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John Brown rents farm near Harpers Ferry
Using the name Isaac Smith, John Brown rents a farmhouse in Maryland, near Harpers Ferry, to stage his planned raid. -
John Brown attacks Harpers Ferry
John Brown and his followers attack Harpers Ferry. Map of the raid from civilwar.org. -
John Brown is hanged
Follow John Brown's life on this custom Google map. -
South Carolina secedes
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Mississippi secedes
Mississippi becomes the second state to declare its secession from the Union. -
Florida secedes
Florida declares its secession from the Union. -
Alabama secedes
Alabama declared its secession from the Union and joined the Confederate States of America. -
Georgia secedes
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Louisiana secedes
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Texas secedes
Confirmed by referendum Deb 23, 1861. -
Lincoln is inaugurated
(Library of Congress photo from 1864, three years after inauguration.) -
First shots: attack on Fort Sumter
Confederate forces attacked a U.S. military installation at Fort Sumter in South Carolina. Although no federal troops were killed in two days of attacks, the commander surrenders April 14. -
Licoln declares war
The day after Fort Sumter was captured by Confederate troops, President Lincoln issued a formal Declaration of War. -
Virginia secedes
Secession was confirmed by referndum May 23, 1861. -
Massacre in Baltimore
As the Sixth Massachusetts travelled through Baltimore, pro-Confederate civilians blocked the train and a mob of thousands attacked the cars. As soldiers left the cars, the mob followed and the soldiers fired. Sixteen die, including four soldiers. (more) -
Maryland votes not to secede; habeas corpus suspended
Maryland's House of Delegates votes against leaving the Union. Had Maryland -- a slave state -- seceded, the federal government would have been surrounded by enemy territory. Pro-secession legislators will try again after moving the legislature to Frederick. Meanwhile, Lincoln suspends habeas corpus protections against arbitrary arrest in Maryland, paving the way for the arrest of secessionists. -
Federal control in Maryland cities
With unrest in Maryland and habeas coirpus suspended, Lincoln sends troops to control Baltimore and Annapolis. -
Arkansas secedes
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North Carolina secedes
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Tennessee secedes
Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, North Carolina, Virginia, and Tennessee. -
Lincoln orders arrests in Maryland
Federal troops and Baltimore police offices arrive in Frederick to arrest pro-secessionist members of the General Assembly. The Assembly was to convene in Frederick on Sept. 17 to take up the issue of secession. Secessionists were thought to hold a majority in the Assembly. -
Maryland Legislators Arrested on Way to Meeting
Lincoln having suspended habeas corpus, Federal troops arrested pro-secessionist Maryland legislators in the week before and even as legislators were on their way to a meeting planned for Sept. 17 at Kemp Hall in Frederick, where there was to be a debate about secession. -
General War Order No. 1
President Lincoln issues General War Order No. 1 calling for all United States naval and land forces to begin a general advance by February 22, George Washington's birthday. (See http://www.historyplace.com/civilwar/) -
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Peninsula Campaign
The Peninsula Campaign (also known as the Peninsular Campaign) of the American Civil War was a major Union operation launched in southeastern Virginia from March through July 1862, the first large-scale offensive in the Eastern Theater. -
Merrimack sinks Monitor
The Confederate Ironclad 'Merrimac' sinks two wooden Union ships then battles the Union Ironclad 'Monitor' to a draw. Naval warfare is thus changed forever, making wooden ships obsolete. (Photo shows sailors on the deck of the Monitor. From Library of Congress.) -
"Stonewall" Jackson's success
Confederate General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson, commanding forces in the Shenandoah Valley, attacks Union forces in late March, forcing them to retreat across the Potomac. As a result, Union troops are rushed to protect Washington, D.C. -
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. Yet, during the night, reinforcements arrived, and by the next morning the Union commanded the field. When Confederate forces retreated, the exhausted federal forces did not follow. Casualties were heavy -- 13,000 out of 63,000 Union soldiers died, and 11,000 of 40,000 Confederate troops were killed. (Library of Congress) -
Battle of Seven Pines begins
The Battle of Seven Pines, also known as the Battle of Fair Oaks or Fair Oaks Station, took place on May 31 and June 1, 1862, in Henrico County, Virginia, as part of the Peninsula Campaign. It was the culmination of an offensive up the Virginia Peninsula by Union Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan. The the Army of the Potomac reached the outskirts of Richmond. -
Gen. Robert E. Lee assumes command
Gen. Robert E. Lee assumes command, replacing the wounded Johnston. Lee then renames his force the Army of Northern Virginia. McClellan is not impressed, saying Lee is "likely to be timid and irresolute in action." -
The Seven Days Battles begin
The Seven Days Battles was a series of six major battles from June 25 to July 1, 1862, near Richmond, Virginia. Confederate General Robert E. Lee drove the invading Union Army of the Potomac, commanded by Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan, away from Richmond and into a retreat down the Virginia Peninsula. (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Days_Battles) -
Congress prohibits slavery in United States territories.
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Halleck takes charge for Union army
Major-General Henry Halleck was named general-in-chief of the Union army. -
Second Battle of Bull Run begins
August 29/30, 1862 - 75,000 Federals under Gen. John Pope are defeated by 55,000 Confederates under Gen. Stonewall Jackson and Gen. James Longstreet at the second battle of Bull Run in northern Virginia. Once again the Union Army retreats to Washington. The president then relieves Pope -
Confederates win Secnd Battle of Manassas
Battle rages Aug. 29-30. -
MaClellan takes charge of the Army of the Potomac
Lincoln names McClellan to command "the fortifications of Washington, and all the troops for the defense of the capital." -
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The Maryland Campaign
The Maryland Campaign—or Antietam Campaign—occurred September 4–20, 1862 -
Discovery of Special Order 191
Special Order 191 (the "Lost Dispatch," and the "Lost Order") was a general movement order issued by Confederate Army General Robert E. Lee in the Maryland Campaign. A lost copy of this order was recovered in Frederick County by Union Army troops, and the subsequent military intelligence gained by the Union played an important role in the Battle of South Mountain and Battle of Antietam. (See full Wikipedia entry.) -
Confederate troops march through Frederick
This photograph, the property of the Historical Society of Frederick County, is the only known image of Confederate soldiers marching through enemy territory. -
Confederates attack Harpers Ferry
Confederate Maj. Gen. Stonewall Jackson surrounded and bombarded Harpers Ferry beginning Sept. 12; he captured it Sept. 15. (Photo of Harpers Ferry Sept. 1862 from Library of Congress.) -
Battle of South Mountain
On September 14, 1862 three battles were fought for the possession of three mountain passes: Crampton's, Turner's and Fox's Gaps �" together, these became known as the Battle of South Mountain. Maj. General George B. McClellan was in hot pursuit of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. These hard fought battles led to the bloodiest one-day battle in American history three days later �" The Battle of Antietam (Sharpsburg).From: http://www.marylandcampaign150.org/ -
Battle of Antietam (Sharpsburg)
The Battle of Antietam, also known as the Battle of Sharpsburg, particularly in the South, fought on September 17, 1862, near Sharpsburg, Maryland, and Antietam Creek, as part of the Maryland Campaign, was the first major battle in the American Civil War to take place on Union soil. It was the bloodiest single-day battle in American history, with about 23,000 casualties on both sides. Wikipedia entry -
Lincoln frees slaves in Confederate states
Source: WikipediaLincoln issued a preliminary proclamation that he would order the emancipation of all slaves in any state of the Confederate States of America that did not return to Union control by January 1, 1863. -
Burnside takes charge
The president replaces McClellan with Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside as the new Commander of the Army of the Potomac. -
Confederate victory at Fredericksburg
Army of the Potomac under Gen. Burnside suffers a costly defeat at Fredericksburg in Virginia with a loss of 12,653 men after 14 frontal assaults on well entrenched Rebels on Marye's Heights. -
Confederates win in Fredericksburg
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West Virginia established
West Virginia admitted as a state. -
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Lincoln delivers Gettysburg Address
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The Battle of Monocacy
The Battle of Monocacy (also known as Monocacy Junction) is fought just outside Frederick, as part of the Valley Campaigns of 1864. Confederate forces under Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early defeat Union forces under Maj. Gen. Lew Wallace. The battle is part of Early's raid through the Shenandoah Valley and into Maryland, attempting to divert Union forces away from Gen. Robert E. Lee's army under siege at Petersburg, Virginia. -
Lee surrenders
Lee surrenders to Grant at Appomattox Court House. Brady photo shows Lee about a week after the surrender. -
Lincoln shot
On April 14, as he was watching a play at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C., President Lincoln 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. (memory.loc.gov/ammem/cwphtml/tl1865.html)
