-
Abraham Lincoln Elected President
Lincoln was elected President on November 6, 1860, and led the United States through the nation's greatest crisis, the Civil War. -
Attack on Fort Sumter
Confederate batteries opened fire on the fort, which was unable to reply effectively. At 2:30 p.m., April 13, Major Anderson surrendered Fort Sumter. -
First Battle of Bull Run
This was the first major land battle of the armies in Virginia. This battle convinced the Lincoln administration that the war would be a long and costly affair. -
Trent Affair
The Trent Affair was the diplomatic crisis that potentially brought Great Britain and the United States closest to war during the first year of the American Civil War. Although war seemed possible, both sides managed to avoid an armed conflict, and in the process gained greater confidence in one another. -
Battle of Pea Ridge
Occurring on March 7 and 8, 1862, Pea Ridge, also called Elkhorn Tavern, was a key Civil War battle in which American Indian troops first engaged in combat outside the Indian Territory. -
Battle of Shiloh
This battle could have been a huge victory for the Confederacy. However, with its loss and the immense loss of human life on both sides, leaders began to realize that the Civil War would not quickly end. -
Union Captures New Orleans
On May 1, Maj. Gen. Benjamin Franklin Butler’s army began landing at New Orleans and occupying the city. New Orleans, considered an international city and the largest city in the Confederacy, had fallen. The Union occupation of New Orleans was an event that had major international significance. -
The Battle of Seven Pines (Fair Oaks)
The Battle of Fair Oaks, or the Battle of Seven Pines, marked many epiphanies for both the Union and Confederate Armies. It was the last battle before the Peninsula Campaign became The Seven Days Retreat. It ended Joe Johnston's command of the Confederate Army of the Potomac and started Robert E. Lee's command of the Army of Northern Virginia. -
Second Battle of Bull Run
This was the decisive battle of the Northern Virginia Campaign.
In order to draw Pope’s army into battle, Jackson ordered an attack on a Federal column that was passing across his front on the Warrenton Turnpike on August 28 -
Battle at Fredericksburg
The Battle of Fredericksburg, fought December 11-15, 1862, was one of the largest and deadliest of the Civil War. It featured the first major opposed river crossing in American military history. -
Emancipation Proclamation
The Emancipation Proclamation did not at first declare all slaves free, though President Lincoln did encourage the southern states to free them. The proclamation is what led to the thirteenth amendment in the commandment, though, a year later declaring all slaves free. -
Battle of Chancellorville
This battle was unlike any other during the war. This was in part due to the maneuvering through what seemed to be landscape inpregnable to maneuver. The mind and methods of Napoleon Bonaparte also played a pivotal role. -
West Virginia Becomes a State
In 1863, West Virginia became 35th state admitted to the Union when it broke away from Confederate Virginia during the Civil War. When Virginia seceded from the Union in 1861, the western portion was against the action. -
Battle of Chickamauga
The Battle of Chickamauga, the biggest battle ever fought in Georgia, took place on September 18-20, 1863, during the Civil War. -
Battle of Chattanooga
The battle for Chattanooga was the turning point in the Civil War because it opened the doorway to the Union forces for invasion into the deep South at the last moment for making possible the capture of Atlanta in time to influence the 1864 congressional and presidential elections. -
Battle of Spotsylvania
The Battle of Spotsylvania was the second stage of U.S. Grant’s 1864 campaign against Robert E. Lee. -
Battle of Cold Harbor
On May 31, 1864, the Union army took over the crossroads at Cold Harbor, Virginia. They began building shallow trenches in which to take cover when the two armies engaged. They carried the new carbine repeating rifles which had become an important part of their weapons arsenal -
The Siege of Petersburg
Marching from Cold Harbor, Meade’s Army of the Potomac crossed the James River on transports and a 2,200-foot long pontoon bridge at Windmill Point. Butler’s leading elements crossed the Appomattox River at Broadway Landing and attacked the Petersburg defenses on June 15. -
Sherman's March to the Sea
Sherman presented Lincoln with Savannah, Georgia in what he called a ‘Christmas gift’. He was able to strike in the heart of the Confederacy. His victories along with those of the other Union commanders were the beginning of the end for the Confederacy. -
Assassination Of President Lincoln
While attending a special performance of the comedy, "Our American Cousin," President Abraham Lincoln was shot.
