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Civil War Time Line- Scala
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Abraham Lincoln Gives a speech at Cooper Union
Lincoln delivered a forceful and well-reasoned argument against the spread of enslavement and became an overnight star and a leading candidate for the upcoming presidential election -
Beginning of the Pony Express
The Pony Express was an American express mail service that used relays of horse-mounted riders. It operated from April 3, 1860, to October 26, 1861, between Missouri and California. -
Abraham Lincoln Elected
Lincoln won the Electoral College with less than 40 percent of the popular vote nationwide by carrying states above the Mason–Dixon line and north of the Ohio River, plus the states of California and Oregon in the Far West. Unlike every preceding president-elect, Lincoln did not carry even one slave state. -
Crittenden Compromise
On December 18, 1860, Crittenden proposed six constitutional amendments to the full senate. In the spirit of compromise that had become his forte in a 40-year career in Washington, Crittenden gave his Senate colleagues a civic lessons as he tried to appease their interests -
Succession of South Carolina
South Carolina became the first state to secede from the federal Union on December 20, 1860. The victory of Abraham Lincoln in the 1860 presidential election triggered cries for disunion across the slaveholding South -
Kansas Admitted as a free State
Kansas is admitted to the Union as free state. It was the 34th state to join the Union. The struggle between pro- and anti-slave forces in Kansas was a major factor in the eruption of the Civil War -
Morrill tariff
The Morrill Tariff was an increased import tariff in the United States that was adopted on March 2, 1861, during the administration of US President James Buchanan, a Democrat -
Lincoln is Inaugurated
Abraham Lincoln becomes the 16th president of the United States on March 4, 1861. In his inauguration speech, Lincoln extended an olive branch to the South, but also made it clear that he intended to enforce federal laws in the states that seceded -
Fort Sumter, South Carolina
The location in Charleston, South Carolina where the first "battle" of the Civil War began on April 12, 1861 -
Abraham Lincoln suspension of habeas corpus
Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus between Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia to give military authorities the necessary power to silence dissenters and rebels. Under this order, commanders could arrest and detain individuals who were deemed threatening to military operations -
Death of Col. Elmer Ellsworth,
Elmer Ephraim Ellsworth was a United States Army officer and law clerk who was the first conspicuous casualty and the first Union officer to die in the American Civil War. He was killed while removing a Confederate flag from the roof of the Marshall House inn in Alexandria, Virginia. -
First Battle of Bull Run/First Battle of Manassas
The First Battle of Bull Run, also known as the Battle of First Manassas, was the first major battle of the American Civil War. -
Battle of Philippi
The Battle of Philippi formed part of the Western Virginia Campaign of the American Civil War and was fought in and around Philippi, Virginia -
Battle of Hatteras Inlet Batteries
The Battle of Hatteras Inlet Batteries was the first combined operation of the Union Army and Navy in the American Civil War, resulting in Union domination of the strategically important North Carolina Sounds -
Battle of Ball's Bluff
The Battle of Ball's Bluff was an early battle of the American Civil War fought in Loudoun County, Virginia, in which Union Army forces under Major General George B. McClellan suffered a humiliating defeat. -
Battle of Belmont
The Battle of Belmont was fought in Mississippi County, Missouri. It was the first combat test in the American Civil War for Brig. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, the future Union Army general in chief and eventual U.S. president -
Battle of Mill Springs
The Battle of Mill Springs, also known as the Battle of Fishing Creek in Confederate terminology, and the Battle of Logan's Cross Roads in Union terminology, was fought in Wayne and Pulaski counties. The decisive Union victory at the Battle of Mill Springs, Kentucky, led to the total collapse of the eastern sector of the Confederate defensive line -
Battle of Fort Henry
The Battle of Fort Henry was fought in Donelson, Stewart County, Tennessee, during the American Civil War. It was the first important victory for the Union and Brig. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant in the Western Theater -
Battle of Fort Donelson
The Battle of Fort Donelson was fought in the Western Theater of the American Civil War. The Union capture of the Confederate fort near the Tennessee–Kentucky border opened the Cumberland River, an important avenue for the invasion of the South -
Battle of Hampton Roads
The Battle of Hampton Roads, also referred to as the Battle of the Monitor and Merrimack or the Battle of Ironclads, was a naval battle during the American Civil War -
First Battle of Kernstown
The First Battle of Kernstown was fought in Frederick County and Winchester, Virginia, the opening battle of Confederate Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's campaign through the Shenandoah Valley during the American Civil War. -
Siege of Yorktown
The Battle of Yorktown or Siege of Yorktown was fought as part of the Peninsula Campaign of the American Civil War. McClellan planned a massive bombardment for dawn on May 5, but the Confederate army slipped away during the night of May 3 toward Williamsburg. The battle took place near the site of the 1781 Siege of Yorktown. -
Battle of Shiloh
The South's defeat at Shiloh ended the Confederacy's hopes of blocking the Union advance into Mississippi and doomed the Confederate military initiative in the West. -
Fort Pulaski, Georgia
General Quincy A. Gillmore battered Fort Pulaski, the imposing masonry structure near the mouth of the Savannah River, into submission in less than two days -
The First Conscription Act
The first Conscription Act, passed by the Confederate Congress on April 16, 1862, made all white males between the ages of eighteen and thirty-five eligible to be drafted into military service -
The Capture of New Orleans
The capture of New Orleans during the American Civil War was a turning point in the war, which precipitated the capture of the Mississippi River. Southern military strategists planned for a Union attack down the Mississippi, not from the Gulf of Mexico -
Homestead Act
The Homestead Act accelerated the settlement of the western territory by granting adult heads of families 160 acres of surveyed public land for a minimal filing fee and five years of continuous residence on that land -
The Battle of Seven Pines
The Battle of Seven Pines,also called Battle of Fair Oaks, was a two-day battle in the Peninsular Campaign, in which Confederate attacks were repulsed, fought 6 miles east of the Confederate capital at Richmond, Virginia. -
Pacific Railway Act
The Pacific Rail way act offered government incentives to assist “men of talent, men of character, men who are willing to invest” in developing the nation's first transcontinental rail line -
Peninsula campaign(March 1862 – July 1862)
The Peninsula (or Peninsular) Campaign was a major Union offensive against the Confederate capital of Richmond led by Major General George B. McClellan in the spring and summer of 1862, during the American Civil War. -
Morrill Land Grant Colleges Act
The Morrill Land-Grant Acts are United States statutes that allowed for the creation of land-grant colleges in U.S. states using the proceeds from sales of federally-owned land, often obtained from indigenous tribes through treaty, cession, or seizure -
A New Commander of the Union Army
On July 11, Major-General Henry Halleck was named general-in-chief of the Union army. Halleck served as the General in Chief of the Armies of the United States from 1862 to 1864. -
Harper's Ferry
McClellan, commanding the Union Army of the Potomac, needed to pass through these gaps in his pursuit of Confederate General Robert E. Lee's precariously divided Army of Northern Virginia. -
Battle of Antietam
Antietam, the deadliest one-day battle in American military history, showed that the Union could stand against the Confederate army in the Eastern theater. It also gave President Abraham Lincoln the confidence to issue the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation at a moment of strength rather than desperation -
The Battle of Fredericksburg
General McClellan's slow movements, combined with General Lee's escape, and continued raiding by Confederate cavalry, dismayed many in the North. On November 7, Lincoln replaced McClellan with Major-General Ambrose E. Burnside. Burnside's forces were defeated in a series of attacks against entrenched Confederate forces at Fredericksburg, Virginia, and Burnside was replaced with General Joseph Hooker. -
Battle of Hartville
The Battle of Hartville was fought January 9–11, 1863, in Wright County, Missouri, as part of John S. Marmaduke's first expedition into Missouri, during the American Civil War. -
The Battle of Dover
The Battle of Dover, also known as the Second Battle of Fort Donelson, was a battle of the American Civil War, occurring on February 3, 1863, in Stewart County, Tennessee -
National Bank Act of 1863
The act allowed the creation of national banks, set out a plan for establishing a national currency backed by government securities held by other banks, and gave the federal government the ability to sell war bonds and securities -
First Battle of Charleston Harbor
The First Battle of Charleston Harbor was an engagement near Charleston, South Carolina that took place April 7, 1863, during the American Civil War. The striking force was a fleet of nine ironclad warships of the Union Navy, including seven monitors that were improved versions of the original USS Monitor -
The Battle of Chancellorsville
Union General Hooker crossed the Rappahannock River to attack General Lee's forces. Lee split his army, attacking a surprised Union army in three places and almost completely defeating them. Hooker withdrew across the Rappahannock River, giving the South a victory, but it was the Confederates' most costly victory in terms of casualties. -
Battle of Port Gibson
The Battle of Port Gibson was fought near Port Gibson, Mississippi, on May 1, 1863, between Union and Confederate forces during the Vicksburg Campaign of the American Civil War. The Union Army was led by Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, and was victorious -
Stonewall Jackson dies
The South loses one of its boldest generals on May 10, 1863, when 39-year-old Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson dies of pneumonia a week after his own troops accidentally fired on him during the Battle of Chancellorsville in Virginia. -
Through the Fall of Vicksburg
The Siege of Vicksburg (May 18, 1863-July 4, 1863) was a decisive Union victory during the American Civil War (1861-65) that divided the confederacy and cemented the reputation of Union General Ulysses S. Grant (1822-85). -
The Battle of Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, by Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War. The battle involved the largest number of casualties of the entire war and is often described as the war's turning point -
The Battle of Cold Harbor
The Battle of Cold Harbor was fought during the American Civil War near Mechanicsville, Virginia, from May 31 to June 12, 1864, with the most significant fighting occurring on June 3 -
New York City draft riots
The New York City draft riots, sometimes referred to as the Manhattan draft riots and known at the time as Draft Week, were violent disturbances in Lower Manhattan -
West Virginia admitted to the Union
President Lincoln proclaimed that West Virginia would officially be recognized as a state on June 20, 1863. -
The Battle of Chickamauga
hickamauga was the largest Confederate victory in the Western theater. At the end of a summer that had seen the disastrous Confederate loss at Gettysburg and Vicksburg, the triumph of the Army of Tennessee at Chickamauga was a well-timed turn around for the Confederates -
The Siege of Knoxville
The Knoxville campaign was a series of American Civil War battles and maneuvers in East Tennessee during the fall of 1863 designed to secure control of the city of Knoxville and with it the railroad -
The Battle of Chattanooga
The Battles for Chattanooga (November 23 to November 25, 1863) were a series of battles in which Union forces routed Confederate troops in Tennessee at the battles of Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge during the American Civil War -
Battle of the Wilderness
The Battle of the Wilderness was fought on May 5–7, 1864, during the American Civil War. It was the first battle of Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant's 1864 Virginia Overland Campaign against General Robert E. Lee and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. -
The Battle of Spotsylvania
The battle is tactically inconclusive, but both sides declare victory—the Confederacy because they are able to hold their defenses and the Union because they inflict severe losses on Lee's army. With a total of about 30,000 casualties, Spotsylvania is the costliest battle of the Overland Campaign -
The Battle of Cold Harbor
The Battle of Cold Harbor was fought during the American Civil War near Mechanicsville, Virginia, from May 31 to June 12, 1864, with the most significant fighting occurring on June 3 -
Battle of Jerusalem Plank Road Jun 21, 1864 – Jun 23, 1864
The Battle of Jerusalem Plank Road, also known as the First Battle of the Weldon Railroad, was a battle of the American Civil War fought June 21–23, 1864, near Petersburg, Virginia. -
First Battle of Deep Bottom
The First Battle of Deep Bottom, also known as Darbytown, Strawberry Plains, New Market Road, or Gravel Hill, was fought July 27–29, 1864, at Deep Bottom in Henrico County, Virginia, as part of the Siege of Petersburg of the American Civil War. A Union force under Maj. Gens -
Battle of the Crater
The Battle of the Crater was a battle of the American Civil War, part of the siege of Petersburg. It took place on Saturday, July 30, 1864, between the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, commanded by General Robert E. Lee, and the Union Army of the Potomac, commanded by Major General George G. Meade. -
Battle of Utoy Creek
The Battle of Utoy Creek was fought August 4–7, 1864, during the Atlanta Campaign of the American Civil War. -
Battle of Jonesborough
The Battle of Jonesborough was fought between Union Army forces led by William Tecumseh Sherman and Confederate forces under William J. Hardee during the Atlanta Campaign -
The Beefsteak Raid
The Beefsteak Raid was a Confederate cavalry raid that took place in September 1864 as part of the Siege of Petersburg during the American Civil War -
Sherman storms Fort McAllister
After marching through Georgia for a month, Sherman stormed Fort McAllister on December 13, 1864, and captured Savannah itself eight days later. These seven views show the former stronghold and its dismantling preparatory to Sherman's further movement northward. -
Sherman's March to the Sea
Sherman's March to the Sea was a military campaign of the American Civil War conducted through Georgia from November 15 until December 21, 1864, by William Tecumseh Sherman, major general of the Union Army -
Second Battle of Fort Fisher
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 in January 1865 -
13th Amendment
The 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution provides that "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." -
Union army sacks Columbia
the soldiers from Union General William Tecumseh Sherman's army ransack Columbia, South Carolina, and leave a charred city in their wake. Sherman is most famous for his March to the Sea in the closing months of 1864. -
Founding of Freedman's Bureau
The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, usually referred to as simply the Freedmen's Bureau, was an agency of early Reconstruction, assisting freedmen in the South -
Fallen Richmond
The Confederacy's capital of Richmond was a chief distribution center for weapons, supplies, and troops, and the city resisted repeated Union assaults before officially capitulating on April 3, 1865. -
Surrender at Appomattox Courthouse
The Battle of Appomattox Court House, fought in Appomattox County, Virginia, on the morning of April 9, 1865, was one of the last battles of the American Civil War -
The Assassination of President Lincoln
Shot in the head by Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth at Fords Theater, Lincoln died the next morning -
The Army of the Potomac paraded
On May 23, 1865, the Army of the Potomac celebrated the end of the Civil War by parading down Pennsylvania Avenue. Only weeks before, mourners watched Abraham Lincoln's funeral procession pass by along the same thoroughfare. -
Final Surrenders among Remaining Confederate Troops
the last Confederate surrender occurred on November 6, 1865, when the Shenandoah arrived in Liverpool. The only Confederate vessel to circumnavigate the globe was surrendered by letter to the British prime minister, Lord John Russell. -
The Execution of Captain Henry Wirz
Wirz could blame the poor logistics and overcrowding on his superiors. But he could not escape his own orders and actions, and was convicted of conspiracy and murder. He was hanged on November 10, 1865 and was eventually buried in the Mount Olivet Cemetery in Washington, DC. -
Civil Rights Act of 1866,
The United States Congress overwhelmingly passes the Civil Rights Act of 1866, the first federal legislation to protect the rights of African-Americans. U.S. President Andrew Johnson vetoes the bill on March 27. -
Memphis riots of 1866
The Memphis massacre of 1866 was a series of violent events that occurred from May 1 to 3, 1866 in Memphis, Tennessee. The racial violence was ignited by political and social racism following the American Civil War, in the early stages of Reconstruction. After a shooting altercation between white policemen and black veterans recently mustered out of the Union Army. -
Metric Act of 1866
The Metric Act of 1866, also known as the Kasson Act, is a piece of United States legislation that legally protected use of the metric system in commerce from lawsuit, and provided an official conversion table from U.S. customary units. -
The first ship passes through the Suez Canal.
An Anchor Line ship, the S.S. Dido, became the first to pass through the Canal from South to North. -
The Harvard school is opened
In Boston, Massachusetts, the Harvard School of Dental Medicine is established as the first dental school in the United States.