American Civil War: Timeline of events(1861 – 1865)

1. American Civil War:Timeline of events(1861 – 1865) By: Stefan Earl Emile Rodney

2. Time Line of 1861:North Vs. South • Jefferson Davis Becomes President of the Confederate states of the United States of America. • The Civil War Begins April 12, 1861 at fort Sumter, North Carolina. • Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina, join the Confederacy. • President Lincoln issues Blockade against Southern ports. • The Congress calls on 500,000 to draw arms against the Southern States. • Confederate Gen. Thomas J. Jackson defeats Union Gen. Irvin McDowell at Bull Run. • George B. McClellan is appointed Commander of the Department of Potomac. • McClellan is appointed general-in-chief of all Union forces .

3. The President of the Confederacy • Jefferson Davis was an American statesman and advocated for Slavery. He is most famous for serving as the only President of the Confederate States of America , leading the rebelling southern slave states to defeat during the American Civil War.

4. The Beginning of the War • Was the first battle of the American Civil War being held by the Confederates in North Carolina in which ended with the Confederates winning the battle.

5. Bull Run • On July 21,1861 the Union army invaded Virginia to capture Richmond. Union General Irvin McDowell took 30,000 troops against 32,500 Confederate troops and lost.

6. George B. McClellan • After the disaster at Bull Run Lincoln replaced General Irwin McDowell with General George B. McClellan who trained and reorganized the Union army. But in 1862 the Confederates defeated the him in the Seven Days battle

7. Time Line of 1862: The year of Turmoil • Abraham Lincoln orders general advance of all Union soldiers to the south by February 22, 1862. • Gen. Ulysses S. Grant captures Fort Henry in Tennessee, and ten days later Fort Donelson. • The Confederates sink two Union Ships. • Confederate surprise attack on Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's unprepared troops at Shiloh on the Tennessee River. • 17 Union Ships took New Orleans, the South’s greatest seaport. • The Seven Days Battles as Robert E. Lee attacks McClellan near Richmond resulting in heavy casualties for both sides forcing McClellan to retreat to Washington. • McClellan almost loses in the Battle of Seven Pines if not for Gen. Joseph E. Johnston's injury. • Gen. Robert E. Lee assumes command, replacing the wounded Johnston. • President Lincoln hands over the task to Gen. Henry W. Halleck. • 75,000 Union soldiers are defeated by 55,000 Confederates at the second battle of Bull Run in northern Virginia. Once again the Union Army retreats to Washington. • Lee tries to invade the North with 50,000 Confederates but is stopped by 90,000 strong Union soldiers. • Gen. Robert E. Lee and the Confederate Armies are stopped at Antietam in Maryland by McClellan, resulting in the death of 26,000 people. Lee then retreats to Virginia. • President Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation Act freeing all slaves. • The president replaces McClellan with Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside as the new Commander of the Army of the Potomac. • Gen. Burnside suffers a costly defeat at Fredericksburg in Virginia with a loss of 12,653 men after 14 frontal assaults.

8. Ulysses S. Grant • His capture of Fort Henry and Fort Donelson in February 1862 marked the first major Union victories of the Civil War and opened up prime avenues of invasion to the South.

9. Shiloh: April 6 – 7, 1862 • The Battle of Shiloh was a major battle in the Western Theater of the American Civil War, fought on April 6 and April 7, 1862, in southwestern Tennessee. Confederate forces under Generals Albert Sidney Johnston and launched a surprise attack against the Union army of Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and came close to defeating his army.

10. The Seven Days Battle: January 25- July 1, 1862 • The Seven Days Battle was a series of six major battles over the seven days from June 25 to July 1, 1862, near Richmond, Virginia, in the American Civil War. Confederate General Robert E. Lee drove the invading Union Army of the Potomac, commanded by Major General George B. McClellan, away from Richmond and into a retreat down the Virginia Peninsula.

11. Seven Pines: May 31, 1862 & June 1, 1862 • For the South Johnston and Longstreet missed a chance for a huge victory. As is sometimes the case in war, lack of personal communication and misunderstanding between the two generals prevented them from taking advantage of the precarious situation of the Union Army.

12. Robert E. Lee • Robert E. Lee was a man who did not in particular did not believe in the views of the Confederacy to an extent that he was willing to die for it but since his hometown Virginia joined the Confederacy he could not fight against his hometown and turned down an opportunity to be General of the Union army

13. Henry W. Halleck • Halleck was a cautious general who believed strongly in thorough preparations for battle and in the value of defensive fortifications over quick, aggressive action. This style of maintaining an army did not suit Abraham Lincoln which is why he switched him with Ulysses S. Grant.

14. Second Bull Run: August 29 – 30, 1862 • It was the culmination of an offensive campaign waged by General Robert E. Lee's Army against Union Major General John Pope's Army , and a battle of much larger scale and numbers than the First Battle of Bull Run. The result of the battle was an overwhelming Confederate victory, but the Union army was left largely intact in comparison to Irvin McDowell's army after the First Battle of Bull Run/Manassas.

15. Lee’s Invasion • Confederate General Robert E. Lee's first invasion of the North was repulsed by Major General George B. McClellan and the Army of the Potomac, who moved to intercept Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia and eventually attacked it near Sharpsburg, Maryland,leading to the Battle of Antietam .

16. Antietam: September 17, 1862 • It was the first major battle in the American Civil War to take place on Northern soil. It was the bloodiest single-day battle in that year, with almost 23,000 casualties, which resulted in Lee retreating back to Virginia.

17. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside • The President replaces McClellan with Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside as the new Commander of the Army of the Potomac. But is later replaced after the Battle of Fredericksburg in Virginia.

18. Battle of Fredericksburg: December 13, 1862, • Fredericksburg is remembered as one of the most one-sided battles of the American Civil War. The Union Army suffered terrible casualties in futile frontal assaults against entrenched Confederate defenders on the heights behind the city, bringing to an early end their campaign against the Confederate capital of Richmond.

19. Time Line of 1863: Turning the tables • Lincoln issues the final Emancipation Proclamation freeing all slaves in territories held by Confederates and also encouraging black soldiers to join the Union army. • The president appoints Gen. Joseph Hooker as Commander of the Army of the Potomac, replacing Burnside. • Ulysses S. Grant is placed in command of the army of the west. • The U.S congress enacts a draft that affects males from 20 to 45. • The Union Army defeated by Lee's much smaller forces at the Battle of Chancellorsville in Virginia. • Gen. Lee with 75,000 Confederates launches his second invasion of the North. • President Lincoln appoints Gen. George G. Meade as commander of the Army of the Potomac. • The tide of war turns against the South as the Confederates are defeated at the Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania. • Vicksburg surrenders to Union Gen. Grant after 6 weeks, this cuts the confederacy forces in two. • The Confederates victory in Chickamauga, Tennessee leaving the Union army trapped in Chattanooga, Tennessee. • President Lincoln delivers a two minute speech honoring the dead in the battle of Gettysburg and is called the greatest in American History. • The Union Army is freed from Confederates by Gen. Grant and Union Soldiers storm and capture Missionary Ridge without orders.

20. Emancipation Proclamation • The Emancipation Proclamation was an executive order by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln during that country's Civil War, which declared the freedom of all slaves in those areas of the rebellious Confederate States of America that had not already returned to Union control.

21. Joseph Hooker • Joseph Hooker replaces Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside after the Battle of Fredericksburg but then is replaced after the Battle of Chancellorsville.

22. The Draft • The North waited until 1863 before resorting to the draft, also for three-year terms for those in the age group between 20 and 45. Both sides provided for numerous occupational exemptions and the North allowed for hiring suitable substitutes or the payment of a $300 “commutation fee” to the government to avoid service.

23. Chancellorsville: April 30 to May 6, 1863 • Called General Robert E. Lee's "perfect battle" due to his risky but successful division of his army in the presence of a much larger enemy force, the battle pitted Union Army Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker's Army of the Potomac against an army half its size, Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. Lee's audacity and Hooker's timid performance in combat combined to result in a significant and embarrassing Union defeat. With the Union army having 133,000 troops against the Confederate’s 60,000.

24. The Second Invasion • General Robert E. Lee’s second invasion of the North is stopped after he brings 75,000 troops against 90,000 strong Union troops, which lead to his defeat at Gettysburg.

25. George G. Meade • During the American Civil War he served as a Union general, rising from command of a brigade to the Army of the Potomac. He is best known for defeating Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee at the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863.

26. Gettysburg: July 1,1863 • It is frequently cited as the war's turning point. Union Major General George G. Meade's Army of the Potomac defeated attacks by Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, ending Lee's invasion of the North.

27. Vicksburg: July 4, 1863 • In a series of brilliant maneuvers, Union Major General Ulysses S. Grant and his Army of the Tennessee crossed the Mississippi River and drove the Confederate army of Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton into defensive lines surrounding the fortress city of Vicksburg, Mississippi. Grant besieged the city, which surrendered six weeks later, giving command of the Mississippi River to the Union forces, which splits the Confederate forces in two.

28. Chickamauga: September 18–20, 1863 • The battle was the most significant Union defeat in the Western Theater of the American Civil War. The battle was fought between the Union Army of the Cumberland under Major General William Rosecrans and the Confederate Army of Tennessee under General Braxton Bragg.

29. Gettysburg Address: November 19, 1863 • It is the most famous speech from U.S President Abraham Lincoln. It was delivered at the dedication of the soldiers at Gettysburg. Lincoln speech invoked the principles of human equality introduced in the Declaration of Independence and redefined by the Civil War.

30. Time Line of 1864:The Rising Sun • President Lincoln appoints Gen. Grant to command all of the armies of the United States and Gen. William T. Sherman takes over command of the west. • Gen. Grant makes a mistake as he tries to go against the fortified Cold Harbor in Virginia in which he losses 7,000 men in 20 minutes. • Gen. Grant surrounds Confederate Gen. Lee at Petersburg. • Gen. Sherman capture Atlanta which helps president Lincoln bid for re – election. • Abraham Lincoln is re – elected wining 55% of the popular vote and getting 212 electoral votes making it the biggest victory for any president. • The Union forces crush any opposition in Tennessee. • Gen. Sherman captures Savannah, Geogria.

31. Ulysses S. Grant takes over • His capture of Fort Henry and Fort Donelson in February 1862 marked the first major Union victories of the Civil War and opened up prime avenues of invasion to the South. Surprised and nearly defeated at Shiloh (April 1862), he fought back and took control of most of western Kentucky and Tennessee. His great achievement in 1862-63 was to seize control of the Mississippi River by defeating a series of uncoordinated Confederate armies and by capturing Vicksburg in July 1863. After a victory at Chattanooga in late 1863, Abraham Lincoln made him general-in-chief of all Union armies.

32. Petersburg: June 15, 1864, to March 25, 1865 • Lee finally yielded to the overwhelming pressure—the point at which supply lines were finally cut and a true siege would have begun—and abandoned both cities in April 1865, leading to his retreat and surrender in Appomattox.

33. The Re – Election of Abraham Lincoln • Lincoln pledged to destroy the Confederacy before he left office on March 4, 1865. The Democrats, hoping to make setbacks in the war a top campaign issue, waited until late summer to nominate a candidate. Their platform was heavily influenced by the Peace wing of the party, calling the war a "failure." Their candidate, former General George McClellan, was a War Democrat, determined to prosecute the war until the Union was restored. He was also willing to compromise on all other issues, including slavery, but in the end Abraham Lincoln is re - elected.

34. Time Line of 1865:The Beginning of the end • The U.S. Congress approves the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, to abolish slavery. • President Lincoln meets with Vice President of the Confederacy Alexander Stephens to talk about peace but ends in failure. • The last offensive for Lee's Army of Northern Virginia was with an attack on the center of Grant's forces at Petersburg. • Grants forces capture the Confederate Capital Richmond, Virginia. • Gen. Robert E. Lee surrenders his Confederate Army to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at the village of Appomattox Court House in Virginia. • John Wilkes Booth shoots Abraham Lincoln in the head.

35. Appomattox: April 9, 1865 • After the Union forces took over Richmond, the Confederates Capital, the Confederates had found themselves trapped in the court house of Appomattox causing them to surrender to Union General Ulysses S. Grant

36. The Death of a Leader: April 15, 1865 • Originally, John Wilkes Booth had formulated a plan to kidnap Lincoln in exchange for the release of Confederate prisoners. However, on April 11, 1865 Lincoln gave a speech outside the White House giving his support to voting rights to blacks. This infuriated Booth, who was in the attending crowd. His plan to kidnap Lincoln changed to a plan for assassination. President Lincoln was shot and killed while attending a play at Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C.