-
Jefferson Davis appointed president of Confederacy
Jefferson Davis, who had been elected President and Alexander H. Stephens, who had been elected Vice President, under the Provisional Confederate States Constitution, were elected to six-year terms as the first permanent President and Vice President -
Sacking of Lawrence, Kansas by Confederates
This was an attack during the American Civil War (1861–65) by the Quantrill's Raiders, a Confederate guerilla group led by William Quantrill, on the Unionist town of Lawrence, Kansas. -
Presidential Election of 1860
Lincoln won even though he was not on the ballot in Southern states -
South Carolina secedes from Union
South Carolina became the first slave state in the south to declare that it had seceded from the United States -
Forming of Confederate States of America
Representatives from the six seceded states met in Montgomery, Alabama, to formally establish a unified government, which they named the Confederate States of America -
Lincoln’s first inaugural address
Part of his taking of the oath of office for his first term as the sixteenth President of the United States -
Battle of Fort Sumter
The Battle of Fort Sumter was the bombardment of Fort Sumter near Charleston, South Carolina by the Confederate States Army, and the return gunfire and subsequent surrender by the United States Army, that started the American Civil War. -
(First) Battle of Bull Run (Manassas)
This was the first major land battle of the armies in Virginia. The untried Union army under Brig. Gen. Irvin McDowell marched from Washington against the Confederate army, which was drawn up behind Bull Run beyond Centreville. The confederate side won, but the troops were far too disorganized to press their advantage and pursue the retreating Yankees. -
First battle of ironclads
This battle was the first meeting in combat of ironclad warships, the USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia. The Confederate fleet consisted of the ironclad ram Virginia (built from the remnants of the USS Merrimack) and several supporting vessels. -
Battle of Shiloh
The Battle of Shiloh resulted in a Union victory. With more than 23,000 casualties, Shiloh was the first battle of the Civil War that saw large-scale death and suffering. -
Siege of New Orleans by Union
This was the naval action by Union forces seeking to capture the city during the American Civil War. The permanent loss of New Orleans was considered one of the worst disasters suffered by the Confederacy in the western theatre of the war. -
(Second) Battle of Bull Run
The Battle of Second Bull Run was fought over several days in late August 1862. It was a stunning Confederate victory over the Union Army of Virginia. Over 20,000 men fell as casualties at this fight. -
Battle of Antietam
Over 23,000 men fell as casualties in the 1-day Battle of Antietam, making it the bloodiest day in American history. The Union victory at Antietam resulted in President Abraham Lincoln issuing his Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation -
Emancipation Proclamation
This was an executive order issued by President Lincoln freeing slaves in all portions of the United States not then under Union control (that is, within the Confederacy). -
54th Massachusetts Colored Infantry in combat
The 54th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment that saw extensive service in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The unit was the first African-American regiment organized in the northern states during the Civil War. -
Battle of Vicksburg (siege)
Vicksburg's loss was in many ways more important to the war. Now, Union forces had complete control of the Mississippi River and had in effect cut the Confederacy in two. Confederate forces in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas were now isolated from the rest of the South. -
Battle of Gettysburg
This was considered the turning point of the Civil War. Gen. Robert E. Lee's defeat by the Army of the Potomac forced his Confederate forces to retreat; they never recovered. -
Draft Riots begin in New York City
This was known at the time as Draft Week, were violent disturbances in Lower Manhattan, widely regarded as the culmination of working-class discontent with new laws passed by Congress that year to draft men to fight in the ongoing American Civil War. -
Gettysburg Address
This is a speech by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, and one of the best-known speeches in American history -
First Successful Submarine Attack of the Civil War
Hunley torpedoed the mighty USS Housatonic in Charleston Harbor, it didn't change the course of the Civil War, but by becoming the first combat submarine to sink an enemy warship, it altered naval warfare forever -
Battle of the wilderness Virginia
This was the first battle of Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's 1864 Virginia Overland Campaign against Gen. Robert E. Lee and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War. -
Fall of Atlanta, Georgia
This war was fought just southeast of Atlanta, Georgia. Union forces commanded by William T. Sherman, wanting to neutralize the important rail and supply hub, defeated Confederate forces defending the city under John B. Hood. -
Lincoln wins a second term
Despite progress in the war, Lincoln and most political pundits were convinced that he would lose his bid for reelection in 1864. The country was war weary and the Democratic Party's nominee, George McClellan, was likely to negotiate a peace treaty with the Confederacy if elected. -
Sherman's Army of Georgia arrives at Savannah, Georgia
When General William T. Sherman arrives to Savannah his troops were running low on supplies. So supply ships were sent to Savannah, and Duncan continued on to Washington, D.C.,to deliver news of the successful March to the Sea to Secretary of War Edwin Stanton. For ten days, Hardee held out as Sherman prepared for an attack. Realizing the futility of the situation, Hardee fled the city on December 20 and slipped northward to fight another day. -
Assault and capture of Fort Fisher, North Carolina
The Second Battle of Fort Fisher was a successful assault by the Union Army, Navy and Marine Corps against Fort Fisher, south of Wilmington, North Carolina, near the end of the American Civil War. Fort Fisher had tremendous strategic value during the war, providing a port for blockade runners supplying the Army of Northern Virginia. -
Lincoln’s 2nd inaugural address
Abraham Lincoln's second inaugural address was during the final days of the Civil War and only a month before he was assassinated. -
Sherman’s troops occupy Fayetteville, NC
On this day, the Civil War was in its final weeks when a strong 60,000-man force, under the command of Union General William T. Sherman, marched in through the Carolinas, capturing town after town. They overcame the Confederate soldiers led by General Joseph E. Johnston. The Union Army captured and destroyed the Confederate arsenal, a building where weapons were made and stored, in Fayetteville, North Carolina. -
Battle of Appomattox Courthouse (Lee surrenders)
The surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia – the most celebrated Confederate army – followed a defeat in the final battle of the war in Virginia. The Battle of Appomattox Court House was the climax of a campaign that began eleven days earlier at the Battle of Lewis' Farm. -
Lincoln assassinated
Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, was assassinated by well-known stage actor John Wilkes Booth, while attending the play Our American Cousin at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C.
