United States Civil War

By danielleolsen
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    United States Civil War

  • Jefferson Davis favors secession

    Jefferson Davis favors secession
    Jefferson Davis comes out in favor of secession for the first time

  • John Bell elected president and Edward Everett elected as vice president

    John Bell elected president and Edward Everett elected as vice president
    The Constitution Union Party, meeting in Baltimore, creates a platform taken heavily from the U. S. Constitution and selects John Bell of Tennessee for President and Edward Everett of Massachusetts for Vice-President. It represents southern Whigs and Know-nothings (American Party). Sometimes called the Bell-Union Party

  • John C. Breckinridge is nominated for President

    John C. Breckinridge is nominated for President
    Southern Democrats hold a convention in Richmond where they select John C. Breckinridge as their nominee for President

  • Joseph E. Johnston appointed Quartermaster General

    Joseph E. Johnston appointed Quartermaster General
    Joseph E. Johnston appointed Quartermaster General

  • Abraham Lincoln becomes 16th president of the United States

    Abraham Lincoln becomes 16th president of the United States
    Republican Abraham Lincoln wins the Presidential election with 39.7% of the vote, defeating Stephen Douglas, John Breckinridge and John Bell.

  • South Carolina contemplates seceding from the Union

    South Carolina contemplates seceding from the Union
    South Carolina calls for a convention on December 17 to decide if the state should secede from the Union

  • Fort Sumter is being threatened

    Fort Sumter is being threatened
    Major Robert Anderson reports Fort Sumter is being threatened in Charleston as federal forces begin to improved Fort Moultrie and Fort Sumter in the harbor.

  • James Buchanan sends a distressed message to Congress

    James Buchanan sends a distressed message to Congress
    Outgoing President James Buchanan sends a distressed State of the Union message to Congress. In it he states that secession is unconstitutional, says the federal government lacks the authority to prevent it and calls for a constitutional amendment allowing Southern states to retain slaves as property.

  • South Carolina secedes

    South Carolina secedes
    South Carolina's convention officially approves the Ordinance of Secession

  • Federal arsenal at Charleston falls into the hands of the Rebels

    Federal arsenal at Charleston falls into the hands of the Rebels
    Federal arsenal at Charleston falls into the hands of the Rebels

  • Artillery fires on the Star of the West

    Artillery fires on the Star of the West
    Artillery fires on the Star of the West from Morris Island as it crosses into the main entrance channel to Charleston Harbor. As the ship comes about, Fort Moultrie opens fire, also with cannon shot. A mile and a half from Fort Sumter, the ship withdraws.

  • The Convention of Seceded States adopts a provisional constitution forming the Confederate States of America

    The Convention of Seceded States adopts a provisional constitution forming the Confederate States of America
    The Convention of Seceded States adopts a provisional constitution forming the Confederate States of America

  • William Yancey, Howell Cobb, Robert Toombs, Alexander Stephens, and Robert Barnwell Rhett for President of the Confederate States of America,

    William Yancey, Howell Cobb, Robert Toombs, Alexander Stephens, and Robert Barnwell Rhett for President of the Confederate States of America,
    After privately considering William Yancey, Howell Cobb, Robert Toombs, Alexander Stephens, and Robert Barnwell Rhett for President of the Confederate States of America, the Convention settles on Jefferson Davis. They select Alexander Stephens, both pro-Union and a friend of Abraham Lincoln, as vice-president

  • Confederate batteries along the shore of Charleston Harbor fire on Fort Sumter under the command of Major Robert Anderson.

    Confederate batteries along the shore of Charleston Harbor fire on Fort Sumter under the command of Major Robert Anderson.
    Beginning at 4:30 am on the 12th and continuing until the morning of the 13th, Confederate batteries along the shore of Charleston Harbor fire on Fort Sumter under the command of Major Robert Anderson.

  • Anderson arranges a surrender with Texas Senator Louis Wigfall on the morning of the 13th.

    Anderson arranges a surrender with Texas Senator Louis Wigfall on the morning of the 13th.
    Anderson arranges a surrender with Texas Senator Louis Wigfall on the morning of the 13th.

  • Battle of Philippi

    Battle of Philippi
    Battle of Philippi

  • First land engagement of the Civil War between American and Confederate forces

    First land engagement of the Civil War between American and Confederate forces
    First land engagement of the Civil War between American and Confederate forces

  • (First) Manassas (Confederate) (First) Bull Run (Union)

    (First) Manassas (Confederate) (First) Bull Run (Union)
    (First) Manassas (Confederate)
    (First) Bull Run (Union)

  • About 25 miles southwest of Washington the first major battle of the Civil War

    About 25 miles southwest of Washington the first major battle of the Civil War
    About 25 miles southwest of Washington the first major battle of the Civil War pits Irvin McDowell [US] against P. G. T. Beauregard [CS] and Joe Johnston [CS].

  • Winfield Scott relieved from duty as Supreme Comander of the United States.

    Winfield Scott relieved from duty as Supreme Comander of the United States.
    Winfield Scott relieved from duty as Supreme Comander of the United States.

  • Battle of Ft. Donelson

    Battle of Ft. Donelson
    Battle of Ft. Donelson

  • General Ulysses S. Grant demands unconditional surrender

    General Ulysses S. Grant demands unconditional surrender
    General Ulysses S. Grant demands the unconditional surrender of the garrison from an old friend, Simon Bolivar Buckner

  • Battle of Pea Ridge

    Battle of Pea Ridge
    Battle of Pea Ridge

  • Battle of Shiloh [Confederate]

    Battle of Shiloh [Confederate]
    Battle of Shiloh [Confederate]

  • Battle of Seven Pines [US]

    Battle of Seven Pines [US]
    Battle of Seven Pines [US]

  • Joseph E. Johnston is replaced by Robert E. Lee

    Joseph E. Johnston is replaced by Robert E. Lee
    Jefferson Davis replaces wounded Army of Northern Virginia commander Joseph E. Johnston with Robert E. Lee

  • John Bell Hood and George Pickett breakthrough Fitz John Porter's line

    John Bell Hood and George Pickett breakthrough Fitz John Porter's line
    John Bell Hood and George Pickett breakthrough Fitz John Porter's line, forcing Union troops south of the Chickahominy River and severing McClellan's supply line to Eltham's Landing (White House, West Point)

  • Robert E. Lee attacked George B. McClellan

    Robert E. Lee attacked George B. McClellan
    Robert E. Lee attacked George B. McClellan, whose men made a gallant stand in front of the James River. Lee called off his attack after failing to break the Union line.

  • Battle of Harpers Ferry

    Battle of Harpers Ferry
    Battle of Harpers Ferry

  • Stonewall Jackson takes 12,000 prisoners

    Stonewall Jackson takes 12,000 prisoners
    Stonewall Jackson takes 12,000 prisoners

  • The Emancipation Proclamation goes into effect

    The Emancipation Proclamation goes into effect
    The Emancipation Proclamation goes into effect

  • General Ambrose Burnside replaced with General Joseph "Fighting Joe" Hooker

    General Ambrose Burnside replaced with General Joseph "Fighting Joe" Hooker
    Abraham Lincoln relieves General Ambrose Burnside [US} from command of the Army of the Potomac, replacing him with General Joseph "Fighting Joe" Hooker.

  • Battle of Chancellorsville

    Battle of Chancellorsville
    Battle of Chancellorsville

  • West Virginia becomes the 35th state to enter the United States

    West Virginia becomes the 35th state to enter the United States
    West Virginia becomes the 35th state to enter the United States, but the first to enter where the terms slave and free no longer mattered

  • Battle of Gettysburg

    Battle of Gettysburg
    Battle of Gettysburg

  • Grant demands an unconditional surrender

    Grant demands an unconditional surrender
    John Pemberton, commander of Confederate forces at Vicksburg asks Ulysses S. Grant for terms. Grant demands an unconditional surrender. Pemberton refuses. Late in the evening, Grant offers excellent terms and Pemberton accepts.

  • Battle of Chickamauga

    Battle of Chickamauga
    Battle of Chickamauga

  • General Braxton Bragg [CS] tries to split General William Rosecrans

    General Braxton Bragg [CS] tries to split General William Rosecrans
    General Braxton Bragg [CS] tries to split General William Rosecrans [US] forces as they try to return to the safety of Chattanooga. A second day breakthrough at the Brotherton Cabin forces the federals into a retreat, halted only by the Rock of Chickamauga, General George Thomas on Snodgrass Hill

  • Gettysburg Address

    Gettysburg Address
    At the dedication of the National Cemetery in Gettysburg President Lincoln delivers a two-minute speech. Immediately following the speech he calls it a "flat failure." The speech is known today as the Gettysburg Address

  • Battle of Missionary Ridge, Chattanooga

    Battle of Missionary Ridge, Chattanooga
    Battle of Missionary Ridge, Chattanooga

  • 109 Union officers led by Colonel Thomas Rose escape from Libby Prison

    109 Union officers led by Colonel Thomas Rose escape from Libby Prison
    109 Union officers led by Colonel Thomas Rose escape from Libby Prison on the banks of the James River in Richmond. 59 reach Union lines

  • Battle of the Wilderness

    Battle of the Wilderness
    Battle of the Wilderness

  • Army of the James under General Benjamin Butler [US] lands at Bermuda Hundred and City Point, east of Petersburg. The Army is comprised of two corps totaling nearly 40,000 men.

    Army of the James under General Benjamin Butler [US] lands at Bermuda Hundred and City Point, east of Petersburg. The Army is comprised of two corps totaling nearly 40,000 men.
    Army of the James under General Benjamin Butler [US] lands at Bermuda Hundred and City Point, east of Petersburg. The Army is comprised of two corps totaling nearly 40,000 men.

  • Ulysses S. Grant [US] is badly beaten on the field by Robert E. Lee

    Ulysses S. Grant [US] is badly beaten on the field by Robert E. Lee
    Ulysses S. Grant [US] is badly beaten on the field by Robert E. Lee [CS] but rather than retreat, Grant advances to Spotsylvania Court House.

  • Battle of Spotsylvania Court House

    Battle of Spotsylvania Court House
    Battle of Spotsylvania Court House

  • In an inconclusive battle, General Ulysses S. Grant [US] and Robert E. Lee [CS] battle for days southwest of Fredericksburg

    In an inconclusive battle, General Ulysses S. Grant [US] and Robert E. Lee [CS] battle for days southwest of Fredericksburg
    In an inconclusive battle, General Ulysses S. Grant [US] and Robert E. Lee [CS] battle for days southwest of Fredericksburg

  • Battle of Picketts Mill

    Battle of Picketts Mill
    Battle of Picketts Mill

  • Battle of Cold Harbor

    Battle of Cold Harbor
    Battle of Cold Harbor

  • Robert E. Lee [CS] defeats General Ulysses S. Grant [US] and General George Meade [US]

    Robert E. Lee [CS] defeats General Ulysses S. Grant [US] and General George Meade [US]
    Robert E. Lee [CS] defeats General Ulysses S. Grant [US] and General George Meade [US]

  • Battle of Nashville

    Battle of Nashville
    Battle of Nashville

  • The 13th Amendment is passed by the U. S. House

    The 13th Amendment is passed by the U. S. House
    The 13th Amendment is passed by the U. S. House

  • Abolition of slavery in Tennessee

    Abolition of slavery in Tennessee
    Voters approve a new constitution, including the abolition of slavery, in Tennessee

  • Battle of White Oak Road

    Battle of White Oak Road
    Battle of White Oak Road

  • Abraham Lincoln assassnated

    Abraham Lincoln assassnated
    United States President Abraham Lincoln is assassinated on Good Friday by John Wilkes Booth in Ford's Theatre, Washington, D. C.

  • President Jefferson Davis is captured near Irwinville

    President Jefferson Davis is captured near Irwinville
    President Jefferson Davis is captured near Irwinville

  • Secretary of War Edwin Stanton orders Union troops to stand guard at Ford's Theater to prevent it from reopening following the assasination of President Lincoln

    Secretary of War Edwin Stanton orders Union troops to stand guard at Ford's Theater to prevent it from reopening following the assasination of President Lincoln
    Secretary of War Edwin Stanton orders Union troops to stand guard at Ford's Theater to prevent it from reopening following the assasination of President Lincoln

  • Mississippi conventions passes an ordinance voiding the secession ordinance of 1861

    Mississippi conventions passes an ordinance voiding the secession ordinance of 1861
    Mississippi conventions passes an ordinance voiding the secession ordinance of 1861

  • Connecticut holds a vote to legalize black suffrage in the state: For: 27,217 Against: 33,489

    Connecticut holds a vote to legalize black suffrage in the state: For: 27,217 Against: 33,489
    Connecticut holds a vote to legalize black suffrage in the state: For: 27,217 Against: 33,489

  • North Carolina declares the secession ordinance of 1861 null and void

    North Carolina declares the secession ordinance of 1861 null and void
    North Carolina declares the secession ordinance of 1861 null and void

  • The 13th Amendment, which abolishes slavery except as a form of punishment, is proclaimed

    The 13th Amendment, which abolishes slavery except as a form of punishment, is proclaimed
    The 13th Amendment, which abolishes slavery except as a form of punishment, is proclaimed

  • The first formal observation of President Lincoln's birthday is held in Washington, D. C. President Andrew Johnson attends

    The first formal observation of President Lincoln's birthday is held in Washington, D. C. President Andrew Johnson attends
    The first formal observation of President Lincoln's birthday is held in Washington, D. C. President Andrew Johnson attends

  • New Freedman's Bureau bill passed by Congress

    New Freedman's Bureau bill passed by Congress
    New Freedman's Bureau bill passed by Congress. President Andrew Johnson vetoes the bill that authorized military trial for those accused of "depriving Negroes of the Civil Rights" on the same day

  • Texas repeals the actions of the Secessionist Convention

    Texas repeals the actions of the Secessionist Convention
    Texas repeals the actions of the Secessionist Convention

  • The United States declares that a state of peace exists with Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia

    The United States declares that a state of peace exists with Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia
    The United States declares that a state of peace exists with Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia

  • Congress appropriates $100,000 to buy Ford's Theater.

    Congress appropriates $100,000 to buy Ford's Theater.
    Congress appropriates $100,000 to buy Ford's Theater. It will house the Army Medical Museum, the Office of the Surgeon General and War Department records until 1893

  • Congress overrides President Andrew Johnson's veto of the Civil Rights Act

    Congress overrides President Andrew Johnson's veto of the Civil Rights Act
    Congress overrides President Andrew Johnson's veto of the Civil Rights Act

  • President Johnson vetos the Civil Rights Act of 1866 on the grounds that it was unconstitutional

    President Johnson vetos the Civil Rights Act of 1866 on the grounds that it was unconstitutional
    President Johnson vetos the Civil Rights Act of 1866 on the grounds that it was unconstitutional

  • Thirty-ninth Congress approves the 14th Amendment to the Constitution

    Thirty-ninth Congress approves the 14th Amendment to the Constitution
    Thirty-ninth Congress approves the 14th Amendment to the Constitution

  • Congress establishes "general of the armies"

    Congress establishes "general of the armies"
    Congress establishes "general of the armies" and Ulysses S. Grant is immediately promoted to 4-star general and put in this position. William Tecumseh Sherman assumes the rank of Lt. General.

  • Fire in Phili

    Fire in Phili
    A fire in the Philadelphia ship-yard accidently destroys a number of ships used during the Civil War

  • Ohio ratifies the 14th Amendment

    Ohio ratifies the 14th Amendment
    Ohio ratifies the 14th Amendment

  • Kentucky rejects the 14th Amendment

    Kentucky rejects the 14th Amendment
    Kentucky rejects the 14th Amendment

  • Blacks in Washington D. C. gain the right to vote in a bill passed over President Andrew Johnson's veto

    Blacks in Washington D. C. gain the right to vote in a bill passed over President Andrew Johnson's veto
    Blacks in Washington D. C. gain the right to vote in a bill passed over President Andrew Johnson's veto

  • Nebraska becomes a state

    Nebraska becomes a state
    Nebraska becomes a state

  • Federal army restores military rule to Mississippi (2nd Reconstruction).

    Federal army restores military rule to Mississippi (2nd Reconstruction).
    Federal army restores military rule to Mississippi (2nd Reconstruction).

  • Alexandria, Virginia rejects thousand of votes cast by Negroes, who were granted universal suffrage under the Reconstruction Act.

    Alexandria, Virginia rejects thousand of votes cast by Negroes, who were granted universal suffrage under the Reconstruction Act.
    Alexandria, Virginia rejects thousand of votes cast by Negroes, who were granted universal suffrage under the Reconstruction Act.

  • General Philip Sheridan assumes command of the 5th Military district encompassing Louisiana and Texas. He designates New Orleans as his headquarters.

    General Philip Sheridan assumes command of the 5th Military district encompassing Louisiana and Texas. He designates New Orleans as his headquarters.
    General Philip Sheridan assumes command of the 5th Military district encompassing Louisiana and Texas. He designates New Orleans as his headquarters.

  • Massachusetts ratifies the 14th Amendment

    Massachusetts ratifies the 14th Amendment
    Massachusetts ratifies the 14th Amendment

  • Ulysses S. Grant becomes ad interim Secretary of War

    Ulysses S. Grant becomes ad interim Secretary of War
    Ulysses S. Grant becomes ad interim Secretary of War

  • Edwin Stanton suspended by President Andrew Johnson

    Edwin Stanton suspended by President Andrew Johnson
    Edwin Stanton suspended by President Andrew Johnson