American Civil War
The American Civil War was a conflict that occurred between the United States of America – generally referred to as "The Union" during the war years – and the Confederate States of America – or "The Confederacy" for short – in the 19th century on Earth in North America.

In the conflict, the Confederate States attempted to secede from the United States, but were eventually defeated by Union forces.

History 
Despite coming at a time before mankind had learned to resolve disputes without bloodshed, the outcome of the civil war, nevertheless, brought about an end to slavery and oppression (), though at a cost as it was described as "the four bloodiest years" of United States history. ()

In anticipation of an Union victory, the end of slavery was formalized by the Emancipation Proclamation issued by President of the United States Abraham Lincoln, while the war was still raging. ()

General Ulysses S. Grant served as the commanding officer of the Union Armies during the Civil War, a position granted to him by President Abraham Lincoln, concurrently serving as the commander in chief, but who was assassinated shortly before the conclusion of the war. While generally described as a gentle man, Lincoln gave orders that sent "a hundred thousand men to their death at the hands of their brothers". ()

Another Union commander of note had been Grant's trusted subordinate Lieutenant General William T. Sherman, who commanded the Union Armies on the western front. () The Confederate Armies on the opposite side were commanded by, among others, Generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson. ()

Colonel Thaddius Riker, distant ancestor of William T. Riker, also fought in the conflict in the Union Army. Colonel Riker commanded the 102nd New York Infantry during Sherman's March on Atlanta on Atlanta. During the campaign, Colonel Riker was wounded at the Battle of Pine Mountain, Georgia. () William Riker has named his son after his Civil War-era ancestor. ()

During the war, the Union Army utilized observation balloons that were tethered at around six hundred feet high. ()

The war also introduced technological innovations in the field of naval warfare, as both sides experimented with the novel ironclad warships, which resulted for the Confederacy in the  and for the Union side in, among others, the , these two actually pitted against each other during the Battle of Hampton Roads. () Other Union ironclads were employed during the Battle of Fort Hindman. ()

It was followed by a second civil war in the 21st century. ()

After Captain Jonathan Archer and his crew of the  had restored a damaged timeline in 1944/2154, a scene from the American Civil War could be seen in the time stream as the timeline realigned itself; watched by Archer, the scene showed Confederate Army cavalry attacking an Union Army artillery position during an otherwise unspecified engagement. ()

A century later, in 2254, the library computer of the , then commanded by Captain Christopher Pike, was accessed by the Talosians when the ship was sent to Talos IV in response to a distress call. Unable to stop them from doing so, imagery the Talosians accessed included that from the Civil War, featuring, among others, President Lincoln, the Emancipation Proclamation, and the Battle of Fort Hindman. ()

In 2267, Captain James T. Kirk and his landing party from the same USS Enterprise saw imagery from the same war via the Guardian of Forever, in which Union Army infantry was seen attacking, likewise from an otherwise unspecified engagement. () 

Two years, later Captain Kirk was more intimately reacquainted with the historical subject matter when the Excalbians confronted him with a  of his personal hero, Abraham Lincoln. Even though he knew this version of Lincoln not to be the actual one, he did receive him aboard Enterprise with full presidential honors, and it was during the subsequent discussions on, and with the recreation that the subject of the Civil War came up repeatedly. ()

in 2373, Q chose to use the American Civil War as an illusionary metaphor for their own Q Civil War, so that Captain Janeway could comprehend the conflict that raged within the Continuum at the time. () The Q Civil War incidentally, was sparked by one of its members, Quinn, who had committed suicide the year previously to prove a philosophical point. In one of his life's many exploits, Quinn had participated in the actual American Civil War as an Union officer, in the process saving Thaddeus Riker's life by carrying the wounded officer from the battlefield during the Battle of Pine Mountain – and thus ensuring William Riker's existence and that of his son, named after Thaddeus. ()

Major engagements 
 Battle of Fort Hindman
 Battle of Hampton Roads
 Battle of Pine Mountain
 Sherman's March on Atlanta

Appendices

Footnotes

Apocrypha 
In the Rihannsu novel The Romulan Way, Georgia native Leonard McCoy, using his Right of Statement, refers to the "War Between the States", an alternate name for the conflict sometimes used, especially in the states of the former Confederacy.

External links 
 
 

fr:Guerre de Sécession
nl:Amerikaanse burgeroorlog
de:Amerikanischer Bürgerkrieg
Earth conflicts