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Mississippi Senator Jefferson Davis presents resolutions to the Senate to affirm that the Federal government cannot only prohibit slavery in the territories, but must actually protect slaveholders there. -
The Constitutional Union Party was a United States third party active during the 1860 elections. -
Abraham Lincoln, a one-time U.S. representative from Illinois, is nominated for the U.S. presidency by the Republican National Convention meeting in Chicago, Illinois. -
The Democrat convention in Baltimore, MD, nominates Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois as its presidential candidate -
Lincoln is elected as President of the United States. -
President James Buchanan, meets with his cabinet to prepare for the annual State of the Union address to Congress. -
Pres. Buchanan delivers his State of the Union message to Congress that has convened on the previous day. -
The first Secession Convention meets in Columbia, South Carolina. -
In 1860, South Caroline officially breaks away from the United States of America. -
Pres. Buchanan replies to the South Carolina commisioners saying he cannot and will not withdraw the Federal troops from Charleston. -
Mississippi becomes the second state to secede from the Union. -
Florida is the third state to secede from the Union. Florida's secession happened a day after Mississippi's. -
Alabama becomes the fourth state to secede from the union. -
Jefferson Davis is appointed the first President of the Confederate States of America at Montgomery, Alabama, a position he will hold until elections can be arranged. -
Abraham Lincoln is inaugurated as the sixteenth president of the United States in Washington, DC. -
The opening scene of the war. -
President Lincoln issues a public declaration that an insurrection exists and calls for 75,000 militia to stop the rebellion. As a result of this call for volunteers, four additional southern states secede from the Union in the following weeks. Lincoln will respond on May 3 with an additional call for 43,000+ volunteers to serve for three years, expanding the size of the Regular Army. -
North Carolina officially secedes from Union. -
Confederate legislature agrees to move the capital to Richmond, Virginia. -
The first major battle of the Civil War. -
Surrender of Fort Henry, Tennessee. The loss of this southern fort on the Tennessee River opened the door to Union control of the river. -
Surrender of Fort Donelson, Tennessee. This primary southern fort on the Cumberland River left the river in Union hands. It was here that Union General Ulysses S. Grant gained his nickname "Unconditional Surrender". -
Jefferson Davis is inaugurated as President of the Confederate States of America. -
The naval battle between the USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia (the old USS "Merrimack"), the first "ironclads", is fought in Hampton Roads, Virginia. -
The Battle of Shiloh, also known as the Battle of Pittsburg Landing, allowed Union troops to penetrate the Confederate interior - Union Victory -
On April 25, the fleet arrived at New Orleans where they demanded the surrender of the city. Within two days the forts fall into Union hands and the mouth of the great river is under Union control. -
The Seven Days' Battles before Richmond. General Lee's army attacks the "Army of the Potomac" under General George McClellan in a succession of battles beginning at Mechanicsville on June 26 and ending at Malvern Hill on July 1. -
The Battle of Second Bull Run (or Second Manassas) is fought on the same ground where one year before, the Union army was defeated and sent reeling in retreat to Washington. Likewise, the result of this battle is a Union defeat. -
The Battle of Antietam (or Sharpsburg), Maryland, the bloodiest single day of the Civil War. The result of the battle ends General Lee's first invasion of the North. -
The Battle of Fredericksburg, Virginia. The Army of the Potomac, under General Ambrose Burnside, is soundly defeated by Lee's forces after a risky river crossing and sacking of the city. -
The Emancipation Proclamation goes into effect, all enslaved people in the states currently engaged in rebellion against the Union “shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.” -
Conscription, or the drafting of soldiers into military service, begins in the North. It had begun in the South the year before. -
The Battle of Chancellorsville, Virginia. General Lee's greatest victory is marred by the mortal wounding of "Stonewall" Jackson, who dies on May 10. -
Siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi begins. Union forces under General Ulysses S. Grant attack Confederate defenses outside the city on May 19-22. If Vicksburg falls, the Mississippi River will be completely controlled by the Union. -
The Gettysburg Campaign continues. Confederates pass through York and reach the bridge over the Susquehanna River at Columbia, but Union militia set fire to the bridge, denying access to the east shore. Southern cavalry skirmishes with Union militia near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. -
The bloodiest battle of the Civil War dashes Robert E. Lee's hopes for a successful invasion of the North - The Union had won the Battle of Gettysburg. -
The Battle of Chickamauga, Georgia. The Union Army of the Cumberland under General William Rosecrans is defeated and nearly routed by the Confederate Army of Tennessee commanded by General Braxton Bragg. Rosecrans' army retreats to the supply base at Chattanooga, Tennessee. -
On November 19, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln delivered his most famous speech at the dedication of the National Cemetery at Gettysburg. His now-iconic Gettysburg Address eloquently transformed the Union cause into a struggle for liberty and equality -
The Battle for Chattanooga. Union forces break the Confederate siege of the city in successive attacks. The most notable event is the storming of Lookout Mountain on November 24 and Battle of Missionary Ridge the following day. The decisive Union victory sends the Confederate Army south into Georgia where General Bragg reorganizes his forces before resigning from command on November 30 -
Lincoln Issues his Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction, which would pardon those who participated in the "existing rebellion" if they take an oath to the Union. -
Escape from Libby Prison, Richmond. After weeks of digging, 109 Union officers made their escape from the notorious Libby Prison, the largest and most sensational escape of the war. Though 48 of the escapees were later captured and two drowned, 59 were able to make their way into Union lines. -
Ulysses S. Grant is appointed lieutenant general, a rank revived at the request of President Lincoln. Grant assumes command of all Union Armies in the field the following day. -
The Red River Campaign begins. As part of an overall Union strategy to strike deep into various parts of the Confederacy, a combined force of army and navy commands under General Nathaniel Banks begins a campaign on the Red River in Louisiana. -
Capture of Fort Pillow, Tennessee. After a rapid raid through central and western Tennessee, Confederate cavalry under Nathan Bedford Forrest attacked and overwhelmed the Union garrison at Fort Pillow, located on the Mississippi River. -
Assault on Petersburg, Virginia. After withdrawing from the lines at Cold Harbor, the Army of the Potomac crossed the James River and with troops from the Army of the James attacked the outer defenses of Petersburg, the primary junction for several southern railroads. -
Battle of Monocacy, Maryland. In an attempt to draw Union troops away from the ongoing siege of Petersburg and Richmond, a Confederate force under Jubal Early quietly moved north into Maryland. -
General Sherman's Army of Georgia begins the "March to the Sea" the most destructive campaign against a civilian population during the Civil War -
General John Bell Hood replaces General Joseph Johnston as commander of the Army of Tennessee. This change in command signals a new Confederate strategy to thwart Sherman's campaign, though the end result will be disastrous for the southern cause. -
The Battle of Cedar Creek, Virginia. In an early morning surprise attack, Jubal Early's Confederates successfully attack and drive troops of the Army of the Shenandoah from their camps on the banks of Cedar Creek south of Middletown, Virginia. -
Abraham Lincoln is reelected president of the United States. -
Assault and capture of Fort Fisher, North Carolina. Union occupation of this fort at the mouth of the Cape Fear River closes access to Wilmington, the last southern seaport on the east coast that was open to blockade runners and commercial shipping. -
President Abraham Lincoln is inaugurated for his second term as president in Washington, DC. -
Touted as "Lee's last offensive", Confederate troops under General John B. Gordon attack and briefly capture the Union fort in the Petersburg siege lines in an attempt to thwart Union plans for a late March assault. By day's end, the southerners have been thrown out and the lines remain unchanged. -
The Confederate defeat at Five Forks initiates General Lee's decision to abandon the Petersburg-Richmond siege lines. -
The Fall of Petersburg and Richmond. General Lee abandons both cities and moves his army west in hopes of joining Confederate forces under General Johnston in North Carolina. -
A portion of Lee's Army- almost one-third of it- is cornered along the banks of Sailor's (or "Saylor's") Creek and annihilated. -
President Abraham Lincoln is assassinated by actor John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theater in Washington, DC. On the same day -
General Joseph Johnston signs the surrender document for the Confederate Army of the Tennessee and miscellaneous southern troops attached to his command at Bennett's Place near Durham, North Carolina. -
The final battle of the Civil War takes place at Palmito Ranch, Texas. It is a Confederate victory. -
General Simon Bolivar Buckner enters into terms for surrender of the Army of the Trans-Mississippi, which are agreed to on June 2, 1865.The Civil War officially ends. -
New Freedman's Bureau bill passed by Congress. -
Texas repeals the actions of the Secessionist Convention. -
President Johnson vetos the Civil Rights Act of 1866 on the grounds that it was unconstitutional. -
Congress overrides President Andrew Johnson's veto of the Civil Rights Act. -
Thirty-ninth Congress approves the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. -
Congress creates the rank of Admiral. David Farragut is appointed to that rank. -
The U. S. Secret Service begins an investigation into the Ku Klux Klan. -
President Andrew Johnson formally declares that the war is over. -
A proclaimation of peace with Texas is issued by United States President Andrew Johnson. -
On the 6th anniversary of secession, South Carolina rejects the 14th Amendment. -
Blacks in Washington D. C. gain the right to vote in a bill passed over President Andrew Johnson's veto. -
Nebraska becomes a state. -
Alexandria, Virginia rejects thousand of votes cast by Negroes, who were granted universal suffrage under the Reconstruction Act. -
Congress passes the 2nd Reconstruction Act over Andrew Johnson's veto. -
Senate ratifies treaty purchasing Alaska. -
House Select Committee on Reconstruction is appointed. -
President Andrew Johnson demands the resignation of Edwin Stanton, Secretary of War. -
Ulysses S. Grant becomes ad interim Secretary of War. -
Russia turns over Alaska to the United States. -
Congress passes the Tenure of Office Act, denying the right of the President to remove officials who had been appointed with the consent of Congress.