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Abraham Lincoln elected president
Lincoln took office following the 1860 presidential election, in which he won a plurality of the popular vote in a four-candidate field. Almost all of Lincoln's votes came from the Northern United States, as the Republicans held little appeal to voters in the Southern United States. -
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South Carolina votes to secede from the United States
Charleston Mercury on November 3, 1860. South Carolina became the first state to secede from the federal Union on December 20, 1860. The victory of Abraham Lincoln in the 1860 presidential election triggered cries for disunion across the slave holding South. -
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Jefferson Davis elected president of the Confederacy
Jefferson Davis, who had been elected president of the Provisional Government of the Confederacy on February 9, 1861 as a compromise between moderates and radicals was confirmed by the voters for a full six-year term. -
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Confederate forces fire on Fort Sumter
Confederate troops fired on Fort Sumter in South Carolina's Charleston Harbor. -
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First Battle of Bull Run is fought
The first land battle of the Civil War was fought on July 21, 1861, just 30 miles from Washington—close enough for U.S. senators to witness the battle in person. -
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Battle of Shiloh
The Battle of Shiloh, also known as the Battle of Pittsburgh Landing, was a major battle in the American Civil War fought. The fighting took place in southwestern Tennessee, which was part of the war's Western Theater. -
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Battle of Antietam
The Battle of Antietam pitted Union General George McClellan's Army of the Potomac against General Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia. -
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Battle of Fredericksburg
With nearly 200,000 combatants—the greatest number of any Civil War engagement—Fredericksburg was one of the largest and deadliest battles of the Civil War. It featured the first opposed river crossing in American military history as well as the Civil War's first instance of urban combat. -
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Emancipation Proclamation is announced
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." -
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Battle of Chancellorsville
The Battle of Chancellorsville, April 30 – May 6, 1863, was a major battle of the American Civil War, and the principal engagement of the Chancellorsville campaign. -
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Battle of Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg was a three-day battle in the American Civil War fought between Union and Confederate forces -
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Lincoln gives his Gettysburg Address
Lincoln delivered one of the most famous speeches in United States history at the dedication of the Gettysburg National Cemetery -
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Abraham Lincoln defeats George McClellan to win re-election
Near the end of the American Civil War, incumbent President Abraham Lincoln of the National Union Party easily defeated the Democratic nominee, former General George B. McClellan, by a wide margin of 212–21 in the electoral college, with 55% of the popular vote. -
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Lincoln gives his second inaugural address
As the Civil War entered its final weeks, President Abraham Lincoln delivered his second inaugural address from the East Portico of the U.S. Capitol. -
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President Lincoln assassinated
President Lincoln was assassinated in the theater in D.C. Was shot in the head -
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John Wilkes Booth is killed
John Wilkes Booth was an American stage actor who assassinated United States President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865.