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This was a rather fast mail service at the time running from St. Joseph, Missouri to Sacramento, California.
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Abraham Lincoln wins the 1860 election. He is a republican receiving 40% of the popular vote.
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South Carolina calls for a convention on the 17th on Nov. to decide whether to seceds or stay with the Union.
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Major Robert Anderson makes reports of threats to Fort Sumter in Charleston.
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Robert Anderson makes a third request for reinforcements at Fort Moultrie. Photo resembles reinforcements, not any specific battle.
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This was a proposal by Kentucky Senator John J. Crittenden to resolve tensions of the slave states from secession.
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South Carolina is the first state to secede from the Union. Following SC is Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas.
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The Crittenden Compromise is no longer a solution to secession being that Lincoln apposed a part of it and it became a public matter.
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Robert Anderson changes command to Fort Sumter feeling it was very difficult to defend Moultrie from SC militias.
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The Confederates seize the Union's arsenal in Charleston, South Carolina.
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The Confederate States of America is formed. Jefferson Davis is president.
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Abraham Lincoln is sworn in as the 16th president of the United States of America.
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General Pierre Beauregard opens fire on Fort Sumter, Charleston, South Carolina. The Civil War officially begins.
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President Lincoln calls for 75,000 militiamen after hearing about the capture of Ft. Sumter
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The state of Virginia secedes along with North Carolina, Arkansas, and Tennessee.
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President Lincoln orders a proclamation of blockade which would block all of the south's ports.
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Robert E. Lee resigns his commision in the army and becomes the commander all military and naval forces in Virginia.
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The Union army loses the battle and retreats to Washington under Irvin McDowell. Rebel General Thomas Jackson gets the nickname Stonewall Jackson.
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George B. McClellan is appointed by Lincoln as the Commander of the Department of the Potomac. He replaces McDowell.
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George B. McClellan is made the general-in-chief-of all Union forces by President Lincoln. He replaces Winfield Scott.
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Lincoln calls for land and naval forces to start a general advance by February 22, George Washington's birthday.
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Ulysses S. Grant takes Fort Henry and ten days later takes Fort Donelson in Tennessee. He then earns the nickname "Unconditional Surrender".
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Two union, wooden battleships are sunk by the Confederate Ironclad "Merrimac". The Union's Ironclad "Monitor" the fights the Merrimac to a draw. Wooden warships are declared obsolete. The battle lasted 2 days starting the 8th.
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From the 6th to 7th, Grant is suprise attacked by the south at an unprotected church off the Tennessee River. More men are lost then any prevoius American wars combined.
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Flag Officer David Farragut with 17 ships moves up the Mississippi and takes New Orleans, the south's biggest seaport.
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McClellan is nearly defeated by Southern General Joseph E. Johnston outside Richmond. Johnston sustains serious wounds.
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55,000 rebels under Jackson and Longstreet defeat 75,000 Unions under General John Pope from Jan. 29th to the 30th. Pope then retreats into Washington from northern Virginia. He is then relieved by Lincoln.
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McClellan and other Union forces stops Lee and Confederate armies in Antietam in Maryland. By nightfall Lee retreats to Virginia. This is the bloodiest single day battle in American military history.
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Ambrose E. Burnside replaces McClellan as the new commander of the Army of the Potomac because the president had become impatient with the slowness of McClellan.
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The Army of the Potomac under General Burnside is defeated at Fredericksburg, Virginia.
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Joseph (fighting Joe) Hooker appointed Commander of the Army of the Potomac by the president. He replaces Ambrose Burnside.
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General U.S. Grant is moved to Commander of the Army of the West with orders to take Vicksburg.
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Gen. Hooker is defeated at Chancellorsville, Virginia after 4 days of fighting by Lee and his much smaller forces. Hooker then retreats. Southern Gen. Jackson is severely wounded by his own men.
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General Stonewall Jackson dies due to wounds suffered at Chancellorsville, Virginia.
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Robert E. Lee pushes forward with 75,000 troops towards PA on his second attempt to invade the North. This will eventually lead to the battle of Gettysburg.
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General George G. Meade is appointed by Lincoln the Commander of the Army of the Potomac replacing Joseph Hooker. He is the 5th commander of this within a year.
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The worst, bloodiest battle in American military history is fought over a period of 3 days. 52,000 men lay dead on both sides. This is the turning point of the war for the Union. It was the only battle fought in the north. The Confederacy never recovered from losses sustained at Gettsyburg.
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Colonel Robert G. Shaw and the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, a black regiment, attack Fort Wagner, Souh Carolina. Shaw and half of his 600 men are killed. The Fort remained in Confederate control till the end of the war.
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For 2 days the Confederacy takes Chickamauga and traps Gen. William S. Rosecrans' army in Chattanooga, Tennessee. About a month later Grant is appointed to all operations in the west. From Nov. 23-25, the rebels siege Chattanooga but soon the tables turn when they are wiped out by Union soldiers avenging Chickamauga chanting the town's name.
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Abraham Lincoln gives a 2 minute Gettysburg Address at a ceremony dedicating the Battlefield as a National Cemetery.
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President Lincoln makes Grant the commander of all U.S. armies. Sherman takes Grant's place as commander of the west
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This includes all Union armies. Grant with 120,000 pushes towards Richmond to engage Lee his Northern Virginia army with around 64,000 men. Sherman in the west with 100,000 men moves towards Atlanta to engage Johnston's Army of Tennessee with 60,000 men.
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Grant looses 7,000 men at an offensive on heavily Rebel fortified Cold Harbor, Virginia in 20 minutes. Many Union soldiers predicted defeat before the battle happened.
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Democrats make George McClellan run for presidency in the 1864 election against Lincoln.
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General Sherman takes Atlanta after his arrival on June 20. This helps for Lincoln's re-elcetion.
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Union Cavalry Gen. Philip H. Sheridan defeats Jubal Early.
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Abraham Lincoln is re-elected president beating democrat George B. McClellan. Lincoln wins all but three states with 55% of the popular vote and 212 out of 233 electoral votes.
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Sherman starts moving towards the sea with 62,000 men after destroying Atlanta.
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Dec. 15-16. General George H. Thomas defeats Hood in Nashville, Tennessee.
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Sherman arrives at Savannah, Georgia leaving behind 300 miles of destruction from Atlanta.
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This amendment would abolish slavery in the U.S.
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Grant breaks through Lee's line at Petersburg. Lee evacuates from Petersburg and Richmond.
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Robert E. Lee surrenders to U.S. Grant at Appomattox courthouse in Virginia. Grant allows the rebel officers to keep their sidearms and horses or mules.
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People celebrate in the streets of Washington.
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At 10:13pm in Ford's Theater, President Lincoln is shot in the head by John Wilkes Booth. Doctors move him across the street.
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At 7:22 in the morning, Abraham Lincoln dies. Andrew Johnson automatically becomes the president.
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Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston surrenders to Sherman near Durham, North Carolina.
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Lincoln's killer is shot and killed in a tobacco barn somewhere in Virginia.
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Abraham Lincoln is buried in Oak Ridge Cemetery outside of Springfield, Illinois.
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The 13th Amendment is officially ratified after taking a year to do so. Slavery is no longer allowed in the United States.
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New Freedman's Bureau bill is passed by Congress. President Andrew Johnson vetoed the bill that allowed military trial for whoever was accused of "depriving Negroes of the Civil Rights".
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The 1st formal observation of Abraham Lincoln's birthday is held in Washington D. C.
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The U.S. declares a state of peace with the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.
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Congress comes up with $100,000 to buy Ford's Theater that would be the Army Medical Museum, the Office of the Surgeon General and War Department records until 1893.
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The cholera epidemic starts to go around NY when an infected immigrant arrives in New York.
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Congress approves the 14th amendment to the Constitution.
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Congress establishes "general of the armies". Ulysses S. Grant is immediately promoted to 4-star general and put in this position. William Tecumseh Sherman is promoted to the rank of Lt. General.
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Congress creates the rank of Admiral in which David Farragut is promoted to.
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The U.S. secret service starts to investigate the K.K.K.
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A fire in the Philadelphia ship-yard destroys some warships from the Civil War.
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African Americans in Washington D. C. gain the right to vote in a bill passed over President Andrew Johnson's veto.
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Nebraska is made a state.
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Congress passes the Tenure of Office Act which denies the right of the President to remove officials who had been appointed with the consent of Congress.
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The Federal army restores military rule to Mississippi.
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Alexandria, Virginia denies thousand of votes cast by blacks, who were granted universal suffrage under the Reconstruction Act.
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William P. Seward signs a treaty with Russia purchasing Alaska for 2 cents an acre.
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The Senate ratifies the treaty to buy Alaska.
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Congress passes a bill admitting Arkansas, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, South Carolina, and North Carolina into the Union. Being that Virginia, Mississippi, and Texas, refused to ratify the 14th amendment, they were refused admission into the Union.
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Ulysses S. Grant is made ad interim Secretary of War.
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Alaska officially becomes a state.
