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abraham lincolnabraham wins the presidential election. -
south carolina
South Carolina officially secedes from the Union, becoming the first state to do so. -
MississippiMississippi secedes from the Union.
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FloridaFlorida secedes from the Union.
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alabama Alabama secedes from the Union.
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georgia Georgia secedes from the Union.
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The Confederate ironclad USS Merrimac battles the Union ironclad USS Monitor in Chesapeake Bay. The battle is a draw but it makes wooden ships obsolete and ushers in the era of steel warships, changing naval warfare forever.
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Ulysses S. Grant
Union General Ulysses S. Grant's forces are surprised at the town of Shiloh in Tennessee. The ensuing battle results in 13,000 Union and 10,000 Confederate casualties, more than in all previous American wars combined. -
Robert E. Lee
General Robert E. Lee assumes command of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. -
potomac riverOver the course of seven days, General Robert E. Lee attacks George McClellan's Union Army of the Potomac near Richmond, Virginia. Huge casualties cause McClellan to withdraw north towards Washington.
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emancipation proclamationLincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation. It frees all slaves in territory captured by the Union Army, and orders the enlistment of black soldiers. From this point forward, the Civil War is a war over slavery.
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service in the armyCongress enacts the first draft in American history, requiring every man to serve in the army unless he can furnish a substitute or pay the government $300. These escape provisions are wildly unpopular with workers and recent immigrants, and lead to draft riots in New York and other northern cities.
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chancellorsville battleOver the course of three days, General Robert E. Lee divides his army in the face of a larger enemy, and manages to defeat the Union Army led by "Fighting" Joe Hooker. The North suffers 17,000 casualties, the South 13,000.
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stonewall jackson diesConfederate General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson dies from wounds sustained when he is mistakenly shot by his own troops at Chancellorsville.
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appointed leader of the union armyLincoln appoints Ulysses S. Grant commander of all Union armies, ending his long search for a decent general to command northern forces. General William T. Sherman takes over as commander in the West.
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virginia campaignBeginning a drive aimed at ending the war, Ulysses S. Grant and 120,000 troops march south towards Richmond, the Confederate capital. Over the course of the next six weeks, a brutal war of attrition results in the deaths of nearly 50,000 Union soldiers.
