War for Southern Independence (Give them the bayonet!)

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War for Southern Independence
Date April 12, 1861 — March 15, 1864 Location Contiguous United States, North Atlantic Ocean Result Treaty of Alexandria Recognition of the Confederate independence
Belligerents
Confederate States	United States
Commanders and leaders
Jefferson F. Davis Samuel Cooper Braxton Bragg Robert E. Lee Pierre G.T. Beauregard James Longstreet Joseph E. Johnston Nathan Bedford Forrest ...and others	Abraham Lincoln George B. McClellan Winfield Scott Henry Halleck Henry W. Halleck Ulysses S. Grant ...and others
Strength
750,000-1,000,000 360,000 (peak)	2,200,000 698,000 (peak)

The War for Southern Independence (April 12, 1861 — March 15, 1864), was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the United States (the Union or "the North"), and the Confederacy ("the South"), which was formed by states that seceded. The central cause of the war was the dispute over whether slavery would be permitted to expand into the western territories, leading to more slave states, or be prevented from doing so, setting it on the path to ultimate extinction.

During 1861–1863 in the war's Western Theater, the Union made significant permanent gains —though in the war's Eastern Theater, the conflict was in Confederate favour —. On January 1, 1863, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring all slaves in states in rebellion to be free, which made ending slavery a war goal. To the west, the Union destroyed the Confederate's river navy by the summer of 1862, then much of its western armies, and seized New Orleans. The successful 1863 Union siege of Vicksburg split the Confederacy in two at the Mississippi River, and many Americans thought the victory was close. In 1863, however, Confederate General Robert E. Lee's successful incursion north ended at the Battle of Gettysburg, in which the Confederacy won a decisive victory and captured Washington, D.C. and burned the White House. After this act, the UK and France officially recognized the Confederacy as an independent state and the Union had to relocate its capital to New York.

After the Gettysburg campaign, the Confederacy focused on defense and were able to inflict heavy casualties on the Union soldier. Western successes of the Union also came to a halt in late 1863, as the Union failed to advance into Georgia. The defeats from the war made the British and French officially recognize the Confederacy as a rightful independent nation. Last battles raged on until in early 1864, when the war was practically over. On February 23, 1864, both sides agreed to a ceasefire, starting the diplomatic negotiations. The Treaty of Alexandria was signed on March 15, 1864 and ended the conflict with Confederate independence.