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Civil War Timeline Sean Gallagher
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Lincoln's Cooper Union Speech
As Lincoln was not yet the Republican nominee for the President, he needed to make a bold speech to sway the Republicans in his favor. In this speech, he elaborates on his views on slavery as well as other things. -
Pony Express Created
The Pony Express is created, which is a system of transporting mail from St. Joseph, Missouri, out to Sacramento, California, by horseback. It allowed for a quicker transportation of mail for people in the United States. -
Abraham Lincoln is elected President
Abraham Lincoln is elected the 16th President of the United States of America. Lincoln was a Republican with anit-slavery views. He was inaugurated in March of 1861. -
South Carolina votes to secede from the Union
A legislative convention in South Carolina votes to secede from the Union. South Carolina became the first state to actually secede from the Union. -
U.S. troops moved to Fort Sumter
U.S. troops are moved from Fort Moultrie to Fort Sumter in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina. Tensions rise between the North and the South. -
Confederate States of America formed
Confederate States of America formed with Jefferson Davis as President. This was the point that officially made a distict North and South in America. -
Battle of Fort Sumter
The South open fires on Confederate Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina. The South captures the fort and officially begins the war. -
Virginia secedes frrom the Union
Virginia joins the Confederacy by seceding from the Union. Richmond, Virginia, is eventually named the capital of the Confederacy. -
Robert E. Lee joins Confederacy
Robert E. Lee resigns from United States Army. He then goes to the Confederacy and accepts the job of commanding military forces in Virginia. -
Battle of Bull Run
The battle of Bull Run takes place 21 miles Southwest of Washington. General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson pulls the Confederates to a victory over the Union. -
McClellan named Head of Union forces
President Lincoln appoints George McClellan as commander-in-chief of all Union forces. -
Willie Lincoln dies
President Lincoln is struck with grief after his 11-year-old son Willie dies of a fever, probably caused by polluted drinking water in the White House. -
Shiloh
Confederate troops surprise Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at Shiloh on the Tennessee River. It is an extremely bloody battle in which the Union troops holding their ground. -
Robert E. Lee takes command
Gen. Robert E. Lee assumes command of the Confederate forces, replacing the wounded Gen. Joseph E. Johnston. -
Second Battle of Bull Run
Confederate Generals Stonewall Jackson and James Longstreet defeat Union General John Pope in the second battle of Bull Run. After having nearly 20,000 less troops, the Confederates push the Union into retreat towards Washington. -
Antietam
Union Gen. George McClellan defeats Gen. Robert E. Lee and Confederate forces in the battle of Antietam. This is the bloodiest single day battle in U.S. military history in which 26,000 men are dead, wounded, or missing. -
Emancipation Proclamation
President Lincoln issues Emancipation Proclamation, freeing all slaves. He also emphasizes the enlisting of black soldiers into the Union Army. This sparks the Confederates who continue to fight in fear of losing their slaves. -
U.S. Congress enacts military draft
The U.S. congress enacts a military draft affecting male citizens age 20 to 45. They also allow people to be exempt if paying $300 or providing a substitute. (I realize that the picture is from after the Civil War, but there were no good pictures for a military draft). -
Stonewall Jackson dies
Confederate General Stonewall Jackson dies from a battle wound. His last words are "Let us cross over the river and rest under the shade of the trees". General Robert E. Lee laments "I have lost my right arm." -
Gettysburg
The Union defeats the Confederates in the bloodiest battle of the war known as the Battle of Gettysburg. This is significant because it turned the tides of the war as well as stopped the South from their invasion of the North. -
Battle of Vicksburg
The last Confederate force along the Mississippi surrenders to the Union. This gives the Union full control of the Mississippi river and effectively splits the Confederacy into two parts, which was the plan. -
Gen. Grant appointed command of all United States army
President Lincoln appoints Gen. Grant to command all of the armies of the United States. Gen. William T. Sherman succeeds Grant as commander in the west. -
Cold Harbor
Gen. Grant fails at an offensive on the Confederates in Cold Harbor, Virginia. As a result, 7,000 Union casualties occur in just 20 minutes during the offensive against fortified rebels. -
Deocrats nominate George McClellan
The Democratic party nominates George McClellan to run against favored Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln. -
March to the Sea
General William T. Sherman, with 62,000 men, begins a March to the Sea. In this march he plans on destroying every Confederate town on his way to the Atlantic Ocean. -
Sherman makes it to Savannah
Sherman successfully reaches Savannah Georgia, leaving behind a 300 mile long path of destruction, 60 miles wide, in the state of Georgia. Sherman then telegraphs Lincoln, offering Savannah as a Christmas present. -
U.S. Congress approves 13th Amendment
The U.S. Congress approves the Thirteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution, to abolish slavery. The amendment is then submitted to the states for ratification -
Lee Surrenders
Gen. Robert E. Lee surrenders his Confederate Army to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at the village of Appomattox Court House in Virginia. -
Lincoln is shot
President Abraham Lincoln is shot in the head in Ford's Theater while attending the play "Our American Cousin". His killer, John Wilkes Booth escapes the theater that night. Lincoln is in critical condition and will die the next morning. -
John Wilkes Booth is killed
John Wilkes Booth is found in a tobacco barn in Virginia 12 days after the assassination. After refusing surrender, he is shot and killed that night. -
War is over
Remaining Confederate forces surrender, and the Nation is reunited as the Civil War ends. Over 620,000 Americans died in the war, with disease killing twice as many as those lost in battle. -
Thirteenth Amendment is ratified
The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, passed on January 31, 1865, is finally ratified. Slavery is officially abolished.
