Major Events of the American Civil War
Reflected in the Tenniel Cartoons:
A Chronology
November 6, 1860
Republican Abraham Lincoln wins the Presidential election by a plurality, defeating rival candidates Stephen Douglas (Democratic Party), John C. Breckinridge (National Democrats), and John Bell (Constitutional Union Party). In the ensuing weeks, the cotton states of the Deep South call special conventions to debate secession from the Union. [601201]
December 20, 1860
Meeting at a special state convention in Columbia, delegates unanimously pass an ordinance "dissolving the union between South Carolina" and the rest of the United States. During the weeks that follow, six other slave states--Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas--also vote to secede. [610119]
February 2, 1861
Delegates from the seceding states meet in Montgomery, Alabama, to form a government, to be called the Confederate States of America. On February 9, they select Jefferson Davis of Mississippi as their President. [610518]
March 4, 1861
Abraham Lincoln is inaugurated as the sixteenth President of the United States. [610511]
April 12, 1861
Confederate forces under the command of General P. T. Beauregard open fire on Federal-occupied Fort Sumter, which guards the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina. This attack on the United States flag is generally regarded as the start of the Civil War. Fort Sumter surrenders the following day.
April 15, 1861
Lincoln declares that a state of insurrection exists, and calls for loyal states to provide 75,000 militia troops to defend the national government.
April 17, 1861
Virginia votes to secede from the Union. In consequence, Robert E. Lee resigns his commission in the U.S. Army and is appointed a general in command of Virginia troops.
April 19, 1861
Lincoln declares a naval blockade of the Confederate coastline and ports. A number of months will pass before the blockade becomes truly effective.
May 14, 1861
Great Britain declares its neutrality, while recognizing the belligerent rights of both the United States and the Confederate States. Many in the North are outraged, regarding this move as an implicit acceptance of Southern independence. [610706]
May 20, 1861
The Confederate government moves from Montgomery to Richmond, the capital of Virginia. For the next four years, the capture of Richmond will be a major Union military objective.
June 21, 1861
Union forces under General Irvin McDowell attack the Confederate army near Manassas, Virginia. At first successful, the Federal assault is halted by Virginia troops under the command of Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson. A Confederate counterattack turns the tide, and the ensuing Federal retreat quickly turns into a rout as the defeated Northern army flees in panic back towards Washington, D.C. This (First) Battle of Bull Run (also known as First Manassas), the earliest significant clash of the War, forces both sides to consider how protracted and costly the conflict may become. [610817]
October 12, 1861
James Mason and John Slidell, who have been appointed Confederate commissioners to Britain and France, depart from Charleston, South Carolina, aboard a blockade runner bound for Cuba.
November 8, 1861
The U.S. warship San Jacinto stops the British mail steamer Trent on the high seas, and arrests Mason and Slidell. This violation of neutrality is angrily denounced by the British. Before its eventual, peaceful, conclusion, the so-called "Trent Affair" brings the United States and Great Britain to the brink of war. [611207], [611214], [611228], [620111], [620118]
December 20, 1861
The Union navy scuttles a number of old ships loaded with ballast stones to obstruct the entrance channels to Charleston harbor. Only partially successful in closing the port to blockade runners, the sinking of the "Stone Fleet" is condemned as a wartime atrocity by many in the South and in Europe. [620201]
December 26, 1861
Lincoln and his cabinet declare that the seizure of Mason and Slidell was unauthorized, and contrary to international law. The release of the two Confederate diplomats helps to resolve the "Trent Affair" crisis with Great Britain. [620111], [620118]
April 6-7, 1862
Union forces under Grant narrowly defeat Confederates led by Albert Sidney Johnston and P. G. T. Beauregard in the bloody two-day battle of Shiloh (Pittsburg Landing). [620524]
April 16, 1862
The first American military draft: Jefferson Davis authorizes the conscription of white males for three-year terms of service in the Confederate armies.
April 25, 1862
New Orleans, the South's chief port and largest city, falls to a Union naval force under the command of David G. (later Admiral) Farragut. [620524]
June 25-July 1, 1862
In the Seven Days Battles fought on the outskirts of Richmond, Confederate troops led by Joseph E. Johnston and Robert E. Lee turn back a major Federal attempt to capture the Southern capital, forcing Union commander George B. McClellan to abandon his protracted Peninsular Campaign.
July 17, 1862
The U.S. Congress passes the Militia Act, authorizing the recruitment of blacks as soldiers in the Union army. [620809]
September 17, 1862
McClellan defeats Lee at the Battle of Antietam (Sharpsburg), turning back the first major Southern invasion of the North.
September 22, 1862
Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation. [621018]
January 1, 1863
The Emancipation Proclamation takes effect, declaring "forever free" all slaves in those areas in rebellion against the United States. Freed black men are eligible to enlist in the Union army. [630124]
March 3, 1863
Lincoln signs the Conscription Act, the first use of a military draft by the United States. It does not apply to African American men.
April 7, 1863
An assault on Charleston by Union Navy ironclads is repulsed by Confederate defenders. [630509]
July 1-3, 1863
Lee's second attempt to invade the North is halted at the Battle of Gettysburg, in Pennsylvania.
July 13-14, 1863
Thousands riot in the streets of New York in protest against the beginning of the Federal military draft. [630808]
September, 1863
The Russian navy's Atlantic fleet, strategically positioning itself for a possible outbreak of war against Great Britain, arrives in New York harbor for an ostensible courtesy visit which lasts for several months. [631024]
May 5-7, 1864
Union troops under Grant grapple with Lee's Army of Northern Virginia in the Battle of the Wilderness. [640827], [640903]
May 8-12, 1864
June 3, 1864
Lee's Army of Northern Virginia turns back a costly frontal assault by Grant's troops at Cold Harbor, on the outskirts of Richmond. [640827], [640903]
June 18, 1864
After enveloping Richmond on three sides, Grant's forces begin a lengthy siege of Petersburg. [640827], [640903]
June 19, 1864
The Confederate cruiser Alabama, after destroying dozens of Yankee merchant ships, is sunk by the U. S. S. Kearsarge off the coast of Cherbourg, France. [631114]
September 2, 1864
General William T. Sherman's victorious troops enter Atlanta.
October 19, 1864
Confederate raiders cross the Canadian border to attack the town of St. Albans in Vermont. [650218]
November 8, 1864
Backed by a strong soldier vote, President Lincoln is re-elected to a second term, defeating his Democratic challenger, the former General George McClellan. [641203]
March 4, 1865
Lincoln is inaugurated for a second term as President.
March 18, 1865
The Confederate Congress authorizes the recruitment of slaves as soldiers, offering them their freedom in exchange for military service. [641119]
April 2, 1865
Union forces break through the defensive lines around Petersburg, forcing the Confederate army and government to evacuate Richmond. [650429]
April 9, 1865
Robert E. Lee surrenders the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House. [650429]
April 14, 1865
President Lincoln is shot by Southern sympathizer John Wilkes Booth while attending a play at Ford's Theatre in Washington. The mortally wounded Lincoln dies the following morning. [650506]
Battles and Leaders of the Civil War (New York: The Century Co., 1887, 1888)
