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Battle of Fort Sumter
First conflict within the Civil War, where South Carolina militia under General P.T. Beauregard bombarded the Union soldiers under Major Robert Anderson at Fort Sumter. Anderson surrenders after two days of continuous bombardment. -
First Battle of Bull Run
Union General Irvin McDowell is spectacularly defeated by the Confederate army, and the Union hastily retreated back to Washington D.C. -
Moniter vs. Merrimack
The two ironclad ships battle it out in Chesapeake Bay. The abandonment of wooden ships marks a turning point for naval warfare -
Second Battle of Bull Run
Another Confederate victory under General Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee. Union General John Pope withdraws his army to Washington. -
Battle of Antietam
The Battle of Antietam is the bloodiest day in United States history. Over 26,000 men are killed, wounded or MIA on both sides. Even though it's officially a draw, the battle stops General Robert E. Lee's invasion of Maryland. -
Emancipation Proclamation
Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing all slaves in the territories that are captured by the Union army. It changes the Civil War to be over slavery. -
Battle of Gettysburg
Often considered the war's turning point, and resulted in the largest number of casualties within the whole war. The Union army led by General Meade defeated Confederate forces under General Lee in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. -
The Siege of Vicksburg
General Ulysses S. Grant takes Vicksburg after a long siege. At this point, the Union controls the entire river, cutting the Confederacy in two. Capturing it completed the second part of the Northern strategy, the Anaconda Plan. -
Draft Riots
The New York City draft riots, known at the time as Draft Week, were violent disturbances in Lower Manhattan, widely regarded as the culmination of white working-class discontent with new laws passed by Congress that year to draft men to fight in the ongoing American Civil War. -
Grant Takes Command
Lincoln appoints Ulysses S. Grant as commander of all Union armies, ending his long search for a competent general. Also, General Sherman takes over as commander in the West. -
Overland Campaign
Wanting to end the war, Ulysses S. Grant and 120,000 troops march south toward Richmond, the Confederate capital. Over the course of the next six weeks, a brutal war of attrition results in the deaths of nearly 50,000 Union soldiers. -
Battle of the Wilderness
The first battle in Union General Ulysses S. Grant's "Overland Campaign," a relentless drive to defeat Confederate General Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and capture the South's capital at Richmond, Virginia. -
Battle of Spotsylvania
Confederate forces clashed with the advancing Union Army in the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, which lasted for the better part of two weeks and included some of the bloodiest fighting of the Civil War. General Lee is forced to retreat south. -
Sherman's March to the Sea
Union General William T. Sherman led 60,000 soldiers on a 285-mile march from Atlanta to Savannah, Georgia. The purpose of the march was to frighten Georgia's civilian population into abandoning the Confederate cause by using total war tactics. -
Battle of Nashville
The Battle of Nashville, Tennessee, shattered the Confederate Army of Tennessee and marked the end of major Confederate offensives in the Western theater during the Civil War. -
Capture of Savannah
General Sherman ends his March to the Sea by capturing Savannah and presenting it to President Lincoln. -
Fall of Richmond
General Grant captured the Confederate capital Richmond, which became largely abandoned after the Confederate government fled the city. -
General Lee Surrenders
General Robert E. Lee surrenders to General Ulysses S. Grant in a farmhouse in the town of Appomattox Court House, Virginia. The war is over. -
Lincoln's Assassination
Lincoln is shot while attending a play at Ford's Theatre by John Wilkes Booth. -
Ratification of the 13th Amendment
The amendment abolishing slavery was ratified by the required number of states.
