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Lincoln's Election
Abraham Lincoln wins a four-way race for President of the United States. Although he does not win a popular majority and is not even on the ballot in nine southern states. He earns enough electoral votes to beat all other opponents. Abraham Lincoln didn't plan to stop slavery in slave states, but he planned to stop the spread of it. He intended to enforce federal laws in the states that seceded. Seven states had seceded when Lincoln became president. -
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Civil War
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South Seceding
South Carolina officially secedes from the Union, becoming the first state to do so. Texas, Lousiana, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Mississippi secede shortly after South Carolina did. Within three months of Lincoln's election, seven states had seceded from the Union Southerners thought the government was becoming too strong. They did not think the government had the right to tell them how they should live. Southerners felt if they stayed in the United States, the North would control them. -
Lincoln's Inauguration
Abraham Lincoln is inaugurated as the sixteenth President of the United States. In his Inaugural Address he gave a warning to the South. He will not tolerate secession. Abraham Lincoln didn't plan to stop slavery in slave states, but he planned to stop the spread of it. He intended to enforce federal laws in the states that seceded. Seven states had seceded when Lincoln became president. -
Fort Sumter
Confederate forces under General P.G.T. Beauregard bombard Major Robert Anderson and his Union soldiers at Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina. The Civil War officially begins It was a 34 hour battle. Anderson and 86 soldiers on April 13th surrendered the Fort to the confederaates. Whom did occupy it for four years. -
First battle of Bull Run
The First Battle of Bull Run pits Union General McDowell against the new Confederate army. McDowell marched from Washington against the Confederate army, Bull Run. On the 21st, McDowell crossed at Sudley Ford and attacked the Confederate left flank on Matthews Hill. Confederate reinforcements extended and broke the union right flank. McDowell is defeated causing a retreat back to Washington. The withdrawal is hampered by the large numbers of spectators who are there to see the battle. -
Moniter vs. Merrimack
It was the first duel between ironclad warships.It was part of a Confederate effort to break the Union blockade of Southern ports. Though the battle itself was inconclusive, it began a new era in naval warfare. The Confederate ironclad USS Merrimack battles the Union ironclad USS Monitor in Chesapeake Bay. The battle is a draw but it makes wooden ships obsolete and ushers in the era of steel warships, changing naval warfare forever. -
Battle of Shiloh
Union General Ulysses S. Grant's forces are surprised at the town of Shiloh in Tennessee. The ensuing battle results in 13,000 Union and 10,000 Confederate casualties, more than in all previous American wars combined. More than 13,000 of Grant’s and Buell’s approximately 62,000 troops were killed. The overpowering Confederate drove the unprepared Federal forces from their campAfter initial successes, the Confederates wereunable to hold their positions and resulting in a Union victory. -
Seven day battles
Over the course of seven days of fighting, General Robert E. Lee attacks George McClellan's Union Army of the Potomac. It was near Richmond, Virginia. Over 100,000 well-supplied, federal soldiers poised on its eastern flank. Huge casualties cause McClellan to withdraw north towards Washington. The locations of the battle were at Beaver Dam Creek, Gaines’ Mill, Savage Station, Glendale, and Malvern Hill. Lee's victory in the Seven Days would mean that the savage fighting of the Civil War would -
Second battle of Bull Run
Lee sent half of his Army of Northern Virginia to hit the Federal supply base at Manassas. Led by Stonewall Jackson, hero of the First Battle of Bull Run. Pope’s Federals clashed with Jackson’s men, who held their ground with heavy losses on both sides.Lee’s army arrived, 28,000 rebels led by Longstreet. The Second Battle of Bull Run is a resounding victory for Confederate General Stonewall Jackson. Union General John Pope is blamed for the loss and is relieved of his duties after the battle. -
Antietam
General Lee and McClellan faced off near Antietam creek in Sharpsburg, Maryland. It was the first battle of the American Civil War to be fought on northern soil. Aftera a lot of Union defeats, this tactical victory for Lincoln to issue the Emancipation proclamation. The Battle of Antietam is the bloodiest day in United States history. Over 26,000 men are killed, wounded or M.I.A. on both sides. Though officially a draw, the battle stops General Robert E. Lee's invasion of Maryland. -
Emancipation Proclamation
Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation. It frees all slaves in territory captured by the Union Army, and orders the enlistment of black soldiers. From this point forward, the Civil War is a war over slavery. After the Union victory at Antietam, he issued a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, declaring that as of January 1, all slaves in the rebellious states “shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.” It did not free a single slave, it was an important turning point in the war -
Military Draft
Congress enacts the first draft in American history. It requiried every man to serve in the army unless he can furnish a substitute or pay the government $300. These escape provisions are wildly unpopular with workers and recent immigrants.
The Militia Act gave the President authority to draft 300,000 militiamen for up to nine months. It was a state run affair, with each county to be involved in the selection. The threat of conscription was the time being enough to keep enlistments adequate. -
Gettysburg War
From July 1 to July 4, the Union Army under General Meade defeats Lee's Confederate Army at Gettysburg. 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.
Union success faltered as Confederates pushed back against the Iron Brigade and exploited a weak Federal line.Lee strike the Union flanks, leading to heavy battle at Devil's Den, Little Round Top, the Wheatfield, Peach Orchard, Culp’s Hill. -
Pickett's Charge
Lee orders General Pickett to assault entrenched Union positions. More than half of the 15,000 Confederate soldiers who participate in the charge are slaughtered as they walk slowly across a 3/4-mile field into a hail of gunfire.
Pickett's Charge happened on the third day of the battle. It was between Seminary and Cemetery ridges.The failed attack effectively ended the battle of Gettysburg -
Vicksburg
Grant’s armies converged on Vicksburg, investing the city and entrapping a Confederate army under Lt. Pemberton.Vicksburg surrendered after prolonged siege operations.This was the culmination of one of the most brilliant military campaigns of the war.
the Confederacy was effectively split in half.Grant's successes in the West boosted his reputation. That lead him ultimately to his appointment as General-in-Chief of the Union armies. -
Gettysburg Address
President Abraham Lincoln was invited to deliver remarks, at the official dedication ceremony for the National Cemetery of Gettysburg. Lincoln’s 273-word address would be remembered as one of the most important speeches in American history. He invoked the principles of human equality contained in the Declaration of Independence. He connected the sacrifices of the Civil War with the desire for “a new birth of freedom.” As well as the all-important preservation of the Union created in 1776. -
Overland Campaign
Beginning a drive aimed at ending the war, Ulysses S. Grant and 120,000 troops march south towards Richmond. A brutal war of attrition results in the deaths of nearly 50,000 Union soldiers.
It was three-pronged attacks in Virginia to keep Lee’s forces engaged as General Sherman’s forces swept across the South toward Atlanta.
Grant knew he had the numerical advantage in troop strength and wasn’t afraid to have high casualties in the short term in the hope that it would save lives in the long run. -
13th amendment
“Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” The ratification came eight months after the end of the war. The United States Congress approves the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which will abolish slavery.Although many northern Democrats and conservative Republicans were opposed to slavery’s expansion, they were ambivalent -
Lee surrenders
At Appomattox, Virginia, Confederate General Lee surrenders his 28,000 troops to Union General Grant. Forced to abandon the Confederate capital of Richmond, The war is over. April 8 the Confederates were surrounded with no possibility of escape.April 9, Lee sent a message to Grant announcing his willingness to surrender. The two generals met in the parlor of the Wilmer McLean home at one o’clock in the afternoon. -
Lincoln Assassination
Abraham Lincoln is shot by John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C. Lincoln does not regain consciousness after being shot at Ford's Theater. He dies from his wound. The attack came only five days after Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered. By murdering the president and two of his possible successors. Booth and his co-conspirators hoped to throw the U.S. government into disarray.
