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(First) Battle of Bull Run (Manassas)
On July 21, 1861, Union and Confederate armies clashed near Manassas Junction, Virginia, in the first major land battle of the American Civil War. The war ended with a confederacy victory, which shocked the north. -
Presidential Election of 1860
Lincoln won the presidential election, even though nine states voted against him. -
South Carolina secedes from Union
South Carolina secedes from the union because of the election of 1860. -
Forming of Confederate States of America
In February 1861, representatives from the six seceded states met in Montgomery, Alabama, to formally establish a unified government, which they named the Confederate States of America. On February 9, Jefferson Davis of Mississippi was elected theConfederacy's first president. -
Jefferson Davis appointed president of Confederacy
On February 9, Jefferson Davis of Mississippi was elected the Confederacy's first president. -
Lincoln’s first inaugural address
Abraham Lincoln's first inaugural address was delivered on Monday, March 4, 1861, as part of his taking of the oath of office for his first term as the sixteenth President of the United States. -
Battle of Fort Sumter
Early in the morning of April 12, 1861, Confederate guns around the harbor opened fire on Fort Sumter. At 2:30pm on April 13th, Major Robert Anderson, garrison commander, surrendered the fort and was evacuated the next day. The Union would not recapture Fort Sumter for nearly four years. -
First battle of ironclads
On March 8, 1862, from her berth at Norfolk, the Confederate ironclad Virginia steamed into Hampton Roads where she sank Cumberland and ran Congress aground. On March 9, the Union ironclad Monitor having fortuitously arrived to do battle, initiated the first engagement of ironclads in history. The two ships fought each other to a standstill. -
Battle of Shiloh
On the morning of April 6, 1862, the Confederate Army of the Mississippi under Johnston launched an attack on Maj. Gen. Grant's Army of the Tennessee near Pittsburg Landing. This battle ended in a major victory for the union. -
Siege of New Orleans by Union
On April 24,1862, naval action by Union forces seeking to capture the city during the American Civil War. The permanent loss of New Orleans was considered one of the worst disasters suffered by the Confederacy in the western theatre of the war. -
(Second) Battle of Bull Run
On August 29, Pope’s Federals clashed with Jackson’s men, who held their ground with heavy losses on both sides. The following day, after the rest of Lee’s army arrived, 28,000 rebels led by James Longstreet launched a counterattack, forcing Pope to withdraw his battered army toward Washington that night. -
Battle of Antietam
a decisive engagement in the American Civil War that halted the Confederate advance on Maryland for the purpose of gaining military supplies. -
54th Massachusetts Colored Infantry in combat
When the 54th infantry came around 1,000 African American men volunteered to be in the military. On the morning on May 28, 1863, the 54th’s 1,007 black soldiers and 37 white officers gathered in the Boston Common and prepared to head to the battlefields of the South.They did so in spite of an announcement by the Confederate Congress that every captured black soldier would be sold into slavery and every white officer in command of black troops would be executed. -
Emancipation Proclamation
an executive order issued on January 1, 1863, by President Lincoln freeing slaves in all portions of the United States not then under Union control -
Battle of Vicksburg (siege)
In May and June of 1863, Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant’s armies converged on Vicksburg, investing the city and entrapping a Confederate army. On July 4, Vicksburg surrendered after prolonged siege operations. This was the culmination of one of the most brilliant military campaigns of the war. Grant's successes in the West boosted his reputation, leading ultimately to his appointment as General-in-Chief of the Union armies. -
Battle of Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg, fought from July 1 to July 3, 1863, is considered the most important engagement of the American Civil War. After a great victory over Union forces at Chancellorsville, General Robert E. Lee marched his Army of Northern Virginia into Pennsylvania in late June 1863. -
Draft Riots begin in New York City
On Monday, July 13, 1863, between 6 and 7 A.M., the five days of mayhem and bloodshed that would be known as the Civil War Draft Riots began. -
Sacking of Lawrence, Kansas by Confederates
The Quantrill's Raiders, a Confederate guerrilla group led by William Quantrill, on the Unionist town of Lawrence, Kansas. At dawn on August 21, 1863, Quantrill and his guerrillas rode into Lawrence, where they burned much of the town and killed between 160 and 190 men and boys. -
Gettysburg Address
The Gettysburg Address is a speech delivered by Abraham Lincoln on November 19, 1863, at the dedication of Soldier's National Cemetery, a cemetery for Union soldiers killed at the Battle Of Gettysburg during the American Civil War -
First Successful Submarine Attack of the Civil War
When the hand-cranked Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley torpedoed the mighty USS Housatonic in Charleston Harbor on February 17, 1864, it didn't change the course of the Civil War, but by becoming the first combat submarine to sink an enemy warship, it altered naval warfare forever. -
Battle of the wilderness Virginia
On the morning of May 5, 1864, the Union attacked Ewell’s Corps on the Orange Turnpike, while A.P. Hill’s corps during the afternoon encountered Getty’s Division and Hancock’s II Corps on the Plank Road. Fighting was fierce but inconclusive as both sides attempted to maneuver in the dense woods. On May 6, Hancock attacked along the Plank Road, At noon, a devastating Confederate flank attack in Hamilton’s Thicket sputtered out when Lt. Gen. James Longstreet was wounded by his own men. -
Lincoln wins a second term
On this day in 1864, Northern voters overwhelmingly endorse the leadership and policies of President Abraham Lincoln when they elect him to a second term. With his re-election, any hope for a negotiated settlement with the Confederacy vanished. -
Fall of Atlanta, Georgia
The Battle of Atlanta was fought on July 22, 1864, just southeast of Atlanta, Georgia. Union forces commanded by William T. Sherman, wanting to neutralize the important rail and supply hub, defeated Confederate forces defending the city under John B. Hood. After ordering the evacuation of the city, Sherman burned most of the buildings in the city, military or not.
