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The South secedes
The southern states of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia join South Carolina in seceding from the Union. These eventually formed the Confederate States. A bit after they had declared their secession, the Battle of Fort Sumter occurred, which was the start of the Civil War. -
Lincoln’s Inauguration
Lincoln's inaugural address was stirring. He appealed for the preservation of the Union. To retain his support in the North without further alienating the South, he called for compromise. He promised he would not initiate force to maintain the Union or interfere with slavery in the states in which it already existed. He was quickly put in charge of the nation. -
April 12, 1861The Battle of Fort Sumter
Fort Sumter was a federal ports in the southern US. President Lincoln declared that the Union would hold on to these two ports after the succession. On April 10, 1861 the Confederates demanded evacuation of the post by the Union troops. When they refused, the Confederated attacked Fort Sumter and the next day it was captured by the Confederacy. President Lincoln called on state militias to put down the rebellion. This caused more states to leave the Union, and marked the beginning of the war. -
The First Battle of Bull Run
This was the first big land battle of the Civil War. The battle came about as a result of a Union drive to try and take Richmond, Virginia, the capital of the Confederate states, as it was felt that taking the city would mean an early end to the uprising. The First Battle of Bull Run was significant for its fighting, and the high casualty rate. It was the first indication that the Civil War would be a long and brutal journey. -
Battles of Fort Henry and Fort Dunelson in Tennessee
General Ulysses S. Grant would achieve the first in what would become a long journey of victories. His capture of Forts Henry and Donelson in Tennessee would begin a string of major Union victories in the Western Theater that would run uninterrupted until Chickamauga. His call for a surrender at Fort Donelson would stir the imagination of the North and give them their first true hero of the war. However, these victories would serve as one of the many turning points of the of the war. -
Peninsular Campaign
In the Peninsula Campaign of spring 1862, Union general George B. McClellan failed in his plan to capture the Confederate capital and bring a quick end to the conflict. But the campaign saw something new in the war--the participation of African Americans in ways that were critical to the Union offensive. Ultimately, that participation influenced Lincoln's decision to issue the Emancipation Proclamation at the end of that year. -
Battle of the Monitor and Merrimack
The Battle of Hampton Roads was the most famous and well-known naval battles of the Civil War. It was the first battle between two ironclad ships, the Monitor and the Merrimack. In the end, no one claimed was claimed victorious. However, this battle received nationwide attention and revolutionized how warships were built. It also was the beginning of the success of the United States Navy. -
Battle of Shiloh
It played a relatively important role in Union progress in the western theater and the Union victory gave Tennessee to the North. This eventually led to the Confederate loss at Vicksburg, which was crucial to the Federal strategy of capturing the Mississippi River and thus dividing the South in half. Both sides suffered heavy losses and the level of violence surprised both the North and the South. -
Capture of New Orleans
The capture of New Orleans by Union forces was a major turning point in the war. New Orleans was the Confederacy’s largest city. Its location at the mouth of the Mississippi River allowed for a trading location with a powerful and economical port. -
The Battle of Antietam
The battle that ensued remains the bloodiest single day for US troops in American military history. Also, the strategic Union victory, resulting in the expulsion of General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia from Maryland and the North had immense consequences. Most importantly, it set the stage for President Abraham Lincoln’s issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation, the executive order that led to the freeing of the slaves. -
Emancipation Proclamation
The effect of the Emancipation Proclamation was to free only slaves in states still in rebellion. Slaves in states that had not seceded or that had been brought under Union control (Tennessee and parts of Louisiana and Virginia) were not affected. The move was politically risky for Lincoln, who knew he might lose the 1864 election by alienating Northern Democrats who wanted to save the Union but did not necessarily support abolition. -
The Battle of Chancellorsville
This battle was considered by many historians to be Lee’s greatest victory. At the same time, the South lost one of its greatest strategic minds with the death of Stonewall Jackson. This five day battle marked the beginning of the end for the commanders of the army of North Virginia. -
The Battle of Vicksburg
In May of 1863, Major Gen. Ulysses S. Grant’s armies converged on Vicksburg, investing the city and trapping Confederate army under Lt. Gen. John Pemberton. July 4, Vicksburg surrendered after prolonged siege operations. This was one of the smartest military campaigns of the war. With this vital stronghold on the Mississippi, the Confederacy was effectively split in half. Grant's successes in the West boosted his reputation, leading to his appointment as General-in-Chief of the Union armies. -
Battle of Gettysburg
The Union mustered new armies and tried again. Believing that the North’s defeat at Chancellorsville gave him a chance, Lee struck northward into Pennsylvania. A strong Union force interrupted him at Gettysburg, where, in a 3-day battle- the largest of the Civil War- the Confederates made an effort to break the Union lines. They failed and on July 4th Lee’s army retreated. This was the turning point of the war. It showed that the South could never make another offensive move. -
The Battle of Chickamauga
The Battle of Chickamauga marked the end of a union offensive between Tennessee and Georgia called the Chickamauga Campaign. The battle was the most significant Union defeat in the Western Theatre of the American Civil War. The Confederate victory by Gen. Braxton Bragg’s Army of Tennessee at Chickamauga left Gen. William S. Rosecrans’ Union Army of the Cumberland trapped in Chattanooga, Tennessee under Confederate siege. -
The Siege in Atlanta
Sherman and his forces defeat the Confederates in Atlanta. This boosted the northern moral since they had pulled off a victory. They had burned everything in the South, which completely destroyed their economy. This sets the tone for the end of the Civil War, as it soon comes to a close. -
The Election of 1864
The Presidential Election of 1864 took place during the American Civil War. It may be the earliest example of a national election in a democracy during such a war. The Republican Party nomination went to Abraham Lincoln for reelection. The Democratic Party went a different route in nominating General Gorge B. McClellan, a war general and one of the leading men of Lincoln’s Union Army. The race between Lincoln and McClellan was not close. Lincoln was victorious. -
The Surrender at Appomattox Courthouse
Lee forced to surrender making it the end of four years of bloody sectional conflict. Virginia signaled the end of the Southern States attempt to create a separate nation. It set the stage for the emergence of an expanded and more powerful federal government. In a sense the struggle over how much power the central government would hold had been settled. The Union lost 164 soldiers. The Confederate had 500 soldiers that were killed and wounded and 27,805 surrendered and paroled. -
Lincoln's Assassination
Lincoln was the first American president to be assassinated. His assassination had a long-lasting impact upon the United States, and he was mourned throughout the country in both the North and South. Andrew Johnson became President upon Lincoln's death, which ultimatley sets the tone for a new United States. His small adaptations of Lincoln's Reconstruction Plan were now to come but lead to tension with Congress. -
Ratification of the 13th Amendment
The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, officially ending the institution of slavery, is ratified. The ratification came 8 months after the end of the war, but it represented the culmination of the struggle against slavery. In 1864, Lincoln's victory set in motion the events leading to ratification of the amendment. The House passed the measure in January 1865 and it was sent to the states for ratification. This change brought by the Civil War was officially noted in the Constitution.
