Civil War Timeline

By piercec
  • Republican Party is Formed

    Republican Party is Formed

    The Republican Party is one of the major political parties and was formed by Horace Greeley, Henry Jarvis Raymond, Alvan E. Bovay.
  • Kansas-Nebraska Act Passed

    Kansas-Nebraska Act Passed

    The Kansas-Nebraska Act repealed the Missouri Compromise, created two new territories, and allowed for popular sovereignty. It lead to a violent uprising where proslavery and antislavery activists flooded into the territories to sway the vote.
  • Abraham Lincoln Elected President

    Abraham Lincoln Elected President

    In the 1860 Presidential election, there were four candidates: Republican Party Abraham Lincoln, who was eliminated from the ballot of ten slave states, Democratic Party John C. Breckinridge, Constitutional Union Party John Bell, Democratic Party Stephen A. Douglas.
  • South Carolina Votes to Secede From the Union

    South Carolina Votes to Secede From the Union

    South Carolina General Assembly called for a convection where 169 delegates unanimously voted to secede from the Union.
  • Confederate Forces Fire on Fort Sumter

    Confederate Forces Fire on Fort Sumter

    Confederate forces bombarded Fort Sumter, in South Carolina, the Union surrendered on April 13, starting the Civil War.
  • Lincoln suspends Habeas Corpus

    Lincoln suspends Habeas Corpus

    Under this order, commanders could arrest and detain individuals who were deemed threatening to military operations.
  • Richmond Becomes the Capital of the Confederacy

    Richmond Becomes the Capital of the Confederacy

    Jefferson Davis sent his Vice President, Alexander H. Stephens, there to try to coax secession.
  • First Battle of Bull Run is Fought

    First Battle of Bull Run is Fought

    It was the first major battle of the Civil War, with a victory for the Confederate Army.
  • Jefferson Davis Elected President of Confederacy

    Jefferson Davis Elected President of Confederacy

    After the southern states seceded from the United States and formed the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis ran unopposed and was elected the President of the Confederacy for a six-year term.
  • The Merrimack and the Monitor Fight of the Virginia Coast

    The Merrimack and the Monitor Fight of the Virginia Coast

    In the Civil War, naval engagement at Hampton Roads, Virginia, a harbor at the mouth of the James River, notable as history's first duel between ironclad warships and the beginning of a new era of naval warfare.
  • Battle of Shiloh

    Battle of Shiloh

    Lasting until April 7, 1862, fought in Tennessee, Battle of Shiloh allowed Union troops to penetrate the Confederate interior, with the human toll being the greatest of any war on the American continent up to that date.
  • Robert E. Lee is Named Commander of the Army of Northern Virginia

    Robert E. Lee is Named Commander of the Army of Northern Virginia

    He led the Army of Northern Virginia from 1862 until its surrender in 1865.
  • Battle of Antietam

    Battle of Antietam

    A battle fought between Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army and Union General George B. McClellan's Army near Sharpsburg, Maryland, Union claimed victory.
  • Battle of Fredericksburg

    Battle of Fredericksburg

    The Union and Confederate fought in Fredericksburg, Virginia until December 15, resulting in a Confederate victory.
  • Emancipation Proclamation is Announced

    Emancipation Proclamation is Announced

    The proclamation declared that all slaves are free in the rebellious states.
  • Battle of Chancellorsville

    Battle of Chancellorsville

    This battle was fought until May 6, 1863 and was a major battle of the American Civil War, and the principal engagement of the Chancellorsville campaign.
  • Battle of Gettysburg

    Battle of Gettysburg

    During the Civil War, the Union and Confederate fought around the town of Gettysburg until July 3, resulting in a Union victory.
  • Confederates Surrender at Vicksburg

    Confederates Surrender at Vicksburg

    Confederate General John C. Pemberton surrenders to Union General Ulysses S. Grant at Vicksburg, Mississippi, one of the Union's most successful of the war.
  • New York City Draft Riots

    New York City Draft Riots

    Until July 16, white protestors attacked black people with violence throughout the city.
  • Lincoln Gives His Gettysburg Address

    Lincoln Gives His Gettysburg Address

    President Abraham Lincoln delivered a short speech at the end of the ceremonies dedicating the battlefield cemetery to Union soldiers at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
  • Atlanta is Captured

    Atlanta is Captured

    Union Army General William Tecumseh Sherman lays siege to Atlanta, Georgia, a critical Confederate hub, cutting off supply lines. The Confederates retreated out of Atlanta.
  • Abraham Lincoln Defeats George McClellan to Win Re-Election

    Abraham Lincoln Defeats George McClellan to Win Re-Election

    In the midst of the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln of the Union easily defeated the Democratic nominee, former General George B. McClellan
  • Sherman Begins His March to the Sea

    Sherman Begins His March to the Sea

    Union General William T. Sherman begins his expedition across Georgia by torching the industrial section of Atlanta and pulling away from his supply lines.
  • Congress Passes the 13th Amendment

    Congress Passes the 13th Amendment

    The 13th amendment formally abolished slavery.
  • Freedman’s Bureau is Created

    Freedman’s Bureau is Created

    This provided food, shelter, clothing, medical services, and land to displaced Southerners, including newly freed African Americans.
  • Lincoln Gives His Second Inaugural Address

    Lincoln Gives His Second Inaugural Address

    President Abraham Lincoln spoke of mutual forgiveness, North and South, asserting that the true mettle of a nation lies in its capacity for charity. Lincoln presided over the nation's most terrible crisis.
  • Richmond Falls to the Union Army

    Richmond Falls to the Union Army

    Confederate lines near Petersburg broke after a nine month seige, the retreat left the Confederate capital of Richmond defenseless.
  • Robert E. Lee Surrenders at Appomattox

    Robert E. Lee Surrenders at Appomattox

    One of the last battles of the Civil War, Robert E. Lee sent a message to Grant announcing his willingness to surrender.
  • President Lincoln Assassination

    President Lincoln Assassination

    A famous actor and Confederate sympathizer, John Wilkes Booth, shot President Abraham Lincoln at Ford’s Theatre.
  • John Wilkes Booth is Killed

    John Wilkes Booth is Killed

    John Wilkes Booth is killed when Union soldiers track him down to a Virginia farm 12 days after he assassinated President Abraham Lincoln.

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