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The South Secedes
The South feels threatened by the election of Abraham Lincoln and formally secedes from the United States of America. -
Attack on Fort Sumter
Confederates attacked the poorly supplied Fort Sumter to try and gain hold of the Charleston Harbor after the Souths' secession. -
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The Civil War
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First Battle of Bull Run
The Union began a march towards the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia, meeting General P.G.T. Beauregard at Manassas. The battle ended in a Confederate victory with 2,896 casulties for the Confederacy and 1,982 for the Union. -
The Trent Affair
The USS San Jacinto intercepted the RMS Trent, and captured two Confederate diplomats, who were bound for Great Britain and France. -
Virginia vs. Monitor
Also known as the Battle of Hampton Roads, the Confederate iron-clad, the Virginia, battled with the Union iron-clad, the Monitor. Neither side won the battle. -
Battle of Shiloh
The Union army under Gen. Ulysses S. Grant were suprise attacked by Confederate general Albert Sydney Johnston. The Confederate Army had considerable success the first day, until Gen. Johnston was killed, and the Confederates were defeated on the second day. Union casulites were 13,000 and the Confederacy was 11,000. -
Capture of New Orleans
The Union Navy under Commodore Farragut wanted to head up the Mississippi River and meet General Ulysses S. Grant at Vicksburg. Eventually the Union got past the Confederate defenses by disguising their ship, and turned Confederate guns on themselves. -
Seven Days' Battles
Six battles fought over seven days. Resulted in a Confederate Victory. Union casulties amounted to 16,000 and Confederates to 20,000. -
Second Battle of Bull Run
General Lee caught up with General Pope of the Union at Manassas, resulting in the Second Battle of Bull Run. Union casulties 10,000 and Confederate casulties 8,000. -
Battle of Antietam
Also known as the Battle of Sharpsburg, Antietam was the first battle won by the Union in the Civil War. The battle was the bloodiest single day battle in the war, with over 23,000 casulties each. -
Battle of Fredericksburg
Army of the Potomac under Gen. Burnside suffers a defeat at Fredericksburg in Virginia with a loss of 12,653 men after 14 assaults on well defended Confederates on Marye's Heights. "We might as well have tried to take hell," a Union soldier said. Confederate losses are 5,309. -
The Emancipation Proclamation
Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which stated that, "all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free." -
Battle of Chancellorsville
The Union Army under Gen. Hooker is defeated by Lee's much smaller forces at the Battle of Chancellorsville in Virginia. Confederate Gen. Stonewall Jackson is mortally wounded by his own soldiers. Hooker retreats. Union losses are 17,000 killed, wounded and missing out of 130,000. The Confederates, 13, 000 out of 60,000. -
Death of Gen "Stonewall" Jackson
The South suffers a huge blow as Stonewall Jackson dies from his wounds, his last words, "Let us cross over the river and rest under the shade of the trees." Lee says,"I have lost my right arm." -
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The Siege of Vicksburg
General Ulysses S. Grant and his Union army crossed the Mississippi River and laid seige to the city of Vicksburg. On July 4, General John C. Pemberton surrendered, and the Union captured the city. -
The Battle of Gettysburg
Confederate general Robert E. Lee led his army through the Shenandoah Valley. He attacked Gettysburg in hopes of forcing the North to end their persecution of the Confederacy. The battle lasted for three days, ending with the defeat of Robert E. Lee's forces. -
Seige of Vicksburg
Vicksburg, the last Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi River, surrenders to Gen. Grant and the Army of the West after a six week siege. With the Union now in control of the Mississippi, the Confederacy is effectively split in two. -
54th Massachusetts attempt to take Fort Wagner
African Americans of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment under Col. Robert G. Shaw assault fortified Rebels at Fort Wagner, South Carolina. Col. Shaw and half of the 600 men in the regiment are killed. -
Battle of Chickamauga
A Confederate victory by Gen. Braxton Bragg's Army of Tennessee at Chickamauga leaves Gen. William S. Rosecrans' Union Army of the Cumberland trapped in Chattanooga, Tennessee under Confederate siege. -
Lee Surrenders
Gen. Robert E. Lee surrenders his Confederate Army to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at the village of Appomattox Court House in Virginia. -
The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
Occuring five days after Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant, John Wilkes Booth assassinated Abraham Lincoln, who died the next day.
