Early American Wars Timeline

  • The Battles of Lexington and Concord

    The Battles of Lexington and Concord were some of the leading military engagements of the American Revolutionary War.
  • The Winter Valley Forge

    While wintering in the camp, soldiers worked together to build huts for shelter, but unsanitary conditions, and shortages of food and blankets contributed to the disease and exhaustion which continually plagued the camp.
  • The Battle of Baltimore

    The Battle of Baltimore was a sea/land battle fought between British and American forces in the War of 1812.
  • The Adoption of the Star Spangled Banner as the National Anthem

    This patriotic song, whose words were written by Francis Scott Key on Sept. 14, 1814, during the War of 1812 with Great Britain, was adopted by Congress as the U.S. national anthem in 1931.
  • The Battle of Alamo

    The Battle of the Alamo was a pivotal event and military engagement in the Texas Revolution. Following a 13-day siege, Mexican troops under President General Antonio López de Santa Anna reclaimed the Alamo Mission near San Antonio de Béxar, killing most of the occupants.
  • Abraham Lincoln Elected President

    Lincoln took office following the 1860 presidential election, in which he won a plurality of the popular vote in a four-candidate field. Almost all of Lincoln's votes came from the Northern United States, as the Republicans held little appeal to voters in the Southern United States.
  • South Carolina Secedes from the President

    South Carolina became the first state to secede from the federal Union on December 20, 1860. The victory of Abraham Lincoln in the 1860 presidential election triggered cries for disunion across the slaveholding South.
  • The Battle of Gettysburg

    The Battle of Gettysburg was a battle in the American Civil War fought by Union and Confederate forces between July 1 and July 3, 1863, in and around Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
  • The Treaty at Appomattox Courthouse

    There was no treaty signed to end the Civil War. The surrender at Appomattox Court House was a military surrender of an army which was surrounded. The Confederate government never surrendered and even had it wanted to the United States government would likely not have accepted.
  • The First Battle of Bull Run

    The First Battle of Bull Run, called the Battle of First Manassas by Confederate forces, was the first major battle of the American Civil War. The battle was fought on July 21, 1861, in Prince William County, Virginia, just north of the city of Manassas and about thirty miles west-southwest of Washington, D.C.
  • The sinking of the USS Maine

    an explosion of unknown origin sank the battleship U.S.S. Maine in the Havana, Cuba harbor, killing 266 of the 354 crew members.