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January 1, 1863
The Emancipation Proclamation goes into effect. Applauded by many abolitionists including Frederick Douglass, there are others who feel it does not go far enough to totally abolish slavery. -
Stones River (Murfreesboro)
Although the Battle of Stones River ended in a Union tactical victory, it resulted in an operational draw, as neither army completed its objectives. Both armies lost more than 30 percent of their effective fighting force, putting them out of action for the next six months. -
Draft
Conscription, or the drafting of soldiers into military service, begins in the North. It had begun in the South the year before. -
April 1863
Union forces in the east begin a new campaign in Virginia to flank Lee's Army of Northern Virginia at Fredericksburg. In the west, a Union army has begun a campaign to surround and take Vicksburg, Mississippi, the last Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi River. -
Chancellorsville
Over the course of three days, 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 suffers 17,000 casualties, the South 13,000. -
Stonewall Jackson Dies
Confederate General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson dies from wounds sustained when he was mistakenly shot by his own troops at Chancellorsville. -
Gettysburg
From July 1st to July 4th, the Union Army under General Meade defeats Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. One of the bloodiest battles of the war, Gettysburg is a turning point, and marks the farthest advance of the Confederate Army into Northern territory. -
Pickett’s Charge
On the third day of the Battle of Gettysburg, General Robert E. Lee orders General George Pickett to assault entrenched Union positions. In what would become known as "Pickett's Charge," More than half of the 12,000 Confederate soldiers who participate in the charge are slaughtered as they walk slowly across a 3/4-mile field into a hail of gunfire. -
Vicksburg
Far to the West on the Mississippi River, General Ulysses S. Grant takes Vicksburg after a long siege. At this point, the Union controls the entire river, cutting the Confederacy in two. -
Draft Riots
When the government attempts to begin conscription, riots break out in New York and other northern cities. In New York, 120 men, women and children—mostly Black—are killed before Union troops returning from Gettysburg restore order. -
Gettysburg Address
President Lincoln delivers the two-minute Gettysburg Address at the dedication of the National Cemetery at the battlefield in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. -
Grant Takes Command
Lincoln appoints Ulysses S. Grant commander of all Union armies, ending his long search for a decent general to command northern forces. General William T. Sherman takes over as commander in the West. -
Virginia Campaign
Beginning a drive aimed at ending the war, Ulysses S. Grant and 120,000 troops march south toward Richmond, the Confederate capital. Over the course of the next six weeks, a brutal war of attrition results in the deaths of nearly 50,000 Union soldiers. -
Battle of the Wilderness
During the horrific Battle of the Wilderness, thousands of men burn to death as the woods in which they were fighting catch fire. -
Siege of Petersburg
With the beginning of the Siege of Petersburg, south of Richmond, the mobile war of the past month ends, replaced by a nine-month siege. -
Battle of Königgrätz
The Battle of Königgrätz was the decisive battle of the Austro-Prussian War in which the Kingdom of Prussia defeated the Austrian Empire
