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Lincoln's Inauguration
The new president said he had no plans to end slavery in those states where it already existed, but he also said he would not accept secession. He hoped to resolve the national crisis without warfare. -
Attack on Fort Sumter
When President Lincoln planned to send supplies to Fort Sumter, he alerted the state in advance, in an attempt to avoid hostilities. South Carolina, however, feared a trick; the commander of the fort, Robert Anderson, was asked to surrender immediately. -
West Virginia Is Born
Residents of the western counties of Virginia did not wish to secede along with the rest of the state. This section of Virginia was admitted into the Union as the state of West Virginia. -
First Battle of Bull Run
Public demand pushed General-in-Chief Winfield Scott to advance on the South before adequately training his untried troops. Scott ordered General Irvin McDowell to advance on Confederate troops stationed at Manassas Junction, Virginia. McDowell attacked on July 21, and was initially successful, but the introduction of Confederate reinforcements resulted in a Southern victory and a chaotic retreat toward Washington by federal troops. -
Abraham Lincoln Takes Action
President Lincoln issued a war order authorizing the Union to launch a unified aggressive action against the Confederacy. General McClellan ignored the order. -
Monitor vs. Merrimack
Monitor was the union ironclad, while Merrimack was the confederate ironclad. This was the first ironclad battle in history. -
McClellan Loses Command
President Lincoln -- impatient with General McClellan's inactivity -- issued an order reorganizing the Army of Virginia and relieving McClellan of supreme command. McClellan was given command of the Army of the Potomac, and ordered to attack Richmond. This marked the beginning of the Peninsular Campaign. -
The Battle of Shiloh
Confederate forces attacked Union forces under General Ulysses S. Grant at Shiloh, Tennessee. By the end of the day, the federal troops were almost defeated. -
Fort Pulaski, Georgia
General Quincy A. Gillmore battered Fort Pulaski, the imposing masonry structure near the mouth of the Savannah River, into submission in less than two days, (April 10-11, 1862). His work was promptly recorded by the indefatigable Timothy H. O'Sullivan. -
The Peninsular Campaign
In April, General McClellan's troops left northern Virginia to begin the Peninsular Campaign. By May 4, they occupied Yorktown, Virginia. At Williamsburg, Confederate forces prevented McClellan from meeting the main part of the Confederate army, and McClellan halted his troops, awaiting reinforcements. -
The Battle of Seven Pines (Fair Oaks)
The Confederate army attacked federal forces at Seven Pines, almost defeating them; last-minute reinforcements saved the Union from a serious defeat. Confederate commander Joseph E. Johnston was severely wounded, and command of the Army of Northern Virginia fell to Robert E. Lee. -
The Seven Days' Battles
Between June 26 and July 2, Union and Confederate forces fought a series of battles: Mechanicsville (June 26-27), Gaines's Mill (June 27), Savage's Station (June 29), Frayser's Farm (June 30), and Malvern Hill (July 1). On July 2, the Confederates withdrew to Richmond, ending the Peninsular Campaign. -
A New Commander of the Union Army
Major-General Henry Halleck was named general-in-chief of the Union army. -
Pope's Campaign
Union General John Pope suffered defeated at the Second Battle of Bull Run on August 29-30. General Fitz-John Porter was held responsible for the defeat because he had failed to commit his troops to battle quickly enough; he was forced out of the army by 1863. -
Harper's Ferry
Union General McClellan defeated Confederate General Lee at South Mountain and Crampton's Gap in September, but did not move quickly enough to save Harper's Ferry, which fell to Confederate General Jackson on September 15, along with a great number of men and a large body of supplies. -
Antietam
The Army of the Potomac was under the command of George McClellan.They mounted a series of powerful assaults against Robert E. Lee’s forces near Sharpsburg, Maryland. -
McClellan was fired
Lee puts in all of his men, while McClellan plays 3/4 of his men. This was the bloodiest single-day battle in history. -
Emancipation Proclamation
Abraham Lincoln wanted to wait until the union army had a secure victory. He said that, "all slaves in these states are free" but in reality the emancipation proclamation did not free all slaves. -
Battle of Gettysburg
This battle lasted three whole days. The union took high ground but they eventually left their position. -
Vicksburg
Vicksburg was the last fort needed for the anaconda plan. The union wanted the location to take over the Mississippi River. -
The Battle of Chickamauga
Union and Confederate forces met on the Tennessee-Georgia border, near Chickamauga Creek. After the battle, Union forces retreated to Chattanooga, and the Confederacy maintained control of the battlefield. -
Gettysburg Address
The first orator spoke for 2 hours long. Lincoln decieded to speak for only 2 minutes. -
The Battle of Chattanooga
Union forces pushed Confederate troops away from Chattanooga. The victory set the stage for General Sherman's Atlanta Campaign. -
The Siege of Knoxville
The difficult strategic situation of the federal armies after Chickamauga enabled Bragg to detach a force under Longstreet to drive Burnside out of eastern Tennessee. Burnside sought refuge in Knoxville, which he successfully defended from Confederate assaults. -
The Siege of Petersburg
Grant hoped to take Petersburg, below Richmond, and then approach the Confederate capital from the south. The attempt failed, resulting in a ten month siege and the loss of thousands of lives on both sides. -
Confederate Troops Approach Washington, D.C.
Confederate General Jubal Early led his forces into Maryland to relieve the pressure on Lee's army. Early got within five miles of Washington, D.C., but on July 13, he was driven back to Virginia. -
General William T. Sherman's Atlanta Campaign
Union General Sherman departed Chattanooga, and was soon met by Confederate General Joseph Johnston. Skillful strategy enabled Johnston to hold off Sherman's force -- almost twice the size of Johnston's. However, Johnston's tactics caused his superiors to replace him with General John Bell Hood, who was soon defeated. -
Burning of Atlanta
The Sherman march was in Atlanta. Confederate troops try to cut off the Union supply line. They burned down Atlanta on November 15, 1864. -
Hood before Nashville
Continuing his policy of taking the offensive at any cost, General John B. Hood brought his reduced army before the defenses of Nashville, where it was repulsed by General George H. Thomas on December 15-16, in the most complete victory of the war. If the dates borne by the first two items are correct, the photographs were taken in the course of battle -
Sherman at the Sea
After marching through Georgia for a month, Sherman stormed Fort McAllister on December 13, 1864, and captured Savannah itself eight days later. These seven views show the former stronghold and its dismantling preparatory to Sherman's further movement northward. -
Fort Fisher, North Carolina
After Admiral David D. Porter's squadron of warships had subjected Fort Fisher to a terrific bombardment, General Alfred H. Terry's troops took it by storm on January 15, and Wilmington, North Carolina, the last resort of the blockade-runners, was sealed off. Timothy H. O'Sullivan promptly recorded the strength of the works and the effects of the bombardment. -
Fallen Richmond
On March 25, General Lee attacked General Grant's forces near Petersburg, but was defeated -- attacking and losing again on April 1. On April 2, Lee evacuated Richmond, the Confederate capital, and headed west to join with other forces. -
Fallen Richmond -- April-June, 1865
Alexander Gardner and probably other photographers made a splendid record of the Confederate capital, desolate after the evacuation of April 2 and the fire which raged along the waterfront but fortunately had stopped short of Thomas Jefferson's capitol. The photographs are arranged in a kind of guided tour of the city, first along the James from Rocketts westward to the Tredegar Iron Works, inland to the capitol and its environs, and on to the residence of President Jefferson Davis. Present-day -
Surrender at Appomattox Courthouse
General Lee's troops were soon surrounded, and on April 7, Grant called upon Lee to surrender. On April 9, the two commanders met at Appomattox Courthouse, and agreed on the terms of surrender. Lee's men were sent home on parole -- soldiers with their horses, and officers with their side arms. All other equipment was surrendered. -
War Officially Ends
Jefferson Davis frees Richmond. Lee and Grant agree to meet in Appromattox Court House and Lee surrenders. -
Assassination of President Lincoln
As President Lincoln was watching a performance of "Our American Cousin" at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C., he was shot by John Wilkes Booth, an actor from Maryland obsessed with avenging the Confederate defeat. Lincoln died the next morning. Booth escaped to Virginia. Eleven days later, cornered in a burning barn, Booth was fatally shot by a Union soldier. Nine other people were involved in the assassination; four were hanged, four imprisoned, and one acquitted. -
Final Surrenders among Remaining Confederate Troops
Remaining Confederate troops were defeated between the end of April and the end of May. Jefferson Davis was captured in Georgia on May 10. -
The Grand Review of the Army
The Army of the Potomac paraded on May 23, and the Army of Georgia on May 24. Unfortunately most of the photographs, thought to have been taken by Brady himself, fail to distinguish either the unit or the day. -
The Execution of Captain Henry Wirz
The notorious superintendent of the Confederate prison at Andersonville, Georgia, was tried by a military commission presided over by General Lew Wallace from August 23 to October 24, 1865, and was hanged in the yard of the Old Capitol Prison on November 10. -
Ku Klux Klan formed
Anyone who supported Republican party was executed. For example, a carpetbagger. Also anyone who was African American would be executed as well.They didn't want african american's to vote because they would vote Republican. It was a form of intimidation and it worked.
