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Pierre Beauregard open fire with 50 cannons upon Fort Sumter in, South Carolina.
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Virginia secedes from the Union, followed by Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina. The Union will soon have 21 states and a population of over 20 million.
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The Union Army under General McDowell suffers a defeat at Bull Run 25 miles southwest of Washington. Confederate Thomas J. Jackson earns the nickname "Stonewall," as his brigade resists Union attacks.
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President Lincoln appoints George B. McClellan as Commander of the Department of the Potomac, replacing McDowell.
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The beginning of an international diplomatic crisis for President Lincoln as two Confederate officials sailing toward England are seized by the U.S. Navy.
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Victory for General Grant in Tennessee, capturing Fort Henry, and ten days later Fort Donelson. Grant earns the nickname "Unconditional Surrender"
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Confederate surprise attack union’s unprepared troops at Shiloh on the Tennessee River, results in a struggle with 13,000 Union and 10,000 Confederates killed and wounded.
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The Seven Days Battle begins as Lee attacks McClellan near Richmond, resulting in heavy losses for both. McClellan then begins a withdrawal back toward Washington.
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75,000 Federals under John Pope are defeated by 55,000 Confederates under Stonewall Jackson and James Longstreet at the second battle of Bull Run. Once again the Union Army retreats to Washington.
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Lee invades the North with 50,000 Confederates and heads for Harpers Ferry, located 50 miles northwest of Washington.
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The bloodiest day in U.S. military history as General Lee and the Confederate Armies are stopped at Antietam in Maryland by McClellan and numerically superior Union forces.
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Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation freeing slaves issued by President Lincoln.
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The president replaces McClellan with General Burnside as the new Commander of the Army of the Potomac.
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Army of the Potomac under General Burnside suffers a costly defeat at Fredericksburg in Virginia
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President Lincoln issues the final Emancipation Proclamation freeing all slaves in territories held by Confederates.
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General Grant is placed in command of the Army of the West, with orders to capture Vicksburg.
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The Union Army under General Hooker is decisively defeated by Lee's much smaller forces at the Battle of Chancellorsville in Virginia. Confederate General Stonewall Jackson is mortally wounded by his own soldiers.
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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."
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General Lee launches his second invasion of the North, heading into Pennsylvania in a campaign that will soon lead to Gettysburg.
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The tide of war turns against the South as the Confederates are defeated at the Battle of Gettysburg
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Vicksburg surrenders to General Grant. With the Union now in control of the Mississippi, the Confederacy is split in two, cut off from its western allies.
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The president meets with abolitionist Frederick Douglass who pushes for full equality for Union 'Negro troops.'
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A decisive Confederate victory by General Bragg's Army of Tennessee at Chickamauga leaves General Rosecrans' Union Army of the Cumberland trapped in Tennessee under Confederate siege.
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President Lincoln delivers a two minute Gettysburg Address at a ceremony dedicating the Battlefield as a National Cemetery.
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President Lincoln appoints Grant to command all of the armies of the United States.
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A costly mistake by Grant results in 7,000 Union casualties during an offensive against fortified Rebels at Cold Harbor.
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Union forces miss an opportunity to capture Petersburg and cut off the Confederate rail lines. As a result, a nine month siege of Petersburg begins with Grant's forces surrounding Lee.
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Democrats nominate George B. McClellan for president to run against Lincoln.
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A decisive Union victory by Cavalry Gen. Philip H. Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley over Jubal Early's troops.
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Abraham Lincoln is re-elected president.
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Sherman reaches Savannah in Georgia leaving behind a 300-mile-long path of destruction. Then telegraphs Lincoln, offering him Savannah as a Christmas present.
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Remaining Confederate forces surrender. The Nation is reunited as the Civil War ends. Over 620,000 Americans died in the war, with disease killing twice as many as those lost in battle. 50,000 survivors return home as amputees.
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The U.S. Congress approves the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, to abolish slavery.
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A peace conference occurs as President Lincoln meets with Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephens in Virginia, but the meeting ends in failure - the war will continue.
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Grant's forces begin a general advance and break through Lee's lines at Petersburg. Confederate General Hill is killed. Lee evacuates Petersburg. The Confederate Capital, Richmond, is evacuated. The next day, Union troops enter and raise the Stars and Stripes.
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General Lee surrenders his Confederate Army to General Grant at Virginia.
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The Stars and Stripes is ceremoniously raised over Fort Sumter. During the third act of the play, John Wilkes Booth shoots the president in the head. Doctors attend to the president in the theater then move him to a house across the street. He never regains consciousness.
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Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston surrenders to Sherman near Durham in North Carolina.
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John Wilkes Booth is shot and killed in a tobacco barn in Virginia.
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The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, passed by Congress on January 31, 1865, is finally ratified. Slavery is abolished.
