Civil War Virtual Timeline

  • South Carolina votes to secede from the United States

    On December 20, 1860, South carolina become the first states to secede from the Union
  • Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address

    After Lincoln was elected president he gave his inaugural address. In his statement he said that his first priority was to fix the union that many states seceded from.
  • Confederate forces fire on Fort Sumter

    Confederate's bombardment of the fort to get union solders out of the fort. It lasted about 34 hours until the confederates eventually gained control of Fort Sumter.
  • Lincoln suspends habeas corpus

    Lincoln decided to suspend habeas corpus with authorization from Washington D.C. and Philadelphia. He did this to silence rebels against the union.
  • Richmond becomes the capital of the Confederacy

    After Virginia seceded from the nation the capital of the confederacy was placed there. Richmond was decided as the confederacy's capital only after being changed from Montgomery, Alabama.
  • First Battle of Bull Run is fought

    The battle of bull run was fought on June 21, 1861 when the union army marched from Washington DC to manassas junction, Virginia. This battle in considered to be the first battle of the civil war.
  • Jefferson Davis elected President of the Confederacy

    After a lot of the southern states seceded from the union, Davis was chosen to become the leader on the confederacy. Jefferson Davis ran for president of the confederacy without opposition and won.
  • The Merrimack and the Monitor fight off the Virginia coast

    The merrimack and the monitor were naval ships that fought off the coast of Virginia. The ships ended up completely destroying each other and neither won the battle.
  • The Battle of Shiloh

    The Battle of Shiloh was fought in Hardin Country, Tennessee. The union army penetrated the confederates from the inside and they won the battle.
  • Robert E. Lee is named commander of the Army of Northern Virginia

    On June 1, 1862 Lee was named leader of the Army of Northern Virginia. After his appointment Lee's army was the most successful army of the confederate armies.
  • Battle of Antietam

    The Battle of Antietam was the single bloodiest day in American History. Even though so many people died the battle gave the union army when McClellan tipped off to Lee’s plans.
  • President Lincoln assassinated

    At Ford's Theater in Washington Dc, on the evening of April 15, 1865 Lincoln was shot and killed. The man who killed him, John Wilkes Booth, was a confederate sympathizer and famous actor.