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South Carolina Votes to secede from the United States
By a vote of 169-0, the South Carolina legislature enacted an "ordinance" that "the union now subsisting between South Carolina and other States, under the name of 'The United States of America,' is hereby dissolved." South Carolina was the first state to secede from the US. -
Lincoln's First Inaugural Address
Lincoln promised not to interfere with the institution of slavery where it existed, and pledged to suspend the activities of the federal government temporarily in areas of hostility. He also took a firm stance against secession and the seizure of federal property. -
Confederate Forces Fire on Fort Sumter
President Lincoln had announced his plans to try and resupply Fort Sumter. Confederate General Beauregard took advantage of this and bombarded Fort Sumter. This led to a 34-hour exchange of artillery fire and 86 soldiers surrendered the fort on April 13. -
Lincoln suspends Habeas Corpus
Lincoln suspended 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. -
Richmond Becomes the Capital of the Confederacy
On May 8, 1861, in the Confederate Capital City of Montgomery, Alabama, the decision was made to name the City of Richmond, Virginia as the new Capital of the Confederacy. The Confederate capital was moved to Richmond in recognition of Virginia's strategic importance. -
First Battle Of Bull Run is Fought
The Battle of Bull Run is also known as the Battle of Manassas. This battle was marked as the first major land battle of the civil war. Union and Confederate armies fought near Manassas Junction, Virginia. -
Jefferson Davis elected President of the Confederacy
Jefferson Davis was elected President of the Confederate States of America. He had run unopposed and was elected to serve for a six-year term. -
The Merrimack and the Monitor Fight of the Virginia Coast
The Battle of Monitor and Merrimack was also called the Battle of Hampton Roads. It was a naval engagement at Hampton Roads, Virginia, a harbor that was at the mouth of the James River. It was notable as history's first duel between ironclad warships and the beginning of a new era of naval warfare. -
Battle of Shiloh
The Battle of Shiloh, also known as the Battle of Pittsburg Landing, took place from April 6 to April 7, 1862, and was one of the major early engagements of the American Civil War. This battle had resulted in a Union Victory. -
Robert E. Lee is named commander of the Army of Northern Virginia
They were originally called the Confederate Army of the Potomac, the confederate forces were renamed the Army of Northern Virginia when Robert E. Lee assumed command on June 1, 1862, in a battle to defend the city of Richmond from Union forces. -
Battle of Antietam
The Battle of Antietam occurred on September 17, 1862, at Antietam Creek near Sharpsburg, Maryland. It was the deadliest one-day battle in American military history, showed that the Union could stand against the Confederate army -
Battle of Fredericksburg
The Battle of Fredericksburg was fought December 11–15, 1862, in and around Fredericksburg, Virginia. It involved nearly 200,000 combatants, the largest concentration of troops in any Civil War battle. The results of the battle sent Union morale plummeting and lent much-needed new energy to the Confederate cause. -
Emancipation Proclamation is announced
President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, as the nation approached its third year of bloody civil war. The proclamation declared "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free." -
Battle of Chancellorsville
The Battle of Chancellorsville took place from April 3 to May 6. In this battle, General Thomas Jackson had been mortally wounded. It was fought in Spotsylvania County, Virginia. It had been a strategic Conferadrate victory since the Union had a big advantage. -
Battle of Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg was fought July 1–3, 1863, in the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, by Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War. The Union had won in a major turning point, stopping Lee’s invasion of the North. -
Confederates Surrender at Vicksburg
The Vicksburg campaign was one of the Union’s most successful of the war. The Confederacy is torn in two when General John C. Pemberton surrenders to Union General Ulysses S. Grant at Vicksburg, Mississippi. -
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. It happened when the anger of working-class New Yorkers over a new federal draft law during the Civil War sparked five days of some of the bloodiest and most destructive rioting in U.S. history. -
Lincoln gives his Gettysburg Address
On November 19, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln delivered a short speech at the end of the ceremonies dedicating the battlefield cemetery at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Lincoln brilliantly and movingly reminded a war-weary public why the Union had to fight, and win, the Civil War. -
Atlanta is Captured
Union Army General William Tecumseh Sherman lays siege to Atlanta, Georgia which was a critical Confederate hub. The Confederates retreated, destroying the city's munitions as they went. -
Abraham Lincoln defeats George McClellan to win re-election
The election pitted Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson against former commander of the Army of the Potomac, George B. McClellan. Lincoln and McClellan stood for very different ideas. Lincoln’s re-election meant a continuation of the war to end slavery and save the Union, whereas the Democratic Party’s platform called for immediate peace. It was surprising that Lincoln had become re-elected. -
Sherman begins his March to the Sea
Union General Sherman's scorched-earth March to the Sea campaign begins. He begins his expedition across Georgia by torching the industrial section of Atlanta and pulling away from his supply lines. -
Congress Passes the 13th Amendment
The 13th amendment, which formally abolished slavery in the United States. The amendment read, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude…shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” -
Freedmen's Bureau is Created
On March 3, 1865, Congress passed “An Act to establish a Bureau for the Relief of Freedmen and Refugees”. This act was to provide food, shelter, clothing, medical services, and land to displaced Southerners, including newly freed African Americans. -
Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address
Lincoln gave his second Inaugural Address during his second inauguration as President. He in his speech he addressed the sacrifices made to end slavery and preserve the Union while calling for mutual forgiveness between North and South. -
Richmond Falls to the Union Army
On the morning of Sunday April 2, 1865 Confederate lines near Petersburg broke after a nine month seige. The retreat of the army left the Confederate capital of Richmond, 25 miles to the north, defenseless. -
Robert E. Lee surrenders at Appomattox
Robert E. Lee surrenders his 28,000 Confederate troops to Union General Ulysses S. Grant in the Appomattox Court House, Virginia. It was the most significant surrender to take place during the Civil War. Robert E. Lee surrendered only his Army of Northern Virginia to Grant. -
President Lincoln Assinated
President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by a famous stage actor and confederate sympathizer by the name of John Wilkes Booth. He was assassinated at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. -
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. He was an American stage actor who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln