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The Confederate States of America is Formed
On December 20, 1860, 11 southern states decided to secede from the United States and form their own nation. They were angry that the U.S. did not allow slavery in new territories and didn't enforce the Fugitive Slave Laws. Later, the Confederate States of America and the Union will battle in the Civil War. -
Abraham Lincoln Elected President (first term)
Abraham Lincoln, the president of the Union during the Civil War, was elected into office in November, 1860 and inducted on March 4, 1861. He was a very important person in the war. -
Attack on Fort Sumter
The Battle of Fort Sumter was the bombardment and surrender of Fort Sumter, near Charleston, SC, that started the American Civil War. It took place on April 12-13, 1861. The result was a victory for the Confederate army and the start of the war. -
First Battle of Bull Run
The First Battle of Bull Run was fought on July 21, 1861, in Prince William County, Virginia. Irvin McDowell led the Union forces and P.G.T. Beauregard led the Confederates. This was the first major battle of the war. The victory was a Confederate one. -
Trent Affair
The Trent Affair was an international diplomatic incident that occurred during the American Civil War. On November 8, 1861, the USS San Jacinto, commanded by Union Captain Charles Wilkes, intercepted the British mail packet RMS Trent and removed, as contraband of war, two Confederate diplomats, James Mason and John Slidell. The envoys were bound for Great Britain and France to press the Confederacy’s case for diplomatic recognition by Europe. Mason and Slidell ended up failing at this attempt. -
Union Captures New Orleans
The capturing of New Orleans was an important event for the Union.Having fought past Forts Jackson and St. Philip, the Union was unopposed in its capture of the city itself, which was spared the destruction suffered by many other Southern cities. This capture of the largest Confederate city was a major turning point and an incident of international importance. -
The Battle of Seven Pines (Fair Oaks)
The Battle of Seven Pines took place on May 31 and June 1, 1862 as part of the Peninsula Campaign. Although the battle was tactically inconclusive, it was the largest battle in the Eastern Theater up to that time and marked the end of the Union offensive, leading to the Seven Days Battles and Union retreat in late June. -
Seven Days' Battles
The Seven Days Battles was a series of six major battles over the seven days from June 25 to July 1, 1862, near Richmond, Virginia during the American Civil War. Overall, it was a Confederate victory. -
Second Battle of Bull Run
The Second Battle of Bull Run was the culmination of an offensive campaign waged by Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia against Union Maj. Gen. John Pope's Army of Virginia, and a battle of much larger scale and numbers than the First Battle of Bull Run fought in 1861 on the same ground. It ended in a Confederate victory. -
Battle of Antietam
The Battle of Antietam, fought on September 17, 1862, was the first major battle to be fought on Union soil in the Civil War. It was fought near Sharpsburg, Maryland with Confederate General Robert E. Lee and Union General George B. McClellan. This was the bloodiest single-day battle fought in American History. The result was a strategic Union victory. -
Emancipation Proclamation
President Lincoln issued this proclamation on September 22, 1862, and January 1, 1863. The declaration highlighted freedom of all slaves within any state that did not submit to Union control and specified the states where the proclamation was to be unconditionally applied. The proclamation also granted slaves the privelege to join the U.S. army, thus increasing the Union forces by over 200,000 people. -
First (Union) Conscription Act
The Enrollment Act was legislation passed by the United States Congress during the American Civil War to provide fresh manpower for the Union Army. The controversial act required the enrollment of every male citizen and those immigrants who had filed for citizenship between ages twenty and forty-five. -
Siege of Vicksburg
The Siege of Vicksburg was the final major military action in the Vicksburg Campaign of the Civil War. In a series of maneuvers, Union Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and his Army crossed the Mississippi River and drove the Confederate army of Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton into the defensive lines surrounding the fortress city of Vicksburg, Mississippi. -
West Virginia Becomes a State
On June 20, 1863, West Virginia became the 35th state in the U.S. When Virginia seceded from the Union, West Virginia decided to stay a part of the country. Very few western counties had slave owners so they seperated from Virginia. -
Gettysburg Address
The Gettysburg Address was a speech given by President Abraham Lincoln at the Soldier's National Cemetary in Gettysburg, PA about 4 1/2 months after the Battle of Gettysburg. This speech has come to be one of the greatest speeches in American history. -
The Siege of Petersburg
The Siege of Petersburg was a series of battles around Petersburg, Virginia, fought from June 9, 1864, to March 25, 1865. Although it is popularly known as the Siege of Petersburg, it was not a classic military siege, in which a city is usually surrounded and all supply lines are cut off, nor was it strictly limited to actions against Petersburg. The end result was a Union victory. -
Lincoln is Re-Elected President (Second Term)
In the Presidential Election of 1864, Lincoln was up against George B. McCllelan, who was representing the Democratic party. Lincoln won by over 400,000 popular votes and easily secured an electoral majority. This was the first election since 1832 that a incumbent president won re-election. President Lincoln's second term ended only six weeks after the inaguration due to the assassination. -
Sherman’s March to the Sea
Sherman's March to the Sea was a campaign conducted around Georgia from November 15, 1864 to December 21, 1864 by Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman of the Union Army in the American Civil War. The campaign began with Sherman's troops leaving the captured city of Atlanta, Georgia, on November 16 and ended with the capture of the port of Savannah on December 21. It inflicted significant damage, particularly to industry and civilian property. -
Surrender at Appomattox Courthouse
The Battle of Appomattox Court House was fought on April 9, 1865 and was the final engagement of the Confederate States Army and the Union. It was also the final battle of the American Civil War. This marked a Union victory on the war. -
Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
Five days after General Lee surrendered to General Grant, John Wilkes Booth assassinated Abraham Lincoln while he was watching a play with his wife. The assassination was part of a larger plan to revive the Confederate cause. Lincoln was the first president to be assassinated and his death had a huge impact on the country as a whole.
