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Confederate forces attack Union soldiers at Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina. This marks the official beginning of the Civil War.
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This battle is the first major battle of the Civil War. It pits Union General Irvin McDowell against the new Confederate army. McDowell is defeated and forced to retreat.
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Union General Ulysses S. Grant's forces are attacked by surprised in Shiloh, Tennessee. The battle lasts until April 9 and results in 13,000 Union and 10,000 Confederate casualties.
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Over the course of seven days of fighting, Confederate General Robert E. Lee attacks George McClellan's Union Army near Richmond, Virginia. The union forces suffers huge casualties and eventually retreats.
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This battle is much larger than the first one of Bull Run. The Confederate Army has a massive victory over the Union. The Union general of the time, General John Pope is blamed for the loss and is relieved of his duties after this battle.
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The Battle of Antietam is one of the bloodiest of the war. Over 26,000 men are killed, wounded or missing in action on both sides. It is officially declared a draw, but the battle stops General Robert E. Lee's invasion of Maryland and he retreats back to Virginia.
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The Union Army suffers a horrible defeat at the Battle of Fredericksburg in Virginia. Fourteen individual assaults on an entrenched Confederate position cost the Union 13,000 casualties.
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President Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation. It frees all slaves in territories captured by the Union Army, and orders the enlistment of black soldiers.
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During this three day battle, General Robert E. Lee divides his army in the face of a larger enemy, and manages to defeat the Union Army led by "Fighting" Joe Hooker. The North lost 17,000 men while the South lost 13,000.
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From July 1 to July 4, the Union Army defeats the Confederate Army at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. This is one of the bloodiest battles of the war, and also marks the farthest advance of the Confederate Army into northern territory. Gettysburg is considered a turning point of the war.
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On the third day of the Battle of Gettysburg, Robert E. Lee orders General George Pickett to attack entrenched Union soldiers. In what would become known as "Pickett's Charge," more than half of the 12,000 Confederate soldiers who participate in the charge are killed as they walk almost a mile into a hail of gunfire.
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President Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address at the dedication of the National Cemetery at the battlefield in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
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Ulysses S. Grant and 120,000 men march towards Richmond, which was the confederate capitol. The goal of this is to start motions to end the war, but the result is actually six weeks of battling in a war of attrition. This ends with almost 50,000 Union soldiers' deaths.
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Lasting for several days, this is a very bloody battle that ends poorly for the Union. Grant makes a lot of bad tactical decisions and ends up getting 7,000 Union soldiers killed in just twenty minutes.
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The siege of Petersburg is the aftermath of the Virginia Campaign. The seige lasts for nine months.
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The 13th Amendment is passed by Congress, which abolishes slavery.
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The Siege of Petersburg ends when Grant's army breaks through Confederate lines and marches towards Richmond.
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The Union Army captures Richmond, Virginia. The town is almost burned to the ground in the midst of all of the fighting.
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General Robert E. Lee surrenders to General Ulysses S. Grant in a farmhouse in the Appomattox Court House in Virginia. This officially ends the war.
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John Wilkes Booth assassinates Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington D.C.
