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Shots Fired at Fort Sumter
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The Confederate army defeats the Union army at the First Battle of Bull Run in Virginia
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The ironclad ships USS Monitor and CSS Virginia battle, ending in a draw
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Casualties total 26,000 in the Battle of Antietam. Lee's invasion of the North ends in retreat
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President Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation. This document eventually free all slaves
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The Union army defeats the Confederate army at the Battle of Gettysburg. This is the turning point of the war.
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Confederate troops surrender the town of Vicksburg after 40 days of nonstop cannon assaults from Union troops.
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President Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address at the dedication of a national cemetery on the site of the battlefield in Gettysburg.
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The Union army captures Atlanta, Georgia. The city is burned to the ground by Sherman's troops
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President Lincoln is reelected
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Confederate General Lee surrenders to Union General Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia
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Before President Lincoln can help restore the South to the Union, he is assassinated.