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Abraham Lincoln gives a powerful speech at Cooper Union, which was a big part as to why he was elected as presiedent.
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First Pony Express reaches Sacramento, California.
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Thoms Jackson is chosen to lead Harpers Ferry.
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The first time a railroad reaches Kansas.
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The first telegraph line between Los Angeles and San Francisco opens.
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11 year old Grace Bedell writes to Lincoln and tells him to grow a beard.
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Abraham Lincoln is elected as the 16th President of the United States.
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South Carolina secedes from the Uion due to the election of Lincoln and his wish to free slaves.
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Major Robert Anderson gathers his troops secretly at Fort Sumter.
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Harriet Tubman arrives in Auburn, New York on her last mission to free slaves, and avoided capture on the Underground Railroad for eight years.
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Mississippi secedes from the union.
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Kansas is admitted as a state in to the Union, with a constitution prohibiting slavery.
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Abraham Lincoln is inaugurated as the 16th POTUS.
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Fort Sumter was fired upon by Confederate troops however there were no causualties. This was the start of the war.
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Virginia secedes from the union.
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Secessionist mob in Baltimore attacks Massachusetts troops bound for Washington, D.C. Four soldiers and 12 rioters were killed.
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General Robert E. Lee resigns his commission in the US Army.
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Confederate Congress votes to move its capital from Montgomery to Richmond
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Lincoln suspends the rights of Habeus Corpus to increase his power.
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Confederate Congress votes to move its capital from Montgomery to Richmond
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General Felix Zollicoffer is shot and killed when he accidently crosses the Union line and speaks to Col. S. S. Fry [US] at the battle of Mill Springs Kentucky
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Jefferson Davis inaugurated as the first and only presidents.
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Ulysses S. Grant orders William Nelson to advance on Nashville
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Davis and the Confederate Congress approve the conscription act. This calls forward any white male ages 18 to 35 to fight for the confederate army.
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President Lincoln signs the Pacific Railway Act, incorporating the Union Pacific Railroad
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Ulysses S. Grant [US] ordered to assume command of the Army of the Tennessee, Army of the Mississippi and other western troops.
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Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia enters Maryland
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The battle of Antietam is the bloodiest single day battle in American history. Neither side won the war but the Confederate retreat during the battle made it a victory in Lincoln's eyes. The battle ended in a loss of 110 men.
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Benjamin Butler [US] is relieved of duty in New Orleans because of his total disregard of the civilian population. Nathaniel Banks is chosen to replace him. Butler closes all breweries and distilleries to retaliate against civilians
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One of the most controversial orders of the Civil War is issued by Ulysses S. Grant. Special order 11, expelled all Jews from his department.
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Lincoln signs the Emancipation and officially frees 3.1 million of the nation's slaves. This document only freed slaves that were not under Union control but allowed them to serve in the Union army.
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Lincoln signs the National Banking Act, which established a banking system. Wanted to establish single currency
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President Lincoln issues an order of amnesty for men absent without leave from the Union Army.
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This battle took place from May 1st to May 4th, ending in a Confederate victory. Both sides lost many of their soldiers, the Union casualties were 17,500 men and the Confederate casualties were 13,000. The most devestating Confederate loss was General Stonewall Jackson.
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This is the largest battle of the Civil War, taking place in a field in Gettysburg, Pennyslvania. General Meade's Union forces turn back Lee's Confederates during this battle. There were 28,000 Confederate casualties and 23,000 Union casualties. This is a Union Victory.
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Following his shameful defeat at Gettysburg, General Lee sends a letter of resignation to Confederate President Jefferson Davis. Davis refuses the request.
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This battle took place in Lawrence, Kansas, the site of much previous violence over the issue of slavery. William Qauntrill's raiders kill over 200 men and boys. The north views this as one of the most vicious atrocities of the war,
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Lincoln declares Thanksgiving a national holiday to be celebrated the last Thursday in November, This holiday is to celebrate the colonists and Native Americans coming together and sharing their resources. This is ironic because during Lincoln's time the Natives were still being treated with disrespect.
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Lincoln's speech dedicating the military cemetary at Gettysburg. The address is not very long but considered the most influential speech. It boosted Northern morale and made them feel like there was a purpose behind the war.
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John Hunt Morgan, a confederate calvary leader, and some of his men escape the Ohio state prison. They escape by cutting a hole in a cell and crawling through the ventilation system. They return safetly to the South and Morgan picks up his calvary activities. Later in the war he is killed by the Union army.
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The first 500 prisoners of war arrive at the Confederate prison camp, Andersonville. This was the harshest prison camp of the Civil War. Many of the men held there did not survive because of the brutal conditions faced there.
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Ulysses S. Grant issues campaign orders. He tells George Meade [US], "Wherever Lee goes, you will go there." Similar orders are issued to William Tecumseh Sherman
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Congress passes the Coinage Act of 1864. This act states the the inscription "In God we Trust" must be on all coins that are to be used as US currency.
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The Arlington National Cemetary is established by Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton. It is created using 200 acres land from Robert E Lee's home, Arlington House.
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Horace Greeley is sent to Canada to negotiate an end to the Civil War. Lincoln gives him broad powers to come to a settlement, only requiring that it include the restoration of the Union and a renunciation of slavery.
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Fugitive Slave law was abolished.
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Gordon Granger lands on Dauphin Island and invests Fort Gaines, one of two forts defending Mobile
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Nevada becomes the 36th state in the United States
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Lincoln is re-elected in 1864. His victory is overwhelming because of how many votes he received over George B. McClellan.
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This date was the start of the March to the Sea. By this time Sherman had marched almost 100 miles, destroyed all or part of Rome, Cartersville and Marietta, Georgia
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The Confederate forces capture Fort Stedman from the Union forces. About 2,900 of Lee's men are killed and 1,000 are captured during the counter attack.
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Confederate Presiden Davis and his cabinet flee the confederate capital, Richmond, Virginia as Union forces near it. The very next day it is captured by the Union.
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General Lee surrenders to General Grant at Appottamax courthouse. This marks the end of the Civil War,
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John Wilkes Booth shoots President Lincoln at Fords Theater during a performance of My American Cousin. Lincoln is pronounced dead early the next morning. In addition, William Seward and his family are attacked by Booth's co-conspirator, Lewis Powell.
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John Wilkes Booth is captured in a barn in Virginia at the Garret's farm. He is shot and killed by Boston Corbett.
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General Granger arrives in Texas and tells them about the Emancipation Proclamation. It is now celebrated as holiday called Juneteenth.
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The four conspirators in Lincoln's assassination are hanged. These men are Davide Harold, George Atzerodt, Lewis Payne, and Mary Surratt. John Surratt escapes to Canada and later makes his way to Egypt so he does not pay for his involvement in Lincoln's death.
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North Carolina declares the secession ordinance of 1861 null and void
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The 13th Amendment is ratified by three-quarters of the states. This amendment permenantly abolishes slavery in the United States.
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Jonathan Shank and Barry Ownby form the Ku Klux Klan to resist reconstruction as well as to repress the freed African Americans.
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The last issue of The Liberator is published. It is now unnecessary due to the freeing of slaves.
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The first day light bank robbery takes place in Liberty, Missouri. This was carried out by Jesse James and his gang, although no one is quite sure where Jesse James fits into this event.
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The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is founded in New York by Henry Bergh.
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Congress approves the minting of a five cent piece, know as the nickel. This eliminates the half dime.
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The 14th Amendment is ratified. This frees all slaves.
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Tennessee becomes the first state to be re-admitted into the Union.
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Congress makes General of the Army a rank. Ulysses S. Grant is the first to hold the position.
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The Atlantic Cable is established allowing transatlantic telegraph communication for the first time.
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The first train robbery takes place. The Reno brothers get away with $13,000.
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Five members of the James-Younger Gang robbed The Alexander Mitchell and Co. Bank in Lexington, Missouri making of with $2,000
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African American males are given the right to vote in Washington D.C. Congress over came President Johnson's veto to give the African Americans this right.
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Nebraska becomes a state.
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Jesse James robs a bank in Savannah,Missouri. The attempt failed with one casualty
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African Americans stage a ride on streetcars in New Orleans to protest segregation.
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President Andrew Johnson announces the purchase of Alaska. This would be the second to last state added to the United States of America.
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Johnson vetoes the third reconstruction act which spells out election procedures in the South and reasserts congressional control over the Reconstruction. Congress overrides Johnsons' veto,
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Johnson suspends Stanton as Secretary of War after the two clash over reconstruction plans. Johnson places Ulysses S. Grant in the position.
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Johnson places Ulysses S. Grant in the position of secretary of War
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Russia turns over Alaska to the United States
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Former Minnesota farmer Oliver Hudson Kelley founds the Order of the Patrons of Husbandry. Today this order is known as the farmers organization Grange.
