The Civil War was fought between 1861-1865 and resulted from decades of tensions between the northern and southern states over slavery and states' rights. The election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 prompted several southern states to secede and form the Confederate States of America. Major battles like Gettysburg and Vicksburg in 1863 were turning points that shifted momentum to the Union. The war ended in April 1865 with Confederate General Robert E. Lee's surrender to Union General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House in Virginia. Over 360,000 Union soldiers and 258,000 Confederate soldiers lost their lives in the war.