Civil War Battles

Web Quest
Section T/Group #4
Megan Barron
Joe Delinski
Katie Kennedy
Tyler Overstreet
Amy Starinieri
Battles of the Civil War: Web
Quest
• "So the case stands, and under
all the passion of the parties
and the cries of battle lie the
two chief moving causes of the
struggle. Union means so many
millions a year lost to the
South; secession means the
loss of the same millions to the
North. The love of money is the
root of this, as of many other
evils. The quarrel between the
North and South is, as it
stands, solely a fiscal quarrel."

• Charles Dickens,
"All The Year Round"
December 28, 1861
http://riverdaughter.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/civil-war-soldiers2.jpg
Introduction
• After decades of compromise and conflict, the economic
and political tension between the North and the South
reached its breaking point and seven southern states
seceded from the Union, marking the beginning of the
Civil War.

• On July 21, 1861, the first shots of the Civil War were
fired and the series of northern and southern battles
were underway. The fighting sustained until April 16,
1865.
The 1st Task at Hand:
• Using the internet, you will become familiar with the major
battles of the Civil War by exploring various websites.

• You will become acquainted with the:

o Dates
o Key figures
o Geographical location
o Major tactics
o and significance
of the Civil War battle that you are assigned.

• You are to compile the answers to these topics on a

worksheet that will be provided to you. You will use this
information later in Task #4.
Names of Civil War Battles
• When investigating your assigned battle, don’t be
confused if your battle has two different names:
o The North named the battle after the nearest landform
or landmark (i.e.: Rivers, creeks, bluffs, mountains)
o The South named the battle after the nearest town or
city.
• For example: The first battle of the Civil War is
called “The Battle of Bull Run” (North) and “The
Battle of Manassas” (South)
Group 1: The Battle of Bull Run/The
Battle of Manassas
• Use the following websites to research information about
The Battle of Bull Run/The Battle of Manassas:
• http://www.history.com/photos/civil-war-battles-of-bull-run
• http://www.nps.gov/mana/historyculture/first-manassas.ht
m
• http://www.historyanimated.com/BullRunAnimation.html
o (Make sure you look through all the tabs at the bottom of the
page)
• http://www.nps.gov/mana/index.htm
o (This site will help you with Task 3)
Battle of Bull Run/Battle of
Manassas

http://answersinhistory.files.wordpress.com/2007/02/bullrun.jpg
Group 2: Battle of Shiloh/Battle at
Pittsburgh Landing
• Use the following websites to research information
about The Battle of Shiloh/Battle at Pittsburgh
Landing:
• http://www.nps.gov/shil/index.htm 
o (Use the Tabs on the Left to Navigate Site)
o (Site will help with Task 3)
• http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/shiloh.htm
• http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/battle-of
-shiloh.htm
• http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/shiloh/shiloh-histo
ry-articles/battle-of-shiloh-shattering.html
]
 Battle of Shiloh/Battle at Pittsburgh
Landing

 
http://www.epicidiot.com/thisday/images/battle_of_shiloh_thulstrup.jpg
Group 3: Battle of Vicksburg
• Use the following websites to research information about
The Battle of Vicksburg:
• http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/civilwar/a/cwturningpts
_2.htm
• http://americancivilwar.com/vicks.html
• http://americancivilwar.com/statepic/ms/ms011.html
• http://www.historyanimated.com/VicksburgAnimation.html
• http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war/1863
/march/vicksburg-map.htm
Battle of Vicksburg
Group 4: Battle of Gettysburg
• Use the following websites to research information
about The Battle of Gettysburg
• http://americancivilwar.com/getty.html
• http://www.civilwarhome.com/gettysbu.htm 
• http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/gtburg.htm
• http://www.nps.gov/archive/gett/getttour/main-ms.htm
Battle of Gettysburg

http://ro3011.k12.sd.us/event/pics/battle%20pics/gettysburg.jpg
Group 5: Sherman’s March to the
Sea/Savannah Campaign
• Use the following websites to research information
about Sherman’s March to the Sea/Savannah
Campaign:
• http://www.history.com/topics/william-t-sherman/interacti
ves/shermans-march
o make sure to click the Savannah Campaign 
• http://www.history.com/topics/william-t-sherman
• http://www.pbs.org/civilwar/war/map18.html#
• http://www.mycivilwar.com/campaigns/641101.htm

-For task 2, use Savannah, Georgia as the site of the trip.  

Sherman’s March to the
Sea/Savannah Campaign
 
The 2nd Task at Hand:
• Once you have gathered the major facts on the
battle you researched, your next task is to find
out how to get to the geographical location of the
battle from our school as if we were to go on a
field trip to visit the battle site!
• You are to map out the trip from our school to the
battle site on a map of the United States.
Mapping Websites to Use:
• Use these sites to find driving directions to the
location of the battle site
• Each of these sites will ask you to put in the
starting point address and the destination
address
• Use the town and zip code of the city the battle
was in for the destination address
• http://www.mapquest.com/
• http://maps.google.com/
Further Location Exploration:
• If you’re interested in seeing the town the battle
took place in, consider using “Google Earth” to
take a look at the battle site today!
• http://earth.google.com/download-earth.html
• (Ask for instructions on how to download Google
Earth if your computer doesn’t already have it on
its desktop)
The 3rd Task at Hand:
• Once you have found directions to the battle site,
you will use internet tools to find out how many
miles away the location is, how many gallons of
gas the trip will require and how much money will
be needed to budget the trip.
Planning the Trip to the Battle
Sites
• Use these websites to find out:
• Road Trip Calculator: How many gallons of gas
you’ll need
• http://www.roadtripamerica.com/fuel-cost-
calculator.php
• Current Prices of Gas: Based on location
• http://gasprices.mapquest.com/?
cid=google&sem=1&ncid=MPQMAP001700000000
20&s_kwcid=TC|10782|current%20gas%20price||S|
b|3683761166
• How Many Miles to Your Destination: How much
gas will you need?
• http://www.mapquest.com/
 The 4th Task at Hand:
• Compile all of the information you’ve gathered on the Civil War battle you
researched on a large poster board that we’ve provided for you.
• The poster board should include:
o The key facts you found about the Civil War battle
o The map from our school to the Civil War battle site
o The budget plan for the trip including gas mileage and money
• Poster board will be graded on:
o Color, creativity (use of fonts/colors that pertain to the Civil War era),
use of images (of key figures, maps, etc.), accuracy, spelling and
grammar.
• Presentation will be graded on:
o Collaboration and inclusion of all members, a discussion on the facts
of the battle, the depth of understanding of its significance and the
ability to convince the class to take a field trip to the site.
o Make sure you focus on eye contact and appropriate voice volume.
Plan for our Web Quest
Activity

http://www.sandomenico.org/uploaded/photos/Library/civil_war.jpg
Plan for Web Quest Activity
• These tasks will take four days within our unit.
• This specific lesson will fall in the middle of our
Civil War unit, after the students have learned
the political, economic and social causes of the
Civil War.
• The students will already be familiar with Civil
War background and will have a basis of
understanding when investigating the Civil War
battles.
Day One
• On day one, following a lesson on Southern Secession
and Fort Sumter, the students will have the opportunity to
work in groups and investigate a battle of the Civil War in
depth.
• Students will be assigned to complete Task 1.
• There will be five groups of four or five students in each.
• Each group will be assigned a major Civil War battle and
research the battle using websites provided through the
Web Quest.
• Each student within the group will fill out a worksheet that
details exactly what information that they are to find using
the websites.
• Students will save those worksheets to complete Task 4.
Day Two
• On day two, the students will be given mapping websites
in order to map out the route from our school to the
battle site as if we were going on a field trip.
• The students will need to research our location as well
as the location of their site.
• Each student will be given a large map of the United
States in order to sketch the route from our school to the
site.
• This will give students a better understanding of where
the battle took place geographically in relation to where
they live which makes the connection to the material
more effective.
• If the students finish early, they may begin on Task 3.
Day Three
• After the students have found the location of their site
and mapped it out, they will be asked to budget the trip
from the school to the site of the battle.
• In their assigned groups, students will use websites that
allow them to research mileage, gas prices, and miles
per gallon in order to calculate the budget.
• This will be a life skills activity in which students can
apply this skill set to their every day lives when planning
trips or other events.
Day Four
• On day four, students will have the opportunity to
compile all of the information they researched in a
creative capacity.
• In their assigned groups, the students will have a large
poster board in which to put the information about their
battles (including images and maps), the map from our
school to the battle site as well as their budget plan for
the trip.
• This allows the students to showcase their work to
fellow classmates and have a culminating project in
which to connect all pieces of the Web Quest.
Conclusion
• After the completion of these Web Quest activities, students will
have gained a deeper understanding of the Civil War and the
significance of the battles in regards to the outcome of the Civil
War. The students will also be more geographically oriented
with the location of the battles in relation to their school which
establishes a greater connection between the students and the
material. Furthermore, the students will employ life skills by
using mapping websites that they can use in their daily lives
when researching directions. The application of this lesson will
also be beneficial as students learn how to budget funds for a
trip. In order to expand on the use of technology beyond
websites, is to have students download applications to their
iPod touch or iPads in order to budget the trip and find
directions. This will be beneficial for the students because it will
employ tools that they already readily use.
Conclusion (Cont’d)
• In order to make the lesson about the Civil War battles
more relevant for the students, we will discuss how the
battles of the Civil War were unique in regards to the
geographical location and tactics. We will compare the
Civil War to present day war tactics and how the world has
technologically advanced so as not to wage war in such a
destructive manner. We will also discuss the global
implications of present day warfare as opposed to a war
being fought on home soil. Hopefully the students will have
gained an appreciation for the unity of the United States
and understand that the significance of the battles dictated
an advantageous outcome for maintaining that unity.