A Brief American Civil War Timeline

8/6/2019 A Brief American Civil War Timeline

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The Center for the Study of the American Civil War | Director, Kraig W. Blair

American Civil War Timeline, 1861-1865

The Center for the Study of the American Civil War

Compiled by Kraig W. McNutt

http://bit.ly/fpRkGt

Prior to 1860

1787 The United States Constitution is ratified; slaves are counted as three-fifths of a person andenjoy no rights of citizenship.

1793 Eli Whitney, a northerner, invents the cotton gin.

1803 Louisiana Purchase roughly doubles the size of the United States.

1831 William Lloyd Garrison begins publication of radical abolitionist newspaper, The Liberator.1831 55 whites killed in Virginia slave revolt led by Nat Turner.

1837 Pro-slavery mod kills abolitionist editor Elijah P. Lovejoy in Alton, Illinois.

1846-8 War with Mexico adds territory to the United States.

1852 Harriet Beecher Stowes inter-national best-seller,Uncle Toms Cabin, exposes the evils ofslavery.

1854-5 Anti-slavery northerners found the Republican Party.

1854 The Kansas-Nebraska Act allows incoming settlers to decide for themselves whether to permitslavery.

1857 The Supreme Court decides that a slave, Dred Scott, has no rights a white man is bound torespect.

1858 Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas debate issues in the campaign for Illinois United StatesSenate seat.
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1859 John Brown is executed for treason against the state of Virginia after his unsuccessful attemptto incite a slave uprising atHarpers Ferry.

1860

November 1860

November 6 Abraham Lincoln is elected the 16th President of the United States.

December 1860

December 20 South Carolina votes to secede from the Union, the first southern State to do so.

December 26 U.S. Major Robert Anderson transfers his small garrison from unprotected Ft. Moultrie,in Charleston harbor, to the impregnable Ft. Sumter.

January 1861

January 9 The unarmed vessel,Star of the West, arrives to reinforce the Federal garrison of soldiersat Ft. Sumter in Charleston harbor and is fired upon by southerners. The reinforcements are neverdelivered.

January 9 Mississippi becomes the second State to secede from the Union.

January 11 Alabama becomes the third State to secede.

January 19 Georgia secedes from the Union, becoming the fourth southern State to do so.

January 26 Louisiana becomes the fifth southern State to formally secede.

January 29 Kansas is admitted to the Union as a free state.

February 1861
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February 1 Texas secedes from the Union, the sixth State to do so.

February 4 Southern States that have seceded (except Texas) meet in Montgomery, Alabama, todiscuss forming a separate nation.

February 8 Provisional Constitution of the Confederate States is adopted by seceding States.

February 18 Jefferson Davis is inaugurated as the Provisional President of the Confederate States ofAmerica. The song Dixie becomes the unofficial anthem of the Confederacy as it is played at hisinauguration ceremony.

March 1861

March 4 Abraham Lincoln is inaugurated.

March 6 The new Confederate Congress authorizes the use of 100,000 volunteer soldiers for twelvemonths.

March 29 President Lincoln, after seeking counsel, decides to reinforce Ft. Sumter and notabandon it to the South.

April 1861

April 12/13 The American Civil War officially begins when rebels in Charlestonfire on the U.S. FortSumter in the harbor. Fire is returned from the Federals. There are no war-casualties. The fort issurrendered on the 13th.

April 15 President Abraham Lincoln calls for 75,000 volunteers to serve a 90-day term in the U.S.Army to quell the rebellion. In December 1860 there were barely 16,000 men in the Army, mostpositioned in the Western region of the United States.

April 17 the upper north part of Virginia secedes from the Union seizing the shipyard at Norfolk andthe armory at Harpers Ferry.

April 18 Robert E. Lee rejects offer to head up the U.S. Army at request of Abraham Lincoln.

April 19 Union soldiers of the 6th Massachusetts Infantry are attacked on the streets of Baltimore,Maryland. Four soldiers and twelve civilians are killed in the violence. Maryland would officially remaina border State throughout the war, though a slave-holding State.

April 19 Lincolns orders blockade of Confederate States.

May 1861

May 3 President calls for 42,000 three-year enlistment volunteers and 18,000 sailors. Also on thisday. General Winfield Scott formally proposes a naval blockade strategy meant to squeeze the Southback into submission. Called The Anaconda Plan, it is initially ridiculed.

May 6 Arkansas secedes from the Union.

May 8 President Jefferson Davis calls for 400,000 volunteers to serve in the rebellion for three yearsor till end of the war. The response by Southerners was overwhelming.

May 9 riots break out in St. Louis, Missouri, as U.S. General Nathaniel Lyon marches captured militiathrough the streets. Twenty-eight soldiers and two civilians are killed.
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May 13 England, under Queen Victoria, formally declares a neutral status in the conflict between theNorthern and Southern States.

May 20 North Carolina secedes and the Provisional Congress of the Confederacy votes to move thecapitol from Montgomery, Alabama, to Richmond, Virginia.

May 24th New York Zouave soldier Elmer Ellsworth is killed at a hotel in Alexandria, Virginia, whenhe removes a secessionist flag.

June 1861

June 8 Tennessee becomes the final southern State to secede from the Union.

June 10 Dorothea Lynde Dix is appointed Superintendent of Women Nurses for the Union. Shebecomes known as Dragon Dix.

June 11 Delegates of pro-Union sentiments meet in Wheeling, Virginia, to discuss the fate of thewestern portion of Virginia. They would eventually break off and form West Virginia, a pro-UnionState.

June 13 President Lincoln signs legislation forming the United States Sanitary Commission, a civilianorganization whose aim is to provide care for the sick & wounded in the war.

July 1861

July 13 Robert S. Garnett [C.S.A.] becomes the first general killed in the Civil War at Corricks Fordin western Virginia.

July 21 The first major battle of the Civil War takes place, called Bull Run I, in Manassas, Virginia.McDowells 35,000 Federals are defeated by 30,000 Confederates under Beauregaard and Johnston. Itis also on this day when Confederate General Thomas J. Jackson is heralded with the name ofStonewall by Barnard Bee. In the Union retreat, Federal soldiers get tangled up with local civilianscausing a rout of the Union retreat. The South now has a strong presence close to Washington, D.C.,and the entire nation is awakened to the reality that the war may last a long time and result in

horrible casualty numbers.

July 22 General George B. McClellan is summoned to Washington to assume command of the UnionArmy of the Potomac.

July 22/23 President Lincoln signs legislation authorizing the enlistment of one million soldiers forthree-year terms.

July 25 General John C. Fremont takes command of Union forces in Missouri.

August 1861

August 3 the U.S. Congress approves legislation to build three iron-clad naval vessels.

August 5 Congress approves the first income tax in U.S. history, to pay for the war.

August 6 Congress passes the First Confiscation Actwhich states that slaves employed by theConfederacy are no longer slaves.

August 10 Battle of Wilsons Creek in Missouri; Union General Nathaniel Lyons is killed.

September 1861
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September 1 first school for contraband (escaped slaves) is established in the South by Mary Chase,in Alexandria, Virginia.

October 1861

October 21 Union defeat at Balls Bluff, Virginia.

November 1861

November 1 General George B. McClellan replaces General Winfield Scott as General-in-Chief of theentire U.S. Army.

November 7 Navy Captain Samuel Du Pont leads U.S. forces to victory at Port Royal, South Carolina.Area becomes major stage for experimental education and work for over 10,000 contraband andfreedman.

November 28 Confederate government admits Missouri as the twelfth Confederate State eventhough Missouri will remain in the Union.

December 1861

December 10 Confederate Congress claims Kentucky as the thirteenth Confederate State.

January 1862

January 15 Edwin M. Stanton is confirmed by Senate as Secretary of War.

January 27- Discontented with McClellans slow pace to prosecute the war, Lincoln issues General WarOrder #1:

January 30 U.S.S. Monitoris launched in Long Island, New York.

February 1862

February 6 Under combined land/river forces led by Ulysses S. Grant and Andrew H. Foote, Federalforces capture Confederate-controlled Fort Henry on the Tennessee River.
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February 16 a second major blow is delivered in the Western theater in the same month whenGeneral Grant demands the unconditional surrender of theConfederate forces at Fort Donelson on theCumberland River in Tennessee. C.S.A. General Simon B. Buckner surrenders the fort to Grant.

February 22 Jefferson Davis, from Kentucky, is formally inaugurated as President of the Confederate

States of America, having served as provisional President.

February 25 Nashville, Tennessee, becomes the first southern State capitalto be captured by theUnion, without a shot even being fired. It will remain in Federal control the remainder of the war. Alsoon this day, Lincoln signs the Legal Tender Act creating the first national currency.

March 1862

March 7/8 Battle of Pea Ridge (Arkansas), also known as Elkhorn Tavern, is a Union victory andhelps keep Missouri a Union State.

March 8 Lincoln demotes McClellan to commander of just Army of the Potomac due to hiscautiousness of prosecuting the Union war effort.

March 8/9 Confederate iron-clad C.S.S. Virginia (formerly U.S.S. Merrimack)sinks two wooden

Federal ships and runs others aground near Hampton Roads, Virginia. March 9th theC.S.S. Virginia duels with the U.S.S. Monitorto a draw. Dueling iron-clads will change naval historyforever.

March 13 U.S. article of war forbids Union army officers from returning fugitive slaves to theirmasters.

March 14 - Federals capture New Madrid, Missouri, and New Berne, North Carolina.Reports, letters 1 |

March 23 Stonewall Jackson suffers a tactical defeat at the first battle of Kernstown in openingShenandoah Valley Campaign.

April 1862

April 5 First major action in Peninsula Campaign begins with seige of Yorktown, under George B.McClellan.

April 6/7 the most devastating clash between the North and South (to date) takes places atPittsburg Landing on the Tennessee River that would be called the battle of Shiloh. General AlbertSidney Johnstons Confederate forces launch a surprise attack against Union General Ulysses S. Grantand nearly destroys the Union Army on day one. Grant gets reinforcements on day two and controlsthe field by days end, scattering the Confederate troops back toward Corinth, Mississippi. Grant andWilliam T. Sherman are lauded for their leadership at Shiloh. P.G.T. Beauregaards (C.S.A.) stock risesfor the Southern military command. Casualties are estimated at an amazing 24,000 combined.See the photo gallery of the modern-day battle of Shiloh site.Reports, letters, and newspaper articles 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |

April 8 Island No. 10 on the Mississippi River finally falls to Union General John Pope.

April 11 Fort Pulaski, on the Savannah River, falls to the Union after severe bombardment.

April 16 Confederate Congress, following numerous Western Theater losses in the past threemonths, issues the first-ever conscription act in American military history. This would be just the firstof three Confederate conscription acts.
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April 21 the Confederate Congress passes the Partisan Ranger Act thereby legitimizing many guerillaorganizations fighting throughout the Confederacy. Partisan leaders like John Singleton Mosby andWilliam Quantrill will soon become Confederate officers.

April 24 Navy Captain David Farragut (USA) launches his siege against New Orleans, eventually

capturing the largest Confederate city by May 1st.

May 1862

May 3 Confederate forces evacuate Yorktown after a one-month seige by McClellan-led Union forces.Activity around Virginia Peninsula increases after battle of Williamsburg on May 5th.

May 8 Stonewall Jackson wins his first Shenandoah Valley Campaign victory at the battle ofMcDowell, Virginia. Succeeding Shenandoah victories will see Jacksons army move rapidly toward thePotomac River. Perhaps the Confederacys finest field commander, Jackson would be dead nearly oneyear later at Guiney Station.

May 13 a young slave from Charleston, Robert Smalls, escapes aboard a Confederate steamer, thePlanter, with family members and several friends in the early morning hours. The boat is turnedover to the Union blockading fleet under Admiral Samuel Du Pont, and Smalls becomes a Union naval

hero and black leader.

May 20 U.S. Congress passes the Homestead Act of 1862, offering 160 acres of land to any malesettler who will migrate and become a homesteader in the fertile ground of the Western United States.Some 25,000 settlers will eventually take advantage of this opportunity.

May 29/30 C.S.A. General P.G.T. Beauregaard evacuates Corinth, Mississippi a major Confederaterailroad junction as Northern forces approach.

May 31 Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston is wounded at the battle of Fair Oaks (Seven Pines)on the Virginia Peninsula and General Robert E. Lee assumes command of what will become the Armyof Northern Virginia.

June 1862

June 6 Memphis, Tennessee, a rebel stronghold, falls to the Union after Federal rams sinkConfederate vessels.

June 8/9 C.S.A. General Stonewall Jacksons Shenandoah Valley Campaign comes to a close withvictories at Cross Keys and Port Republic. This campaign kept Union forces distracted and engaged forweeks thus preventing them from providing reinforcements for McClellan in the Peninsula Campaign.

June 12-16 James Ewell Brown (Jeb) Stuart leads some 1,200 Confederate cavalry around theVirginia Peninsula winning skirmishes, capturing equipment and soldiers, destroying enemy suppliesand gathering a name for himself.

June 17 Braxton Bragg replaces Beauregaard as commander of the Western Theater for theConfederacy.

June 19 President Abraham Lincoln signs legislation prohibiting slavery in the territories of theUnited States.

June 25 attempting to counter pro-slavery and sympathetic organizations like Knights of the GoldenCircle in the South, the first Union League is established in Pekin, Illinois, designed to promote Unionmorale and support the Northern war effort.
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8/18


June 25-July 1 the Seven Days Campaign changes the face of the war in the Eastern Theater asLees Army of Northern Virginia relieves Richmond and Lee takes the initiative to drive his army(eventually) into Northern territory.

July 1862

July 1 battle of Malvern Hill ends the Seven Days Campaign in a torrential display of artillery fromboth sides. McClellans Federal troops fail to take Richmond, but Lees Confederates also fail to destroyMcClellans army.

July 2 Lincoln calls for 300,000 more volunteers for the Union war machine.

July 13 Lincoln tells Secretary of State William Seward he will issue an Emancipation Proclamationsoon. The President informs his cabinet on the 22nd.

July 17 U.S. Congress passes the Second Confiscation Act.

July 22 both sides agree to an exchange of cartel regarding the care of prisoners. Under thisagreement, most prisoners will be returned to their respective side with some speed. This agreementwill last until the spring of 1863.

July 23 C.S.A. General Braxton Bragg begins his unsuccessful invasion of Kentucky.

August 1862

August 20 At the bidding of Major General Hunter, Robert Smalls (escaped slave from May 13,1862) and missionary Mansfield French, meet with President Lincoln and Secretary of War Stanton,seeking authorization to recruit five thousand black troops. Permission was granted five days later.

August 21 in response to rumors that the Union is employing blacks in service to the Union wareffort, the Confederate military command issues an order that basically says that captured black Unionsoldiers shall be subject to the death penalty.

August 24 Confederate raider C.S.S.Alabama, captained by Raphael Semmes, is commissioned for

service.

August 25 Lincoln agrees to allow blacks to serve in the Union army, authorizing South Carolinamilitary governor, General Rufus Saxton, to form five black regiments from the Sea Islands area. Theregiments will be led by white officers.

August 28-30 Confederates win the battle of Second Manassas (Bull Run II) led by Robert E. Lee.After the battle, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton calls for assistance from volunteer nurses. Males andfemales respond Clara Barton performs sterlingly.

September 1862

September 16-18 Lees Army of Northern Virginia clash with McClellans Union forces at

Sharpsburg, Maryland, in what will become known as Antietam. The worst single-day the 17th ofbloodshed took place at Antietam. Lee retreats and fails to win the day, thus failing in drawing in thesupport of England to the Southern cause. McClellan fails to destroy Lees army before it could crossthe Potomac and retire to the Shenandoah Valley.

September 22 Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation declaring that on January 1, 1863:

. . . . all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shallthen be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free . . .


9/18


September 24 Abraham Lincoln suspends writ of habeas corpus. The writis a means by whichdetainees can seek relief from unlawful imprisonment.

September 27 Second Conscription Act goes into effect in the Confederate States, allowing men age35 to 45 to be called up for service.

October 1862

October 8 Braxton Braggs Kentucky Campaign comes to an unsuccessful end with his defeat atPerryville, Kentucky.

October 10-12 C.S.A. General Jeb Stuart completes another successful cavalry ride around theArmy of the Potomac, riding as far north as Chambersburg, PA.

October 11 The Confederate Congress passes a bill exempting from army service anyone owning 20or more slaves.

November 1862

November 7 Lincoln replaces McClellan commander of the Army of the Potomac with Ambrose

Burnside.

November 21 C.S.A. President Jefferson Davis appoints Virginian James A. Seddon as secretary ofwar for the Confederacy. Seddon becomes the fifth war secretary but will serve until April 1865 fromhere on out.

December 1862

December 13 battle of Fredericksburg (Virginia). Site where the Army of the Potomac suffers one ofits worst defeats in the Civil War. Burnsides Federal troops will suffer over 13,000 casualties to theSouths 4,500. This defeat will lead to Burnsides replacement in January by Joseph Hooker.

December 20 Confederate cavalry destroy a Union supply depot at Holly Springs, Mississippi, underEarl Van Dorn. General Nathan Bedford Forrests rebel cavalry played a major role in causing U.S.

Grant to abandon his first siege of Vicksburg. This Southern victory impacts Northern moral justbefore the war extends into a new year, 1863.

December 31-January 2 A major battle takes place over three days in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, tobecome known as the battle of Stones River. The forces engaged include the Confederate Army ofTennessee, led by Braxton Bragg, and the Army of the Cumberland led by William Rosecrans. It is thebloodiest battle to date in terms of casualties weighed against the numbers of men fighting. More thanone-third of the Confederates were killed, wounded or captures; and the Union suffered similarcasualties. The results boosted Northern morale.


10/18


January 1863

January 1 President Abraham Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation.

January 20-22 General Ambrose Burnside gets bogged down in trying to flank the Confederates nearFredericksburg. It becomes a major public relations nightmare known as the Mud March.

January 25 Fighting Joe Hooker replaces Burnside as commander of the Army of the Potomac.

February 1863

February 25 National Currency Act goes into effect for the United States, (later to become known asthe National Banking Act of 1864) making it easier to finance the war with government bonds.

March 1863

March 3 Congress passes the Conscription Act, calling for the enlistment in military service of allable-bodied males between 20 and 45 years of age for terms of three years.

March 6 white mobs in Detroit riot in the black section of the city, killing several blacks.

March 10 Faced with an estimated 125,000 deserters, Lincoln issues o general amnesty for all whowill report back to duty.

April 1863

April 2 Richmond food riot occurs due to shortages of rations for the Confederate army.

April 7 Union iron-clad are repulsed at Fort Sumter showing the strength of the rebel naval defenses.

April 16 Grant turns his attention again towards Vicksburg by sending gunboats and transports tothe region. He will eventually capture the city in a couple months. The city was deemed impregnableby the citizens, hailing it as the Gibraltar of the West.
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April 17 Giersons 600 mile cavalry raid begins in Mississippi in an effort to divert attention awayfrom Grants gunboats near Vicksburg. 1,700 Union cavalry wound wreak havoc in Mississippi in a twoweek period.

April 27 Union General Joe Hooker launches his Chancellorsville Campaign in Northern Virginia in an

attempt to get around Lees left flank.

May 1863

May 1-5th Outnumbered more than 2 to 1, Lee divides his army in a risky, bold move to counterJoseph Hookers strategy at Chancellorsville. In perhaps one of his most brilliant executions of militarystrategy, Lee will win the battle but lose his right arm Stonewall Jackson as the famed generalis mortally wounded by his own men in a night reconnaissance mission. Jackson will die at GuineyStation of pneumonia on May 10.

May 10 Thomas Jonathan Stonewall Jackson dies at Guiney Station from complications related topneumonia. He had been shot by friendly fire on May 5th during the Chancellorsville Campaign. Leewill have to re-organize his entire army because of the loss of Jackson, this just weeks before Leeinvades the North at Gettysburg. The loss of Jackson is devastating to the South. The win atChancellorsville by Lee boosts morale for the rebels however.

May 15 Robert E. Lee outlines a plan to invade the North after his stunning victory atChancellorsville over Hooker. His invasion of the North, in Pennsylvania, is a bold attempt to capturesupplies, to influence Europes support of the South, and to turn the tide of war permanently towardthe rebels.

May 18 Grant has Vicksburg surrounded after several small victories in the past two weeks:including, Jackson (Miss.), Champion Hill, and Big Black River Bridge.

May 19 Ohio congressman Clement Vallandigham, an out-spoken critic of Lincoln and the war, isexiled to the South.

May 22 rebels at Vicksburg initially repel Union assaults by Grant, but the Union commander digs infor an extended siege that will eventually succeed in early July.

Read letter 1 |

June 1863

June 7 -black contraband Union soldiers see action at Millikens Bend on the Mississippi, nearVicksburg. Some black soldiers are captured and reportedly murdered.

June 9 cavalry battle at Brandy Station, Virginia, takes place. Many consider it the greatest cavalry

fight of the entire war. Union forces led by Alfred Pleasanton squared off against rebel leader JebStuart. Brandy Station is considered the opening action of the Gettysburg Campaign.

June 10 Robert E. Lee starts advancing his Army of Northern Virginia toward Pennsylvania.

June 20 West Virginia is admitted into the Union. It is the only State formed directly as a result ofthe Civil War.

June 23 Union commander and General William S. Rosecrans begins his Tullahoma Campaign which

will eventually drive Confederate General Braxton Bragg out of Middle Tennessee.

June 28 Just a few days before action begins at Gettysburg (July 1), Lincoln replaces Joseph Hookerwith General George Meade.

July 1863
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July 1-3rd What starts out as a minor skirmish between A.P. Hills Confederates and dismountedcavalry of Union General John Buford on July 1st, becomes a full-blown disaster for the rebels by July3rd as Lees advance into Pennsylvania is turned back and his entire army will retreat within 72 hours,never to invade the North again. Over 158,00 total combined forces will square off at Gettysburg

resulting in staggering casualties numbering over 51,000. Lees wounded train, heading back acrossthe Potomac, will extend 14 miles. Meade does not pursue the retreating rebel army, thus failing todestroy Lee and end the war. It will continue another 18 months.

July 4 The once-thought impregnable city of Vicksburg, on the Mississippi River, finally surrenders toGrant. This is a major strategic victory shadowed by the Union victory at Gettysburg.

July 13-16th the New York draft riots erupt in the heart of the city as mostly Irish immigrantsprotest the U.S. laws drafting U.S. citizens into the war. At least 100 civilians are killed during thedraft riots.

July 18 The Union assault upon Fort Wagner, on Morris Island near Charleston, is led by ColonelRobert Gould Shaw and his 54th Massachussetts black regiment. Shaw will die with many of histroops in this failed attempt to take the fort. The story will be immortalized in the movie Glory.

August 1863

August 1 Jefferson Davis offers amnesty to all Confederate deserters.

August 19 With 20,000 Federal troops on hand, the draft resumes in New York City after the draftriots just a month earlier.

August 21st-22nd -William Quantrill leads an attack with 450 Confederate guerillas in Lawrence,Kansas. Nearly 200 people are killed.

September 1863

September 2 Ambrose Burnside occupies Knoxville (TN) after Confederate forces evacuate the EastTennessee Union-sympathetic town. Also, Union forces under William S. Rosecrans also move toward

the strategic town of Chattanooga in East Tennessee to gain control of the only railroad linking the

eastern and western theater.

September 8 Braxton Braggs Army of Tennessee evacuate Chattanooga, giving control of it to theUnion forces. Davis considers the loss a significant blow to the Souths ability to win and maintain thewar effort.

September 10 Little Rock, Arkansas, falls to the Union, dealing a major blow to the Trans-MississippiConfederate strength.

September 19-20th the battle of Chickamauga takes place in north Georgia between Union troopscommanded by Rosecrans and Southern troops led by Bragg. A tactical Confederate victory, but Braggloses almost 20,000 men from his army. Union General George H. Thomas will play a crucial role instaving off a total disaster for the Federals. For his efforts he will be called The Rock ofChickamauga. Letter 1 | 2 |

October 1863

October 17 Grants receives command of the Western armies for the Union.

October 23 Grant arrives in Chattanooga to personally take inventory of the Confederate siege ofthe city for the past month.

November 1863
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November 4 Lt. James Longstreet will detach 15,000 men from Braggs Army of Tennessee and headtoward Knoxville to counter the Union siege there. Longstreets action will accomplish nothing butweaken the strength of the Army of Tennessee.

November 19 President Abraham Lincoln visits Gettysburg to dedicate the cemetery and deliver a

few brief comments in a speech known as the Gettysburg Address.

November 23-25th with the arrival of Shermans divisions, in mid November, Union General GeorgeH. Thomas, under Grant, begins an offensive campaign against the Confederate siege and control ofChattanooga. Union forces win victories at Orchards Knob and Lookout Mountain the first two days,then on the 25th, the Federals assault the Confederate position at Missionary Ridge winning the day,thus placing control of Chattanooga back into Union hands again. A crucial Union victory, Chattanoogawill become the supply and logistics hub forShermans1864 Atlanta Campaign, which will indeliblywrite the final chapter in the Civil War.

December 1863

December 16 Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston assumes command of the Army ofTennessee, replacing Braxton Bragg.

January 1864

January 2 Confederate General Patrick R. Cleburne Stonewall of the West proposes freeingslaves and arming them to fight for the South. This sets off a fire-storm among some southern

military leaders and arguably costs Cleburne future promotions. Confederate Congress will eventuallyapprove using blacks to fight for Confederacy in March 1865.

February 1864

February 17, 1864 H.L. Hunley Confederate submarine sinks a Union ship then disappears in theCharleston Bay. The entire crew is lost.
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February 27 first Federal prisoners are delivered to Andersonville Prison in Sumter County, Georgia.Some 43,000 Union soldiers will eventually spend time at the prison. Over 13,000 men died there.Less than 350 escaped.

March 1864

March 2 U.S. Grant named General-in-Chief of Union armies.

March 4 Lincoln gives his second Inaugural Address.

March 9 Ulysses S. Grant receives formal promotion to Lt. General, the highest rank, only previouslyheld by President George Washington.

March 18 William T. Sherman assumes command ofUnion forces in the West.

March 25 Union General Banks begins Red River campaign.

April 1864

April 8 Confederate General Richard Taylor defeats Banks at Sabine Crossroads, Louisiana.

April 12 Confederate cavalryman, General Nathan Bedford Forrest captures Fort Pillow (TN) on theMississippi River. Surrendered U.S. Colored Troops are massacred, sending shock waves throughoutthe country.

May 1864

May 5-7th After two days of inconclusive fighting between Lee and Grant in the Virginia Wilderness,

Grants troops withdraw heading toward Spotsylvania Courthouse, not north, resulting in a morale-boost to Union soldiers. Over 162,000 combined forces were engaged resulting in nearly 30,000casualties.

May 6 Shermans Atlanta Campaign begins with engagement at Rocky Face Ridge (May 7-13) inGeorgia. At the beginning of the Atlanta 1864 Campaign Shermans Federals outnumber the Johnstonrebels nearly 2 to 1 (98,000 to 50,000). By June both armies would receive reinforcements bringingthe Union numbers to 112,000 and the Southern forces to 65,000 total, at least on paper.

Read letter 1 |

Additional fights will take place at Resaca (May 13-15), Adairsville (May 17), New Hope Church (May25-26), Dallas (May 26 June 1), Picketts Mills (May 27), Marietta (June 9 July 3), Kolbs Farm(June 22), Kennesaw Mountain (June 27), Peachtree Creek (July 20), Atlanta (July 22), Ezra Church(July 28), Dalton II (Aug 14-15), Lovejoys Station (Aug 20), and Jonesborough (Aug 31 Sept 1).

In the end, Sherman was the clear victor, grinding Hoods army down but not destroying it. Hoodreplaced Johnston July 17th as leader of the Army of Tennessee. In this extended campaign theFederals would lose some 32,000 men, while the Confederates would lose 35,000 men, a much higherpercentage of engaged fighting men. The capture of Atlanta by Sherman was a major morale booster

for the North and was an important factor in Lincolns re-election in November 1864.

May 11 Lee loses his star cavalryman, Jeb Stuart, in a clash at Yellow Tavern with Union cavalrymanPhil Sheridan.

May 8-21st The Spotsylvania Courthouse fighting part of Grants Overland Campaign was an

extended fight between the Army of the Potomac, under Grant, and Lees Army of Northern Virginia.Grant would withdraw and again try a flanking maneuver around Lee. Casualties at Spotsylvania areextremely high. Grant would lose 37,000 casualties, and Lee, though losing less, some 22,000 men,takes a big loss since he is unable to replace his troops at the pace the Union army can.
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May 16 Union General Benjamin Butler is defeated at Drewrys Bluff, and the Federals are whippedat New Market too.

May 31 A group of radical Republicans meets in Cleveland, Ohio to nominate their own presidentialcandidate, General John Charles Fremont.

June 1864

June 1-3rd some of the most horrific fighting in the war occurs at Cold Harbor (VA). Over 7,000Federals become casualties in about 30 minutes on June 3rd. Over 170,000 combined forces engagedat Cold Harbor; some 108,000 Federals and 62,000 rebels. Union casualties far outweigh Confederatelosses. Grant, in his memoirs, says this (June 3rd) is the only assault he ever regrets ordering.

June 8 Lincoln nominated for President.

June 11/12 battle at Trevillian Station (VA) becomes bloodiest cavalry battle in the Civil War,

between Phil Sheridans Union cavalry and Wade Hamptons Confederate cavalry. Grant is on his wayto Petersburg.

June 14 Gen. Leonidas K. Polk killed at Pine Mountain.

June 14 Naval battle between CSS Alabama and USS Kearsarge near Cherbourg, France; 33casualties.

June 18- the ten-month Union siege of Petersburg (VA) begins. Grant is reluctant is to make all-out

assaults after his losses at Spotsylvania and Cold Harbor; losing 65,000 men in six weeks.Confederate losses are no better in terms of being able to replace his own 35,000 casualties in thesame period. Lee finds it harder and harder to keep his war machine functioning with these mountingmassive losses.

June 19 Union General William T. Sherman attacks Confederate General Joseph E. Johnstons forcesat Kennesaw Mountain (GA), just 30 miles from Atlanta. Sherman accomplishes nothing and resultsboost southern morale.

June 27 Shermans assault on Kennesaw mountain repulsed by rebels. See May 6th note.

July 1864

July 9 Battle of Monocracy, saves Washington.

July 17 Confederate General, and Kentuckian John Bell Hood, replaces Joseph E. Johnston ascommander of the Army of Tennessee.

July 20 Hood is repulsed at Peachtree Creek, GA. See May 6th note.

July 22 Hood fails to turn Shermans army at Atlanta; General James McPherson is killed. See May6th note.

July 24 second battle of Kernstown, VA.

July 28 Hoods attack is repulsed at Ezra Church. See May 6th note.

July 30 Battle of the Crater, Petersburg, VA.

August 1864

August 5 Admiral Farragut wins battle of Mobile Bay (AL).
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August 22 Nathan Bedford Forrest makes his famous raids on Memphis.

August 29 George B. McClellan nominated for President.

September 1864

September 1 battle of Jonesboro concludes; Hood evacuates Atlanta.Letters 1 |

September 2 Union General William T. Sherman occupies Atlanta.

September 19 battle of Winchester III

September 22 battle of Fishers Hill

September 28 John Bell Hood moves to strike at Shermans supply line.

October 1864

October 18 Hood crosses into Alabama.

October 19 Battle of Cedar Creek in the Shenandoah Valley.

October 19 Confederate raiders, based in Canada, steal $200,000 from banks in the Vermont townof St. Albans.

October 30 Sherman sends General John M. Schofield to support Middle Tennessee and to take onHood.

November 1864

November 8 Abraham Lincoln is re-elected with 55% of the popular vote.

November 15 Sherman burns Atlanta and begins March to the Sea.

November 19 Hood begins push toward Middle Tennessee in attempt to beat Schofield to Nashvillewhere Schofield can combine forces with Thomas to strengthen Union control of Nashville.

November 29 Union forces under Schofield escape during the night fromHoodsConfederate forcesat Spring Hill, TN. They entrench at Franklin in the early morning hours.

November 30 Hood makes an open-field two mile assault upon Union forces entrenched

in Franklin around the Carter farm. Hoods Army of Tennessee suffers horrendous casualties, and willbe totally defeated in two weeks by Thomas in Nashville. Among several Confederate killed generals isGeneral Patrick R. Cleburne.Letters 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |Reports 1 | 2 | 3 |

December 1864

December 2 Hoods beleaguered army heads for Nashville after defeat at Franklin.

December 15-16th General George H. Thomas routs Hoods army at Nashville. The Army ofTennessee is defeated.
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December 21 William T. Sherman occupies Savannah but does not burn it. Sherman will soon headto Columbia, which he will burn.

January 1865

January 15 John Bell Hood is replaced as commander of Army of Tennessee.

January 15 battles for Fort Fisher in North Carolina.

January 31 13th Amendment to U.S. Constitution passes abolishing slavery.

February 1865

February 1 Sherman begins Carolinas Campaign.

February 3 February 3 Lincoln meets with Confederate Peace Commission at Hampton Roads,Virginia.

February 6 Robert E. Lee is named commander in chief of all Confederate armies by ConfederateCongress.

February 17 Columbia, South Carolina, falls to Sherman.

February 18 Charleston seized by Union troops.

February 22 Joseph E. Johnston re-called to command forces against Sherman.

March 1865

March 2 battle of Waynesboro.

March 3 Union Congress creates the Freedmens Bureau.

March 4 Lincolns Second Inaugural Address

March 13 Desperate now, Confederate Congress approves using black troops in combat.

March 19-21 Sherman repulses Johnstons attack at Bentonville, North Carolina.

March 24 Sherman occupies Goldsboro, North Carolina, ending Carolinas Campaign.
http://civilwargazette.wordpress.com/2008/01/30/prevalency-of-slavery-in-the-south-in-1860/http://civilwargazette.wordpress.com/2008/03/03/march-3-1865-freedmens-bureau-is-started-by-congress/http://civilwargazette.wordpress.com/2008/03/03/march-3-1865-freedmens-bureau-is-started-by-congress/http://civilwargazette.wordpress.com/2008/03/03/march-3-1865-freedmens-bureau-is-started-by-congress/http://civilwargazette.wordpress.com/2009/03/13/confederate-congress-approves-use-of-black-troops-in-combat-during-civil-war/http://civilwargazette.wordpress.com/2008/03/13/march-13-1865-confederate-congress-authorizes-recruitment-of-black-soldiers-in-arms/http://civilwargazette.wordpress.com/2008/03/24/march-24-1865-gen-sherman-occupies-goldsboro-north-carolina/http://civilwargazette.wordpress.com/2008/03/24/march-24-1865-gen-sherman-occupies-goldsboro-north-carolina/http://civilwargazette.wordpress.com/2008/03/13/march-13-1865-confederate-congress-authorizes-recruitment-of-black-soldiers-in-arms/http://civilwargazette.wordpress.com/2009/03/13/confederate-congress-approves-use-of-black-troops-in-combat-during-civil-war/http://civilwargazette.wordpress.com/2008/03/03/march-3-1865-freedmens-bureau-is-started-by-congress/http://civilwargazette.wordpress.com/2008/01/30/prevalency-of-slavery-in-the-south-in-1860/


18/18


March 25 to April 2 The Battle of Petersburg in Virginia.

March 28 Lincoln, Sherman, Grant and Porter meet to confer on peace terms to end the long war.

March 29-31st final Virginia Campaign begins with fighting around Dinwiddie Courthouse.

April 1865

April 2 Confederate Government evacuates Richmond; Davis flees in a womans dress.

April 3 Richmond, capital of the Confederacy falls.

April 8 Sherman resumes march on Johnston

April 9 Lee surrenders to Grant at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia.Letters 1 |

April 12 Confederate forces make official surrender of arms at Appomattox.

April 13 Raleigh falls to Sherman

April 14 Lincoln assassinated by John Wilkes Booth at Fords Theater in Washington, D.C.

April 18 Johnston and Sherman negotiate similar terms to Lee-Grant.

April 26 Johnston accepts same term Grant gave Lee.

May 1865

May 10 Jefferson Davis is captured at Irwinsville, GA.

May 13 final skirmish at Palmito Ranch, Texas; a Confederate victory no less.

May 23-24th Grand Review at Washington, D.C.

May 26 Edmund Kirby Smith surrenders remaining Confederate forces West of the Mississippi.
http://civilwargazette.wordpress.com/2009/03/26/battle-of-petersburg-iii-march-25th-april-2nd-1865/http://civilwargazette.wordpress.com/2009/03/26/battle-of-petersburg-iii-march-25th-april-2nd-1865/

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A Brief American Civil War Timeline

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