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Civil War
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Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln, a lawyer from Springfield, Illinois, gave a speech at Cooper Union in New York City. Lincoln delivered a forceful and well-reasoned argument against the spread of enslavement and became an overnight star and a leading candidate for the upcoming presidential election. -
Abraham Lincoln visited the Five Points
Abraham Lincoln visited the Five Points, the most notorious slum in America. He spent time with children at a Sunday school, and an account of his visit later appeared in newspapers during his presidential campaign. -
The Pony Express
The 'Pony Express' mail service used horseback riders in 157 Pony Express relay stations across the prairies, plains, deserts, and mountains of the Western United States to deliver messages between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts in about ten days. After only 1 year, in March 1861 after suffering large losses and not gaining the mail contract The Pony Express Company ceased trading. -
Henry Repeating Rifle
Benjamin Henry perfects the Henry rifle which was manufactured by the New Haven Arms Company, and used in considerable numbers by certain Union army units in the American Civil War. Confederates called the Henry "that damned Yankee rifle that they load on Sunday and shoot all week!" -
Abraham Lincoln is elected sixteenth president of the United States
Abraham Lincoln is elected sixteenth president of the United States, the first Republican president in the nation who represents a party that opposes the spread of slavery in the territories of the United States. Lincoln's election for President was followed by South Carolina's succession from the Union. Its senators had resigned from Congress and several of the Southern states were looking to leaving it as well. -
First Secession Convention
The first Secession Convention meets in Columbia, South Carolina. Delegates were elected on December 6, 1860, and the convention convened on December 17. Its action made South Carolina the first state to secede. -
Crittenden Compromise
The Crittenden Compromise was an unsuccessful proposal to permanently enshrine slavery in the United States Constitution, and thereby make it unconstitutional for future congresses to end slavery. It was introduced by United States Senator John J. Crittenden (Constitutional Unionist of Kentucky) on December 18, 1860. -
South Carolina Secedes from the Union
South Carolina was the first state to vote to secede from the Union and was the founding state of the Confederate States of America. -
The Union Navy maintained blockades
The Union Navy maintained blockades on Atlantic and Gulf Coast ports of the Confederate States of America designed to prevent the passage of trade goods, supplies, and arms to and from the Confederacy. -
Confederate States of America Formed
Representatives of seceded states meet in Montgomery, Alabama, and form the Confederate States of America, electing Jefferson Davis as president. The CSA constitution ensures the extension of slavery into new states and territories. -
C.S.A President Jefferson Davis
Jefferson Davis is appointed the first President of the Confederate States of America at Montgomery, Alabama, a position he will hold until elections can be arranged. -
Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated
Abraham Lincoln becomes the 16th president of the United States on March 4, 1861. In his inauguration speech, Lincoln extended an olive branch to the South, but also made it clear that he intended to enforce federal laws in the states that seceded. -
Fort Sumter was attacked by Confederate guns
When President Abraham Lincoln announced plans to resupply the fort, Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard bombarded Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861, kicking off the Battle of Fort Sumter. After a 34-hour exchange of artillery fire, Anderson and 86 soldiers surrendered the fort on April 13. -
Ex Parte Merryman
Ex Parte Merryman, American Civil War case contesting the president’s power to suspend the writ of habeas corpus during a national emergency. -
First Battle of Bull Run
The Battle of Bull Run (or First Manassas), is fought near Manassas, Virginia. The Union Army under General Irwin McDowell initially succeeds in driving back Confederate forces under General Pierre Gustav Toutant Beauregard, but the arrival of troops under General Joseph E. Johnston initates a series of reverses that sends McDowell's army in a panicked retreat to the defenses of Washington. It is here that Thomas Jonathan Jackson, will receive everlasting fame as "Stonewall" Jackson. -
First United States Income Tax
The first United States income tax was imposed in July 1861, at 3% of all incomes over 800 dollars in order to help pay for the war effort in the American Civil War. -
Battle of Wilson's Creek, Missouri
Battle of Wilson's Creek, Missouri. The Union Army under General Nathaniel Lyon, attack Confederate troops and state militia southwest of Springfield, Missouri, and after a disastrous day that included the death of Lyon, are thrown back. The Confederate victory emphasizes the strong southern presence west of the Mississippi River. -
Battle of Ball's Bluff
Battle of Ball's Bluff, Virginia. Colonel Edward D. Baker, senator from Oregon and a friend of President Lincoln, led troops across the Potomac River only to be forced back to the river's edge where he was killed. The ensuing Union withdrawal turned into a rout with many soldiers drowning while trying to re-cross the icy waters of the Potomac River. -
Surrender of Fort Donelson, Tennessee
The Battle of Fort Donelson was fought from February 11–16, 1862, in the Western Theater of the American Civil War. The Union capture of the Confederate fort near the Tennessee–Kentucky border opened the Cumberland River, an important avenue for the invasion of the South. The Union's success also elevated Brig. This primary southern fort on the Cumberland River left the river in Union hands. It was here that Union General Ulysses S. Grant gained his nickname "Unconditional Surrender". -
Battle of Pea Ridge (Elkhorn Tavern), Arkansas
The Battle of Pea Ridge, also known as the Battle of Elkhorn Tavern, took place in the American Civil War near Leetown, northeast of Fayetteville, Arkansas. Federal forces, led by Brig. Gen. Samuel R. Curtis, moved south from central Missouri, driving Confederate forces into northwestern Arkansas. The Union victory loosened the Confederate hold on Missouri and disrupted southern control of a portion of the Mississippi River. -
Battle of the Monitor and the Merrimack
In the first battle of ironclad warships, the Merrimack (which had been rechristened by the Confederates as the Virginia) clashes with the Union Monitor. Although the Union navy blockades 3,500 miles (5,600 kilometers) of Confederate coastline during the war, the Confederates excel at running the blockade. -
Battle of Shiloh
In a fierce battle at Shiloh, in southwestern Tennessee, Union forces rally from almost near defeat to drive back the Confederate army. Both sides are immobilized for the next three weeks because of the heavy casualties, including more than 13,000 on the Union side and more than 11,000 on the Confederate side. -
Admiral David Farragut passes Confederate forts
A Union fleet of gunships under Admiral David Farragut passes Confederate forts guarding the mouth of the Mississippi River. On April 25, the fleet arrived at New Orleans where they demanded the surrender of the city. Within two days the forts fall into Union hands and the mouth of the great river is under Union control. -
First Battle of Winchester, Virginia
First Battle of Winchester, Virginia. After two weeks of maneuvering and battles at Cross Keys and Front Royal, General "Stonewall" Jackson attacks Union forces at Winchester and successfully drives them from the city. The victory is the culmination of his 1862 Valley Campaign. -
The Battle of Second Bull Run
At Second Manassas, Gen. Robert E. Lee’s Confederate army defeated Union forces under Maj. Gen. John Pope, hastening the Federals’ retreat back toward their defenses in Washington and allowing Lee to lead his army across the Potomac River into the North. -
The Battle of Antietam
The Battle of Antietam (or Sharpsburg), Maryland, the bloodiest single day of the Civil War. The result of the battle ends General Lee's first invasion of the North. Following the Union victory, President Lincoln will introduce the Emancipation Proclamation, an executive order that freed every slave in the Confederate States. -
The Battle of Fredericksburg
The Battle of Fredericksburg on December 13, 1862, involved nearly 200,000 combatants, the largest concentration of troops in any Civil War battle. Ambrose Burnside, the newly appointed commander of the Army of the Potomac, had ordered his more than 120,000 troops to cross the Rappahannock River, where they made a two-pronged attack on the right and left flanks of Robert E. Lee’s 80,000-strong Army of Northern Virginia at Fredericksburg. -
The Battle of Stones River
The Battle of Stones River, also known as the Second Battle of Murfreesboro, was a battle fought from December 31, 1862, to January 2, 1863, in Middle Tennessee, as the culmination of the Stones River Campaign in the Western Theater of the American Civil War. -
Emancipation Proclamation
President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, as the nation approached its third year of bloody civil war. The proclamation declared "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free. -
Conscription
the U.S. Congress passes a conscription act that produces the first wartime draft of U.S. citizens in American history. The act called for registration of all males between the ages of 20 and 45, including aliens with the intention of becoming citizens, by April 1. -
The Battle of Chancellorsville
The Battle of Chancellorsville (April 30-May 6, 1863) was a huge victory for the Confederacy and General Robert E. Lee during the Civil War, though it is also famous for being the battle in which Confederate General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson was mortally wounded. -
Siege of Vicksburg
The Siege of Vicksburg (May 18, 1863-July 4, 1863) was a decisive Union victory during the American Civil War (1861-65) that divided the confederacy and cemented the reputation of Union General Ulysses S. Grant (1822-85). Union forces waged a campaign to take the Confederate stronghold of Vicksburg, Mississippi, which lay on the east bank of the Mississippi River, halfway between Memphis to the north and New Orleans to the south. -
The Battle of Brandy Station
The Battle of Brandy Station, also called the Battle of Fleetwood Hill, was the largest predominantly cavalry engagement of the American Civil War, as well as the largest ever to take place on American soil. -
Second Battle of Winchester
The Second Battle of Winchester was fought between June 13 and June 15, 1863 in Frederick County and Winchester, Virginia as part of the Gettysburg Campaign during the American Civil War. -
The Gettysburg Campaign
The Gettysburg campaign was a military invasion of Pennsylvania by the main Confederate army under General Robert E. Lee in summer 1863. The Union won a decisive victory at Gettysburg, July 1–3, with heavy casualties on both sides. Lee managed to escape back to Virginia with most of his army. -
The Battle of Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg, fought from July 1 to July 3, 1863, is considered the most important engagement of the American Civil War. After a great victory over Union forces at Chancellorsville, General Robert E. Lee marched his Army of Northern Virginia into Pennsylvania in late June 1863. On July 1, the advancing Confederates clashed with the Union’s Army of the Potomac, commanded by General George G. Meade, at the crossroads town of Gettysburg. -
54th Massachusetts Colored Infantry
Union naval and land forces attack Confederate defenses near Charleston, South Carolina. Among the Union troops is the 54th Massachusetts Colored Infantry, the first African American regiment of volunteers to see combat. -
Gettysburg Address
The Gettysburg Address is a speech that U.S. President Abraham Lincoln delivered during the American Civil War at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on the afternoon of November 19, 1863, four and a half months after the Union armies defeated those of the Confederacy at the Battle of Gettysburg. It is one of the best-known speeches in American history. -
First Successful Submarine Attack of the Civil War
On February 17, 1864, Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley attacked and sank USS Housatonic in Charleston Harbor, killing five Union sailors. Hunley became the first submarine to sink an enemy warship, but Hunley and its eight crew members didn't make it back from their historic mission. -
Andersonville Prison
Andersonville held more prisoners at any given time than any of the other Confederate military prisons. It was built in early 1864 after Confederate officials decided to move Federal prisoners in and around Richmond to a place of greater security and more abundant food. During the 14 months it existed, more than 45,000 Union soldiers were confined here. Of these, almost 13,000 died from disease, poor sanitation, malnutrition, overcrowding, or exposure to the elements. -
Ulysses S. Grant is appointed lieutenant general
On March 10, 1864, President Abraham Lincoln signs a brief document officially promoting then-Major General Ulysses S. Grant to the rank of lieutenant general of the U.S. Army, tasking the future president with the job of leading all Union troops against the Confederate Army. -
Battle of Spotsylvania Court House
In May 1864, Confederate forces clashed with the advancing Union Army in the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, which lasted for the better part of two weeks and included the bloodiest fighting of the Civil War. After an indecisive battle in the dense Virginia woods known as the Wilderness ended on May 7, Union General Grant and the Army of the Potomac marched southward, meeting Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia again at the crossroads town of Spotsylvania Court House the next day. -
Battle of Monocacy
To draw Union troops away from the siege of Petersburg and Richmond, a Confederate force under Jubal Early moved north into Maryland. Early had made progress until he reached Frederick, Maryland, where a force of 6,000 Federal troops under General Wallace, was arrayed to delay his advance. Though the battle was a Union defeat, it was also touted as "the battle that saved Washington" for it succeeded in holding back Early's march until troops could be sent to the capital's defense. -
Battle of the Crater at Petersburg
The Battle of the Crater was a battle of the American Civil War, part of the siege of Petersburg. It took place on Saturday, July 30, 1864, between the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, commanded by General Robert E. Lee, and the Union Army of the Potomac, commanded by Major General George G. Meade. -
Battle of Mobile Bay
A Union fleet under Admiral David Farragut steamed into Mobile Bay outside the city of Mobile, Alabama, defended by two strong forts and a small southern flotilla, including the formidable ironclad CSS Tennessee. Farragut's ships defeated the Confederate ships and bypassed the forts, capturing the important southern port. -
Abraham Lincoln is reelected president of the United States
On November 8, 1864, Northern voters overwhelmingly endorse the leadership and policies of President Abraham Lincoln when they elect him to a second term. With his re-election, any hope for a negotiated settlement with the Confederacy vanished. -
General Sherman's Army of Georgia begins the "March to the Sea"
Union General William T. Sherman led some 60,000 soldiers on a 285-mile march from Atlanta to Savannah, Georgia. The purpose of Sherman's March to the Sea was to frighten Georgia's civilian population into abandoning the Confederate cause -
Battle of Franklin
After a month of raiding Sherman's supply lines and attacking Union outposts, John Bell Hood's army confronts Union troops from General John Schofield's command, who they had encountered the day before near Spring Hill, Tennessee. A massive frontal assault on the well entrenched Federal line meets with disaster. Despite some taking of outside works and defenses, the toll for Hood's forces is too heavy including the loss of six of his generals. Union troops retreat to Nashville. -
Battle of Appomattox Court House and Surrender, Appomattox Court House
After an early morning attempt to break through Union forces blocking the route west to Danville, Virginia, Lee seeks an audience with General Grant to discuss terms. That afternoon in the parlor of Wilmer McLean, Lee signs the document of surrender. On April 12, the Army of Northern Virginia formally surrenders and is disbanded. -
President Abraham Lincoln is assassinated by actor John Wilkes Booth
On the evening of April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth, a famous actor and Confederate sympathizer, assassinated President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. The attack came only five days after Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered his massive army at Appomattox Court House, Virginia