-
Election of 1860
Abraham Lincoln, a Republican abolitionist, gets elected to the office of Presidentof the United States of America, and the Southern States threaten to secede. -
South Secedes
The southern states keep their promise, and they secede to keep their way of life and economy, with the right to contiinue the institution of slavery, which is important to the farming economy. -
All Southern states form the Confederacy
The Southern States create their own nation, the Confederate States of America (CSA). -
Civil War Begins
Go to another Civil War timeline
The Confederacy begins bombing Ft. Sumter, South Carolina and it starts the Civil War. -
Four more states join
Four more states join the Confederacy,(Arkansas, North Carolina,Tennessee, and Virginia). Richmond, Virginia is named the Capital of the Confederacy. -
First Battle of Bull Run
The first Battle of Bull Run begins, and the Confederates win.
Union General: General-in-Chief Winfield Scott
Second Union General: General Irvin McDowell
Confederate Generals: Joseph E. Johnston and P.G.T. Beauregard. A Confederate Colonel distinguishes himself and earns a nickname - Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson -
Battle of Shiloh
This battle was the first major battle in the Western Theater.
The Confederates surprised the Union forces near Pittsuburg Landing, TN but were pushed back the next day, leading to an overall Union victory.
Union Generals: Ulysses S Grant and Don Carlos Buell
Confederate Generals: Albert Sydney Johnston (KIA) and PGT Beauregard -
Union takes first step in cutting Arkansas, Texas, and Louisiana from other Confederates
Go to another Civil War timeline
By this time, the largest city in the South, New Orleans is captured for the Union by Flag Officer David Farragut. -
Seven Days battle
Seven Day's battle begins, and by the end of the last battle the Confederates have won.
Union General: George McClellan
Confederate General: Robert E. Lee -
Battle of Antietam
This battle was bloodiest single day battle in Amerian History , with over 23,000 casulaties, and caused the British and the French to withold the recognition of the Confederacy. It was a major Confederate defeat in the War.
Union General: GeorgeMcClellan
Confederate General: Robert E. Lee -
Battle of Fredricksburg
General McClellan's slow movements, combined with General Lee's escape, and continued raiding by Confederate cavalry, dismayed many in the North and led to McClellan's dismissal.
His successor, Ambrose Burnside took the offensive and drove straight into Lee's fortified positions at Fredricksburg, VA. A major Union defeat
Union General: Major-General Ambrose E. Burnside
Confederate General: Robert E. Lee -
Emancipation Proclamation
Go to another Civil War timeline
President Lincoln issued a military order that proclaimed all slaves in Confederate territory to be free. This caused all of the slaves in the Southern states to be free in the eyes of the Union. This caused more hatred for the North in the South's eyes. -
Battle of Chancellorsville
In a risky move by dividing his small army and with a daring flanking attack, "Stonewall" Jackson helped rout the Union even with the Union army over twice its size. After Jackson was accidentally shot by one of it's own troops, the South lost one of its best leaders.
Union General: Joe Hooker
Confederate General: Robert E. Lee and "Stonewall" Jackson -
The Vicksburg Campaign
Vicksburg was the last Southern strongehold on the Mississippi River. After this seige ended on July 4 with a Union victory, the Confederacy was split in two because the Mississippi River was in Union hands.
Union General: General Grant
Confederate General: General John Pemberton -
Battle of Gettysburg, PA
This (along with the fall of Vicksburg) was the turning point in the Civill War. The The South was winning a lot of battles, and from this point forward, the South could only fight defensive battles and never again was a major battle fought on Union soil. It also ended the hope of the Confederacy for recognition and aid by other governments.
Union General: George Meade
Confederate General: General Lee -
Death of John Jackson Rayburn
My ancestor, Private John Jackson Rayburn, of the 4th Miss Calvary was KIA in a skirmish near Springfield Landing, Louisiana.I was named for him. -
Battle of Chickamauga
This battle was the last major victory by the Confederacy. This area was later lost, allowing for General Sherman's March to the Sea.
Union General: Willam Rosencrans
Confederate General: Braxton Bragg -
Gettysburg address
This address said that the Union soilders that have died would die for something important, and therefore should have a cemetary there. They built one and it still exists to this day. -
Grant's Wilderness Campain
Go to another Civil War timeline
Once Lincoln promoted Ulysses S Grant to command the entire Union army, he waged a relentless war of attrition. This Campaign used up Confederate troop strength and supplies at a terrible rate. This caused the South to never again win.
Union General: Ulysses S Grant
Confederate General: Robert E Lee
Confederate General: General Lee -
Battle of Spotsylvania
This five-day battle inflicted lots of casulties on the Confederate army. It made the South struggle.
Union General: General Grant
Confederate General: General Lee -
Battle of Cold Harbor
This was the last victory for the South in the Eastern Theater, and it made Grant lose 7,000 men in 20 minutes, but he had replacements.
Union General: General Grant
Confederate General: General Lee -
Assault on Petersburg
In this area, trech warfare began to take hold, which would play a cruical role in WWI. The result was a Confederate victory, but later this would change. The battle that reversed this battle's result led to Lee's surrender. -
Sherman's March to the Sea
After the Atlanta campaign, Sherman's march caused terror in the South and cut a path 60 miles wide and 300 miles long with devastation. Imagine if an army destoryed the building underneath your feet!
Union General: General William T Sherman
Confederate General: John Bell Hood and Henry W Slocum -
South surrenders at Appomattox Courthouse
Go to another Civil War timeline
The South signs a peace treaty causing Reconstruction to follow.
Union General: General Grant
Confederate General: General Lee
