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Jefferson Davis expresses his opinion about secession for the first time.
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Lincoln is elected President of the United States of America.
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Major Robert Anderson reports that Fort Sumter is being threatened and asks for reinforcements but doesn't get it.
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Robert Anderson makes his third request for reinforcements but Lincoln continues to wait as long as he can for the confederates to act first.
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President James Buchanan says in a State f the Union message that secession is unconstitutional but also says the federal government doesn't have the authority to prevent it.
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Isham Harris, the governor of Tennessee, calls for a session of Legislature to contemplate secession.
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Georgia calls all southern states to a convention to consider forming an independant nation.
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South Carolina officailly secedes from the union which will start an avalanche effect of southern states seceding.
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President Buchanan says that he will not withdraw Federal troops from Charleston.
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The Confederate States of America is formed with Jefferson Davis as its president.
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Lincoln officially becomes the 16th president of the US.
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Confederate forces led by general Pierre Beauregard attack Fort Sumter which starts the Civil War.
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Lincoln calls for 75,000 militiamen to fight for the Union.
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Virgina Secedes from the Union and is then followed by Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina within the next 5 weeks.
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Lincoln orders Southern ports to be blockaded to restrict the South from receiving supplies.
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Robert E. Lee resigns from the United States Army because he doesn't want to fight against his homeland, Richmond, Virgina.
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Congress authorizes a call for 500,000 men into the Union Army.
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Stonewall Jackson defeats McDowell's army at Bull Run, he also earns his nickname here.
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Lincoln gives George B. McClellan control of the Union Army.
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Lincoln orders all US troops to start a general advance on the South.
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General Ulysses S. Grant Captures Fort Henry and Fort Donelson in Tennessee and earns his nickname, "Unconditional Surrender" Grant.
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The Merrimac, an ironclad Confederate ship, sinks 2 wooden Union Ships and then ends a battle in stalemate against another ironclad Union ship.
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On the first day of fighting, the Confederates had the upper hand, but the next day Union reinforcements arrived and forced the Confederates to retreat.
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Officer David Farragut moves up the Mississippi River then takes New Orleans.
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During this inconclusive battle, the Confederate was close to gaining an advantage over the Union but Feederal reinforcements soon arrived so the Confederates retreated.
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The Confederate forces won a second victory at Bull Run despite being outnumbered.
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Lee led his army across the Potomac River into Maryland. Although the Confederates had soe good victories, the campaign as a whole had failed.
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During the bloodiest single day battle of the civil war, Union General McClellan stops Confederate forces and maakes Lee fall back to Virginia.
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General Burnside attempts to take Fredericksburg but suffers heavy losses after attacking well entrenched soldiers.
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Lincoln Issues the Emancipation Proclamation which frees all slaves in Confederate territories.
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General Grant is placed in charge of the Union Army of the West and is given orders to capture Vicksburg
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Lee defeats general Hooker at Chacellorville despite having half as many troops as Hooker.
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After being wounded by friendly fire at Chancellorville, he had his arm amputated but contracted pneumonia from the operation and died soon after.
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The Confederates suffered a crushing defeat at the Battle of Gettysburg which lasted 3 days. This was the turning point of the war because Lee lost so many troops that he could not launch an invasion on the North while so undermanned.
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Union troops put Vicksburg under siege for 6 weeks until they finally surendered on July 4th. Capturing this stonghold gave the Union control of the Mississippi River, which was a stage of the Anaconda Plan.
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President Lincoln meets with Frederick Douglass who wants black soldiers to be treated equally in the Union.
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This was the first major battle fought in Geogia and was a big loss for the Union troops led by Maj. Gen. William Rosecrans.
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President Lincoln appoints General Grant as commander of all armies in the West.
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President Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address which is a 2 minute speech to comemorate the loss of life at the Battle of Gettysburg.
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109 Union officers escaped from Libby Prison on the bank of the James River. 59 of the officers were able to get to Union lines and be rescued.
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The first union prisoners arrive at the Andersonville prison camp which will soon become the most notorious prison camp in the south.
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Lincoln gives General Grant command of all armies in the United States and fills his old position in the western theater with William T. Sherman.
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Grant and Lee battle southwest of Fredericksburg for days but neither side wins a clear victory.
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Union general Sherman made a mistake in battle when he ordered his troops to attack the flank of the enemy which he thought was a weak spot, but was actually a supported position.
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Union and Confederate troops battled here for 13 long days and both sides combined recieved about 18,000 casualties but eventually ended in a Confederate victory.
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Grant commands his soldiers to entrench themselves around the city of Petersburg where they fought trench warfare to prevent the south from getting supplies from Petersburg.
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Lincoln won a landslide victory over McClellan in the election and won the popular vote with 55%.
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The 300 mile march of destruction starting at Atlanta, Geogia and ending at Savannah, Georgia.
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Sherman's troops arrive at Savannah, ending his reign of terror. His scorched earth policy was extremely cruel but also extremely effective at destroying the Confederacies infrastructure.
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The US congress approved the 13th amendment and now needs to be ratified by the states to be put into effect.
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During this peace talk, Lincoln and his secretary of state met with Confederate representatives to discuss a possible surrender, but the only thing they could agree on was an exchange of prisoners.
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During his inaugural speech he says that the war must end so that the US can cheerish peace among itself.
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Lee eventually abandoned the city of Petersburg after supply lines were completely cut off. Lee attempts a final offensive but his attack is broken within 4 hours.
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Grant breaks through Lee's lines at Petersburg and force the Confederates to evacuate Richmond, Virginia, the Confederate Capital.
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A day after the evacuation of Righmond, Union troops enter the city and fly the stars and stripes over the capital.
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General Lee surrenders his Confederate Army to General Lee in the Appomattix Court House. The Confederates are treated respectfully and are allowed to keep their horses and sidearms.
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John Wilkes Booth is chased down and shot while hiding in a barn.
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While attending a play at Ford's Theater, Lincoln was shot in the head by John Wilkes Booth. Lincoln died the next morning.
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The 13th amendment is finally ratified and slavery is abolished.
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President Andrew Johnson vetoed the Freedman's Bureau bill that would make it illegal to "deprive Negroes of their civil rights"
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Johnson vetoed this civil rights because he deemed it was unconstitutional.
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Congress buys Ford's Theater to build the Army Medical Museum and the Office of the Surgeon General.
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Congress overrid Johnson's veto on the Civil Rights Act.
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Riots start in New Orleans and Memphis because of racial violence.
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This amendment was created in order to help reconstruction that is supposed to give all citizens equal protection of the law.
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Congress overrides Johnson's veto on the Freedman's Bereau bill which woudl make it illegal to deny Negroes their civil rights.
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After seceeding during the civil war, Tennessee becomes the first sate to rejoin the Union
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Congress promotes Ulysses S. Grant to 4-star general and is made general of the armies. Sherman is also promoted to Lt. General.
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In order to protect the Civil Rights Act and the Freedman's Bereau bill, the US sercret service starts to investigate the Ku Klux Klan.
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Blacks in Washington DC gain the right to vote after a bill is passed despite Johnson's veto.
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This act was passed to make sure the president didn't remove officials without the consent of Congress to prevent corruption.
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in Alexandria, Virginia, thousands of votes by blacks are rejected even though they were given suffrage under the Reconstruction Act.
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Congress passes the second Reconstruction Act, which yet again was almost vetoed by Johnson.
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The Senate ratifies a treaty with Russia to purchase Alaska for 2 cents an acre.
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Congress admits Arkansas, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, and South Carolina back into the Union because they ratified the 14th amendment.
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Ulysses S. Grant becomes the ad interim Secretary of War.
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Andrew Johnson suspends Edwin Stanton, the Secretary of War.
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Russia turns over Alaska to the United States.
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Congress considers impeaching Johnson because of his efforts to halt reconstruction with vetos.
