Original: April 5 & ndash; American Civil War & ndash; Battle of Yorktown: The battle begins when Union forces under General George B. McClellan close in on the Confederate capital Richmond, Virginia.
Simplified: September 5-American Civil War: In the Confederacys first invasion of the North, General Robert E. Lee leads 55,000 men of the Army of Northern Virginia across the Potomac River at Whites Ford near Leesburg, Virginia into Maryland.