Civil war soldiers

Major Points of the Civil War

  • Period: to

    Civil War Beginning to End

  • 16th President of the United States

    16th President of the United States
    In the year 1860 Abraham Lincoln became the 16th President of the United States of America.
  • Confederate President Selected

    Delegates from the seceded states meet in Montgomery, Alabama to draw up a constitution and form the Confederate States of America. Jefferson Davis is inaugurated as president.
  • Call For Help

    Lincoln calls for 75,000 volunteers, prompting Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina and Tennessee to leave the Union.
  • Battle of Bull Run

    The Battle of Bull Run: Confederates win the first major battle of the war, but illusions of a short war are shattered.
  • Ironclad Ships

    Ironclad Ships
    The first battle between ironclad ships ends in a draw when the Monitor and the Virginia meet at Hampton Roads, Virginia.
  • Union Gains a Victory

    Union Gains a Victory
    Union troops gain a victory at Shiloh, Tennessee. With over 23,000 men killed, wounded, or missing, more casualties were suffered at Shiloh than in all previous American wars combined.
  • New Soldiers

    The first U.S. Colored Troops are mustered into service.
  • Gettysburg

    Gettysburg
    The Battle of Gettysburg becomes the largest battle fought on American soil with over 51,000 casualties. Lee loses a third of his army and is forced to retreat back across the Potomac.
  • Submarine

    The Hunley sinks the USS Housatonic, becoming the first submarine to sink an enemy vessel.
  • Confederates Retreat

    Hood retreats into Mississippi after his army is decimated in the battles of Franklin and Nashville.
  • Surrender

    Surrender
    Lee surrenders to Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia.
  • Tradgedy

    Lincoln is assassinated at Ford's Theatre shortly after the end of the Civil War.
  • Slavery is Abolished

    Slavery is Abolished
    The Thirteenth Amendment abolishing slavery is adopted.