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Civil War Timeline
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Kansas is admitted to the Union. It is 34th U.S. state and was supposed to be a slave state. Much controversy led it to eventually become free.
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Mississippi Senator Jefferson Davis presents resolutions as to why slavery should be allowed in the territories. He also gave reasons as to why the nation should protect slaveholders. His intention was to unite the Democratic party.
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The Pony Express begins going from Saint Louis, Missouri to Sacramento, California. It had 119 stations that were each 12 miles apart. They made it possible for more letters to be delivered in a more timely manner.
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The former members of the American and Whig parties meet in Baltimore and form the Constitutional Union Party, They elect John Bell to be their candidate for president and Edward Everett as candidate for vice president.
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Grace Bedell, an 11 year old girl, writes Lincoln. In her letter she tells him that a beard would make his face look better because it is so thin. Lincoln immediatly decides to let his whiskers grow out.
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Lincoln is elected as the 16th President of the United States. First president in the nation who represents a party that opposes the spread of slavery in the territories of the United States.
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Seven senators and twenty-three representatives issue a manifesto urging southern secession. It also recommends forming a Souther Confederacy.
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The first Secession Convention meets in Columbia, South Carolina.
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South Carolina is the first state to secede from the Union.
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South Carolina issues their "Declaration of the Immediate Causes Which Induce and Justify the Seccession of South Carolina from the Federal Union". This was South Carolina's version of the "Declaration of Independence".
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Mississippi secedes from the Union. Second state to leave the Union.
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Florida secedes from the Union. Third state to leave the Union.
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Alabama secedes from the Union. Fourth state to leave the Union.
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Georgia secedes from the Union. Fifth state to leave the Union
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Louisiana secedes from the Union. Sixth state to leave the Union
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Texas secedes from the Union. Seventh state to leave the Union.
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Jefferson Davis is appointed the first President of the Confederate States of America at Montgomery, Alabama, a position he will hold until elections can be arranged.
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Abraham Lincoln is inaugurated as the sixteenth president of the United States in Washington, DC.
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Southern forces fire upon Fort Sumter, South Carolina. The Civil War has formally begun.
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The Battle of Bull Run is fought near Manassas, Virginia. The Union Army under General Irwin McDowell initially succeeds in driving back Confederate forces under General Pierre Gustav Toutant Beauregard, but the arrival of troops under General Joseph E. Johnston initates a series of reverses that sends McDowell's army in a panicked retreat to the defenses of Washington. It is here that Thomas Jonathan Jackson, a professor at VMI, will receive everlasting fame as "Stonewall" Jackson.
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Battle of Roanoke Island, North Carolina. A Confederate defeat, the battle resulted in Union occupation of eastern North Carolina and control of Pamlico Sound, to be used as Northern base for further operations against the southern coast.
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Surrender of Fort Henry, Tennessee. The lost of this southern fort on the Tennessee River opened the door to Union control of the river.
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Surrender of Fort Donelson, Tennessee. This primary southern fort on the Cumberland River left the river in Union hands. It was here that Union General Ulysses S. Grant gained his nickname "Unconditional Surrender".
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Jefferson Davis is inaugurated as President of the Confederate States of America.
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The Battle of Shiloh (Pittsburgh Landing), the first major battle in Tennessee. Confederate General Albert Sidney Johnston, a veteran of the Texas War of Independence and the War with Mexico considered to be one of the finest officers the South has, is killed on the first day of fighting. The Union victory further secures the career of Union General Ulysses S. Grant.
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The Battle of Seven Pines near Richmond, Virginia. General Joseph Johnston, commander of the Confederate army in Virginia is wounded and replaced by Robert E. Lee who renames his command the "Army of Northern Virginia".
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The Seven Days' Battles before Richmond. General Lee's army attacks the "Army of the Potomac" under General George McClellan in a succession of battles beginning at Mechanicsville on June 26 and ending at Malvern Hill on July 1.
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The Battle of Second Bull Run (or Second Manassas) is fought on the same ground where one year before, the Union army was defeated and sent reeling in retreat to Washington. Likewise, the result of this battle is a Union defeat.
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The Battle of Antietam (or Sharpsburg), Maryland, the bloodiest single day of the Civil War. The result of the battle ends General Lee's first invasion of the North. Following the Union victory, President Lincoln will introduce the Emancipation Proclamation, an executive order that freed every slave in the Confederate States.
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The Battle of Fredericksburg, Virginia. The Army of the Potomac, under General Ambrose Burnside, is soundly defeated by Lee's forces after a risky river crossing and sacking of the city.
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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.
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The Battle of Chancellorsville, Virginia. General Lee's greatest victory is marred by the mortal wounding of "Stonewall" Jackson, who dies on May 10. Soon after, Lee asks Jefferson Davis for permission to invade the North and take the war out of Virginia.
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The Gettysburg Campaign continues. Confederates pass through York and reach the bridge over the Susquehanna River at Columbia, but Union militia set fire to the bridge, denying access to the east shore. Southern cavalry skirmishes with Union militia near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
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July 1-3- The Battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The bloodiest battle of the Civil War dashes Robert E. Lee's hopes for a successful invasion of the North.
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Vicksburg, Mississippi, surrenders to the Union Army under Grant. The capture of Vicksburg gives the Union complete control of the Mississippi River, a vital supply line for the Confederate states in the west. At Gettysburg, Lee begins his retreat to Virginia.
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Draft Riots begin in New York City and elsewhere as disgruntled workers and laborers, seething over the draft system that seemingly favors the rich, attack the draft office and African American churches. The riots continue through July 16.
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The Battle of Chickamauga, Georgia. The Union Army of the Cumberland under General William Rosecrans is defeated and nearly routed by the Confederate Army of Tennessee commanded by General Braxton Bragg. Rosecrans' army retreats to the supply base at Chattanooga, Tennessee.
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Dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery at Gettysburg. President Abraham Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address.
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The Battle for Chattanooga. Union forces break the Confederate siege of the city in successive attacks. The most notable event is the storming of Lookout Mountain on November 24 and Battle of Missionary Ridge the following day. The decisive Union victory sends the Confederate Army south into Georgia where General Bragg reorganizes his forces before resigning from command on November 30.
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Lincoln Issues his Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction, which would pardon those who participated in the "existing rebellion" if they take an oath to the Union.
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In Georgia, Camp Sumter Prison Camp opens. Universally referred to as Andersonville Prison Camp, it will become notorious for overcrowded conditions and a high death rate among its inmates.
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Ulysses S. Grant is appointed lieutenant general, a rank revived at the request of President Lincoln. Grant assumes command of all Union Armies in the field the following day.
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Battle of the Wilderness, Virginia, the opening battle of the "Overland Campaign" or "Wilderness Campaign". General Ulysses S. Grant, accompanying the Army of the Potomac under General Meade, issued orders for the campaign to begin on May 3. Lee responded by attacking the Union column in the dense woods and underbrush of an area known as the Wilderness, west of Fredericksburg, Virginia.
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Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, Virginia. Lee successfully stalls Grant's drive toward Richmond.
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Abraham Lincoln is nominated by his party for a second term as president.
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Lincoln signs away the fee that someone could pay to avoid being drafted into the Union Army.
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Fall of Atlanta, Georgia. Confederate troops under General Hood evacuate the city of Atlanta. General Sherman's army occupies the city and its defenses the following day.
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Battle of Fort Harrison near Richmond, Virginia. In a sweeping assault, the Confederate stronghold known as Fort Harrison falls to the Army of the James. Confederate efforts to retake the fort fail.
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General Sherman's Army of Georgia begins the "March to the Sea"
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The Battle of Nashville, Tennessee. The Confederate Army under John Bell Hood is thoroughly defeated and the threat to Tennessee ends.
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Assault and capture of Fort Fisher, North Carolina. Union occupation of this fort at the mouth of the Cape Fear River closes access to Wilmington, the last southern seaport on the east coast that was open to blockade runners and commercial shipping.
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Wilmington, NC, falls to Union troops, closing the last important southern port on the east coast. On this same day, Joseph E. Johnston is restored to command the nearly shattered Army of the Tennessee, vice John B. Hood who resigned a month earlier.
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Attack on Fort Stedman, Petersburg, Virginia. Touted as "Lee's last offensive", Confederate troops under General John B. Gordon attack and briefly capture the Union fort in the Petersburg siege lines in an attempt to thwart Union plans for a late March assault. By day's end, the southerners have been thrown out and the lines remain unchanged.
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Confederate President Jefferson Davis is captured near Irwinville, Georgia.
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The final battle of the Civil War takes place at Palmito Ranch, Texas. It is a Confederate victory.
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General Simon Bolivar Buckner enters into terms for surrender of the Army of the Trans-Mississippi, which are agreed to on June 2, 1865.The Civil War officially ends.
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The Fall of Petersburg and Richmond. General Lee abandons both cities and moves his army west in hopes of joining Confederate forces under General Johnston in North Carolina.
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President Abraham Lincoln is assassinated by actor John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theater in Washington, DC. On the same day, Fort Sumter, South Carolina is re-occupied by Union troops.
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General Granger arrives in Texas and tells them about the Emancipation Proclamation. It is now celebrated as holiday called Juneteenth.
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General Joseph Johnston signs the surrender document for the Confederate Army of the Tennessee and miscellaneous southern troops attached to his command at Bennett's Place near Durham, North Carolina.
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The last issue of the Liberator is published. The newspaper has now becomes unnecessary because the slaves have been freed.
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The first day light bank robbery takes place in Liberty, Missouri. This was carried out by Jesse James and his gang, although no one is quite sure where Jesse James fits into this event.
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The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is founded in New York by Henry Bergh
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Congress approves the minting of a five cent piece, know as the nickel. This eliminates the half dime.
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The 14th amendment is ratified. This gives civil rights to all the freed African Americans.
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Following the Civil War Tennessee becomes the first state readmitted to the Union.
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Congress passes the legislation making General of the Army a rank. Ulysses S. Grant is the first to hold that title.
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The Atlantic Cable is established allowing transatlantic telegraph communication for the first time.
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The first train robbery takes place. The Reno brothers get away with $13,000.
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Jesse James and his gang robs a bank in Lexington, Missouri. They get away with $2,000.
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African American males are given the right to vote in Washington D.C. Congress over came President Johnson's veto to give the African Americans this right.
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The first reconstruction act sets up five military districts in the South, each under the control of a military commander. The Army Appropriations Act is passed, lessening Johnson's' control on the army. The final act passed is The Tenure Office Act which states that Johnson cannot remove cabinet members without the Senate's consent.
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Jesse James robs a bank in Savannah,Missouri. The attempt failed with one casualty.
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African Americans stage a ride on streetcars in New Orleans to protest segregation.
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President Andrew Johnson announces the purchase of Alaska. This would be the second to last state added to the United States of America.
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Johnson vetoes the third reconstruction act which spells out election procedures in the South and reasserts congressional control over the Reconstruction. Congress overrides Johnsons' veto,
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Johnson suspends Stanton as Secretary of War after the two clash over reconstruction plans. Johnson places Ulysses S. Grant in the position.
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The United States officially takes possesion of Alaska from Russia. $7.2 million is paid for it.
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Congress looks into impeaching Johnson for his lack of effectiveness and unwillingness to follow through with reconstruction.
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Former Minnesota farmer Oliver Hudson Kelley founds the Order of the Patrons of Husbandry. Today this order is known as the farmers organization Grange.
