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Abraham Lincoln wins a four-way race for President of the United States. Although he does not win a popular majority and is not even on the ballot in nine southern states, he earns enough electoral votes to beat all other opponents.
Significance: He is the whole reason the civil war started -
Major Robert Anderson surrenders Fort Sumter to Confederate forces after two days of bombardment.
Significance: Gave the Confederates a base and they won a battle. -
Lincoln orders a blockade of the ports in the seceded states of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. The states' status affects "that provision of the Constitution which requires duties to be uniform throughout the United States. Additionally, the blockade will protect the lives, vessels, and property of good citizens of the country lawfully engaged in commerce on the high sea's. Significance: Made it hard for the south to travel by water.
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At the beginning of the five hour battle the Union soldiers had the Confederates on the retreat, except for one brigade commanded by General Jackson. Due to Jackson's ability to hold his ground and his stubbornness, the men saw him similar to a stone wall. Significance: It slowed down the confederate army and killed a lot of them.
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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 General Ulysses S. Grant's forces are surprised at the town of Shiloh in Tennessee. The ensuing battle results in 13,000 Union and 10,000 Confederate casualties, more than in all previous American wars combined.
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In this week-long, fluid, and on-going battle, the Confederates attacked time after time. The result was costly in Confederate casualties, but the Union army was forced to maneuver yielding previously won territory, until it was about thirty miles from the capital. Significance: Made the confederate army loose a lot of men and slowed them down and gave the Union time to act.
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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. Called officially a draw.
Significance: The battle stops General Robert E. Lee's invasion of Maryland and he has to retreats back to Virginia. -
President Abraham Lincoln issues a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, which sets a date for the freedom of more than 3 million black slaves in the United States and recasts the Civil War as a fight against slavery. Significance: Freed a lot of slaves and made th ecivil war a war for black freedon.
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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.
Significance: Gave the confederates two wins and lost a lot of union soilders. -
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.
Significance: Gave the Confederates another win and killed a lot of union soilders. -
After much fierce fighting and heavy casualties on both sides, the Federals were pushed back through the town of Gettysburg and regrouped south of the town along the high ground near the cemetery. Lee ordered Confederate General R.S. Ewell to seize the high ground from the battle weary Federals "if practicable." Gen. Ewell hesitated to attack and the Union dug in and called reinforcements.
Significance: A lot of people died and gave the union a chance to fight back. -
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.
Significance: Gave the union a win and gave them confidence adn cut the Confederacy in two. -
President Lincoln delivers the two-minute Gettysburg Address at the dedication of the National Cemetery at the battlefield in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
Significance: Gave the union soilders a reason to keep fighting and encouraged them. -
From the last days of September through October 1863, Gen. Braxton Bragg’s army laid siege to the Union army under Maj. Gen. William Rosecrans at Chattanooga, cutting off its supplies. On October 17, Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant received command of the Western armies; he moved to reinforce Chattanooga and replaced Rosecrans with Maj. Gen. George Thomas.
Significance: Gave a big battle and had to make confederates retreat. -
Lincoln appoints Ulysses S. Grant commander of all Union armies. General William T. Sherman takes over as commander in the West.
Significance: It endeed Lincoln's long search for a decent general to command northern forces. -
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.
Significance: Ulysses lead the union army to death and the Confederates were on a winning streak. -
Union General Sherman captures Atlanta and burns it to the ground. Significance: Gave the Confederates something to fight for.
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Union General Sherman begins his famous March to the Sea, cutting a swath of destruction 300 miles long and 60 miles wide through Georgia. "All war is hell," he comments.
Significance: Gave the Union rule over the waters which gives them a huge advantage -
Savannah is captured, ending the March to the Sea. Union General Sherman offers the city to Lincoln as a Christmas present.
Significance: Gave the union rule over the sea and gave the union another win. -
The Thirteenth Amendment is ratified by the States. Slavery is abolished.
Significance: Abolished slavery and made no reason to fight anymore. -
The United States Congress approves the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which will abolish slavery.
Significance: Freed a lot of slaves and made slavery illegal. -
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.
Significance- Made one of the Confederates main leaders surrender and stopped his army. -
Abraham Lincoln is shot by John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C.
Significance: killed the union leader and the president -
Lincoln is sworn in for his second term as President of the United States.
Significance: Gave the union army more time to fight the confederates.
