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Abraham Lincoln elected president
Lincoln won the popularity of the popular vote in a four-candidate election. Lincoln was almost only voted from the Northern United States. -
South Carolina votes to secede from the United States
South Carolina was the first State to secede from the federal Union. The election of Lincoln triggered cries for disunion across the South. -
Confederate forces fire on Fort Sumter
At 4:30 a.m. on April 12, 1861, Confederate troops fired on Fort Sumter in South Carolina's Charleston Harbor. -
Anaconda Plan
The Anaconda Plan was a military strategy purposed by Union General Winfield Scott early in the American Civil War. It called for a naval blockade of the Confederate littoral, a thrust down the Mississippi, and the strangulation of the South by Union land and naval forces. -
Richmond becomes the capital of the Confederacy
The decision to name the City of Richmond, Virginia as the new Capital of the Confederacy was made in the Confederate Capital City of Montgomery, Alabama. The Confederate capital was moved to Richmond in recognition of Virginia's strategic importance. -
First Battle of Bull Run is fought
The first land battle of the Civil War was fought close enough for U.S. senators to witness the battle in person. Southerners called it the Battle of Manassas, after the closest town. -
Jefferson Davis elected president of the Confederacy
Jefferson Davis was unanimously elected to the provisional presidency of the Confederacy by a constitutional convention in Montgomery, Alabama including delegates from the six states that had seceded: South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, and Alabama. -
The Merrimac and the Monitor fight of the Virginia coast
Battle of the Monitor and Merrimack, naval engagement at Hampton Roads, Virginia, a harbour at the mouth of the James River, notable as history's first duel between ironclad warships and the beginning of a new era of naval warfare. -
Battle of Shiloh
The Battle of Shiloh, also known as the Battle of Pittsburg Landing, allowed Union troops to penetrate the Confederate interior. The carnage was unprecedented, with the human toll being the greatest of any war on the American continent up to that date. -
Robert E. Lee is named commander of the Army of Northern Virginia
Lee is given command of the Army of Northern Virginia, the main Confederate army in the eastern theater of the war. Union troops are poised at the gates of Richmond. Lee commences a series of counterattacks at the Seven Days Battle that drives the enemy away from the Confederate capital. -
Battle of Antietam
Antietam, the deadliest one-day battle in American military history. It showed that the Union could stand against the Confederate army in the Eastern theater. It also gave President Abraham Lincoln the confidence to issue the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation at a moment of strength rather than desperation. -
Lincoln suspends habeas corpus
President Lincoln issued Presidential Proclamation 94 which suspended the writ of habeas corpus. The writ of habeas corpus is a tool preventing the government from unlawfully imprisoning individuals outside of the judicial process. -
Battle of Fredericksburg
The Battle of Fredericksburg was an early battle of the civil war. It stands as one of the greatest Confederate victories. -
Emancipation Proclamation is announced
President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation as the nation approached its third year of bloody civil war. The proclamation declared "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free." -
Battle of Chancellorsville
The Battle of Chancellorsville raged for four days. This victory came at a cost. -
Battle of Gettysburg
It was fought in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, by Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War. The battle involved the largest number of casualties of the entire war and is often described as the war's turning point. -
Confederates surrender at Vicksburg
The war can never be brought to a close until that key is in our pocket. The Vicksburg Campaign began in 1862 and ended with the Confederate surrender on July 4, 1863. -
New York City draft riots
From an assault on draft headquarters, the rioters went on to attacks on wealthy homes, then to the murder of African Americans. They marched through the streets, forcing factories to close, recruiting more members of the mob. -
54th Massachusetts fighting a Second Battle of Ft. Wagner
The Second Battle of Fort Wagner served as the 54th Massachusetts's trial by fire. The all-Black volunteer regiment first experienced combat only two days prior in a comparatively minor skirmish. -
Lincoln gives his Gettysburg Address
The Gettysburg Address was a speech given by President Abraham Lincoln. It was held at the official dedication of the Soldiers National Cemetery at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. -
Congress passes the 13th Amendment
Only through the Thirteenth Amendment did emancipation become national policy. It was passed by the Senate on April 8, 1864, and by the House on January 31, 1865. The joint resolution of both bodies that submitted the amendment to the states for approval was signed by President Abraham Lincoln on February 1, 1865. -
President Lincoln assassinated
While attending an evening performance of "Our American Cousin" at Ford's Theatre, the President is shot by John Wilkes Booth . After a medical examination by Dr. Charles Leale, Lincoln's body is carried to a bedroom in the nearby Petersen House. -
The Battle of the Crater
The Battle of the Crater, part of the Petersburg Campaign, was the result of an unusual attempt, on the part of Union forces, to break through the Confederate defenses just south of the critical railroad hub of Petersburg, Virginia, during the American Civil War. -
Atlanta is captured
Sherman's goal was to destroy the Army of the Tennessee, capture Atlanta and cut off vital Confederate supply lines. While Sherman failed to destroy his enemy, he was able to force the surrender of Atlanta in September 1864, boosting Northern morale and greatly improving President Abraham Lincoln's re-election bid. -
Abraham Lincoln defeats George McClellan to win re-election
Near the end of the American Civil War, incumbent President Abraham Lincoln of the National Union Party easily defeated the Democratic nominee, former General George B. McClellan, by a wide margin of 212–21 in the electoral college, with 55% of the popular vote. -
Sherman begins his March to the Sea
The March to the Sea, the most destructive campaign against a civilian population during the Civil War. It began in Atlanta on November 15, 1864, and concluded in Savannah on December 21, 1864. -
Freedmen's Bureau is created
Congress passed “An Act to establish a Bureau for the Relief of Freedmen and Refugees” to provide food, shelter, clothing, medical services, and land to displaced Southerners, including newly freed African Americans. -
Lincoln gives his second inaugural address
As the Civil War entered its final weeks, President Abraham Lincoln delivered his second inaugural address from the East Portico of the U.S. Capitol. -
Richmond falls to the Union Army
Richmond fell when Lt. General Grant attacked Five Forks on March 31, 1865, to cut Lee's last remaining supply line. As a result, Lee was forced to move the Army of Northern Virginia out of Petersburg, fleeing to the west in the hope of connecting with other Confederate forces and increasing the number of his troops -
Robert E. Lee surrenders at Appomattox
Trapped by the Federals near Appomattox Court House, Confederate general Robert E. Lee surrendered his army to Union general Ulysses S. Grant, precipitating the capitulation of other Confederate forces and leading to the end of the bloodiest conflict in American history. -
Appomattox Court House--Surrender of Lee’s forces
The heart of the terms was that Confederates would be paroled after surrendering their weapons and other military property. If surrendered soldiers did not take up arms again, the United States government would not prosecute them. Grant also allowed Confederate officers to keep their mounts and side arms. -
John Wilkes Booth is killed
Boston Corbett approached the barn and claimed to have seen Booth leveling his pistol at him, so Corbett fired a round from his revolver. The bullet severed Booth's spinal cord and paralyzed him. John Wilkes Booth died three hours later.