American Civil War course of four years. Intense combat left 620,000 to 750,000 people dead, more than the number of U.S. military deaths in all other wars combined. The war ended when General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant at the Battle of Appomattox Court House. Confederate generals throughout the southern states followed suit. Much of the South's infrastructure was destroyed, especially the transportation systems. The Confederacy collapsed, slavery was abolished, and four million black slaves were freed. During the Reconstruction Era that followed the war, national unity was slowly restored, the national government expanded its power, and civil rights
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in the American Civil War Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in the American Civil War Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, during the American Civil War was the capital of the second largest state in the Union. Located at the intersection of important railroads, Harrisburg was an important supply and logistics center for the dissemination and transportation of materiel for Northern armies. Tens of thousands of new recruits were mustered into service and/or drilled at a series of Harrisburg-area United States Army training camps, including the sprawling Camp Curtin. Confederate forces under Lieutenant General Richard S. Ewell threatened Harrisburg during the June 1863 Gettysburg Campaign, but did not launch any serious efforts