anaconda plan 	Winfield Scott’s plan (named after a snake that smothers prey in its coils) to blockade southern ports and take control of the Mississippi River, thus splitting the Confederacy, cutting off southern trade, and causing an economic collapse.
Andersonville 	Confederate prisoner of war camp in northern Georgia where some fourteen thousand Union prisoners died of disease and malnutrition.
Andrew Johnson 	Tennessee senator who became Lincoln’s running mate in 1864 and who succeeded to the presidency after Lincoln’s assassination.
Antietam Creek 	Site of a battle that occurred in September 1862 when Lee’s forces invaded Maryland; both sides suffered heavy losses, and Lee retreated into Virginia.
Army of the Potomac 	Army created to guard the U.S. capital after the Battle of Bull Run in 1861; it became the main Union army in the East.
Battle of Shiloh 	Battle in Tennessee in April 1862 that ended with an unpursued Confederate withdrawal; both sides suffered heavy casualties for the first time, but neither side gained ground.
belligerent status 	Recognition that a participant in a conflict is a nation engaged in warfare rather than a rebel against a legally constituted government; full diplomatic recognition is one possible outcome.
brigade 	A military unit consisting of two or more regiments and composed of between 1,500 and 3,500 men.
Bull Run 	A creek in Virginia not far from Washington, D.C., where Confederate soldiers forced federal troops to retreat in the first major battle of the Civil War, fought in July 1861.
Chancellorsville 	Site in Virginia where in May 1863 Confederate troops led by Lee defeated a much larger Union force.
Clara Barton 	Organizer of a volunteer service to aid sick and wounded Civil War soldiers; she later founded the American branch of the Red Cross.
Cold Harbor 	Site at which Grant ordered a doomed assault on Lee’s center that cost enormous Union casualties, one of a series of battles in the spring of 1864 in which Grant, accepting unspeakable carnage, tried to maneuver his army past Lee’s.
Conscription Act 	Law passed by Congress in 1863 that established a draft but allowed wealthy people to escape it by hiring a substitute or paying the government a $300 fee.
contrabands 	Term coined by Gen. Benjamin F. Butler to describe fugitive slaves who sought refuge among Union troops in the South.
Copperheads 	Derogatory term (the name of a poisonous snake) applied to northerners who supported the South during the Civil War.
Emancipation Proclamation 	Lincoln’s order abolishing slavery as of January 1, 1863, in states “in rebellion” but not in border territories still loyal to the Union.
Fredericksburg 	Site in Virginia of a Union defeat in December 1862 that demonstrated the incompetence of the new Union commander, Ambrose E. Burnside.
George B. McClellan 	U.S. general tapped by Lincoln to organize the Army of the Potomac; a skillful organizer but slow and indecisive as a field commander. He replaced Winfield Scott, who retired at the end of 1861, as general in chief of Union forces.
Gettysburg 	Site in Pennsylvania where in July 1863 Union forces under General George Meade defeated Lee’s Confederate forces, turning back Lee’s invasion of the North.
Gettysburg Address 	A speech given by Abraham Lincoln on November 19, 1863, dedicating a national cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania; it expressed Lincoln’s maturing view of the war and its purpose.
greenbacks 	Paper money issued by the Union; it was not backed by gold.
hang in effigy 	To hang, as if on a gallows, a crude likeness or dummy—an effigy—representing a hated person.
Homestead Act 	Law passed by Congress in 1862 that promised ownership of 160 acres of public land to any citizen or would-be citizen who lived on and cultivated the land for five years.
Horace Greeley 	Journalist and politician who helped found the Republican Party; his newspaper, the New York Tribune, was known for its antislavery stance.
John Wilkes Booth 	Actor and southern sympathizer who on April 14, 1865, five days after Lee’s surrender, fatally shot President Lincoln at Ford’s Theater in Washington.
March to the Sea 	Sherman’s march through Georgia from Atlanta to Savannah in late 1864, during which Union soldiers carried out orders to destroy everything in their path.
ordnance 	Weapons, ammunition, and other military equipment.
Peninsular Campaign 	McClellan’s attempt in the spring and summer of 1862 to capture Richmond by advancing up the peninsula between the James and York Rivers; Confederate forces under Robert E. Lee drove his troops back.
percussion cap 	A thin metal cap containing an explosive compound, needed to fire the guns used in the Civil War.
pig iron 	Crude iron, direct from a blast furnace, that is cast into rectangular molds called pigs in preparation for conversion into steel, cast iron, or wrought iron.
Radical Republicans 	Republican faction that tried to limit presidential power and enhance congressional authority during the Civil War; Radicals opposed moderation toward the South or any toleration of slavery.
revenue cutter 	A small, lightly armed boat used by government customs agents to apprehend merchant ships violating customs laws.
rifled 	Having a series of spiral grooves inside the barrel of a gun that cause the projectile to spin, giving it greater range and accuracy.
Second Battle of Bull Run 	Union defeat near Bull Run in August 1862; Union troops led by John Pope were outmaneuvered by Lee.
Thomas J. Jackson 	Confederate general nicknamed “Stonewall”; he commanded troops at both battles of Bull Run and was mortally wounded by his own soldiers at Chancellorsville in 1863.
total war 	War waged with little regard for the welfare of troops on either side or for enemy civilians; the objective is to destroy both the human and the economic resources of the enemy.
Twenty Negro Law 	Confederate law that exempted planters owning twenty or more slaves from the draft on the grounds that overseeing farm labor done by slaves was necessary to the war effort.
typhoid fever 	An infectious disease transmitted through contact with contaminated water, milk, or food; causes severe intestinal distress and high fever.
Ulysses S. Grant 	U.S. general who, after a series of victories in the Mississippi Valley, became general in chief of the Union army in 1864; he later became president of the United States.
United States Sanitary Commission 	Government commission established by Abraham Lincoln to improve public health conditions in military camps and hospitals.
vanguard 	The foremost unit in any army advancing into battle.
Vicksburg 	City that was key to control of the Mississippi River, held by the Confederates until mid-1863.
William Tecumseh Sherman 	U.S. general who supported Grant in the West; later captured Atlanta, Georgia, and led a destructive march to the Atlantic coast.