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Lincoln is elected as the 16th President of the United States
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Major Robert Anderson reports Fort Sumter is being threatened in Charleston as federal forces begin to improved Fort Moultrie and Fort Sumter in the harbor
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Followed within two months by Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas.
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South Carolina's convention officially approves the Ordinance of Secession
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Charleston is notified by telegraph that a man of war with troops is on the way
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The Confederate States of America is formed with Jefferson Davis
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At 4:30 a.m. Confederates under Gen. Pierre Beauregard open fire with 50 cannons upon Fort Sumter
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President Lincoln issues a Proclamation calling for 75,000 militiamen, and summoning a special session of Congress for July 4.
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The Union Army under Gen. Irvin McDowell suffers a defeat at Bull Run
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President Lincoln appoints George B. McClellan as Commander of the Department of the Potomac, replacing McDowell.
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Ulysses S. Grant captures Fort Henry
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Confederate surprise attack on Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's unprepared troops at Shiloh
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Gen. Joseph E. Johnston's Army attacks McClellan's troop
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The bloodiest day in U.S. military history
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The president replaces McClellan with Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside as the new Commander of the Army of the Potomac.
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The president appoints Gen. Joseph (Fighting Joe) Hooker as Commander of the Army of the Potomac, replacing Burnside.
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The Union Army under Gen. Hooker is decisively defeated by Lee's much smaller forces
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The South suffers a huge blow as Stonewall Jackson dies from his wounds
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The tide of war turns against the South as the Confederates are defeated
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Vicksburg, the last Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi River, surrenders to Gen. Grant and the Army of the West after a six week siege
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President Lincoln appoints Gen. Grant to command all of the armies of the United States
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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.
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"Atlanta is ours, and fairly won," Sherman telegraphs Lincoln. The victory greatly helps President Lincoln's bid for re-election.
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After destroying Atlanta's warehouses and railroad facilities, Sherman, with 62,000 men begins a March to the Sea.
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Hood's Rebel Army of 23,000 is crushed at Nashville by 55,000 Federals including Negro troops under Gen. George H. Thomas
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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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Gen. Robert E. Lee surrenders his Confederate Army to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at the village of Appomattox Court House in Virginia.
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John Wilkes Booth shoots the president in the head
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John Wilkes Booth is shot and killed in a tobacco barn in Virginia
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The U.S. Congress approves the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, to abolish slavery
