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The South Rises
Following South Carolina's lead, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas form the Confederate States of America. -
Flight from Fort Sumter
Though South Carolina had seceded four months prior, Union troops still occupied Fort Sumter in Charleston's harbor. Confederate artillery forced the Union to evacuate the installation. -
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The Rebellion Grows
After President Lincoln's call for 75,000 volunteers to put down the rebellion, the upland South - Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee - seceded from the United States and joined the Confederacy. -
Bloodshed at Bull Run
The First Battle of Bull Run, fought near Manassas, Virginia, demonstrated to the Union that the rebellion would not come to a swift end. -
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Davis' Dominion Dominates
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Trouble on the Trent
In November 1861, the Union warship San Jacinto seized the British civilian ship Trent and captured two Confederate diplomats. The Confederacy saw this as an opportunity to portray themselves as oppressed by the Union/ -
Boats of Iron at the Island of Ten
At Island #10 on the Tennessee-Missouri border, Union and Confederate squadrons of ironclads squared off in one of the first modern naval battles. -
Shiloh Showdown
The Union won a costly victory in southwestern Tennessee, taking the upper hand on the western front of the Civil War. -
Struggle for Sharpsburg
The Battle of Antietam, fought in Sharpsburg, Maryland, led to the highest single day number of casualties in American history at over 22,000.
The worst part? Neither side actually won the battle. -
The Fredericksburg Fiasco
At Fredericksburg, the General Ambrose Burnside and the Army of the Potomac uffered a terribly lopsided defeat. The aftermath of the Battle of Fredericksburg could be said to have been the low point of the war for the Union. -
Murderous Murfreesboro
At the Battle of Stones River, the second battle near Murfreesboro, Tennessee, both the Union and the Confederacy lost a higher percentage of their engaged forces than at any other battle in the war. -
The President Proclaims
In a move both to solidify the Union's ideological stand on slavery and to increase the pool of able-bodied men, Abraham Lincoln freed slaves in the Union proper with the Emancipation Proclamation. -
Clash at Chancellorsville
Though Chancellorsville was a Confederate victory, the aftermath went in the Union's favor. Confederate war hero General "Stonewall" Jackson was killed, damaging the South's fragile command structure. -
The Confederacy Crests
With Pickett's futile charge at the Battle of Gettysburg (the most famous Union victory), the Confederacy reached its "high water mark". -
Victory at Vicksburg
While some historians call Gettysburg the turning point of the American Civil War, it was the Union victory at VIcksburg which sent the course of the conflict in the North's favor. Vicksburg's capture effectively split the Confederacy in half, isolating it from resources west of the Mississippi River. -
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Lincoln's Land Takes the Lead
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Madness in Manhattan
Working-class New Yorkers, angered that the rich could pay to exempt themselves from the draft, rioted in New York City. The riot devolved into violence against freed blacks, as the workers viewed the blacks as the reason for the war. -
"Four score..."
Lincoln famously gave the Gettysburg Address to commemorate the Gettysburg National Cemetery. -
The Level of Loyalty
Lincoln proclaimed the 10% Plan, allowing for Confederate states to re-enter the Union once 10% of adult men in that state swore an oath of loyalty. -
Cold Harbor's Chilling Results
At Cold Harbor in Virginia, the Union took terrible numbers of casualties in one of their few defeats in the latter part of the war. -
Razing Richmond
Union forces laid siege to Petersburg, the stronghold defending Richmond. Large quantities of artillery fire both left Richmond in ruins and led to one of the first large-scale uses of trench warfare. -
Wade and Davis Want Blood
Radical Republicans sought for the punishment of the South in the Wade-Davis Bill. Lincoln vetoed it. -
Atlanta in Ashes
General Sherman seized Atlanta on his March to the Sea, and burned it to cripple the Confederacy. -
Founding the Freedmen's Bureau
The Freedmen Bureau is established to protect the rights of newly freed blacks in the Union. -
Lee Lets Go
The Civil War "ended" where it began. In Wilmer McLean's Virginia home, which had been hit by a cannonball to begin the First Battle of Bull Run, Union General "Unconditional Surrender" Grant negotiated peace with Confederate hero Robert E. Lee. -
Lincoln Loses His Life
While watching a play with his wife, Lincoln was shot by Confederate actor John Wilkes Booth. Lincoln died the next day. -
Dixie is Done For
Johnson's Proclamation of the War's End
By May of 1865, now-President Andrew Jognson proclaimed the war essentially over. -
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Rebuilding the Republic
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Color Coding
Starting in November 1865, Southern States began to legislate "Black Codes" to restrict newly freed blacks. -
#13
The 13th Amendment is ratified, abolishing slavery. -
Kreating the Klan
Ex-Confederates in Pulaski, Tennessee create the first incarnation of the KKK. -
(the first) Civil Rights Act
The 1866 Civil Rights Act laid the foundation for what would later be the Fourteenth Amendment. -
Ratification or Reconstruction
Johnson issues the Reconstruction Act, implementing military rule in the South until conditions are met. -
Jabbing at Johnson
Andrew Johnson is impeached, but not (barely) thrown out of office. -
#14
The 14th Amendment is ratified, extending citizenship and due process to blacks. -
#15
The 15th Amendment is ratified, extending suffrage to black men. -
Let's Make a Deal
The Hayes-Tilden Compromise designates Rutherford B. Hayes as President and pulls all military troops out of the South, ending Reconstruction.
