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Mississippi state senator, Jefferson Davis, says to the Senate that the federal government must protect the slaveholders.
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After being photographed by Matthew Brady, Abraham Lincoln speaks at the Cooper Institute in New York City.
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the democrats hold their annual convention in charleston,SC. When their pro-slavery platform is rejected, 8 southern state senators leave in anger.
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Republican Convention is held in Chicago, Illinois.
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On June 23rd the Convention nominates Stephen Douglas and Herschal V. Johnson
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Southern Democrats hold a convention in Richmond where they select John C. Breckinridge as their nominee for President
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Lieutenant Colonel William Hardee is replaced by Major John F. Reynolds as commander of cadets at West Point
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abraham lincoln is elected as the 16th president of the U.S. becoming the first republican elected. Lincoln won over John Breckinridge, John Bell and Stephen Douglas.
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James Chesnut becomes the first Southerner to resign from the Senate. He is quickly followed by James H. Hammond
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At the end of a fiery, pro-secession speech, Robert Toombs announces his resignation from the U. S. Senate at the end of his term.
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South Carolina becomes the first state to secede from the Union on December 20, 1860. This started the first of many secessions by southern states.
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Artillery fires on the Star of the West from Morris Island as it crosses into the main entrance channel to Charleston Harbor. As the ship comes about, Fort Moultrie opens fire, also with cannon shot. A mile and a half from Fort Sumter, the ship withdraws.
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The Convention of Seceded States adopts a provisional constitution forming the Confederate States of America
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After privately considering William Yancey, Howell Cobb, Robert Toombs, Alexander Stephens, and Robert Barnwell Rhett for President of the Confederate States of America, the Convention settles on Jefferson Davis. They select Alexander Stephens, both pro-Union and a friend of Abraham Lincoln, as vice-president
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Abraham Lincoln is sworn in as 16th President of the United States of America.
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Confederate batteries along the shore of Charleston Harbor fire on Fort Sumter under the command of Major Robert Anderson. Anderson arranges a surrender with Texas Senator Louis Wigfall on the morning of the 13th.
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President Lincoln issues a Proclamation calling for 75,000 militiamen, and summoning a special session of Congress for July 4.
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First land engagement of the Civil War between American and Confederate forces
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About 25 miles southwest of Washington the first major battle of the Civil War pits Irvin McDowell [US] against P. G. T. Beauregard [CS] and Joe Johnston [CS].
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Winfield Scott relieved from duty as Supreme Comander of the United States.
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British mail packet Trent, carrying James M. Mason and John Slidell, Confederate commissioners to London and Paris, is halted in the Bahama Channel by the U.S. warship San Jacinto.
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General Ulysses S. Grant demands the unconditional surrender of the garrison from an old friend, Simon Bolivar Buckner
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The duel of the ironclads, The Monitor and The Merrimac (CSS Virginia). First use of a turreted gun.
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Ulysses S. Grant [US] defeats Albert Sidney Johnston [CS] in southwest Tennessee. P. G. T. Beauregard assumed command following Johnston's death
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After a duel with Confederate ships at English Turn, Commadore Farragut's fleet weighs anchor at New Orleans and demands the surrender of the largest city and most important port in the South. By the time Farragut arrives the city was partially on fire.
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Jefferson Davis replaces wounded Army of Northern Virginia commander Joseph E. Johnston with Robert E. Lee
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John Bell Hood and George Pickett breakthrough Fitz John Porter's line, forcing Union troops south of the Chickahominy River and severing McClellan's supply line to Eltham's Landing
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Robert E. Lee attacked George B. McClellan, whose men made a gallant stand in front of the James River. Lee called off his attack after failing to break the Union line.
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General John Pope lost to General Robert E. Lee. General James Longstreet's 28,000 man assault on August 30 was the largest simultaneous assault of the war in this Confederate victory.
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Army of the Potomac under McClellan defeats the Army of Northern Virginia under Lee, resulting in the bloodiest day in American history.
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Ambrose E. Burnside assumes command of the Army of the Potomac, relieving George B. McClellan
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The Emancipation Proclamation goes into effect, freeing all slaves.
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Abraham Lincoln relieves General Ambrose Burnside from command of the Army of the Potomac, replacing him with General Joseph "Fighting Joe" Hooker.
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General "Fighting Joe" Hooker's Army of the Potomac is defeated by Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia as it crosses the Rappahannock on the way to Richmond
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General Robert E. Lee [CS] advances into Pennsylvania where he meets George Meade. First battling north of the city, by the second day Union forces had retreated south, forming a strong line as men arrived almost continuously. On the third day, the infamous Pickett's Charge marked the end of the Confederates hope for a victory
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The Second Battle of Winchester was fought between June 13 and June 15, 1863 in Frederick County and Winchester, Virginia as part of the Gettysburg Campaign.
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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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John Pemberton, commander of Confederate forces at Vicksburg asks Ulysses S. Grant for terms. Grant demands an unconditional surrender. Pemberton refuses. Late in the evening, Grant offers excellent terms and Pemberton accepts.
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General Braxton Bragg tries to split General William Rosecrans forces as they try to return to the safety of Chattanooga. A second day breakthrough at the Brotherton Cabin forces the federals into a retreat, halted only by the Rock of Chickamauga, General George Thomas on Snodgrass Hill
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At the dedication of the National Cemetery in Gettysburg President Lincoln delivers a two-minute speech. Immediately following the speech he calls it a "flat failure." The speech is known today as the Gettysburg Address
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Three Union armies attacked the Army of Tennessee atop Missionary Ridge, east of downtown Chattanooga.
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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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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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the first major battle of the Red River Campaign in Louisiana.
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Ulysses S. Grant is badly beaten on the field by Robert E. Lee but rather than retreat, Grant advances to Spotsylvania Court House.
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Army of the James under General Benjamin Butler lands at Bermuda Hundred and City Point, east of Petersburg. The Army is comprised of two corps totaling nearly 40,000 men.
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In an inconclusive battle, General Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee battle for days southwest of Fredericksburg
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The Battle of Pickett's Mill was fought on May 27, 1864, in Paulding County, Georgia, during the American Civil War between Union and Confederate forces.
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Robert E. Lee [CS] defeats General Ulysses S. Grant [US] and General George Meade [US]
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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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a two-day battle in the Franklin-Nashville Campaign that represented the end of large-scale fighting in the Western Theater of the American Civil War. It was fought at Nashville, Tennessee
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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.
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On the River Queen five men, US President Abraham Lincoln, US Secretary of State William Seward, CS Vice-president Alexander Stephens, along with John Campbell and RMT Hunter discuss peace terms at the Hampton Roads Conference near Fort Monroe. The conference was a failure
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Lincoln, talking directly to the Confederate people "...with malice toward none; with charity for all..."
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General John B. Gordon captured Fort Stedman, a Union outpost on the line around besieged Petersburg, eventually punching a hole 3/4 of mile wide.
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George Pickett could not withstand the federal envelopment move around Petersburg that began here.
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General Lee abandons both cities and moves his army west in hopes of joining Confederate forces under General Johnston in North Carolina.
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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.
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After attempting to break-out of the Union envelopment, Robert E. Lee surrenders the Army of Northern Virginia to Ulysess S. Grant at the home of Wilmer McLean in Appomattox Court House
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President Lincoln is assassinated by John Wilkes Booth at ford theater
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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 first formal observation of President Lincoln's birthday is held in Washington, D. C. President Andrew Johnson attends
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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 appropriates $100,000 to buy Ford's Theater. It will house the Army Medical Museum, the Office of the Surgeon General and War Department records until 1893
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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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Known as "Old Fuss and Feathers" and the "Grand Old Man of the Army," he served on active duty as a general longer than any other man in American history
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This quick ratification meant Tennessee would not suffer under 2nd Reconstruction
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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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Blacks in Washington D. C. gain the right to vote in a bill passed over President Andrew Johnson's veto
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Federal army restores military rule to Mississippi
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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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Congress passes the 2nd Reconstruction Act over Andrew Johnson's veto
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William P. Seward signs a treaty with Russia buying Alaska for 2 cents an acre. Democrats called it "Seward's Folly"
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Congress passes Third Reconstruction Act passed over Johnson's veto.
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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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President Andrew Johnson demands the resignation of Edwin Stanton, Secretary of War.
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Ulysses S. Grant becomes ad interim Secretary of War
