North Bethesda School

Your assignment is to cover a battle of the Civil War from the perspective of a historian. You will be asked to share your information with the class after some research in the computer lab. You can do a PowerPoint, exhibit board, or documentary to present the battle to the class. Copies can be made of the assignment and the rubric. Use the links.

Divide the work among members of your group. There should be no more than 3 people in a group. Have everything ready before class.  

You may choose among the following battles: 

• First Manassas ( Bull Run)
• Battles of Seven Days
• Second Manassas ( Bull Run)
• Antietam
• Fredericksburg
• Chancellorsville
• Gettysburg
• Vicksburg
• Shiloh
• Chickamauga
• Chattanooga
• Wilderness (see bottom of this page for additional resources)
• Spotsylvania Courthouse
• Cold Harbor
• Cedar Creek
• Assault on Petersburg

Your presentation must include: 

• A description of the major events of the battle in chronological order, including the date and time of day the events happened
• The generals and leaders of each army at the battle.
• One or two photographs from Selected Civil War Photographs 1861­ - 1865, an archive of photos from the Library of Congress.
• Include at least one map of the battle to explain the action to the class. You should show starting troop positions, fortifications, physical features and landmarks, and troop movements in the battle. The American Memory Collection also hosts a Civil War Maps Collection. PBS also has a series of Civil War Maps.
• What was the significance of this battle on the course of the War?
• Be sure to include an eyewitness account, using a primary source such as a journal of a soldier or general, newspaper report, etc.

The following National Park Service site is good for basic facts about the battle – casualties,
campaign, etc.
 http://www.nps.gov/history/hps/abpp/civil.htm
This National Park Service site gives you links to some of the battlegrounds that are now national parks, which then have more information.
http://www.nps.gov/history/history/categrs/mili2.htm

This site has most of the battles presented in Flash animations. It will show movements of troops and
key events of the battle. It also has buttons you can click for other information about the battle.
http://civilwaranimated.com/

This site is good for finding primary sources, official military records, officers reports, etc.http://www.civilwarhome.com/records.htm

The Library of Congress site is good for searching
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html

or there are special collections of maps:
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/civil_war_maps/
and an even better map site - Civil War Trust  

and of photos:
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/cwphtml/cwphome.html 

A good information source - Virtual Reference Center Type in the location of your battle, ie. Vicksburg  

More links than you should ever need can be found here on the American Civil War Homepage.  Battles are near the bottom of the very long page.

A major resource for your research will be Joyce Valenza's and Len Arlen's Webquest Resources Page.  Use their free links - the others belong to the school they work for.

Primary Resources can be found using the following page of links: 

Teacher Oz's Civil War Page 

Other resources are (passwords are available on Edline) : 

 All pictures on this page are from Britannica.