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American Civil War
Timespan of the American Civil War from 1861 to 1865. -
Abraham Lincoln is inaugurated as President.
Lincoln's election finally gave the South the excuse it needed to secede from the Union. -
Confederate attack on Fort Sumter
The first attack on an Union military installation. However, no casualties were recorded during the battle itself. -
Virginia becomes the 2nd state to secede from the Union.
Approx. five months after SC secedes from the Union, VA secedes; closely followed by AR, NC, and TN. -
First Battle of Bull Run
First official battle of the Civil War. Confederacy defeated the Union. Union defeat showed that the war would not be as short as they originally thought. 4,878 total casualties. -
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McClellan's Peninsula Campaign
Gen. George McClellan was given orders by President Lincoln to attack the Confederate capitol of Richmond. McClellan ultimately failed. It is also said that if McClellan succeeded in capturing Richmond, then the war would have ended about three years earlier and slavery could still exist. -
Battle of Shiloh
Union advance into the Tennesee River Valley. Union victory. 23,746 estimated casualties. -
Union Forces Capture New Orleans
After about a week of fighting, Union forces capture the Confederate port of New Orleans. New Orleans was the only major sea port that the Confederacy had in its possession. -
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Seven Days' Battle
Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's counterattack on the Union advance into the South. Confederate victory despite the almost 10,000 more casualties than those inflicted upon the Union forces. -
Second Battle of Bull Run
Engagement between Gen. Robert E. Lee (CSA) and Gen. John Pope (USA). Humiliating defeat for the Union forces. Approx. 22,177 total casualties during the battle (13824 for the Union forces). -
Battle of Antietam
Engagement between Union and Confederate forces at Antietam Creek, Maryland. Lincoln renewed Gen. McClellan's position for this battle. Key to Union victory: two of McClellan's men found Robert E. Lee's battle plans in a cigar packet. Total of 22,717 casualties. -
Battle of Fredericksburg
Largest and deadliest single battle of the Civil War. During the battle, urban warfare was used for the first time in the Civil War. Wave after wave of union reinforcements were marched to the city, but Confederate victory was inevitable. 17,929 total casualties. -
Emancipation Proclamation
Proclamation put forth by Abraham Lincoln that stated that all slaves in those states "still in rebellion" were not proclaimed to be free, except for those in the border states. -
Battle of Chancellorsville
Robert E. Lee (CSA) defeats Union Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker in Virginia. One of the major Confederate leaders, "Stonewall" Jackson is killed during the battle. -
Fall of Vicksburg
Union forces under Ulysses S. Grant capture the strategic Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi River. Union forces laid siege to the city until they finally captured the city and with it, the entire Mississippi River. -
Battle of Gettysburg
Lee's second failure to invade the north. Invasion repulsed by the Union army's artillery fire. 51,112 total casualties. -
Lincoln Reelected as President
Abraham and his running mate, Andrew Johnson, defeat former Union Gen. George McClellan for the presidency. -
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Sherman's "March to the Sea"
Union General William Tecumseh Sherman's devasting advance through the Deep South that left nothing but destruction in its wake. -
Thirteenth Amendment Ratified
Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is passed by the House of Representatives. Slavery is now officially abolished in the United States. -
Lee Surrenders
Confederate General Robert E. Lee and Union General Ulysses S. Grant meet at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia to discuss terms of surrender. The surrender officially ends the Civil War. -
Abraham Lincoln Assassinated
President Lincoln is assassinated in Washington DC by John Wilkes Booth, a known Confederate supporter.
