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South Carolina secedes from the Union
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Mississippi secedes from the Union
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Florida secedes from the Union
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Alabama secedes from the Union
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Georgia secedes from the Union
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Louisiana secedes from the Union
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Texas secedes from the Union
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Surrender of millitary posts in Texas
General David Twiggs of the Union army hands over all millitary fortresses, posts, outposts, and supply depots to the Confederate army due to his belief of a superior force in the area. Twiggs is later stripped of his position in the army for this act, and is given the commision of a brigadier-general in the Confederate army. -
Jefferson Davis' inauguration
Jefferson Davis, the new president of the newly formed Confederate States of America, is inaugurated at the capital of Alabama, Montgomery. -
Abraham Lincoln's inauguration
Abraham Lincoln is inaugurated as the sixteenth president of the United States of America on the steps of the unfinished capital building in Washington, D.C.. -
Confederate Constitution
The "Constitution of the Confederate States of America" is adopted in Mongomery, ALabama. -
The Battle of Fort Sumter
The Civil War begins with General P.G.T. Beauregard's attack on the federal garrison at Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor. The Union, led by Colonel Robert Anderson, fights through a bombardment that lasts through most of the night and onto the next day, until they finally surrender. No casualies occured during the battle, but several men are killed when the cerimonial cannon explodes. -
Period: to
The American Civil War
The American Civil War, being the war in which more American men fell that all of the wars America involved itself in combined, is the most defining moment in American History, and continues to be the most fond memory of past America. In a conflict in which almost six-hundred-thousand men fell, certain men like Abraham Licoln were able to pull out of this nasty struggle something higher, which was the freedom of the slaves. -
Virginia secedes from the Union
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Confederate Blockade
Lincoln announces that he will commence the blockade of all southern ports. -
Scott's Anaconda
General in Cheif Winfeild Scott's plan on how to destroy the Confederacy. It consisted simply of blockading all Confederate ports, capturing the length of the Mississippi River, and destroying the two halves made by the Mississippi. -
Arkansas secedes from the Union
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North Carolina secedes from the Union
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Kentucky's Neutrality
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The Battle of Philippi
General George McClellan, leading the Union army, closes in on the small 1000 man Confederate force at Philippi led by Colonel Porterfield. Only 15 men killed in the course of the egagement, all Confederate -
The Battle of Big Bethel
Colonel John Magruder defends the small town of BIg Bethel from the Union forces under General Ebenezer Pierce. After a short engagement, only four casualties resulted for the Confederate defenders, while the Union suffered seventy-six, one being the officer commmanding the feild troops, Major Winthrop. -
The Battle of Boonville
Union forces under General Nathaniel Lyons attempt sucessfully to outflank the Missourian Confederates under the governor of the state Claiborne Jackson. The two armies meet at Boonville, MO where Lyons quickly forces the unorganized Confederates to retreat. Lyons loses thirty-one men while Jackson loses slightly more at fifty. -
Battle of Falling Waters
Slowly advancing down the Shenandoah Valley, Union General Robert Patterson fights a feirce battle with Confederate rear-guard forces under Colonel Thomas Jackson. The ensuing fight, (Also known as the Battle of Hainsville or the Battle of Hoke's Run), resulted in seventy Union casualties, forty-nine of which were captured by the daring cavalry commander J.E.B. Stuart, while the Confederates lost only twenty-five. -
The Battle of Carthage
After a long chase through the Missourian southwest , Union General Franz Sigel manages to catch up to the Missouri State Guard commanded by Major Sterling Price and governor Claiborne Jackson. Sigel marches his men into the town of Carthage only to find that his small force of fourteen-hundred men would be outnumbered almost four-to-one. The six-thousand Confederates (only four-thousand of which are armed) inflicted only fourty-four casualties while suffering two-hundred. -
The Battle of Rich Mountain
Union General George McClellan launches an asaault on the Confederate trenches on Rich Mountain, VA. The commanding Confederate, General Robert Garnett, sensed the Union's strategy, which was to send a brigade under Colonel Rosecrans around the right, and quickly countered by setting up cannons on a mountain pass. Rosecrans breaks through, winning the battle. McClellan only suffers sixty casualties while inflicting about seventy. He captures almost five-hundred Confederates while retreating. -
The Battle of Corrick's Ford
After his decisive victory at Rich Mountain, McClellan moves to strike at the remaining Confederates trapped in the mountain pass led by General Robert Garnett. The short battle was led by the Confederate Taliaferro due to the death of Garnett. Casualties included fifty-three for the Union and twenty for the Confederates. The is signifigantly offset by the loss of over six-hundred men lost in the rout and the loss of Garnett himself. -
The Union sets off
Union troops led by General Irvin McDowell proceed to march to the plains of Manassas. -
The Conjunction of Armies
The Confederate forces under Joseph Johnston unite with forces under P.G.T. Beauregard. -
Th Battle of Bull Run --- Outset
On the morning of July the twenty-first, eighteen sixty-one, Union and Confederate forces under Irvin McDowell and Pierre Beauregard set out from their camps to do battle upon one another upon the plains of Manassas Junction. After a late start at the hands of the Confederates, both armies begin their identical plans of a roundabout attack (This is due to the fact that both Generals were in the same West Point class together.) Heavy fighting begins on the Confederate left/Union right. -
The Battle of Bull Run --- Afternoon
By the climax of the battle, Beauregard's troops had experienced several setbacks on the right flank and several minor setbacks on the left. The right flank had been completly unaware of the conflict underway on the left, and conflicting orders from Johnston and Beauregard did not help the situation. McDowell on the other hand had a sucess on his right flank, the Confederate left, after he had pushed them back across the bridge spanning both the area north of and the bridge itself. -
The Battle of Bull Run --- Aftermath
The casualty figures of the Battle of Bull Run (Or the Battle of Manassas as it is know to the Confederates) shocked the nation. The Union alone suffered over three-thousand casualties while the Confederates had just under two-thousand. This battle set the stage for the next four years and proved to all that the upcoming conflict was not going to be a simple ninety-day rebellion. -
The Battle of Bull Run --- Closing
By the end of the day, Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson had earned his name on top of Henry Hill, preventing a Confederate disaster and providing one for the Union army. An unstoppable counteroffensive was launched by the Confederate troops threw McDowells federals into a rout. The fleeing mass, made up of both military men and spectators from the surrounding cities and towns, did not stop running until it reached the walls of the capital. -
The Battle of Wlson's Creek
After chasing their army through much of central Missouri, General Lyons caught the Confederate army under Generals Sterling Price and Ben McCullah while they were bivouaced several miles outside Springfeild. Lyons attempted a double envelopment of the camp, but failed due to the low visibillity levels and major disorganization. In the end, the Union lost one-thousand three-hundred men, including Lyons, and the Confederates lost one-thousand two-hundred men. -
The Battle of Forts Hatteras and Clark
Attempting to regain hsi military credibillity after the Battle of Big Bethel, General Ben Butler launched and assault on the fortresses Hatteras and Clark. After several days of bombardment by the navy led by Flag Officer Silas Stringham, Butler finally put his men on the beach several miles above Fort Hatteras, only to find that both forts had surrendered. The Union suffered just three wounded while the confederates lost fifty-two, six-hundred ninety-one captured. -
The Battle of Ship Island
In order to gain a foothold at the bottom of the Confederacy, the secretary of the Navy commisioned several captains to take control of Ship Island, several miles off the coast of Biloxi, MS. After a breif twenty-minute exchange of fire, the small Confederate force surrendered. It is unknown the number of casualties, if any were suffered. -
Siege of Lexington
After his victory of Wilson's Creek, General Sterling Price decided that he should continue his victory by besieging the town of Lexington, MO. He began the siege on the sixteenth, and in four short days the Union garrison of three-thousand five-hundred men surrendered to the Confederate force of eighteen-thousand.The Confederates had only lost ninety-seven men in the course of the whole seige while the Union lost one-hundred fifty-nine, not including the three-thousand taken prisoner. -
The Battle of Head of Passes
While participating in blockade duty off the coast of the mouth of the Mississippi river, Captain "Honest John" Pope's night was shattered by the Confederate steamer turned gunboat Manassas. After ramming into the side of Pope's flagship Richmond, the Manassas proceeded to run her ashore while other boats took her under long range fire. The other Union ships fled at the sight of this. -
The Battle of Ball's Bluff
Attempting a quick victory, McClellan dispatches a force under Colonel Edward Baker, who crosses the Potomac and lands at Ball's Bluff. After a poorly coordinated attack, which is quickly followed by an even more poorly coordinated retreat, General Baker is killed. Confederate forces loses an unknown number, presumably because it was so low, while Union casulaties are listed at almost one-thousand. -
George McClellan becomes General in Chief
Replacing the old Winfield Scott, McClellan takes over this position after many months of attempting to gain favor with Lincoln. This led to the reorganization of the Army of the Potomac, which turned it into a well trained and effective fighting force. -
The Battle of Belmont
Steaming down the Mississippi to take part in his first engagement of the Civil War, General Ulysses S. Grant disembarks from his transports several miles below Cairo, MO in order to gain a suprise attack on the Confederate army under General Leonidas Polk. He was preparing to attack not the entire army but rather, due to lack of initial scouting, a small outpost. After almost a full day of feirce fighting, the Confederates won the day with the same amount of casulaties as th Union, six-hundred. -
The Battle of Port Royal
Captain Samuel Du Pont leads seventy-four vessels in an attempt reduce the South Carolinian port city in order to reduce the number of ships needed o blackade the area. After an amazing show of naval tactics in the face of two Confederate forts bearing down on him, Du Pont manages to pull out a victory with only thirty-one casulaties with the Confederates suffering sixty-six. -
The Trent Affair
Representatives of the Confederate States John Slidell and James Mason are taken prisoner on while traveling to Britain aboard the steamer Trent. The capitain of the Union ship San Jacinto Charles Wilkes was afterwords known as a hero. Several months later, after increasing pressure from Britain to do so, the two are released. -
The Battle of Round Mountain
Far off in Indian Territory, the Civil War began with the battle at Round Mountain. The leader of the Upper Creek tribe Opothleyahola leads his group of seventeen-hundred followers up through Round Mountain while on the road to Kansas. He is attacked by Confederates under Colonel Douglas Cooper, and his band flees during the night. The casualties are unknown to to the small size of the battle but Cooper says he killed at least one-hundred. -
The Battle of Chusto Talasah
Attacking the fleeing Opothleyahola once again, Colonel Douglas Cooper engages the mixture of Indian refugees at the future site of the town of Tulsa, OK. With the same results as Round Mountain, inconclusive, Opothleyahola retreats during the night. -
The Battle of Chustenehlah
After almost a month a pursuit and various skirmishes, Douglas Cooper finally corners and routs the Indians under Opothleyahola. In a brief fight, the Indians are quickly defeated and run for their lives northward, in the hopes that they can find refuge in Kansas. Opothleyahola is one of the survivors of this battle, along with the trek that follows into Union territory. -
The Battle of Mill Springs
Also known as the Battle of Fishing Creek, this was the attempted advance past the line set up by Confederate General Albert Sydney Johnston by the General Felix Zollicoffer. Observing that hsi Federal counterpart along the line General George Thomas was advancing, he decided to attempt a flanking manuever. In the boggy roads and stormy weather he made his attack and utterly failed. His command lost five-hundred thirty-three, including Zollicoffer himself. The federals lost two-hundred fifty. -
The Battle of Fort Henry
Grant set off from his post at Cairo, MO to capture Forts Henry and Dolenson on the Tennese and Cumberland rivers. After a short, and some say non-existant, fight, the Confederate General Lloyd Tilghman surrendered to the navy's Flag Officer Andrew Foote. Losses were forty for the Union and seventy-nine for the Confederates. -
The Battle of Roanoke Island
General Ambrose Burnside sends in three divisions of men to capture the weakly defended Roanoke Island with Confederates led by Henry Wise. Commandinf Henry Wise was General Benjamin Huger, who, despite repeated requests to do so, did not reinforce the garrison at the island. Accordingly on the 8th, the island was taken by storm, with Bunrside losing two-hundred sixty-four, and the Confederates losing two-thousand eight-hundred eighteen, almost all of which were prisoners. -
The Battle of Fort Donelson
Following his quick victory at Fort Henry, Grant shifted his attention to Fort Donelson on the Cumberland River. Marching overland on the 11th, the Confederate General John Floyd set up three mile long trenches arounfd the fort well before grant got there. The Confederates attempted to escape, and shifted generalship to Simon Buckner, who surrendered the fort to Grant. The Union only suffered around two-thousand eight-hundred casulaties while the Confederates suffered fourteen-thousand. -
The Battle of Valverde
Attemting to take the entire New Mexico territory by storm, Major Henry Sibley of the Confederate army begins by lying in wait outside Fort Craig and play the nerves of the commander there Colonel Edward Canby. After a skillful ruse in which he drew the federals out of the fort, he charges into the moving column. The next day, Colonel Tom Green, taking over from Sibley, launches and all out assault on the bivouaced troops. The Union loses two-hundred sixty three, Confederate one-hundred eighty -
The Death of Willy Lincoln
The President's middle son, Willy Lincoln, dies after a few weeks of suffering of fever. -
Nashville under Federal occupation
Following his win at Fort Donelson, and hsi earing of the nickname "Unconditional Surrender Grant", Ulysses S. grant pushes on down the river to the major city in northern Tennessee. After a skillfull withdrawal by Confederate cavalry commander Nathan Bedford Forrest, who left almost nothing behind for the federals to claim, the Union claimed the town, which marked the begining of war in the Cumberland Gap. -
The Battle of Pea Ridge
Confederate General Earl Van Dorn chases the Union General Samuel Curtis and finally engages with him on the hilly terrain at Pea Ridge, AR. Sending in his Indian division under Albert Pike as a sort of diversion, Van Dorn sends the rest of his army around to the Union rear. Though he gains the initial success, The next day he is routed by a combined offensive along the Confederate line. Casualties are around fourteen-hundred for the Union and almost two-thousand for The Confederates. -
The Death of Benjamin McCullah
At the Battle of Pea Ridge, Benjamin McCullah is killed while charging with his men on day one of the fighting. -
The Battle between the Virginia and the Monitor
Marking the first time two ironclad ships ever engaged in a direct conflict, the battle between the Monitor and the Virginia was a one-on-one battle of the coast of Norfolk, VA. The Monitor, designed by John Ericsson and captained by Lieutenant John Worden, sat in wait for the Virginia, capitained by Lieutenant Catesby Jones. After a four hour battle, a stalemate occured. Only a couple wounded as a result and no deaths. -
The Capture of St. Augustine
The town of St. Augustine, FL and the Fort Marion are taken after an unopposed landing by the ships Mohican and Wabash. -
The Battle of New Madrid
In order to gain acess to the Mississippi stronghold of Island Ten, General John Pope launches an attack upon the Confederate garrison stationed at the town of New Madrid, MO. After a seige that lasts more than a week, the garrison slips out of the town at night and across the river. The Union only suffers fifty-one casulaties while the Confederates under Colonel John McCown only loses around five. -
The Battle of Kernstown
Following the defeat of his army a few days before, Union General James Sheilds was fleeing through the Shenandoah Valley from "Stonewall" Jackson. Meeting his rear guard troops at Kernstown, Jackson ordered a full attack and even sent up hsi reserves as a measure of his confidence. But the Union lines stood stong. Shocked at this, Jackson retreated. He suffered about seven-hundred casualties while the Union suffered about six-hundred. -
The Peninsular Campaign
General George McClellan begins his naval jump of at Alexandria, and lands moves his army of around one-hundred-thousand to Fortress Monroe on the York-James peninsula. -
The Battle of Glorieta Pass
Encouraged by his win at Valverde, Slbley continues on to the capital of Albuquerque, then to Santa Fe, where he hoped to gain control of Fort Union. Marching through Glorieta Pass to achieve this, he was attacked by a Colorado detachment. The fight was actually two seperate days three days apart with the first days fighting resulting in one-hundred forty-six casulaties for the Confederates and only nineteen for the Union. The second days fighting resulted in two-hundred nine total casualties. -
The Battle of Shiloh -- Outset
Marching out from his position at Corinth, MS to do battle upon the lightly defended camps of General Ulysses S. Grant, General Albert Sydney Johnston divides his slightly smaller army into three corps under Generals Leonidas Polk, Braxton Bragg, and William Hardee. The Union army is divided into six divsions under John McClernand, W.H. Wallace, Lewis Wallace, William Sherman, B. Prentiss, and S. Hurlburt. -
The Battle of Shiloh -- Day One -- Initial Attack
Crashing into the lead division under Sherman, Hardee makes swift moves in order for the other two corps to join into the battle. After a battle lasting for almost thrity minutes, Grant finally believes he is being attacked, having disregarded all messages as cry-wolf. Sherman, buying the Union well needed time in order to set up defensive tactics, holds his position until all five other divisions line up next to him. The line does not hold however, and all six are pushed back to Owl Creek. -
The Battle of Shiloh -- Day One -- Evening
After being pushed back to Owl Creek, the Union army prepares a defensive line. The Hornets Nest, a small ravine made by a road on the Union left, was held through many assaults by the Confederates. General Prentiss is captured whern the Hornets Nest is finally overrun. Day One ends with Grants anticipation of Buells army. -
The Death of Albert Sydney Johnston
Leading a charge personally on the first day of fighting, Albert Sydney Johnston is shot throught the foot and dies shortly after. His second in commnd P.G.T. Beauregard takes command. -
The Battle of Shiloh -- Day Two -- Morning
Buells army arrives at Pittsburg Landing during the night. With the number of troops Grant now has at his disposal, he is able to go on the offensive. Much to the same suprise they caused yesterday, the Confederates were taken aback by this and, Beauregard, seeing no way to stand and fight, fled back to his predecessors starting point at Corinth. -
The Battle of Shiloh -- Aftermath
Considered a Union victory due to the Confederate flight, the casualties sustained point towards a draw, or even a Union disadvantage. The Confederates lose ten-thousand seven-hundred, compared to the Unions thrirteen-thousand. The loss of Grants corps commander Prentiss was invaluable. -
The Battle of Island Ten
Following his quick and brilliant victory at New Madrid, General John Pope moves to strike against Island Ten, a Confederate stronghold in the middle of the Mississippi River. After a breif show of naval superiority, Pope sent a message of surrender which was not only refused, but substituted by a retreat. The retreating Confederates under General William McKall finally surrender on the eighth. Few if any deaths were reported on either side, byt Pope captured almost four-thousand men. -
Siege of Fort Pulaski
Being commisioned by General William Sherman to do so, the chief of his engineers Quincy Gillmore launched a seige operation on the heavily defended fort outside of Savannah, GA. The Confederate commander of the fort, Colonel Charles Olmstead, after only one day of siege, surrendered the fort due to a breach in the outer defenses. Union only lost four men, the Confederates three-hundred sixty-three captured. -
Battle of Fort St. Philip and Fort Jackson
In order to gain access to the New Orleans port, Admiral David Farragut launches and attack with several of his warships and about twenty mortar schooners. The twin forts under command of General Johnson Duncan withstood almost seventeen-thousand shells before Farragut closed in on the forts after several days of shelling. The defenders lose fifty men while the attackers lose two-hundred ten. -
The "Battle" of Yorktown
After over a month of seige preparation, McClellan captures the city of Yorktown for Confederate General John MacGruder. The town is taken with no bloodshed, due to the fact that not only was the Confederate force a third of McClellan's, but they had pulled out the night befor the preliminary bombardment. -
The Battle of Williamsburg
After fleeing the town of Yorktown, Joseph Johnston is caught by pursing Federals in the mires south-east of Willamsburg. The ensuing battle consists od slipping and sliding along the muddy roads and countyside, all whist in the pouring rain. Before nightfall, the Confederates lose seventeen-hundred, as oppose to the Union's twenty-two hundred. The Union holds the feild while the Confederates retreat to Fort MacGruder. -
The Battle of Eltham
In an attempt to stall Union reinforcements under General William Franklin, G.W. Smith sends a brigade of Texans under John Bell Hood. Being sucessful, though not to the extent which was expected, he manages to stall the force with a suprise attack. -
The Battle of McDowell
In order to block the movements General John Fremont, General Stonewall Jackson looks rearward to counteract. He sends a detachment of five-thousand troops to block these movements, which contains three-thousand five -hundred. In the short battle that ensued, a federal army attacks the gathering rebels before they can concentrate, inflicting five-hundred casualties at the cost of two-hundred fifty. -
CSS Virginia
The CSS Viginia(Merrimac), who had combatted the USS Monitor only a few months prior, is forced to be blown up of the coast of Suffolk, Virginia. -
The Battle of Drewry's Bluff
A four ship assault, led by Worden's Monitor, struck the port on the James River with disasterous effect on the Union. Many of the gun on the vessels could not elevate enough to reach the guns on the bluff, resulting in twenty-six killed and wounded. -
Lee surrenders to Grant's army
After four years of nasty, brutal war, Robert E. Lee surrenders to the forces of Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, VA. -
Abraham Lincoln is assassinated
While enjoying the comedy My American Cousin at Ford's Theater, the sixteenth president of the United States is shot in the back of the head by John Wilkes Booth. He procedes to jump from the balcony and yell "Sic Semper Tyrannis" the motto of Virginia which means "Thus always to tyrants". Lincoln dies later the next morning.
