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Civil War Timeline
Civil War Timeline -
Pony Express
The 1st Pony Express arrives in Sacramento California. This was the fastest link of communication from east to west before the transcontinental telegraph was installed -
William Gist warns southern states
Gist warns southern states that South Carolina is considering leaving the Union -
Henry Repeating Rifle
Benjamin Tyler Henry patents the Henry Repeating Rifle, which works by improving the magazine in fire arms. -
Election of 1860
Lincoln, representing the Republicans wins with 180 electoral votes and 1,865,593 votes. Breckenridge, the runner up, was a southern Democrat, had 72 electoral votes with 848,356. -
Frederick County Meeting
Men in Frederick County, Virginia met to discuss the possible results of secession and how to go about preventing it. -
South Carolina Secession Convention
South Carolina Secession Convention met in Columbia, South Carolina in the First Baptist Church. At the convention, they listed five grievances. The Missouri Compromise, federal government being supported by taxes from the South, Southerners did not get land claims over any of the new land from Mexico, Slave-owning settlers were attacked by abolitionists, and personal liberty laws that impede upon the Fugitive Slave act, and the admission of California as a free state. -
Crittenden Compromise
he Crittenden Compromise was an unsuccessful proposal introduced by United States Senator John J. Crittenden. It aimed to resolve the secession crisis of 1860–1861 by addressing the fears and grievances about slavery that led many slave-holding states to contemplate secession from the United States. -
South Carolina Secedes
South Carolina is the first state to secede from the Union. -
North moves to Sumter
U.S. Major-General Robert Anderson moves his troops from Ft. Moultrie, in Charleston, South Carolina, to Ft. Sumter. -
Charleston Notified
The city of Charleston, South Carolina is notified that Union troops are incoming -
Mississippi Secedes
Mississippi becomes the second state to secede from the Union -
Florida Secedes
Florida becomes the third state to leave the Union. -
Alabama Secedes
Alabama becomes the fourth state to secede from the Union. -
Georgia secedes from the Union
Georgia becomes the fifth state to secede from the Union -
Louisiana Secedes
Louisiana becomes the sixth state to secede from the Union -
Texes Secedes
Texas becomes the seventh state to secede from the Union. -
Abraham Lincoln becomes President
Abraham Lincoln wins with 180 electoral votes. He becomes the 16th President of the United States. -
Confederates fire upon Fort Sumter
At 4:30 a.m. Confederates under Gen. Pierre Beauregard open fire with 50 cannons upon Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina. The Civil War begins. -
Virginia Secedes from the Union
Virginia becomes the eighth state to secede from the Union. Richmond, located in Virginia, becomes the capital of the Confederate States of America -
Arkansas Secedes
Arkansas becomes the ninth state to secede from the Union -
North Carolina Secedes
North Carolina becomes the tenth state to secede from the Union -
Tennessee Secedes
Tennessee becomes the eleventh and final state to secede from the Union -
Lincoln issues War Order No. 1
War Order No. 1 called for all United States land and naval forces to begin a general advance by February 22. -
Grant wins at Fort Henry and Donelson, earns new nickname
Victory for General Ulysses S. Grant in Tennessee, capturing Fort Henry, and ten days later Fort Donelson. Grant earns the nickname "Unconditional Surrender" Grant. -
Lincoln's third son dies
William Wallace Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln's third son, dies. The cause of death is probably the polluted drinking water in the White House. Abraham Lincoln is struck with grief -
Battle of Hampton Roads
Confederate Ironclad "Merrimack" sinks two Union wooden ships. Later the next day, Merrimack engages with the Union Ironclad "Monitor," ending in draw. This battle proved that wooden ships were obsolete against ironclads -
Battle of Shiloh
Confederates launch a surprise attack on General Ulysses S. Grant at Shiloh on the Tennessee River. The battle leads into a second day. 13,000 Union soldiers are killed or wounded, and 10,000 Confederates -
New Orleans captured by the Union
17 Union ships under the command of Flag Officer David Farragut move up the Mississippi River then take New Orleans, the South's greatest seaport, -
Battle of Seven Pines
General Joseph E. Johnston's Army attacks McClellan's troops in front of Richmond. Johnston nearly wins but is wounded -
Robert E. Lee assumes command.
After General Johnston is injured, Robert E. Lee assumes the command of the army. He renames his army "The Army of Northern Virginia." McClellan is not impressed and says that Lee is "likely to be timid and irresolute in action." -
2nd Battle of Bull Run
75,000 Union troops, under command of General Pope, are defeated by 55,000 Confederate troops under General Longstreet and General Stonewall Jackson. Union Army retreats to Washington. Pope relieved of command -
Battle of Antietam
Bloodiest single day battle in U.S Military history. General Robert E. Lee is stopped at Antietam by Union Forces, under the command of McClellan. By the end of the day, 26,000 soldiers are dead. Lee is forced to withdraw to Virginia -
McClellan Resigned!
President Lincoln replaces McClellan with General Ambrose Burnside. Lincoln grew impatient with McClellan slowness. -
Final Emancipation Proclomation
President Lincoln issues the final Emancipation Proclamation freeing all slaves in territories held by Confederates and emphasizes the enlisting of black soldiers in the Union Army. The war to preserve the Union now becomes a revolutionary struggle for the abolition of slavery. -
Enrollment Act
The U.S. Congress enacts a draft, affecting male citizens aged 20 to 45, but also exempts those who pay $300 or provide a substitute. "The blood of a poor man is as precious as that of the wealthy," poor Northerners complain. -
Battle of Chancellorsville
The Union Army under Gen. Hooker is decisively defeated by Lee's much smaller forces at the Battle of Chancellorsville in Virginia as a result of Lee's brilliant and daring tactics. Confederate Gen. Stonewall Jackson is mortally wounded by his own soldiers. Hooker retreats. Union losses are 17,000 killed, wounded and missing out of 130,000. The Confederates, 13, 000 out of 60,000. -
Stonewall Jackson dies from injuries. "Mr. Lee I don't feel so good"
The South suffers a huge blow as Stonewall Jackson dies from his wounds, his last words, "Let us cross over the river and rest under the shade of the trees." -
Lee launches second invasion
Gen. Lee with 75,000 Confederates launches his second invasion of the North, west towards the Shenandoah Valley (One month before the Battle of Gettysburg) -
Battle of Gettysburg
The tide of war turns against the South as the Confederates are defeated at the Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania. -
Battle of Vicksburg
Vicksburg, the last Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi River, surrenders to Gen. Grant and the Army of the West after a six week siege. With the Union now in control of the Mississippi, the Confederacy is effectively split in two, cut off from its western allies. -
Frederick Douglass meets with Abraham Lincoln
The president meets with abolitionist Frederick Douglass who pushes for full equality for Union 'Negro troops.' -
Battle of Chickamauaga
A decisive Confederate victory by Gen. Braxton Bragg's Army of Tennessee at Chickamauga leaves Gen. William S. Rosecrans' Union Army of the Cumberland trapped in Chattanooga, Tennessee under Confederate siege. -
Gettysburg Address
President Lincoln delivers a two minute Gettysburg Address at a ceremony dedicating the Battlefield as a National Cemetery. -
Battle of Chattanooga
The Rebel siege of Chattanooga ends as Union forces under Grant defeat the siege army of Gen. Braxton Bragg. During the battle, one of the most dramatic moments of the war occurs. Yelling "Chickamauga! Chickamauga!" Union troops avenge their previous defeat at Chickamauga by storming up the face of Missionary Ridge without orders and sweep the Rebels from what had been thought to be an impregnable position. -
Grant's promotion
President Lincoln appoints Gen. Grant to command all of the armies of the United States. Gen. William T. Sherman succeeds Grant as commander in the west. -
Overland Campagin
The beginning of a massive, coordinated campaign involving all the Union Armies. In Virginia, Grant with an Army of 120,000 begins advancing toward Richmond to engage Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, now numbering 64,000. In the west, Sherman, with 100,000 men begins an advance toward Atlanta to engage Joseph E. Johnston's 60,000 strong Army of Tennessee. -
Cold Harbor
A costly mistake by Grant results in 7,000 Union casualties in twenty minutes during an offensive against fortified Rebels at Cold Harbor in Virginia. -
Siege of Petersburg
Union forces miss an opportunity to capture Petersburg and cut off the Confederate rail lines. As a result, a nine month siege of Petersburg begins with Grant's forces surrounding Lee. -
Battle of Fort Stevens
Attack on the Defenses of Washington. Jubal Early's troops arrive on the outskirts of Washington, DC, and trade cannon fire with a token Union force remaining in the forts around the city. President Lincoln observes the skirmishing from Fort Stevens as reinforcements from the Army of the Potomac arrive and quickly fill in the works. Early withdraws that evening. -
McClellan runs for president
Democrats nominate George B. McClellan for president to run against Republican incumbent Abraham Lincoln -
Atlanta captured
Atlanta is captured by Sherman's Army. "Atlanta is ours, and fairly won," Sherman telegraphs Lincoln. The victory greatly helps President Lincoln's bid for re-election. -
Election of 1864
Abraham Lincoln is re-elected president, defeating Democrat George B. McClellan. Lincoln carries all but three states with 55 percent of the popular vote and 212 of 233 electoral votes. "I earnestly believe that the consequences of this day's work will be to the lasting advantage, if not the very salvation, of the country," Lincoln tells supporters. -
Sherman begins March to Sea campaign
After destroying Atlanta's warehouses and railroad facilities, Sherman, with 62,000 men begins a March to the Sea. President Lincoln on advice from Grant approved the idea. "I can make Georgia howl!" Sherman boasts. -
Sherman reaches Savannah
Sherman reaches Savannah in Georgia leaving behind a 300 mile long path of destruction 60 miles wide all the way from Atlanta. Sherman then telegraphs Lincoln, offering him Savannah as a Christmas present. -
13th Amendment Approved
The U.S. Congress approves the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, to abolish slavery. The amendment is then submitted to the states for ratification. -
Battle of Wilmington
Wilmington, NC, falls to Union troops, closing the last important southern port on the east coast. On this same day, Joseph E. Johnston is restored to command the nearly shattered Army of the Tennessee, vice John B. Hood who resigned a month earlier. -
Lincoln's second Innaugaration
President Abraham Lincoln is inaugurated for his second term as president in Washington, DC -
Robert E. Lee surrenders
Gen. Robert E. Lee surrenders his Confederate Army to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at the village of Appomattox Court House in Virginia. Grant allows Rebel officers to keep their sidearms. -
Celebrations, weary Lincoln.
Celebrations break out in Washington. The final portrait of Abraham Lincoln is captured on this day, showing a very weary and tired looking Lincoln -
Abraham Lincoln Assassinated
Lincoln got domed by John Wilkes Booth in Fords Theater. Booth was a famous actor and a confederate sympathizer -
Lincoln pronounced dead
President Abraham Lincoln dies at 7:22 in the morning. Vice President Andrew Johnson assumes the presidency. -
John Wilkes Booth dies
John Wilkes Booth is shot and killed in a tobacco barn in Virginia. -
Lincoln laid to rest
Abraham Lincoln is laid to rest in Oak Ridge Cemetery, outside Springfield, Illinois -
Slavery Abolished
The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, passed by Congress on January 31, 1865, is finally ratified. Slavery is abolished. -
The Liberator
The last issue of The Liberator, an abolitionist newspaper in Boston, is released. -
Civil Rights Acts of 1866
United States federal law to define citizenship and affirm that all citizens are equally protected by the law. -
Memphis Race Riots
White civilians and police kill 46 African Americans and destroy 90 houses, schools, and four churches in Memphis, Tennessee. -
Judicial Circuits Act
Reorganized the United States circuit courts and provided for the gradual elimination of several seats on the Supreme Court of the United States. -
Tennessee readmitted
Tennessee becomes the first state to be readmitted to the Union after the Civil War -
Grant becomes first 5-Star General
U.S Congress passes legislation authorizing the rank of General of the Army. (Modern day 5-Star General.) Ulysses S. Grant becomes first to have this rank -
New Orleans Massacre of 1866
White Democrats including police and firemen attacked Republicans, most of them African American, parading outside the Mechanics Institute in New Orleans. -
1866 National Union Convention
Held in Philadelphia with hopes to reconcile the Radical Republicans in Congress with the Reconstruction policies of President Andrew Johnson. -
Swing Around the Circle
President Andrew Johnson goes on his Swing Around the Circle speaking tour to gain support for his Reconstructionist policies and Democratic Party candidates in the upcoming elections. -
House of Rep Elections 1866
House of Representatives elections: Despite President Andrew Johnson's Swing Around the Circle tour, the Republican Party wins in a landslide. (Shuyler Colfax wins) -
Ohio 14th Amendment
Ohio ratifies the 14th Amendment -
African American Men gain right to vote in D.C
Congress votes to expand suffrage to Washington D,C -
Kentucky 14th Amendment
Kentucky rejects the 14th Amendment -
Nevada 14th Amendment
Nevada ratifies the 14th Amendment -
Missouri 14th Amendment
Missouri ratifies the 14th Amendment -
Louisiana 14th Amendment
Louisiana rejects the 14th Amendment -
Nebreska
Nebraska is admitted as the 37th U.S State -
Tenure of Office Act
Congress passes the Tenure of Office Act, denying the right of the President to remove officials who had been appointed with the consent of Congress. -
Mississippi restored order
Federal army restores military rule to Mississippi -
Alaska purchased
Alaska is purchased for $7,200,000 from the Russian Empire. 2 cents per acre
