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1st Battle of Bull Run/ Manassas Junction
It was the first major land battle of the American Civil War. Both sides were so shredded they realized the war would potentially be much longer and bloodier than they had originally anticipated. -
George B. McClellan named general of Army of Potomac
His military command style, however, put him at odds with President Abraham Lincoln, and would ultimately upset his military and political fortunes. Nicknamed "Young Napoleon," "Little Mac" was popular with the men who served under his command. -
Battle of Shiloh/ Pittsburg Landing
Pittsburg Landing was another name for the Battle of Shiloh. It was a two day battle that ended with the Confederates being defeated. -
Battle of 2nd Bull Run/ Manassas
The Second Battle of Bull Run was one of the most significant Confederate victories of the American Civil War. It was held on the same grounds as the First Battle of Bull Run. -
Battle of Antietam/ Sharpsburg
It was the first major battle in the American Civil War to take place on Union soil. It was the bloodiest single-day battle in American history, with about 23,000 casualties -
Battle of Fredericksburg
On December 15, Burnside withdrew his army, ending another failed Union campaign in the Eastern Theater. The Battle was fought in and around Fredericksburg, Virginia -
Emancipation Proclamation issued
The Emancipation Proclamation is an executive order, hand written by Abe Lincoln. It proclaimed the freedom of slaves in the ten states then in rebellion, thus applying to 3.1 million of the 4 million slaves in the U.S. at that time -
Battle of Chancellorville/ death of stonewall Jackson
Two related battles were fought nearby on May 3 in the vicinity of Fredericksburg. The Battle of Chancellorsville was a major battle of the American Civil War, and the principal engagement of the Chancellorsville Campaign -
Battle of Gettysburg
The battle with the largest number of casualties in the American Civil War, it is often described as the war's turning point. On the second day of battle, most of both armies had assembled. The battle lasted from July 1-3 1863 -
Surrender of Vicksburg
When two major assaults (May 19 and May 22, 1863) against the Confederate fortifications were repulsed with heavy casualties, Grant decided to besiege the city beginning on May 25. With no reinforcement, supplies nearly gone, and after holding out for more than forty days, the garrison finally surrendered on July 4. -
Gettysburg Address
The Gettysburg Address is a speech by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln and is one of the most well-known speeches in United States history. The speech lasted a little over 2 minutes. -
Grant named general of Army of Potomac
Grant directed Sherman to drive through the South while he himself, with the Army of the Potomac, pinned down Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. -
Sherman's march to sea
The campaign began with Sherman's troops leaving the captured city of Atlanta, Georgia, on November 16 and ended with the capture of the port of Savannah on December 21.
Sherman's March to the Sea is the name commonly given to the Savannah Campaign -
Lee surrenders to grant
With his army surrounded, his men weak and exhausted, Robert E. Lee realized there was little choice but to consider the surrender of his Army to General Grant. After a series of notes between the two leaders, they agreed to meet on April 9, 1865, at the house of Wilmer McLean in the village of Appomattox Courthous -
Assasination of Lincoln
He was shot by John Wilks Booth. While sitting in a theater watching a play.