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Abraham Lincoln is elected to the presidency. Despite having only 40% of the popular vote, he is able to defeat a North-South split Democratic Party. The South is furious at his election. And no less than six states have already seceeded in response to the abolitionist views of his party.
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Secession continues as the other Southern states respond to Lincoln's election. The first of these post-Lincoln secessions occurs in Texas on March 2. Virginia, Arkansas, Noth Carolina, and Tennessee seceed on April 17, May 6, May 20, and June 8, respectively.
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The South fires on Fort Sumter after the soldiers unside refuse to surrender the fort. After a bombardment, the soldiers capitulate. This event is the first battle of the Civil War.
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In response to the secession of the South and the attack on Fort Sumter, Lincoln calls for 75,000 volunteers to join the US Army to fight the Southern insurrection.
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Under pressure from Lincoln, General Irvin McDowell launches an assault directed at the Confederate capital of RIchmond. After intense fighting, especially at Henry House Hill, he is beaten by the forces of P. G. T. Bauregard and Joseph E. Johnston.
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George McClellan had previously been in charge of the Department of the Ohio, which was in charge of holding West Virginia. McClellan, a man only in his thirties, was now in charge of the whole US Army, second only to the president in his authority.
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The Union attacked Fort Henry on Feb 6, with its gunboats successfully bombarding it into submission. The USA then attacked Fort Donelson. Between Feb 11-15, the US ground troops fough for and seized the fort, despite its ability to deter naval bombardment.
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After the ironclad CSS Virginia (formerly the USS Merrimack) does significant damage to the Union fleet at Hampton Roads, the ironclad USS Monitor confronts it. The two do little damage to each other and they both break contact. Each side claims victory.
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Disgusted by McClellan's incompetence, Lincoln chooses John Pope to be the new commander.
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General Ulysses S. Grant is attacked near Pittsburg Landing by the Rebel Army while his men are eating breakfast. His troops are pushed back and Grant ends up sleeping under a tree that night. However, he counterattacks on April 7 and wins the day.
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The Union is defeated yet again when General Pope was lured into an attack and then flanked by the Confederates. Only a successful rarguard action allows an orderly retreat. Pope's career as second-in-command of all armed forces is destroyed here.
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Robert E. Lee takes command of the Army of Northern Virginia after Joseph E. Johnston is wounded. He will prove to be the most cunning of all the CSA's generals.
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After McCellan replaces Pope, Lee launcj=hes an offensive into the North. After the entire Confederate plan is found wrapped around three cigars, McClellan launches a vicious attack on Lee that ends the day with a blood-soaked stalemate.
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Angry at McClellan's failure to pursue Lee after he withdraws from Antietam, Lincoln fires him and picks Ambrose Burnside as the new commander.
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In an attempt to advance on Richmond, General Burnside attacks Fredericksburg in order to cross the Rappahannock RIver. The fighting includes one of the first examples of urban warfare and concludes in a Union defeat when they are repulsed in assaults on the Confederate position. Burnside gets fired and replaced with Joseph Hooker.
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US General Joseph "FIghting Joe" Hooker, the new commander of the Union forces, suffers an embarassing defeat when General Lee turns his pincer attack plan into a battle where Hooker is flanked and forced to retreat. Hooker gets fired. However, "Stonewall" Jackson is killed by friendly fire, which will come to haunt the Confederacy before long.
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Lee launches a sneak attack into the North and gets all the way to Gettysburg, where the Union Army, under General Meade, Hooker's replacement, intercepts him. There, Lee launches an offensive against the Union that almost succeeds. But, in the end, he loses, and the war will, from now on, go in the Union's favor.
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After a long seige, Vicksburg finally surrenders to U. S. Grant. The US now controls the entire Mississippi River.
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Atlanta surrenders to General William Tecumseh Sherman. Two months later, he burns the city to the ground.
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General Hood attempts to gain a decisive victory over Union forces in Tennessee while Sherman conducts his infamous March to The Sea. He is instead defeated and loses between a third and a half of his army.
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Lee abandons Petersburg after intense trench warfare and the treat of losing his supply lines and escape routes.
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After a brief battle, Lee agrees to surrender to Grant. He signs the surrender documents and, three days later, a formal surrender ceremony is conducted.
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On April 14, John Wilkes Booth, a well-known actor, shoots President Lincoln before fleeing the theater where the assassination took place. He is slain soon after, but his name will live in infamy forever more.
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After hearing of Lee's surrender, General Johnston calls an armistice with General Sherman on April 18. On the 26, he finally surrenders.
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The Thirteenth Amendment to the US Constitution is adopted. It bans slavery or involuntary servitude, except in the case of hard labor sentences for crimes. It ensures that Lincoln's promise in the Emancipation Proclamation is carried out.
