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Abraham Lincoln's election
Lincoln's election was momentous in American history due to the evolution of the Republican party and already existing tensions; tensions over slavery and secession. Many slave states were in an uproar, thinking that if Lincoln were to become President, he would liberalize the country, abolishing slavery. Many of the slave states threatened to secede if Lincoln were to be elected; Following his election, many states did just that. -
South Carolina Secedes
After the election of Lincoln, a known opponent of slavery, the state of South Carolina declared that the union existing between herself and other states, under the name of the United States of America, was dissolved. The secession of South Carolina, was esentially the epic event that brought about the Confederate States of America. -
The Secession of Mississippi
The second state to secede, Mississippi, in its Declaration of Secession, cited its reasons; Their reason being their identification with the institution of slavery, "the greastest material interest of the world". According to them slave labor constituted the most important portions of commerce in the world. Mississippi also cited that said commerce products are pecuilar in terms of climate and that by the imperious law of nature, none but the black race can bear exposure to the tropical Sun. -
Florida Secedes
In January 1861, a concession of delegates met in Tallahasse to consider if Florida should leave the Union. Governor Madison Perry and the Governor-elect John Milton were strong supporters of secession, but in a minority, a previous territorial governor Richard Keith Call, as a private citizen, was of the opinion that secession would only bring ruin to the state of Florida and argued against joining the Confederacy. On January 10, the delegates voted sixty-two to seven to join the confederacy. -
Alabama Secession
After some speculation, over the course of two weeks, Alabama joins the Confederacy. In the January edition of Harper's Weekly it was reported on a dispatch, dated Montgomery, Alabama, December 26, stated that a majority in the states convention would likely be at least fifty, that hardly anyone was oppossed to secession, and that Alabama would be joining South Carolina on January 10. -
Georgia Secession
Georgia joins the secession, announcing its reasons, "For the last ten years we have had numerous and serious causes of complaint against our non-slave-holding confederate States with reference to the subject of African slavery. They have endeavored to weaken our security, to disturb our domestic peace and tranquility". -
Louisiana Secedes
Adopted in convention at Baton Rouge, January 26, 1861, the state of Louisiana worte out an Ordinance of Secession, quoting, almost word for word, the declaration and ordinances of the previous seceded states, under the label, The Confederate States of America. -
The Secession of Texas
Texas, in their ordinance of secession, declared their reasoning for their secession, "Texas abandoned her separate national existence and consented to become one of the Confederated Union to promote her welfare, insure domestic tranquility and secure more substantially the blessings of peace and liberty to her people." -
Fort Sumter
On April 10, the commander of the provisional Confederate forces at Charleston, Brig. Gen. Beauregard, demanded that troops under the command of a Major Anderson, at the Union Garrison of Fort Sumter, surrender. Anderson refused and the following day the Confederacy opened fire upon the fort. On the third day Anderson realizing the hopelessness of his situation, surrendered and promptly evacuated. The attack upon Fort Sumter was the opening act for the civil war. -
Virginia Joins The Secession
On April 17, 1861, Virginia declared their secessiopn from the United States. President Lincoln, after learning of the secession of Virginia issued a proclomation for a blockade on the states of South Carolina, Geordia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. -
Arkansas Secedes
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North Carolina Secedes
On the 20th of May, 1861, North Carolina declared its secession from the United States of America, with yet another Ordinance of Secession, following the lead of the previous seceded states. -
Tennessee, Last to Secede
Tennessee, the last to join the Confederacy, seceded June 8, 1861, with an Ordinance of Secession. -
First Battle of Bull Run (1st Manassas)
The first major battle of the Civil War. Fought in Virginia, near the Manassas, involved Federal focres under Brig. General Irvin McDowell with about 28,000 men and a more unstructured Confererate force of about 32,000. The Confederacy in Manassas was divided into two armies with no division structure, thirteen independent brigades, and a cavalry brigade; the two armies were under the comand of Brig. Gen. Beauregard and Brig. Gen. Joseph E. Johnston. The confederacy was victorious in the end. -
Harper's Ferry
The battle at Harper's Ferry, Maryland lasted for three days, ending in a Confederate victory. Robert E. Lee dividing his army into four columns he had determined to surround the force at the garrison and capture it. On the third day, Union commander Col. Dixon S. Miles surrendered. Major General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson took possession of Harper's Ferry then led most of his forces on to Sharpsburg. -
The Battle of Antietam (Sharpsburg)
This was the first of General Robert E. Lee's two attempts to carry the war into the North. About 40,000 Southerners were met by the 87,000-men Federal Army, under Gen. George B. McClellan. The one day battle of Antietam, was the single bloodiest day of the American Civil War; Union losses amounted to 12,410 and the Conferacy lost 10,700. Neither side gained a decisive victory and Lee's failure to carry the war into the North caused Great Britain to postpone the recognition of the Confederacy. -
Battle of Fredricksburg
The battle lasting 4 days, was under the new Union commander, Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside, the replacement chosen by Lincoln after the embarassment of McClellan's continued losses; the Conferderate commander was Gen. Robert E. Lee. There were approximately 100,000 Union soldiers engaged and 73,000 Southerners; despite the Confederacy's fewer numbers, the South was victorious in this battle. -
The Emancipation Proclomation
President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on the first day in the year of 1863; The proclamation declared "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states, meaning only seceded states, "are, and henceforward shall be free." Despite the limitations many were thankful; Hannah Johnson, the mother of a black Union soldier wrote to President Lincoln, "When you are dead and in Heaven, in a thousand years that action of yours will make the Angels sing your praises." -
Gettysburg
The battle of Gettysburg lasted for three days, fought under the command of Gen. Robert E. Lee and Maj. Gen. George G. Meade, with 75,000 Confederate soldiers and 83,000 Union men. On the fourth Lee withdrew his forces, with a reputed wounded trail stretching more than fourteen miles; the Union gained its first victory, there were 51,000 casualties total. -
The Siege of Knoxville
In early November, Lt. Gen. Longside, of the Confederacy, with two divisions and about 5,000 cavalry, was detached from the army near Chattanooga to attack Union troops under the Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside at Knoxville, Tennessee. Following routes parallel to one another, both raced for Campbell's Station, Burnside with the hopes of continuing on to Knoxville, Longside with the hopes of cutting of Burnside. Burnside' forces beat the Confederate troops by fifteen minutes and took Knoxville. -
The Battle for Chattanooga
On November 23 and 24, Union forces, under Maj. Gen. Grant captured Orchard Knob and Lookout Mountain with the help of four newly arrived divisions, under the command of Maj. Gen. Sherman. On the 25 the Union assaulted seemingly impregnable forces and carried them to Missionary Ridge, one of the Confederacy's major armies struck back, but the Union held Chattanooga, the so-called "gateway to the lower south", resulting in a Federal victory. -
The Battle of Cold Harbor
The battle of Cold Harbor, lasted from May 31 to June 12, 1864, under the Union commanders Lt. Gen. Grant and Maj. Gen. Meade, and under Gen. Robert E. Lee. There were 108,000 Union forces and 62,000 Confederate forces. The battle ending in a Confederate victory, as well as with 13,000 Federal casualties and 2,000 casualties to the South, was according to Grant, a mistake. Grant later on, in his memoirs said that was the only attack he wished he had never ordered. -
Sherman's March to the Sea
The Civil War's most destructive campaign against a civilian population, led by General William T. Sherman, began in Atlanta on November 15, 1864 and concluded in Savannah on December 21 of that year. Sherman was a practioner of pyschological warfare; he abandoned his supply line and marched through Georgia in order to prove to the Confederacy that it couldn't protect its citizens in the event of an invasion. -
Surrender at Appomattox Courthouse
After four years of war, in which approximately 630,000 died and with more than a million casualties, General Lee surrendered the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia to Major General Ulysses S. Grant at the home of Wilmer Mclean. Mclean, of whom it is said, that the war started in his front yard -the First Battle of Bull Run was fought on the Mclean Farm - and ended in his back parlor, where Lee surrendered to Grant. -
The Assasination of President Lincoln
Five days after Lee's surrender and awaiting word of the surrender from North Carolina, President Lincoln attended the comedy, "Our American Cousin", at Ford's Theater. While the play was in progress, the guard, notorious for being a drunkard, left his post, a man, John Wilkes Booth, snuck into the private box and shot the President with a Derringer. The bullet entered behind Lincoln's left ear and lodged behind his right eye, he was pronounced dead the following morning at 7:22 A.M.
