Civil War: 1865

Civil War: 1865 is a strategy game about the final campaigns of the American Civil War. You command Union or Confederate forces in battles across the closing months of the war, as Union armies advance through the Carolinas and pursue Lee’s forces along the Appomattox River.

The final campaigns

After Columbia and Charleston fell to the Union in early 1865, Jefferson Davis belatedly gave General Lee supreme command of the army. Union forces pressed through North Carolina, capturing Fayetteville, Bentonville, Goldsboro and Raleigh by mid-April. On March 25, Lee’s exhausted forces attacked and captured Fort Stedman, but a rapid counterattack reversed the victory. The Confederates evacuated Richmond on the night of April 2, and the Union army pursued them for most of the next week, leaving little chance of escape. Grant accepted Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Court House on April 9; Sherman accepted Johnston’s surrender at Durham Station, North Carolina, on April 26, ending the war and slavery in the United States.

Campaigns and battles

The game includes a 7-mission tutorial campaign, a 5-mission Twilight Campaign and an 8-mission Dissolution Campaign. The Twilight Campaign includes Fort Fisher, Monroe’s Crossroads, Averasboro, Bentonville and Fort Stedman. The Dissolution Campaign includes Lewis Farm, White Oak Road, Selma, Sutherland Station and Namozine Church. There is also an optional hypothetical mission based on a breakout from Richmond.

You can play every mission except the tutorial missions as either the Union or the Confederacy.

Units and tactics

The game features eight unique Civil War units: infantry with smoothbore muskets, infantry with rifled muskets, artillery, generals, and dismounted and mounted cavalry. You can change unit formations and tactics, and generals can attach to units to increase their morale. Veteran units are more capable, while raw units are unreliable.

Difficulty and analysis

Three difficulty settings let you adjust the challenge. Detailed combat analysis reports on the fighting.