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Lincoln issues Emancipation Proclamation
President Lincoln issues the final Emancipation Proclamation freeing all slaves in territories held by Confederates and emphasizes the enlisting of black soldiers in the Union Army. The war to preserve the Union now becomes a revolutionary struggle for the abolition of slavery. -
Stonewall Jackson dies
The South suffers a huge blow as Stonewall Jackson dies from his wounds, his last words, "Let us cross over the river and rest under the shade of the trees." -
The Confederates lose at Gettysburg
The tide of war turns against the South as the Confederates are defeated at the Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania. -
Confederates win at Chickamauga
A decisive Confederate victory by Gen. Braxton Bragg's Army of Tennessee at Chickamauga leaves Gen. William S. Rosecrans' Union Army of the Cumberland trapped in Chattanooga, Tennessee under Confederate siege. -
Lincoln delivers Gettysburg Address
Dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery at Gettysburg. President Abraham Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address. -
The battle for Chattanooga
Union forces break the Confederate siege of the city in successive attacks. The most notable event is the storming of Lookout Mountain on November 24 and Battle of Missionary Ridge the following day. The decisive Union victory sends the Confederate Army south into Georgia where General Bragg reorganizes his forces before resigning from command on November 30. -
Ulysses S. Grant is appointed lieutenant General
Ulysses S. Grant is appointed lieutenant general, a rank revived at the request of President Lincoln. Grant assumes command of all Union Armies in the field the following day. -
Battle of Cold Harbor
A costly mistake by Grant results in 7,000 Union casualties in twenty minutes during an offensive against fortified Rebels at Cold Harbor in Virginia. -
Lincoln is reelected
Abraham Lincoln is reelected president of the United States. -
John Bell Hood is defeated
The Battle of Nashville, Tennessee. The Confederate Army under John Bell Hood is thoroughly defeated and the threat to Tennessee ends. -
The fall of Petersburg and Richmond
General Lee abandons both cities and moves his army west in hopes of joining Confederate forces under General Johnston in North Carolina. -
Confederates surrender
Gen. Robert E. Lee surrenders his Confederate Army to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at the village of Appomattox Court House in Virginia. Grant allows Rebel officers to keep their sidearms and permits soldiers to keep horses and mules. -
Lincoln is assassinated
President Abraham Lincoln is assassinated by actor John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theater in Washington, DC. On the same day, Fort Sumter, South Carolina is re-occupied by Union troops. -
The final battle of the civil war
The final battle of the Civil War takes place at Palmito Ranch, Texas. It is a Confederate victory. -
The thirteenth amendment is passed
The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, passed by Congress on January 31, 1865, is finally ratified. Slavery is abolished.
