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
First Battle of Bull Run
On 21 July 1861 a Union army marched out of Washington expecting an easy win, but Confederate reinforcements turned the battle and the Union troops fled back to the capital. Both sides realised the war would be long.
Thomas Jackson earned his nickname Stonewall at Bull Run when a fellow general shouted that he was standing like a stone wall.
Which Union general led the 'March to the Sea' from Atlanta to Savannah in late 1864?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
William T. Sherman
Sherman's army of about 60,000 men marched some 285 miles across Georgia in November and December 1864, destroying railways, crops and factories to break the South's will to fight. He presented Savannah to Lincoln as a Christmas gift.
Sherman is often quoted as saying 'war is hell', a phrase he used in a speech to veterans years after the conflict ended.
How many states seceded from the Union to form the Confederacy?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
11
Seven states seceded before Fort Sumter, and four more, Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee and North Carolina, followed after Lincoln called for troops. Kentucky and Missouri had rival Confederate governments but never officially left the Union.
The Confederate battle flag carried 13 stars because it counted Kentucky and Missouri as member states.
Which September 1862 battle in Maryland remains the bloodiest single day in American military history?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Antietam
About 23,000 men were killed, wounded or missing at Antietam on 17 September 1862. Lee's retreat gave Lincoln the victory he needed to announce the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation five days later.
Photographs of the dead at Antietam by Alexander Gardner, displayed in New York, brought the reality of the battlefield to civilians for the first time.
Which Confederate general died in May 1863 after being shot by his own men at the Battle of Chancellorsville?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Stonewall Jackson
Jackson was returning from a night reconnaissance when Confederate pickets mistook his party for Union cavalry and opened fire. His left arm was amputated and he died of pneumonia eight days later, on 10 May 1863.
Lee, on hearing the news, said that Jackson had lost his left arm but that he himself had lost his right.
Which constitutional amendment, ratified in December 1865, abolished slavery throughout the United States?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
13th Amendment
The Emancipation Proclamation had applied only to areas in rebellion, so a constitutional amendment was needed to end slavery everywhere. The 13th Amendment passed Congress in January 1865 and was ratified on 6 December 1865.
The 14th Amendment granted citizenship to former slaves in 1868, and the 15th secured voting rights regardless of race in 1870.
The surrender of which Mississippi city on 4 July 1863 gave the Union control of the Mississippi River?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Vicksburg
Grant besieged Vicksburg for 47 days until its garrison surrendered on 4 July 1863, a day after the Union victory at Gettysburg. With the river in Union hands, the Confederacy was cut in two.
Port Hudson in Louisiana, the last Confederate stronghold on the river, surrendered five days later when news of Vicksburg's fall arrived.
What was the name of the Confederate ironclad that fought the USS Monitor at Hampton Roads in March 1862?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
CSS Virginia
The Confederates rebuilt the burned Union frigate Merrimack as the armoured CSS Virginia, which sank two wooden warships on 8 March 1862. The next day it fought the Union's Monitor to a draw in the first battle between ironclad ships.
The Virginia's crew blew up the ship in May 1862 to prevent its capture when the Confederates abandoned Norfolk.
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All History quizzes →About the American Civil War Quiz
The Civil War killed more Americans than any other conflict in the nation's history. It opened with a 34-hour bombardment of Fort Sumter in April 1861, produced the bloodiest single day in American history at Antietam, and ended four years later in a Virginia parlour where Grant accepted Lee's surrender.
These 15 questions cover the leaders on both sides, the great battles from Bull Run to Vicksburg and Gettysburg, the ironclads at Hampton Roads, the 13th Amendment and the assassination of Lincoln. Each answer is followed by an instant explanation and a bonus fact. It suits students, battlefield visitors and anyone who has argued about Gettysburg over a drink.
You will find 15 multiple choice questions here, each with four options. Difficulty: Medium. Most people finish in about 6 minutes, and every answer comes with a short explanation and one extra fact worth keeping.
How to play
Read the question and pick one of the four answers. The correct answer is revealed straight away with a short explanation, then press Next question to keep going. At the end you get your score out of 15 and a full review of your round. Play again any time and the questions arrive in a fresh order. There is no timer and no account.
Good to know before you play
What is in the American Civil War Quiz?
Fifteen questions on the causes, leaders and battles of the war, from Fort Sumter and Bull Run through Antietam, Gettysburg and Vicksburg to Appomattox and the 13th Amendment.
How difficult is it?
Medium. Most players will know Lee, Grant and Gettysburg, but questions on the number of seceding states, Stonewall Jackson's death and the CSS Virginia are tougher.
Does the quiz explain the answers?
Yes. Each answer comes with a short explanation of the facts and an extra detail, such as why Wilmer McLean's house saw both the start and the end of the war.
Answer key: all 15 questions with explanations
- In which year did the American Civil War begin?
1861 Abraham Lincoln's election in November 1860 prompted seven southern states to secede, and the war began in April 1861 when Confederate forces fired on a federal fort in South Carolina. Fighting continued for four years until the spring of 1865. Traditional estimates put the death toll at about 620,000 soldiers, though recent research suggests the true figure may be closer to 750,000. - The first shots of the war were fired on which fort in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina?
Fort Sumter Confederate batteries bombarded the federal garrison at Fort Sumter for 34 hours from 12 April 1861 until Major Robert Anderson surrendered. Remarkably, nobody on either side was killed during the bombardment itself. Anderson returned to raise the same flag over the ruined fort on 14 April 1865, the very day Lincoln was shot. - Who served as president of the Confederate States of America throughout the war?
Jefferson Davis Jefferson Davis, a Mississippi senator and former US Secretary of War, was chosen as provisional president in February 1861 and elected to a six-year term that November. He was captured in Georgia in May 1865. Davis spent two years imprisoned at Fort Monroe but was never brought to trial, and he later wrote a two-volume defence of the Confederacy. - Which general commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia from 1862 until the end of the war?
Robert E. Lee Lee took command in June 1862 after Joseph Johnston was wounded and led the army through the Seven Days, Second Bull Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville and Gettysburg before surrendering it in April 1865. Lincoln's government offered Lee command of Union forces in 1861, but he refused to fight against his home state of Virginia. - Which three-day battle in Pennsylvania in July 1863 is usually described as the turning point of the war?
Gettysburg Lee's invasion of the North ended at Gettysburg, where Union forces under George Meade repulsed the Confederates over 1 to 3 July 1863. Pickett's Charge on the final day was shattered, and Lee never again mounted a major offensive. Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, delivered at the dedication of the cemetery in November 1863, ran to only about 270 words. - Which Union general accepted Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House on 9 April 1865?
Ulysses S. Grant Grant, by then commander of all Union armies, offered generous terms at Wilmer McLean's house: Confederate soldiers were paroled and allowed to keep their horses and sidearms. Grant later served two terms as president. Wilmer McLean had moved to Appomattox after the First Battle of Bull Run was fought on his farm in 1861, so the war began and ended on his property. - Who shot President Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington on 14 April 1865?
John Wilkes Booth Booth, a well-known actor and Confederate sympathiser, shot Lincoln in the head during a performance of Our American Cousin and escaped on horseback. Lincoln died the next morning, and Booth was shot dead in a Virginia barn twelve days later. The same night Lewis Powell stabbed Secretary of State William Seward in his home, but Seward survived his wounds. - What was the first major land battle of the war, fought near Manassas, Virginia, in July 1861?
First Battle of Bull Run On 21 July 1861 a Union army marched out of Washington expecting an easy win, but Confederate reinforcements turned the battle and the Union troops fled back to the capital. Both sides realised the war would be long. Thomas Jackson earned his nickname Stonewall at Bull Run when a fellow general shouted that he was standing like a stone wall. - Which Union general led the 'March to the Sea' from Atlanta to Savannah in late 1864?
William T. Sherman Sherman's army of about 60,000 men marched some 285 miles across Georgia in November and December 1864, destroying railways, crops and factories to break the South's will to fight. He presented Savannah to Lincoln as a Christmas gift. Sherman is often quoted as saying 'war is hell', a phrase he used in a speech to veterans years after the conflict ended. - How many states seceded from the Union to form the Confederacy?
11 Seven states seceded before Fort Sumter, and four more, Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee and North Carolina, followed after Lincoln called for troops. Kentucky and Missouri had rival Confederate governments but never officially left the Union. The Confederate battle flag carried 13 stars because it counted Kentucky and Missouri as member states. - Which September 1862 battle in Maryland remains the bloodiest single day in American military history?
Antietam About 23,000 men were killed, wounded or missing at Antietam on 17 September 1862. Lee's retreat gave Lincoln the victory he needed to announce the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation five days later. Photographs of the dead at Antietam by Alexander Gardner, displayed in New York, brought the reality of the battlefield to civilians for the first time. - Which Confederate general died in May 1863 after being shot by his own men at the Battle of Chancellorsville?
Stonewall Jackson Jackson was returning from a night reconnaissance when Confederate pickets mistook his party for Union cavalry and opened fire. His left arm was amputated and he died of pneumonia eight days later, on 10 May 1863. Lee, on hearing the news, said that Jackson had lost his left arm but that he himself had lost his right. - Which constitutional amendment, ratified in December 1865, abolished slavery throughout the United States?
13th Amendment The Emancipation Proclamation had applied only to areas in rebellion, so a constitutional amendment was needed to end slavery everywhere. The 13th Amendment passed Congress in January 1865 and was ratified on 6 December 1865. The 14th Amendment granted citizenship to former slaves in 1868, and the 15th secured voting rights regardless of race in 1870. - The surrender of which Mississippi city on 4 July 1863 gave the Union control of the Mississippi River?
Vicksburg Grant besieged Vicksburg for 47 days until its garrison surrendered on 4 July 1863, a day after the Union victory at Gettysburg. With the river in Union hands, the Confederacy was cut in two. Port Hudson in Louisiana, the last Confederate stronghold on the river, surrendered five days later when news of Vicksburg's fall arrived. - What was the name of the Confederate ironclad that fought the USS Monitor at Hampton Roads in March 1862?
CSS Virginia The Confederates rebuilt the burned Union frigate Merrimack as the armoured CSS Virginia, which sank two wooden warships on 8 March 1862. The next day it fought the Union's Monitor to a draw in the first battle between ironclad ships. The Virginia's crew blew up the ship in May 1862 to prevent its capture when the Confederates abandoned Norfolk.
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