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The Confederacy forms.
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Four more states join the Confederacy.
Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Arkansas join after President Lincoln issues a call for troops to save the Union. -
First Battle of Bull Run (Manassas)
date is 7/21. First major battle of the Civil War. 30,000 inexperienced Union Troops lead by McDowell. Attacked a smaller Confederate force lead by General P.G.T. Beauregard. -
Confederate forces total 112,000; Union: 187,000.
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Union Congress passes Income Tax.
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Grant captures Fort Henry and Fort Donelson.
Grant became the North's new hero and the victories drove the Confederates out of Kentucky, where the South had been trying to persuade the Kentuckians to secede. -
Monitor vs. Merrimack
Neither could sink each other, but the Union Monitor succeeded in keeping the Merrimack in the harbor. -
Battle of Shiloh
Two day battle. Grant is the Union commander and P.G.T. Beauregard Confederate. Confederates launched a surprise attack on Union troops. Union victory. 20,000 casualties. Union forces gained control of Cornith, Memphis and Tennessee. -
Confederate Congress passes Draft Law.
Men ages 18-35 had to serve for at least 3 years. -
New Orleans falls.
Union naval forces under David Farragut capture New Orleans. Gave Union control of almost all of the Mississippi. -
Battle of Antietam.
Union General McClellan got intelligence about Lee's surprise attack. McClellan was overly cautious and waited too long to attack Lee. Single bloodiest day of the war. Union victory, technically. McClellan replaced by Ambrose Burnside. -
African-Americans allowed to serve in the Union army.
At first, they received lower pay and no guns. -
Lee wins the Battle of Fredericksburg.
Union General Ambrose Burnside resigns after his defeat and is replaced by Joseph Hooker. -
Lincoln signs the Emancipation Proclamation
Didn't actually free anybody at all. -
Union passes Draft Law.
Age 20-45. A person could avoid the draft by hiring a substitute or paying the government $300. -
West Virginia joins the Union.
48 Virginia counties organize themselves as a separate state. -
Battle of Gettysburg
General Meade vs. Lee. Union victory, three day battle. Lee ordered General Pickett to lead unsuccesful "Pickett's Charge" where about 14,000 Confederate soldiers advanced against open groud and less than half survived. -
Nearly half of the Massachusetts 54th Regiment is wiped out.
They spearheaded a nearly impossible attack on a Confederate fort near Charleston. Their bravery won respect for African-American troops. -
Angry mobs oppose the draft in New York City
Also fighting to free African-Americans. Killed more than 100 people after four days of terror. -
Gettysburg Address
Lincoln's two minute speech that expressed what the war had come to mean. It was a political tactic. -
Grant takes over Union command.
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Lee surrenders to Grant.
Surrendered at small Virginia village called Appomattox Courhouse. Grant's terms were Confederate soldiers had to lay down their arms, but were then free to go home. Grant allowed them to keep their horses, and ordered three days' worth of food to be sent to the hungry troops. -
Congress passed the 13th Amendment.
It was ratified the same year by states in the Union and it ACTUALLY freed the slaves.