-
Election of Lincoln
George B. McClellan was running agaisnt Abraham Lincoln for President. He ended up winning for President. And that effected the Civil War because he was the first Republican president. When the south won he ended slavery. -
Texas secedes from the Union
Texas becomes the seventh state to secede from the Union when a state convention votes 166 to 8 in favor of the measure. The Texans who voted to leave the Union did so over the objections of their governor, Sam Houston. A staunch Unionist, Houston's election in 1859 as governor seemed to indicate that Texas did not share the rising secessionist sentiments of the other Southern states. -
Houston kicked out of office
After Texas was annexed to the United States, General Sam Houston served as US Senator from Texas. During his term, he decided to run for the governor's office and won. Houston tried to keep Texas from seceding from the Union but was unsuccessful. Subseqently, Houston was kicked out of office for refusing to pledge allegence to the Confederate States of America. -
Battle at fort Sumter
Union Commander Major Robert Anderson and his 85 soliders took over Fort Sumter on December 26, 1860. Running out of supplies, Major Anderson knew that the Confederates wanted them to leave the fort. Because they would not leave on April 11, 1861 the Confederates opened fire and continued for 34 hours. This was the the begining of the Civil War! Major Anderson and his men surrendered on April 13, 1861 and left the fort the very next day. -
Battle of Galveston
January 1,1863 Confederate soliders attacked and expelled the Union troops who were occupying the city of Galveston Texas. At the begining of the battle 2 Confederate ships, the CS Bayou City and the CS Neptune sailed from Houston to Galveston. Out numbered six two by the Northern ships the Neptune was badly damaged but the Bayou City ship was able to capture the USS Harriet Lane. Union troops on shore thought their own ships were surrendering in so they surrendered. -
Battle of Gettysburg
On July 1, 1863,Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee and his army waited for Union Gen. George Meade's army in Gettysburg, PA. The fighting lasted for 3 days in resulted at first in a small victory for Lee's men but the Union army stood their ground. By the end of the third day, over 51,000 soliders were dead, missing, or severly injuered. -
Battle of Sabine Pass
In the early morning of September 8, 1863 Union gunboats and 7 troop transports came up the Sabine River intending to capture Fort Griffin and occupying Texas. Fort Griffin's small force of 44 men fired apon the Union troops. They were able to capture the gunboat Cliffton and about 200 prisoners. The herroics at Fort Griffin in spired other Confederate soliders. -
Red River Campaign
The Red River Campaingn of March 10 - May 22, 1864, was a series of battles. This campaign was fought between 30,000 Union troops and 6,000 - 15,000 Confederate troops. President Abraham Lincoln hoped that this would allow the Union to invade Texas. The Red River Campaign was the last decisive Confederate victory of the War. -
End of Civil War
On April 9, 1865 the Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant thus ending the Civil War. The surrender took place at the Appomattox Court House in Virginia. The war raged on from 1861 - 1865 and resulted in about 620,000 soliders losing their lives. Not only was this a victory for the Union but it also was the end of slavery. -
Battle of Palmito Ranch
Since March 1865, there was an agreement to end fighting between Union and Confederate forces. On May 11, 1865 in spite of this agreement, Col. Theodore H. Barrett dispatched 300 men under the commandment of Lt. Col. David Branson to attack Rebel outposts and camps. Exhausted, the men decided to rest before attacking. People on the Mexican side of the Boca Chica River warned the Rebel troops. After heavy fighting, a retreat was called by Branson. This was the last battle of the Civil War. -
Junetheenth
Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration commemorating the ending pf salvery in the United States. On June 19, 1865, Major Gen. Gordon Granger and his Union soldiers landed in Galveston, Texas to let Texans know that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free. This was two and a half years after Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. With the number of Union soldiers strenghted by the arrival of Granger's men, the Executive Order could now be enforced. -
Reconstruction Ends
The Reconstruction of the Southern United States was directed by Congress and its focus was the the reconstruction of state and society. From 1863-1865, President Lincoln and Andrew Johnson took positions that were designed to bring the South back to normal as quickly as possible. However, it was met with great opposition from both sides. The Reconstruction ended on January 19, 1876 and became a significant chapter in the history of civil rights in the U.S.
