 Ramba uchinyora ndima iyi - Kuenzaniswa neEastern Theater yehondo, Lincoln akashandisa kudzora kusiri kwakananga pamabasa akaitika kumadokero kweMakomo eAppalachian. Pakupera kwa1861, Lincoln akarayira Don Carlos Buell, mutungamiri weDhipatimendi reOhio, naHenry Halleck, mutsivi waFremont semutungamiri weDhipatimendi reMissouri, kuti vabatanidze rutsigiro neUnited States muKentucky neEastern Tennessee. Mukuru mukuru Ulysses S. Grant akakurumidza kuwana ngwariro yaLincoln, achikunda kukunda kwekutanga kukuru kweUnion paHondo yeFort Henryuye kuwana mukurumbira wenyika yose nokukunda kwake paHondo yeFort Donelson. MaConfederates akadzingwa kubva kuMissouri pakutanga kwehondo semhedzisiro yeKurume 1862 Hondo yePear Ridge. Muna April 1862, mauto eU.S. Naval aitungamirirwa naDavid Farragut akatora guta rinokosha rechiteshi chengarava reNew Orleans. Grant akakundazve muhondo yeShilo neVicksburg, iyo yakasimbisa kutonga kweUnited of the Mississippi River uye inoonekwa seimwe yenzvimbo dzakakosha dzehondo. Muna Gumiguru 1863, Lincoln akagadza Grant semutungamiri weDhivhizheni yeMississippi ichangobva kugadzirwa, achimupa mutungamiri weWestern Theater. Grant nevakuru vakuru Hooker, George H. Thomas, naWilliam Tecumseh Sherman vakatungamira mubatanidzwa kune kumwe kukunda kukuru muhondo yechitatu yeChattanooga munaNovember, vachidzinga mauto eConfederate kubva kuTennessee. Kutorwa kweChattanooga kwakasiya Georgia isina kudzivirirwa pakurwiswa, ichisimudza mukana wekufamba kweUnion kuenda kuAtlantic Ocean, iyo yaizopatsanura Confederacy. 