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January 1863 Emancipation Proclamation is issued.
The Emancipation Proclamation was a proclamation made by President Abraham Lincoln first in 1862 and then added on to in 1863. Freedom of all slaves. The Emancipation Proclamation consists of two executive orders issued by President Abraham Lincoln during the American Civil War. The first one was issued September 22, 1862, and it declared the freedom of all slaves in any state of the then Confederate States of America. -
March 1863 -- The First Conscription Act.
Conscription in the United States (also called compulsory military service or the draft) has been employed several times, usually during war but also during the nominal peace of the Cold War. The United States discontinued the draft in 1973, moving to an all-volunteer military force, thus there is no mandatory conscription. However, the Selective Service System remains in place as a contingency plan; men between the ages of 18 and 25 are required to register so that a draft can be readily resume -
54th Massachusetts Regiment.
The 54th Massachusetts Regiment was the first black regiment recruited in the North. Col. Robert Gould Shaw, the 25 year old son of very wealthy abolitionist parents, was chosen to command. On May 28, the well-equipped and drilled 54th paraded through the streets of Boston and then boarded ships bound for the coast of South Carolina. Their first conflict with Confederate soldiers came on July 16, when the regiment repelled an attack on James Island. But on July 18 came the supreme test of the co -
Resistance by Slaves
The American civil war had a profound effect on the lives of slaves. It ultimately resulted in the abolition of slavery. Slaves first arrived in America in Virginia in 1619. The Underground Railway was a way by which slaves could find freedom. This was a method for northerners to help escaped slaves to find a place to live in free states or Canada. Free black Americans were usually the ones to plan and helped with the Underground Railroad. It is believed about 50,000 to 100,000 people used the U -
Civil War Prison Camps
A prisoner-of-war camp is a site for the containment of combatants captured by their enemy in time of war, and is similar to an internment camp which is used for civilian populations. A prisoner of war is generally a soldier, sailor, or airman who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. Some non-combatant enemy personnel, such as merchant mariners and civil aircrews, were also considered prisoners of war. -
July 1863 – the Battle of Gettysburg
In July of 1863, General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia of 75,000 men and the 97,000 man Union Army of the Potomac, under George G. Meade, concentrated together at Gettysburg and fought the Battle of Gettysburg. Of the more than 2,000 land engagements of the Civil War, Gettysburg ranks supreme. Although the Battle of Gettysburg did not end the war, it was the great battle of the war, marking the point when the ultimate victory of the North over the South became clear to both sides al -
July 4, 1863 – The siege of Vicksburg
Before the American Civil War the Mississippi river had been the most important commercial artery in the United States, the main route for the trade of the mid-west (then known as the north-west), and for much of the cotton trade. The outbreak of the civil war blocked the Mississippi to northern trade. Opening the river and restoring that trade became one of the main Union objectives during the first half of the war (despite the fact that the new railroads had already replaced the Mississippi as -
November 19, 1863 – The Gettysburg Address
On November 19, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln, speaking at the dedication of a military cemetery in Gettysburg, Pa., delivered what has become one of the most profound speeches in U.S. history. In about 270 words, Lincoln articulated the meaning of the Civil Wa -
March 1864 – General Grant commander of all the Union Armies
Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant; April 27, 1822 – July 23, 1885) was the 18th President of the United States (1869–1877) and a prominent military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction. Under Grant, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and effectively ended the war with the surrender of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox. Although traditionally castigated a "Butcher" by detractor historians, Grant's army throughout the Civil War inf -
July 1864 -- Confederate Troops Approach Washington, D.C.
Confederate General Jubal Early led his forces into Maryland to relieve the pressure on Lee's army. Early got within five miles of Washington, D.C., but on July 13, he was driven back to Virginia
