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Abraham Lincoln was sworn in as the 16th president.
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The Union Army under General Irvin McDowell suffers a defeat at Bull Run 25 miles southwest of Washington.
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The bloodiest day in U.S. military history as General Robert Lee and the Confederate Armies are stopped at Antietam in Maryland by McClellan and numerically superior Union forces. By nightfall 26,000 men are dead, wounded, or missing.
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Army of the Potomac under General Burnside suffers a costly defeat at Fredericksburg in Virginia with a loss of 12,653 men. Confederate losses are 5,309.
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President Lincoln issues the final Emancipation Proclamation freeing all slaves in territories held by Confederates and allowed black soldiers in the Union Army.
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The last Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi River, surrenders to General. Grant and the Army of the West after a six week siege. With the Union now in control of the Mississippi, the Confederacy is split in two.
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A big mistake by General Grant results in 7,000 Union casualties in twenty minutes during an offensive against Rebels at Cold Harbor in Virginia
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Abraham Lincoln is re-elected president, defeating Democrat George B. McClellan. Lincoln carries all but three states with 55 percent of the popular vote and 212 of 233 electoral votes.
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The U.S. Congress approves the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, to abolish slavery. The amendment is then submitted to the states for ratification.
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General Robert E. Lee surrenders his Confederate Army to General Ulysses S. Grant at the village of Appomattox Court House in Virginia.
