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Period: to
January 1, 1860 through December 31, 1867
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Davis for Secession
Jefferson Davis reveals that he is for the secession of the southern states from the Union. -
Lincoln's Cooper Union Address
Abraham Lincoln delivered a short speech at the Cooper Institute in New York. The goal of his speech was to prove that the Founding Fathers had indeed intended for slavery to die out, and not to be expanded into new territories. -
The Democrat National Convention
From April 23 to May 3, 1860, the Democrat National Convention was held in Charleston, South Carolina.They could not agree on a presidential nominee. -
The Republican National Convention
The Republican Convention is held in Chicago, Illinois. William H. Seward, Salmon P. Chase and Abraham Lincoln of Illinois are the leading nominees from a group of 12 candidates. Lincoln wins on the third ballot. -
National Democratic Convention meet again
Southern delegates hold another National Democratic convention in Richmond. Party leaders want a "wait and see" approach. -
New West Point Commander
Lieutenant Colonel William Hardee is replaced by Major John F. Reynolds as commander of cadets at West Point -
Warning of Secession
Governor William Henry Gist notifies other Deep South states that South Carolina is considering secession as an option. -
Presidential Election of 1860
The presidential candidates in the 1860 election were Stephen A. Douglas. Abraham Lincoln John C. Breckinridge, and John Bell. Douglas and Lincoln were the top two candidates. -
Abraham Lincoln is elected President of the United States
Abraham Licnoln from Illinois wins the 1860 presidential election, beating out his top competitor, Stephen Douglas. He won by 180 electoral votes and 39% of the popular vote. -
South Carolina Secedes from the Union
The south saw Lincoln's victory as a sign that they had no power in congress anymore. Due to this, South Carolina was angered and could not take it any longer so they decided to secede from the Union. -
Mississippi Secedes
Mississippi follows South Carolina and secedes from the Union, becoming the second state to leave. -
The Confederate States of America
The Convention of Seceded States adopts a provisional constitution forming the Confederate States of America -
Jefferson Davis as President
After considering William Yancey, Howell Cobb, Robert Toombs, Alexander Stephens, and Robert Barnwell Rhett for President of the Confederate States of America, the Convention decides on Jefferson Davis. -
Lincoln's Inauguration
Lincoln arrives in Washington DC to give his inaugural address, in which he stated, "No person held to service or labor in one State, under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall in consequence of any law or regulation therein be discharged from such service or labor..." -
Fort Sumter
The start of the Civil War. Fort Sumter was a Union fort in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. Robert Anderson, who was in command of the fort, asked Lincoln for help because the fort was in need of supplies and protection. However, this put Lincoln in a jam because he did not want to start the war so he sent supplies only. Then Confederate troops opened fire on the fort and Anderson was forced to evacuate. -
Phillipi, West Virginia
The first land engagement of the Civil War between Union and Confederate forces near Phillipi, Virginia (now West Virginia) -
First Battle of Bull Run
This was the first land battle of the Civil War. It took place at Manassas Junction, near Bull Run Creek, only a few miles from Washington DC. "Stonewall" Jackson earned his nickname here. Confederate victory. -
Tennessee for CSA
Tennessee votes to adopt the Constitution of the Confederate States of America. -
Winfield Scott is replaced
Winfield Scott relieved from duty as Supreme Comander of the United States, and replaced by George McClellan. -
Trent is Halted
British mail packet Trent, carrying James M. Mason and John Slidell, Confederate commissioners to London and Paris, is halted in the Bahama Channel by the Union warship San Jacinto. -
Battle of Fort Donelson
A major victory for Ulysses S. Grant and the Union. It ensured that Kentucky would stay in the Union and opened up Tennessee for a Northern advance along the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers. -
Battle of the Monitor and Merrimack
In an attempt to reduce the Union's big naval advantage, Confederate forces converted an old Union ship, the Merrimack, into an ironclad warship and named it the C.S.S Virginia. The Virginia and the Monitor engaged in battle off the coast of Virginia. -
Battle of Shiloh
Confederate and Union forces met at Shiloh, a church in southwest Tennessee. Confederate General Johnston is killed, along with 1,723 other Confederate soldiers and 1,754 Union soldiers. -
Battle of Seven Pines
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Lee replaces Johnston
Army of Northern Virginia commander Joseph E. Johnston is wounded and Davis replaces him with Robert E. Lee -
Battle of Malvern Hill
The sixth and last of the Seven Days' Battles. Ended with 8,500 casualties. -
Second Battle of Bull Run
Union and Confederate troops met once more near Bull Run Creek when General Jackson ordered an attack on Union General Pope's troops. The Union army was pushed back to Bull Run. -
Battle of Harpers Ferry
Lee surrounded the garrison at Harper's Ferry and captured it, taking 12,000 prisoners. Jackson took control of Harper's Ferry. -
McClellan replaced
George B. McClellan is replaced as Commander of the Army of the Potomac by Ambrose E. Burnside. -
Battle of Fredericksburg
General Ambrose Burnside and the Army of the Potomac was soundly beaten by Lee's Army of North Virginia in Fredericksburg, Virginia. -
The Emancipation Proclamation
Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation goes into effect. This proclamation freed all remaining slaves in the states, Union and Confederate. -
General Hooker in Command
Abraham Lincoln relieves General Ambrose Burnside from command of the Army of the Potomac, replacing him with General Joseph "Fighting Joe" Hooker. -
Battle of Unionville
Confederate Cavalry under Earl Van Dorn and Nathan Bedford Forrest drive Union Cavalry off on the 4th, then surround and take on the remaining infantry. After heavy fighting on the 5th, the Union garrison surrenders. -
Siege of Suffolk
General James Longstreet surrounds Suffolk in southeastern Virginia. Longstreet's forces moved against Suffolk on April 11, crossed the Nansemond River, and captured several pickets. -
Battle of the Wilderness
The opening battle of Grant’s sustained offensive against the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia.The battle was a tactical draw. Grant, however, did not retreat as had the other Union generals before him. -
West Virginia becomes a State
West Virginia becomes the 35th state to enter the United States, but the first to enter where the terms slave and free no longer mattered. -
Battle of Gettysburg
This battle took place at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The Confederate troops were in desperate need of supplies and were going to raid Gettysburg. However, the Union Army got there before they could and fought a hard three day battle in which they were successful. -
Beauregard orders evactuation
P. G. T. Beauregard orders Battery Wagner and Morris Island evacuated. The evacuation is accomplished that night. -
Skirmishes in Virginia
Heavy skirmishing breaks out across a wide front in Virginia as the Army of Northern Virginia and the Army of the Potomac clash between the Rappahannock and Rapidan Rivers. -
Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction
Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction offers a full pardon to any Southerner who participated in the rebellion as long as they took a "prescibed oath" -
Union Officers Escape
109 Union officers led by Colonel Thomas Rose escape from Libby Prison on the banks of the James River in Richmond. 59 reach Union lines -
Grant Promoted
Ulysses S. Grant promoted to Lieutenant General and given command of all active United States forces. -
Battle of Pleasant Hill
Retreating from the loss at Sabine Crossroads, Nathaniel Banks is slammed by Richard Taylor early in the afternoon. In spite of initial Confederate success, Banks managed to organize a counterattack that turned the tide in favor of the Yankees. -
Battle of Chancellorsville
Gen. Hooker's forces met Gen. Lee's in Chancellorsville, Virginia. After a hard battle an estimated 24,000 men were dead, including General Jackson, who was mortally injured during the battle and carried off by his men. -
Battle of Cold Harbor
One of the final battles of Ulysses S. Grant's Overland Campaign, and is remembered as one of American history's bloodiest, most lopsided battles.Thousands of Union soldiers were killed or wounded in a hopeless assault against Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's army. -
Battle of Tupelo or Harrisburg
General A. J. Smith repulses repeated, uncoordinated attacks by Generals Stephen D. Lee and Nathan Bedford Forrest, who retire at noon. Smith, short of supplies, withdraws to Memphis the following day. -
Mobile Bay
18 Union ships sail past the entrance to Mobile Bay. The C. S. S. Tennessee, prize ironclad of the Confederate Navy awaited the attack. As the U. S. S. Tecumseh sinks Admiral David Farragut orders "Damn the torpedoes, go ahead." His flag vessel Hartford took the lead. The ships destroyed the Confederate fleet -
Fall of Atlanta
Mayor James Calhoun surrenders Atlanta to Union forces after Sherman's march to the sea. -
Nevada becomes a state
Nevada joins the Union and becomes the 36th state in the United States. -
Battle of Nashville
In a last desperate attempt to force Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman’s army out of Georgia, Gen. John Bell Hood led the Army of Tennessee north toward Nashville. Approximately 6,602 casualties. -
Attack on Fort Fisher
Admiral David Porter attacks the Conderate fort on Cape Fear with the largest fleet ever assembled to that time. General Alfred Terry lands an amphibious force which captures the fort. -
Lincoln's Second Inauguration
Lincoln outlines his second term talking directly to the Confederate people "...with malice toward none; with charity for all..." Andrew Johnson, replacing Henry Hamlin as Vice-president gives a rambling, drunk speech. He had been given too much whiskey as medicine by a doctor. -
Lee's Surrender
Ulysess S. Grant and Robert Lee meet at Appomattox court house in Virginia. General Lee surrenders the Army of Northern Virginia to Grant. -
Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
A very famous actor, John Wilkes Booth, heard of the Lincolns' plans to attend Ford's Theater. Booth came up with a careful plan and snuck into the president's box where he shot Abraham Lincoln in the back of the head. -
Death of Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln died in the Peterson house at 7:22 in the morning after clinging to life, although unconscious, all through the night. The news devastated the entire nation. -
Trans-Mississippi Surrender
The last Confederate forces surrender in the Trans-Mississippi Theater. -
Ford's Theater not to be reopened
Secretary of War Edwin Stanton orders Union troops to stand guard at Ford's Theater to prevent it from reopening following the assasination of President Lincoln -
Mississippi Convention
Mississippi conventions passes an ordinance voiding the secession ordinance of 1861 -
Black Suffrage in Connecticut
Connecticut holds a vote to legalize the right to vote for African Americans in the state: For: 27,217 Against: 33,489 -
Black Suffrage in Minnesota and Wisconsin
Minnesota and Wisconsin hold votes for black state suffrage.
Minnesota:
For 12,170,
Against 14,840,
Wisconsin:
For: 46,388
Against: 55,591 -
Congress Passes Freedman's Bureau Bill
New Freedman's Bureau bill passed by Congress. President Andrew Johnson vetoes the bill that authorized military trial for those accused of "depriving Negroes of the Civil Rights" on the same day. -
Lincoln's Birthday
The first formal observation of President Lincoln's birthday is held in Washington, D. C. President Andrew Johnson attends. -
Johnson Vetos another bill
President Johnson vetos the Civil Rights Act of 1866 on the grounds that it was unconstitutional -
Congress buys Ford's Theater
Congress appropriates $100,000 to buy Ford's Theater. It will house the Army Medical Museum, the Office of the Surgeon General and War Department records until 1893 -
14th Amendment
The Thirty-ninth Congress approves the 14th Amendment to the Constitution which states, "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law..." -
General of the Armies
Congress establishes "general of the armies" and Ulysses S. Grant is immediately promoted to 4-star general and put in this position. William Tecumseh Sherman assumes the rank of Lt. General. -
Peace with Texas
A proclaimation of peace with Texas is issued by United States President Andrew Johnson -
New Jersey & the 14th Amendment
New Jersey ratifies the fourteenth amendment, becoming the fourth state to do so. -
Vermont and the 14th Amendment
Vermont ratifies the fourteenth Amendment, becoming the sixth state to ratify it. -
Ships destroyed
A fire in the Philadelphia ship-yard accidently destroys a number of ships used during the Civil War -
African Americans gain the right to vote
African Americans in Washington D. C. gain the right to vote in a bill passed over President Andrew Johnson's vetos. -
Delaware Rejects the 14th Amendment
Delaware is on the of few states in the Union that fist rejected the fourteenth amendment. -
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. -
Seward's Folly
William P. Seward signs a treaty with Russia buying Alaska for 2 cents an acre. Democrats called it "Seward's Folly" -
Nebraska
Nebraska ratifies the Fourteenth Amendment, becoming the twenty-second state to ratify it. -
More states enter the Union
Congress passes a bill admitting Arkansas, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, and South Carolina into the Union. Virginia, Mississippi, and Texas were refused admission into the Union because they refused to ratify the fourteenth amendment, -
Stanton forced to Resign
President Andrew Johnson demands the resignation of Edwin Stanton, Secretary of War. -
Stanton Suspended
Edwin Stanton is suspended by President Andrew Johnson. -
USA owns Alaska
The United States takes formal ownership of Alaska from Russia. -
Colordo Territory Capital
The capital of the Colorado Territory was moved from Golden to Denver
