The most important generals in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War were:
- Ulysses S. Grant
- George B. McClellan
- Irvin McDowell
- John Pope
- Ambrose Burnside
- George G. Meade
- Robert E. Lee
- P. Beauregard
- Joseph Jhonston
- James Longstreet
- Stonewall Jackson
- A. P. Hill
- Jubal Early
In the Western Theater, the most prominent generals were:
- Ulysses S. Grant
- Henry Halleck
- William Sherman
- George Thomas
- Don Carlos Buell
- William Rosecrans
- James McPherson
- Albert Sidney Johnson
- P. Beauregard
- Joseph Jhonston
- Braxton Bragg
- John Bell Hood
- Nathan Bedford Forrest
- Edmund Kirby Smith
In the Trans-Mississippi, the most notable generals were:
- Nathaniel Banks
- James Blunt
- Edward Canby
- Samuel Curtis
- John Frémont
- Nathaniel Lyon
- John Pope
- William Rosecrans
- John Schofield
- Edmund Kirby Smith
- Teophilus Holmes
- Richard Taylor
- Thomas Hindman
- John Magruder
- Sterling Price
- Earl Van Dorn
- Benjamin McCulloch
- Stand Watie
Some of the key battles of the war were:
The Battle of Fort Sumter: it took place on April 12 1861 and was the first engagement between both armies.
The Battle of Glorieta Pass (March 1862), which the Union Army won against the Confederates and prevented the South from occupying California.
The Battle of Gettysburg (July 1st - 3rd 1863): considered as a turning point in the Civil War, Southern General Lee was defeated by the Union Army.