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Jefferson Davis proposes the idea of secession for the first time.
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Governor William Henry Gist notifies other Deep South states that South Carolina is considering secession as an option
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On November 6, 1860, President Abraham Lincoln was elected as president.
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South Carolina calls for convention on December 17 to dtermine whether or not they should secede.
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On November 23, 1860, Major Robert Anderson reports a possible attack on Fort Sumter.
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Major Robert Anderson reports Fort Sumter is being threatened in Charleston as federal forces begin to improved Fort Moultrie and Fort Sumter in the harbor.
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Georgia calls for a convention of Southern states to form an independent nation.
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South Carolina Secessionist Convention is called to order. The convention decides unanimously to secede from the United States and appoints a committee to draw up the needed documents.
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On December 20, 1860, South Caroline seceded from the Union because they disagreed with many of the things that the North was doing.
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South Carolina's convention officially approves the Ordinance of Secession
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Mississippi secedes from the Union.
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Florida secedes from the Union.
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The Confederate States of America is formed with Jefferson Davis, a West Point graduate and former U.S. Army officer, as president.
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Abraham Lincoln inaugurated as President of the United States.
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The Constitution of the Confederate States of America is signed in Montgomery, Alabama.
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The bombardment/siege and ultimate surrender of Fort Sumter by Brig. General P.G.T. Beauregard was the official start of the Civil War
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Virginia Secedes from the Union.
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Virginia’s Robert E. Lee rejects Lincoln’s request to command the Union army.
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The Union Army under Gen. Irvin McDowell suffers a defeat at Bull Run 25 miles southwest of Washington. Confederate Gen. Thomas J. Jackson earns the nickname "Stonewall," as his brigade resists Union attacks.
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President Lincoln appoints George B. McClellan as Commander of the Department of the Potomac, replacing McDowell.
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General Ulysses S. Grant demands the unconditional surrender.
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The Confederate ironclad USS Merrimack battles the Union ironclad USS Monitor in Chesapeake Bay. The battle is a draw but it makes wooden ships obsolete and ushers in the era of steel warships, changing naval warfare forever.
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Union Genreal Ulysses S. Grant's forces are suprised by Cofederate forces at Shiloh, Tennessee.
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General Robert E. Lee assumes command of the Confederate Army.
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Over the course of seven days of fighting, General Robert E. Lee attacks George McClellan's Union Army of the Potomac near Richmond, Virginia. Huge casualties cause McClellan to withdraw north towards Washington.
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The Second Battle of Bull Run is a resounding victory for Confederate General Stonewall Jackson. Union General John Pope is blamed for the loss and is relieved of his duties after the battle.
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The Battle of Antietam is the bloodiest day in United States history. Over 26,000 men are killed, wounded or missing in action on both sides. Though officially a draw, the battle stops General Robert E. Lee's invasion of Maryland and he retreats back to Virginia.
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Lincoln issues a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, which declares his intention to free all slaves in any new territory captured by the Union Army.
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Ambrose E. Burnside assumes command of the Army of the Potomac, relieving George B. McClellan
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The Union Army under General Ambrose E. Burnside suffers a horrible defeat at the Battle of Fredericksburg in Virginia. Fourteen individual assaults on an entrenched Confederate position cost the Union 13,000 casualties.
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Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation. It frees all slaves in territory captured by the Union Army, and orders the enlistment of black soldiers. From this point forward, the Civil War is a war over slavery.
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Congress enacts the first draft in American history, requiring every man to serve in the army unless he can furnish a substitute or pay the government $300. These escape provisions are wildly unpopular with workers and recent immigrants, and lead to draft riots in New York and other northern cities.
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Over the course of three days, General Robert E. Lee divides his army in the face of a larger enemy, and manages to defeat the Union Army led by "Fighting" Joe Hooker. The North suffers 17,000 casualties, the South 13,000.
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Confederate General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson dies from wounds sustained when he was mistakenly shot by his own troops at Chancellorsville.
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West Virginia becomes the 35th state to enter the United States, but the first to enter where the terms slave and free no longer mattered
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From July 1 to July 4, the Union Army under General Meade defeats Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. One of the bloodiest battles of the war, Gettysburg is a turning point, and marks the farthest advance of the Confederate Army into northern territory.
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Far to the West on the Mississippi River, General Ulysses S. Grant takes Vicksburg after a long siege. At this point, the Union controls the entire river, cutting the Confederacy in two.
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When the government attempts to begin conscription, riots break out in New York and other northern cities. In New York, 120 men, women and children—mostly black—are killed before Union troops returning from Gettysburg restore order.
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President Lincoln delivers the two-minute Gettysburg Address at the dedication of the National Cemetery at the battlefield in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
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Union General William Rosecrans is defeated by Confederate General Braxton Bragg at the Battle of Chickamauga, in Tennessee.
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109 Union officers led by Colonel Thomas Rose escape from Libby Prison on the banks of the James River in Richmond. 59 reach Union lines
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In Georgia, Camp Sumter Prison Camp opens. Universally referred to as Andersonville Prison Camp, it will become notorious for overcrowded conditions and a high death rate among its inmates.
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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.
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Lincoln appoints Ulysses S. Grant commander of all Union armies, ending his long search for a decent general to command northern forces. General William T. Sherman takes over as commander in the West.
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Beginning a drive aimed at ending the war, Ulysses S. Grant and 120,000 troops march south towards Richmond, the Confederate capital. Over the course of the next six weeks, a brutal war of attrition results in the deaths of nearly 50,000 Union soldiers.
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During the horrific Battle of the Wilderness, thousands of men burn to death as the woods in which they were fighting catch fire.
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Continuing his advance, Union General Ulysses S. Grant attacks Robert E. Lee's Confederate forces at Spotsylvania. Grant loses more soldiers than Lee. Still, General Lee is forced to retreat south.
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The bloody battle of Cold Harbor is a disaster for the Union. General Ulysses S. Grant makes a series of tactical mistakes that result in the deaths of 7,000 Union in twenty minutes.
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With the beginning of the Siege of Petersburg, south of Richmond, the mobile war of the past month ends, replaced by a nine-month siege.
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18 Union ships sail past the entrance to Mobile Bay. The C. S. S. Tennessee, prize ironclad of the Confederate Navy awaited the attack. As the U. S. S. Tecumseh sinks Admiral David Farragut orders "Damn the torpedoes, go ahead." His flag vessel Hartford took the lead. The ships destroyed the Confederate fleet
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The United States Congress approves the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which will abolish slavery.
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Lincoln is sworn in for his second term as President of the United States.
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The Siege of Petersburg ends as Ulysses S. Grant's army breaks through Confederate lines and marches towards Richmond.
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The Union Army captures Richmond, Virginia, which is nearly leveled by shelling and fire.
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General Robert E. Lee surrenders to General Ulysses S. Grant in a farmhouse in the town of Appomattox Court House, Virginia. The war is over.
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Lincoln does not regain consciousness after being shot at Ford's Theater. He dies from his wound.
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Abraham Lincoln is shot by John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C.
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General Joe Johnston, leading the largest Confederate Army still in existence, surrenders in North Carolina.
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The final battle of the Civil War takes place at Palmito Ranch, Texas. It is a Confederate victory.
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The Thirteenth Amendment is ratified by the States. Slavery is abolished.
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The first formal observation of President Lincoln's birthday is held in Washington, D. C. President Andrew Johnson attends
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New Freedman's Bureau bill passed by Congress. President Andrew Johnson vetoes the bill that authorized military trial for those accused of "depriving Negroes of the Civil Rights" on the same day
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President Johnson vetos the Civil Rights Act of 1866 on the grounds that it was unconstitutional
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The United States declares that a state of peace exists with Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia
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Congress overrides President Andrew Johnson's veto of the Civil Rights Act
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Cholera epidemic begins in New York when an infected passenger arrives in New York.
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Thirty-ninth Congress approves the 14th Amendment to the Constitution
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Congress establishes "general of the armies" and Ulysses S. Grant is immediately promoted to 4-star general and put in this position. William Tecumseh Sherman assumes the rank of Lt. General.
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Congress creates the rank of Admiral. David Farragut is appointed to that rank
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A fire in the Philadelphia ship-yard accidently destroys a number of ships used during the Civil War
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Blacks in Washington D. C. gain the right to vote in a bill passed over President Andrew Johnson's veto
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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.
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Alexandria, Virginia rejects thousand of votes cast by Negroes, who were granted universal suffrage under the Reconstruction Act.
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African Americans stage a ride on streetcars in New Orleans to protest segregation
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The 14th amendment is ratified. This gives civil rights to all the freed African Americans.
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President Andrew Johnson announces the purchase of Alaska. This would be the second to last state added to the United States of America.
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Congress passes a bill admitting Arkansas, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, and South Carolina into the Union. Virginia, Mississippi, and Texas, having refused to ratify the fourteenth amendment, were refused admission into the Union
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Johnson vetoes the third reconstruction act which spells out election procedures in the South and reasserts congressional control over the Reconstruction. Congress overrides Johnsons' veto,
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Ulysses S. Grant becomes ad interim Secretary of War
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Congress looks into impeaching Johnson for his lack of effectiveness and unwillingness to follow through with reconstruction.
