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Period: to
civil war
civil war -
Jefferson Davis for secession
Jefferson Davis comes out in favor of secession for the first time -
Lincoln speaks at Cooper Institute
After being photographed by Matthew Brady, Abraham Lincoln speaks at the Cooper Institute in New York City. -
The Pony Express
"The 'Pony Express' mail service used horseback riders in 157 Pony Express relay stations across the prairies, plains, deserts, and mountains of the Western United States to deliver messages between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts in about ten days" -
National Democratic Convention in South
Southern delegates hold a National Democratic convention in Richmond. Party leaders urge a "wait and see" approach. -
1860 Election
Lincoln runs against Breckenridge, Douglas, and Bell. -
James Chesnut resigns
James Chesnut becomes the first Southerner to resign from the Senate. He is quickly followed by James H. Hammond -
Fort Sumter threatened
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. -
south carolina succeeds from the U.S.
South Carolina succeeds from the U.S. during the american civil war -
Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie
Governor Francis Pickens of South Carolina demands President Buchanan relinquish control of Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie. -
Troops on the way
Charleston is notified by telegraph that a man of war with troops is on the way -
Mississippi succeeds from U.S.
Mississippi succeeds from the U.S. during the american civil war -
Georgia succeeds from the U.S.
Georgia succeeds from the U.S. during the american civil war -
Florida succeeds from U.S.
Florida succeeds from the U.S. during the american civil war -
Louisiana succeeds from the U.S.
Louisiana succeeds from the U.S. during the american civil war -
Texas succeeds from the U.S.
Texas succeeds from the U.S. during the american civil war -
Abraham Lincoln becomes president
Abraham lincokn officially becoms teh 16th president of the U.S.A -
Virginia succeeds from the U.S.
Virginia succeeds from the U.S. during the american civil war -
Arkansas succeeds from the U.S.
Arkansas succeeds from the U.S. during the american civil war -
North Carolina succeeds from the U.S.
North Carolina succeeds from the U.S. during the american civil war -
Battle of Bull run
Taking place in Manassas Virginia, troops moving towards Richmond. 3 months after fort sumter. Union retreats and the rebels win. -
Battle of Fort Donelson
Battle of Fort Donelson, fought in the Western Theater of the American Civil War -
Surrender of the Garrison
General Ulysses S. Grant demands the unconditional surrender of the garrison from an old friend, Simon Bolivar Buckner -
Battle of Pea Ridge
The Battle of Pea Ridge, also known as the Battle of Elkhorn Tavern, was a major battle of the American Civil War fought near Leetown, northeast of Fayetteville, Arkansas. Federal forces, led by Brig -
Battle of Hampton Roads
"Battle between the Monitor and the Merrimack (CSS Virginia) during the American Civil War (1861-65) was history’s first duel between ironclad warships. The engagement, known as the Battle of Hampton Roads, was part of a Confederate effort to break the Union blockade of Southern ports, including Norfolk and Richmond, Virginia, that had been imposed at the start of the war." -
Battle of Shiloh
"Also known as the Battle of Pittsburg Landing, the Battle of Shiloh took place from April 6 to April 7, 1862, and was one of the major early engagements of the American Civil War (1861-65). The battle began when the Confederates launched a surprise attack on Union forces under General Ulysses S. Grant (1822-85) in southwestern Tennessee." -
Battle of Seven Pines
The Battle of Seven Pines, also known as the Battle of Fair Oaks or Fair Oaks Station, took place on May 31 and June 1, 1862, in Henrico County, Virginia, as part of the Peninsula Campaign of the American Civil War. -
Joseph E. Johnston replaced
Jefferson Davis replaces wounded Army of Northern Virginia commander Joseph E. Johnston with Robert E. Lee -
Gatling Gun
Richard Gatling's Gatling Gun appears this year, and initially uses a single barrel and a paper cartridge. -
Virginia Divides
"With Western Virginia going to the Union and driving out its Confederate soldiers, the state of Virginia becomes two separate states. General McClellan tells Abraham Lincoln that the West Virginians were not in support of the Ordinance of Secession.¨ -
Battle of Fredericksburg
"The Battle of Fredericksburg on December 13, 1862, involved nearly 200,000 combatants, the largest concentration of troops in any Civil War battle. Ambrose Burnside, the newly appointed commander of the Army of the Potomac, had ordered his more than 120,000 troops to cross the Rappahannock River, where they made a two-pronged attack on the right and left flanks of Robert E. Lee’s 80,000-strong Army of Northern Virginia at Fredericksburg." -
Emancipation Proclamation
a presidential proclamation and executive order issued by United States President Abraham Lincoln -
Ambrose Burnside replaced
Abraham Lincoln relieves General Ambrose Burnside [US} from command of the Army of the Potomac, replacing him with General Joseph "Fighting Joe" Hooker. -
Congress Passes First Conscription Act
The act stated that men aged between 20 and 45 were required to register for service, but the law favored the rich because for $300.00 you could hire a substitute to fight in your place therefore avoiding going to war. -
Battle of Chancellorsville
The Battle of Chancellorsville was a major battle of the American Civil War, and the principal engagement of the Chancellorsville Campaign. It took place in Spotsylvania County, VA -
Fighting Joe's army defeated
General "Fighting Joe" Hooker's Army of the Potomac is defeated by Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia as it crosses the Rappahannock on the way to Richmon -
The Union Uses African-American Troops
The United States War Department issued General Order Number 143 on May 22, 1863, establishing a "Bureau of Colored Troops" to facilitate the recruitment of African-American soldiers to fight for the Union Army. By the end of the civil war, about 178,000 free blacks and freed slaves served in the army. -
West Virginia joins the U.S.
West Virginia becomes the 35th state to enter the United States, but the first to enter where the terms slave and free no longer mattered -
Battle of Chickamauga
The Battle of Chickamauga, fought on September 18 – 20, 1863, between U.S. and Confederate forces in the American Civil War, marked the end of a Union offensive in southeastern Tennessee and northwestern Georgia — the Chickamauga Campaign -
Gettysburg Address
Lincoln gave the Gettysburg address speech in Gettysburg PA -
Battle of Missionary Ridge, Chattanooga
The Battle of Missionary Ridge was fought on November 25, 1863, as part of the Chattanooga Campaign of the American Civil War -
Libby Prison escape
109 Union officers led by Colonel Thomas Rose escape from Libby Prison on the banks of the James River in Richmond. 59 reach Union lines -
First Use Of Submarine In Warfare
A Confederate submarine, the Hunley, is the first submarine to torpedo an enemy vessel. It sank three times (which included the death of its inventor, Horace Hunley) before deployment against a Union blockade of Charleston, South Carolina. It sank (with all nine crew) shortly after its attack on the sloop Housatonic. -
Battle of the Wilderness
The Battle of the Wilderness, fought May 5–7, 1864, was the first battle of Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's 1864 Virginia Overland Campaign against Gen. Robert E. Lee and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War. -
Army of the James
Army of the James under General Benjamin Butler [US] lands at Bermuda Hundred and City Point, east of Petersburg. The Army is comprised of two corps totaling nearly 40,000 men. -
Grant beaten by Lee
Ulysses S. Grant [US] is badly beaten on the field by Robert E. Lee [CS] but rather than retreat, Grant advances to Spotsylvania Court House. -
Battle of Spotsylvania Court House
The Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, sometimes more simply referred to as the Battle of Spotsylvania, was the second major battle in Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's 1864 Overland Campaign of the American Civil War. -
Battle of Picketts Mill
The Battle of Pickett's Mill was fought on May 27, 1864, in Paulding County, Georgia, during the American Civil War between Union and Confederate forces -
Battle of Cold Harbor
The Battle of Cold Harbor was fought during the American Civil War near Mechanicsville, Virginia, from May 31 to June 12, 1864, with the most significant fighting occurring on June 3 -
U.S.S. Tecumseh sinks
18 Union ships sail past the entrance to Mobile Bay. The C. S. S. Tennessee, prize ironclad of the Confederate Navy awaited the attack. As the U. S. S. Tecumseh sinks Admiral David Farragut orders "Damn the torpedoes, go ahead." His flag vessel Hartford took the lead. The ships destroyed the Confederate fleet -
Battle of Nashville
The Battle of Nashville was a two-day battle in the Franklin-Nashville Campaign that represented the end of large-scale fighting west of the coastal states in the American Civil War -
The New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange opens its first permanent headquarters at 10-12 Broad near Wall Street in New York, Currently the exchange is located at 11 Wall Street, Lower Manhattan, New York -
Lincoln discusses peace
On the River Queen five men, US President Abraham Lincoln, US Secretary of State William Seward, CS Vice-president Alexander Stephens, along with John Campbell and RMT Hunter discuss peace terms at the Hampton Roads Conference near Fort Monroe. The conference was a failure. -
Battle of Fort Stedman
General John B. Gordon captured Fort Stedman, a Union outpost on the line around besieged Petersburg, eventually punching a hole 3/4 of mile wide. Confederate units then made a desperate attempt to hit the federal supply base at City Point. With overwhelming force the federal troops turned back the advance, recaptured the fort and retook the lines Virginia -
The End of the Civil War
The Appomattox campaign of 1865 took place in March to April, and was made up of numerous engagements in Virginia. Robert E. Lee's surrender of the Confederate army at Appomattox courthouse to Ulysses S. Grant on April 9th was the end of the war. -
Battle of Five Forks
The Battle of Five Forks was fought on April 1, 1865, southwest of Petersburg, Virginia, around the road junction of Five Forks, Dinwiddie County, Virginia, during the end of the Richmond–Petersburg Campaign -
Lincoln assassinated
United States President Abraham Lincoln is assassinated on Good Friday by John Wilkes Booth in Ford's Theatre, Washington, D. C. -
Lincoln buried
Abraham Lincoln is laid to rest in Oak Ridge Cemetery, outside Springfield, Illinois. -
Stetson Hats
John B. Stetson set up a new factory in the outskirts of Philadelphia to handle manufacturing his Cowboy "Boss of the Plains” hats. -
13th Amendment ratified
The Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution officially abolished and continues to prohibit slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. -
Ku Klux Klan formed
A group of Confederate veterans convenes to form the secret society the "Ku Klux Klan." The KKK wished to ensure the local African American population did not gain civil and legal rights. -
Fisk University
Fisk university opens in Nashville, Tennessee -
Lincoln's birthday observation
The first formal observation of President Lincoln's birthday is held in Washington, D. C. President Andrew Johnson attends -
Freedman's Bureau
New Freedman's Bureau bill passed by Congress. President Andrew Johnson vetoes the bill that authorized military trial for those accused of "depriving Negroes of the Civil Rights" on the same day -
Civil Rights Act vetoed
President Johnson vetos the Civil Rights Act of 1866 on the grounds that it was unconstitutional -
State of Peace
The United States declares that a state of peace exists with Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia -
Ford's Theater for $100,000
Congress appropriates $100,000 to buy Ford's Theater. It will house the Army Medical Museum, the Office of the Surgeon General and War Department records until 1893 -
Cholera in NYC
Cholera epidemic begins in New York when an infected passenger arrives in New York. -
The 14th Amendment
Thirty-ninth Congress approves the 14th Amendment to the Constitution -
General of the armies
Congress establishes "general of the armies" and Ulysses S. Grant is immediately promoted to 4-star general and put in this position. William Tecumseh Sherman assumes the rank of Lt. General. -
Fire in the Philadelphia shipyard
A fire in the Philadelphia ship-yard accidentally destroys a number of ships used during the Civil War -
Black Suffrage in DC
Blacks in Washington D. C. gain the right to vote in a bill passed over President Andrew Johnson's veto -
Nebraska becomes a state
Nebraska enters as a part of the United States -
Tenure of Office Act
Congress passes the Tenure of Office Act, denying the right of the President to remove officials who had been appointed with the consent of Congress. -
Jesse James robs first bank
Jesse James' gang robs bank in Savannah Missouri, 1 person was killed -
Virginia rejects black suffrage
Alexandria, Virginia rejects thousand of votes cast by black people, who were granted universal suffrage under the Reconstruction Act. -
Gen. Philip Sheridan commands the 5th military district
General Philip Sheridan assumes command of the 5th Military district encompassing Louisiana and Texas. He designates New Orleans as his headquarters. -
Lincoln Memorial
Congress first approves building of Lincoln Memorial -
Alaska is bought
William P. Seward signs a treaty with Russia buying Alaska for 2 cents an acre. Democrats called it "Seward's Folly" -
More states enter the union
Congress passes a bill admitting Arkansas, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, and South Carolina into the Union. Virginia, Mississippi, and Texas, having refused to ratify the fourteenth amendment, were refused admission into the Union -
Edwin Stanton forced to resign
President Andrew Johnson demands the resignation of Edwin Stanton, Secretary of War.
