Logan Winslow - The Civil War Timeline

  • Kansas Nebraska Act

    Kansas Nebraska Act

    The Kansas-Nebraska Act repealed the Missouri Compromise, created two new territories, and allowed for popular sovereignty. It also produced a violent uprising known as “Bleeding Kansas,” as proslavery and antislavery activists flooded into the territories to sway the vote.
  • Republican Party Formed

    Republican Party Formed

    In Ripon, Wisconsin, the republican party is formed. Anti-slavery Whigs had begun meeting in the upper midwestern states to discuss the formation of a new party, which was the basis for the Republicans.
  • Lincoln Elected President

    Lincoln Elected President

    Abraham Lincoln is elected the 16th president of the United States
  • South Carolina secedes

    South Carolina secedes

    South Carolina decides to leave the Union due to Lincoln getting elected, becomes the first-ever state to secede
  • Richmond becomes the capital of the Confederacy

    Richmond becomes the capital of the Confederacy

    the Confederate government moved the capital to Richmond, the South's second-largest city. The move served to solidify the state of Virginia's new Confederate identity and to sanctify the rebellion by associating it with the American Revolution.
  • Jefferson Davis elected president of Confederates

    Jefferson Davis elected president of Confederates

    Jefferson Davis becomes the leader of the Union-opposing confederates, joining the stand against the Union.
  • Attack on Fort Sumter

    Attack on Fort Sumter

    The Confederate attack on Fort Sumter, a federal outpost in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina, marks the first military engagement of the American Civil War.
  • Lincoln suspends habeas corpus

    Lincoln suspends habeas corpus

    Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus between Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia to give military authorities the necessary power to silence dissenters and rebels.
  • First Battle of Bull Run

    First Battle of Bull Run

    The First Battle of Bull Run, or the First Battle of Manassas, takes place near Manassas in northern Virginia and ends in a Confederate rout of Union forces.
  • The Merrimac and the Monitor fight of the Virginia coast

    The Merrimac and the Monitor fight of the Virginia coast

    First warship battle of the Civil War, Confederates stand their ground against the powerful Union.
  • Battle at Shiloh

    Battle at Shiloh

    In a fierce battle at Shiloh Union rally from almost near defeat to drive back the Confederate army. Both sides are immobilized for the next three weeks because of the heavy casualties, including more than 13,000 on the Union side and more than 11,000 on the Confederate side.
  • Robert E. Lee is named commander of the army in Northern Virginia

    Robert E. Lee is named commander of the army in Northern Virginia

    Robert E. Lee assumes command of the confederates in a battle to defend the city of Richmond from Union forces.
  • Battle at Antietam

    Battle at Antietam

    The battle at Antietam, Maryland, is regarded as a Union victory in an otherwise bleak year for Union forces in the East. However, the casualties set a grisly record.
  • Battle of Fredericksburg

    Battle of Fredericksburg

    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.
  • Emancipation Proclamation is announced

    Emancipation Proclamation is announced

    Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation. It states that “all persons held as slaves” within the rebellious states “are, and henceforward shall be free.” The proclamation also allows black men to serve in the Union army.
  • Battle of Chancellorsville

    Battle of Chancellorsville

    This event took place in Chancellorsville, widely known as a significant win for the Confederacy. However a win, there were some major casualties. This included Lt. Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson. During this battle, one of the deadliest days occurred.
  • Battle of Gettysburg

    Battle of Gettysburg

    Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The battle rages over three days, involving heavy artillery duels and high casualties on both sides. The battle is considered a major turning point in the eastern theater.
  • Confederates surrender at Vicksburg

    Confederates surrender at Vicksburg

    In the western theater of the war, General Ulysses S. Grant lays siege to the Confederate stronghold of Vicksburg, Mississippi. The Confederates surrender on July 4.
  • New York City draft riots

    New York City draft riots

    The anger of working-class New Yorkers over a new federal draft law during the Civil War sparked five days of some of the bloodiest and most destructive rioting in U.S. history. Hundreds of people were killed, many more seriously injured, and African Americans were often the target of the rioters’ violence.
  • Lincoln gives Gettysburg Address

    Lincoln gives Gettysburg Address

    Lincoln delivered one of the most famous speeches in United States history at the dedication of the Gettysburg National Cemetery.
  • Atlanta is captured

    Atlanta is captured

    General William T. Sherman captures Atlanta, Georgia. Sherman adopts a strategy of “total war” on his march through Georgia and the Carolinas. His troops destroy crops, supplies, railroads, bridges, and many small industries to weaken support for the war.
  • Lincoln wins re election

    Lincoln wins re election

    Lincoln was a republican and McClellan was a democrat. Lincoln received the majority of the votes, and also received the majority of the Electoral College votes.
  • Sherman begins his march to sea

    Sherman begins his march to sea

    This started in Atlanta Georgia and ended in Savannah Georgia. It included Union General William T. Sherman. When he abandoned his supply line and marched across to the Atlantic Ocean, he proved that the Confederate population was not protected. He wanted people to notice that their people weren't protected by their government. He believed that marching represented power. He divided 60,000 troops to help march.
  • Congress passes the 13th amendment

    Congress passes the 13th amendment

    The 13th Amendment to the Constitution says that "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." It abolishes slavery in the United States
  • Freedman's Bureau is created

    Freedman's Bureau is created

    It was created to help the slaves that were moving from slavery to freedom. It was run by the War Department, so when slaves were considered free men, they could go there to help the transition better.
  • Lincoln's second inaugural address

    Lincoln's second inaugural address

    Lincoln, after being elected for a second term, addressed the people regarding the war when he stated to, "bind up the nation's wounds" caused by the Civil War and to move toward a lasting peace.
  • Richmond falls to the Union army

    Richmond falls to the Union army

    General Lee abandons Richmond and moves his army west in hopes of joining Confederate forces under General Johnston in North Carolina.
  • Robert E. Lee surrenders at Appomattox

    Robert E. Lee surrenders at Appomattox

    John Broun Gordon’s corps and Fitzhugh Lee’s men formed a line of battle at the courthouse. General Robert E. Lee wanted to make another attempt of escaping the Unions and getting his supplies. Lee’s army was surrounded and forced to surrender to Grant.
  • Lincoln Assassination

    Lincoln Assassination

    On April 14 President Lincoln is shot in Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C., by John Wilkes Booth.
  • John Wilkes Booth killed

    John Wilkes Booth killed

    Soldier Boston Corbett shoots and kills the murderer of the 16th president of the United States