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The issues between the north and south are rising. Jefferson Davis comes out in favor of secession for the first time
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After being photographed by Matthew Brady, Abraham Lincoln speaks at the Cooper Institute in New York City.
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The Democratic National Convention, meeting in Charleston, South Carolina, cannot agree on a nominee. The only thing they can agree on is to continue the debate in Baltimore the next month.
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Southern delegates hold a National Democratic convention in Richmond. The south want to be top candidates for presidency. Party leaders urge a "wait and see" approach.
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Southern Democrats hold a convention in Richmond where they select John C. Breckinridge as their nominee for President
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Governor William Henry Gist notifies other Deep South states that South Carolina is considering secession as an option.
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Abraham Lincoln is elected as the sixteenth president of the United States. He is the first Republican president in the nation who represents a party that opposes the spread of slavery in the territories of the United States.
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James Chesnut becomes the first Southerner to resign from the Senate. He is quickly followed by James H. Hammond
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In December of 1860, South Carolina is the first state to secede from the Union.
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Major Robert Anderson transfers his command from Fort Moultrie to Fort Sumter on his own initiative. He felt it was impossible to hold Fort Moultrie against South Carolina militia.
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Five States Secede from the Union in the month of January 1861. These states are Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana. States are being influenced to fight against the Union.
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The southern states that seceded create a government at Montgomery, Alabama. The Confederate States of America are formed.
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Jefferson Davis is appointed the first President of the Confederate States of America at Montgomery, Alabama, a position he will hold until elections can be arranged.
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Confederate forces fire upon Fort Sumter, South Carolina. This is the first unofficial battle of the Civil War. Nobody dies.
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Union forces cross the Potomac River and occupy Arlington Heights, the home of future Confederate General Robert E. Lee.
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The Battle of Bull Run is fought near Manassas, Virginia. The Union Army under General Irwin McDowell initially succeeds in driving back Confederate forces, but the arrival of troops under General Joseph E. Johnston initates a series of events that sends McDowell's army in a retreat Washington. It is here that Thomas Jonathan Jackson receives the name "Stonewall" Jackson.
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The Union Army under General Nathaniel Lyon, attack Confederate troops and state militia southwest of Springfield, Missouri, and after a disastrous day that included the death of Lyon, are thrown back. The Confederate victory emphasizes the strong southern presence west of the Mississippi River.
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Fort Hatteras at Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, falls to Union naval forces. This begins the first Union efforts to close southern ports along the Carolina coast.
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Colonel Edward D. Baker led troops across the Potomac River only to be forced back to the river's edge where he was killed. The ensuing Union withdrawal turned into a rout with many soldiers drowning while trying to re-cross the icy waters of the Potomac River.
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Confederates are gaining momentum and Lexington, Missouri falls to Confederate forces under Sterling Price.
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The lost of this southern fort on the Tennessee River opened the door to Union control of the river. The Union needed to capitalize on the situation.
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This primary southern fort on the Cumberland River left the river in Union hands. It was here that Union General Ulysses S. Grant gained his nickname "Unconditional Surrender".
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The first major battle in Tennessee. One of the bloodiest battles in the war. The Union victory further secures the career of Union General Ulysses S. Grant.
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A Union fleet of gunships under Admiral David Farragut passes Confederate forts guarding the mouth of the Mississippi River. On April 25, the fleet arrived at New Orleans where they demanded the surrender of the city. Within two days the forts fall into Union hands and the mouth of the great river is under Union control.
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After two weeks of maneuvering and battles at Cross Keys and Front Royal, General "Stonewall" Jackson attacks Union forces at Winchester and successfully drives them from the city. The victory is the culmination of his 1862 Valley Campaign.
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General Lee's army attacks the "Army of the Potomac" under General George McClellan in a succession of battles beginning at Mechanicsville on June 26 and ending at Malvern Hill on July 1. Confederate Victory.
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This battle is fought on the same ground where one year before, the Union army was defeated and sent reeling in retreat to Washington. Again, the result of this battle is a Union defeat.
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This battle is considered the bloodiest single day of the Civil War. The result of the battle ends General Lee's first invasion of the North. Battle is a Union Victory.
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Following the Union victory at Antietam, President Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing slaves in states or portions of states still in rebellion on January 1, 1863
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The Army of the Potomac, under General Ambrose Burnside, is soundly defeated by Lee's forces after a risky river crossing and sacking of the city.
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Applauded by many abolitionists including Frederick Douglass, there are others who feel it does not go far enough to totally abolish slavery.
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General 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 Richmond.
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The bloodiest battle of the Civil War dashes Robert E. Lee's hopes for a successful invasion of the North. Big Dub for Union.
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Vicksburg, Mississippi, surrenders to the Union Army under Grant. The capture of Vicksburg gives the Union complete control of the Mississippi River, a vital supply line for the Confederate states in the west. At Gettysburg, Lee begins his retreat to Virginia.
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Second Assault on Battery Wagner, South Carolina. Leading the Union infantry charge is the 54th Massachusetts Colored Infantry commanded by Colonel Robert Gould Shaw who is killed and buried with the dead of his regiment.
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The Union Army of the Cumberland under General William Rosecrans is defeated and nearly routed by the Confederate Army of Tennessee commanded by General Braxton Bragg. Rosecrans' army retreats to the supply base at Chattanooga, Tennessee.
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Outside of Charleston Harbor, the Confederate David, a partially submerged, steam powered vessel, attacked the New Ironsides, part of the Union fleet blockading the harbor, with a torpedo. Both ships survived the attack, though the commander of the David and one of his crew were captured.
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Dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery at Gettysburg. President Abraham Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address.
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Union forces break the Confederate siege of the city in successive attacks. The most notable event is the storming of Lookout Mountain on November 24 and Battle of Missionary Ridge the following day. The decisive Union victory sends the Confederate Army south into Georgia where General Bragg reorganizes his forces before resigning from command on November 30.
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Siege of Knoxville, Tennessee. Confederate troops under General James Longstreet lay siege to the city of Knoxville held by Union forces under General Ambrose Burnside.
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Ulysses S. Grant is appointed lieutenant general, a rank revived at the request of President Lincoln. Grant assumes command of all Union Armies in the field the following day
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The opening battle of the "Wilderness Campaign." General Ulysses S. Grant issued orders for the campaign to begin on May 3. Lee responded by attacking the Union column in the dense woods and underbrush of an area known as the Wilderness, west of Fredericksburg, Virginia. Grant pushed them back. Union Victory.
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Lee successfully stalls Grant's drive toward Richmond. This is a tiny adjustment for the south to hold off Grant's army.
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The Union defeat of Nathan Bedford Forrest secured the supply lines to Sherman's armies operating against Atlanta, Georgia.
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A massive mine was exploded under a Confederate fort in the Petersburg siege lines. The infantry charge that followed was poorly coordinated and by day's end, Confederate counterattacks had driven out the Union troops and the siege lines remained unchanged.
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Confederate troops under General Hood evacuate the city of Atlanta. General Sherman's army occupies the city and its defenses the following day.
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Confederates successfully attack and drive troops of the Army of the Shenandoah from their camps on the banks of Cedar Creek south of Middletown, Virginia
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Abraham Lincoln is reelected president of the United States. He continues with the war between the North and the South.
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General Sherman's Army of Georgia begins the "March to the Sea." This March will change the course of the war to put the south in their place.
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Sherman's Army arrives in Savannah completing the famous "March to the Sea". At Savannah, his troops will take Fort McAllister and force Confederate defenders to evacuate the city.
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Assault and capture of Fort Fisher, North Carolina. Union occupation of this fort at the mouth of the Cape Fear River closes access to Wilmington, the last southern seaport on the east coast that was open to blockade runners and commercial shipping.
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Closing the last important southern port on the east coast. On this same day, Joseph E. Johnston is restored to command the nearly shattered Army of the Tennessee, vice John B. Hood who resigned a month earlier.
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Sherman's Army occupies Fayetteville, North Carolina. Good for the Union. Scala if you are reading this, I'm impressed because you have to read so many.
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Confederate troops under General John B. Gordon attack and briefly capture the Union fort in the Petersburg siege lines in an attempt to thwart Union plans for a late March assault.
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The Confederate defeat at Five Forks initiates General Lee's decision to abandon the Petersburg-Richmond siege lines. Union closing in on ending the War.
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General Lee abandons both cities and moves his army west in hopes of joining Confederate forces under General Johnston in North Carolina.
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After an early morning attempt to break through Union forces blocking the route west to Danville, Virginia, Lee seeks an audience with General Grant to discuss terms. The South Surrender.
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President Abraham Lincoln is assassinated by actor John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theater in Washington, DC. On the same day, Fort Sumter, South Carolina is re-occupied by Union troops.
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General Joseph Johnston signs the surrender document for the Confederate Army of the Tennessee and miscellaneous southern troops attached to his command at Bennett's Place near Durham, North Carolina.
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General Simon Bolivar Buckner enters into terms for surrender of the Army of the Trans-Mississippi, which are agreed to on June 2, 1865.The Civil War officially ends.
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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.
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President Johnson vetoes the Civil Rights Act of 1866 on the grounds that it was unconstitutional .
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The United States declares that a state of peace exists with Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia
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Congress overrides President Andrew Johnson's veto of the Civil Rights Act. Congress does not agree with Johnson.
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Thirty-ninth Congress approves the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. This allows citizens born in United States a citizen.
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Congress overrides Andrew Johnson's veto of the Freedman's Bureau bill. Johnson is overridden for the second time.
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A proclamation of peace with Texas is issued by United States President Andrew Johnson. Peace is brought with Texas.
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In the month of September, New Jersey and Oregon ratify the 14th Amendment. Other states support and oppose the Amendment.
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A fire in the Philadelphia ship-yard accidentally destroys a number of ships used during the Civil War.
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Up to December of 1866, Texas rejects the 14th Amendment, Vermont ratifies the 14th Amendment, Georgia rejects the 14th Amendment, North Carolina rejects the 14th Amendment, South Carolina rejects the 14th Amendment.
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Blacks in Washington D. C. gain the right to vote in a bill passed over President Andrew Johnson's veto.
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Nebraska becomes a state in the United States. America gains more land and Nebraska is admitted into Union.
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Alexandria, Virginia rejects thousand of votes cast by Negroes, who were granted universal suffrage under the Reconstruction Ac
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General Philip Sheridan assumes command of the 5th Military district encompassing Louisiana and Texas. He designates New Orleans as his headquarters.
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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
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Blacks vote for 1st time in a US state election in the South. They are given disgusted looks while voting.
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Ulysses S. Grant becomes ad interim Secretary of War. After Johnson get rids of Edwin Stanton, Grant gets the job.
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Russia turns over Alaska to the United States. The U.S now owns the Alaska territory.
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The rules for American football were formulated at meeting in New York among delegates from Columbia, Rutgers, Princeton and Yale universities.
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US Congress commission looks into "impeachment" of President Andrew Johnson. Johnson is seen as bad president in South.
