Timeline of the Civil War

By ridhaskhan

  • Abraham Lincoln Elected

    The first republican president is elected, with 40% of the popular vote and 180 of 303 possible electoral votes. Lincoln argued that slaves should have freedom and equal rights which created much controversy.

  • Succession of South Carolina

    South Carolina secedes from the Union to form the Confederate States of America.

  • Abraham Lincoln Takes the Presedential Oath

    Abraham Lincoln is sworn in as 16th President of the United States of America.

  • Battle of Fort Sumter & Civil War Begins

    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.

  • President Lincoln Calls for 75,000 Militiamen

    President Lincoln issues a Proclamation calling for 75,000 militiamen, and summoning a special session of Congress for July 4.

  • Succession of Virginia

    Virginia secedes from the Union.

  • President Lincoln Issues Proclamation of Blockade

    President Lincoln issues a Proclamation of Blockade against Southern ports. For the duration of the war the blockade limits the ability of the rural South to stay well supplied in its war against the industrialized North.

  • Robert E. Lee Offered Command of Virginia Forces

    Robert E. Lee resigns his commission in the United States Army. Lee then goes to Richmond, Virginia, is offered command of the military and naval forces of Virginia, and accepts.

  • First Battle of Bull Run

    The Union Army under Gen. Irvin McDowell suffers a defeat at Bull Run 25 miles southwest of Washington. Confederate Gen. Thomas J. Jackson earns the nickname "Stonewall," as his brigade resists Union attacks. Union troops fall back to Washington. President Lincoln realizes the war will be long.

  • McClellan Replaces McDowell

    President Lincoln appoints George B. McClellan as Commander of the Department of the Potomac, replacing McDowell.

  • President Lincoln Issues 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.

  • Battle of the Ironclads

    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.

  • Battle of Shiloh

    Confederate surprise attack on Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's unprepared troops at Shiloh on the Tennessee River results in a bitter struggle with 13,000 Union killed and wounded and 10,000 Confederates, more men than in all previous American wars combined. The president is then pressured to relieve Grant but resists.

  • Lee Replaces Johnston

    Gen. Robert E. Lee assumes command, replacing the wounded Johnston. Lee then renames his force the Army of Northern Virginia.

  • Battle of Antietam

    The bloodiest day in U.S. military history as Gen. Robert E. Lee and the Confederate Armies are stopped at Antietam in Maryland by McClellan and numerically superior Union forces. By nightfall 26,000 men are dead, wounded, or missing. Lee then withdraws to Virginia.

  • Lincoln Issues Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation

    Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation freeing slaves issued by President Lincoln.

  • Lincoln Issues Emancipation Proclamation

    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.

  • Grants Takes Command of Army of the West

    Gen. Grant is placed in command of the Army of the West, with orders to capture Vicksburg.

  • Congress Implements War Drafting

    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.

  • 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.

  • Battle of Gettysburg

    The tide of war turns against the South as the Confederates are defeated at the Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania.

  • Siege 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.

  • Battle of Fort Wagner

    'Negro troops' of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment under Col. Robert G. Shaw assault fortified Rebels at Fort Wagner, South Carolina. Col. Shaw and half of the 600 men in the regiment are killed.

  • Battle of Chickamauga

    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.

  • 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 though to be an impregnable position

  • Grant's Mistake at 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.

  • McClellan Nominated as Democrat Representative

    Democrats nominate George B. McClellan for president to run against Republican incumbent Abraham Lincoln.

  • Lincoln Re-elected

    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.

  • March to the Sea

    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.

  • Thirteenth 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.

  • Failed Peace Conference

    A peace conference occurs as President Lincoln meets with Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephens at Hampton Roads in Virginia, but the meeting ends in failure - the war will continue.

  • Lincoln's Second Inauguration

    Inauguration ceremonies for President Lincoln in Washington.

  • 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 and permits soldiers to keep horses and mules.

  • Lincoln Assassinated

    The Stars and Stripes is ceremoniously raised over Fort Sumter. That night, Lincoln and his wife Mary see the play "Our American Cousin" at Ford's Theater. At 10:13 p.m., during the third act of the play, John Wilkes Booth shoots the president in the head. Doctors attend to the president in the theater then move him to a house across the street. He never regains consciousness.

  • Thirteenth Amendment Ratified

    The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, passed by Congress on January 31, 1865, is finally ratified. Slavery is abolished.