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Abraham Lincoln Becomes President
Abraham Lincoln gets elected as the sixteenth president of the United States, a Republican with one of the first to oppose the spread of slavery in the United States -
First Shots of the Civil War
Southern forces fire upon Fort Sumter, South Carolina. The Civil War has formally begun. -
The Battle of Bull Run
A battle in Manassas, Virginia. The Union Army under General Irwin McDowell initially succeeds in driving back Confederate forces under General Pierre Gustav Toutant Beauregard, but the arrival of troops under General Joseph E. Johnston initates a series of reverses that sends McDowell's army in a panicked retreat to the defenses of Washington. -
First Ironclad Naval Battle
The naval battle between the USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia (the old USS "Merrimack"), the first "ironclads", is fought in Hampton Roads, Virginia. -
The Battle of Shiloh
The first major battle in Tennessee. Confederate General Albert Sidney Johnston, a veteran of the Texas War of Independence and the War with Mexico considered to be one of the finest officers the South has, is killed on the first day of fighting. The Union victory further secures the career of Union General Ulysses S. Grant. -
The Seven Days' Battles before Richmond
General Lee's army attacks the "Army of the Potomac" under General George McClellan in a succession of battles beginning at Mechanicsville on June 26 and ending at Malvern Hill on July 1. -
The Battle of Antietam
The bloodiest single day of the Civil War. The result of the battle ends General Lee's first invasion of the North. Following the Union victory, President Lincoln will introduce the Emancipation Proclamation, an executive order that freed every slave in the Confederate States. -
The Battle of Fredericksburg
The Army of the Potomac, under General Ambrose Burnside, is soundly defeated by Lee's forces after a risky river crossing and sacking of the city. -
The Battle of Chancellorsville
General Lee's greatest victory is marred by the mortal wounding of "Stonewall" Jackson, who dies on May 10. Soon after, Lee asks Jefferson Davis for permission to invade the North and take the war out of Virginia. -
The Gettysburg Campaign
Confederates pass through York and reach the bridge over the Susquehanna River at Columbia, but Union militia set fire to the bridge, denying access to the east shore. Southern cavalry skirmishes with Union militia near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. -
The Battle of Gettysburg
The bloodiest battle of the Civil War dashes Robert E. Lee's hopes for a successful invasion of the North. -
Gettysburg Campaign Ends
Near Falling Waters, Maryland, Union troops skirmish with Lee's rearguard. That night the Army of Northern Virginia crosses the Potomac River and the Gettysburg Campaign ends. -
Sacking of Lawrence
In a murderous daylight raid, Confederate and Missouri guerillas under William Clarke Quantrill storm into Lawrence and destroy most of the town. Approximately 150 men and boys are murdered by Quantrill's men. -
Grant's Overland Campaign
The campaign included battles like Battle of the Wilderness, Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, and Battle of Cold Harbor. All of these were successes of General Grant. -
Battle of Brice's Crossroads
In spite of being outnumbered almost two to one, Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest attacks and routs the Union command under General Samuel Sturgis. -
Battles near Tupelo
The Union defeat of Nathan Bedford Forrest secured the supply lines to Sherman's armies operating against Atlanta, Georgia. -
The Battle of the Crater at Petersburg
After a month of tunneling by soldiers of the 48th Pennsylvania Infantry, a massive mine was exploded under a Confederate fort in the Petersburg siege lines. The infantry charge that followed was poorly coordinated and by day's end, Confederate counterattacks had driven out the Union troops and the siege lines remained unchanged. -
Sherman's "March to the Sea"
Union General William Tecumseh Sherman left Chattanooga, Tennessee with his sights set on Atlanta. His army of 100,000 was still high from its victories in southern Tennessee the previous winter. -
The South Surrenders
General Simon Bolivar Buckner enters into terms for surrender of the Army of the Trans-Mississippi, which are agreed to on June 2, 1865.The Civil War officially ends. -
Lincoln's Assassination
President Abraham Lincoln is assassinated by actor John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theater in Washington, DC. On the same day, Fort Sumter, South Carolina is re-occupied by Union troops.
