The American Civil War was the culmination of the struggle between the advocates and opponents of slavery that dated from the founding of the United States. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. Responses to the Compromise of 1850 varied. The final Confederate counterattack against United States troops outside the city of Atlanta fails. Rosecrans' army retreats to the supply base at Chattanooga, Tennessee. October 19, 1864- The Battle of Cedar Creek, Virginia. The US Army of the Shenandoah under General Philip Sheridan attacked Jubal Early's Confederates near Fisher's Hill, overpowering the Confederates and again forcing them to flee the battlefield. December 28: Buchanan meets with South Carolina commissioners as "private gentlemen". April 1, 1865- The Battle of Five Forks, Virginia. Arkansas voters elect a majority of Unionists to their convention. . The election of Abraham Lincoln, a member of the antislavery Republican Party, as president in 1860 precipitated the secession of 11 Southern states, leading to a civil war. A Sesquicentennial Timeline. It was between the United States (the "Union" or the "North") and several Southern slave states that had declared their secession and formed the Confederate States of America. On November 29, the legislature votes for an election on December 29 for delegates to a convention to meet on January 7 to consider whether the State should secede from the Union. March 10, 1864- The Red River Campaign begins. By contrast, the Southern economy was based principally on large farms (plantations) that produced commercial crops such as cotton and that relied on slaves as the main labour force. View the American Revolution and War of 1812 timelines. This begins the first Federal efforts to close Southern ports along the Carolina coast. February 6, 1862- Surrender of Fort Henry, Tennessee. Bettmann // Getty Images Throughout the early 1860s, the Northern and Southern states held sustained disagreements on several key issues, including economic policies, cultural values, the power and reach of the federal government, and slavery. Despite Confederate efforts, the US remained in firm possession of their gains and the railroad. The Battle of First Bull Run or Battle of First Manassas, the first major battle of the war, occurred on July 21, 1861. Struck by the submarine's torpedo, the Housatonic broke apart and sank, taking all but five of her crew with her. Election of Democrat James Buchanan over Republican John C. Fremont and Know-Nothing/American candidate Millard Fillmore. ", Don E. Fehrenbacher, "The Origins and Purpose of Lincoln's" House-Divided" Speech.". Since an earlier order was not carried out, orders were sent from Washington to reinforce Fort Pickens with. South Carolina, however, feared a trick; the commander of the fort, Robert Anderson, was asked to surrender immediately. Author of, Associate Professor of History, University of Kansas. A US fleet under Admiral David Farragut steamed into Mobile Bay outside the city of Mobile, Alabama, defended by two strong forts and a small southern flotilla, including the formidable ironclad CSS Tennessee. Likewise, the Hunley was also lost and never heard from again until discovered in 1995 at the spot where it sank after the attack. May 5-6, 1864- Battle of the Wilderness, Virginia, the opening battle of the Overland Campaign. September 19, 1864- Third Battle of Winchester, Virginia. November 6, 1860 Abraham Lincoln: inauguration Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Abraham Lincoln, candidate of the antislavery Republican Party, is elected president. January 26: Louisiana secedes from the Union. His offer was rejected, and on April 12, the Civil War began with shots fired on the fort. August 10: Missouri is admitted to the Union as a slave state. After withdrawing from the lines at Cold Harbor, the Army of the Potomac crossed the James River and with troops from the Army of the James attacked the outer defenses of Petersburg, the primary junction for several southern railroads. Between 1815 and 1861 the economy of the Northern states was rapidly modernizing and diversifying. April 18: Five companies of Pennsylvania volunteers arrive in Washington, becoming the first troops to respond to President Lincoln's call for volunteers. The American Civil War was fought between the United States of America and the Confederate States of America, a collection of eleven southern states that left the Union in 1860 and 1861. Their contributions of territory and soldiers to the Confederacy ensured, in retrospect, that the war would be prolonged and bloody. June 1-3, 1864- Battle of Cold Harbor, Virginia. New Jersey, later followed by Pennsylvania, passes the first, Thomas Cooper of South Carolina publishes. Scholars have identified many different causes for the war. The end of the Mexican-American War in 1848 and the roughly 500,000 square miles (1.3 million square km) of new territory that the United States gained as a result of it added a new sense of urgency to the dispute. August 21, 1863- Sacking of Lawrence, Kansas. June 20, 1861- At the culmination of the Wheeling Convention, the northwestern counties of Virginia broke away from that state to form West Virginia. Sherman will advance but take precautions against ordering any further massed assaults where high casualties may occur. Wagner, Margaret E., Gary W. Gallagher, and Paul Finkelman. (Confederate Brigadier General Stand Waite did not surrender until June 23, and one Confederate ship, the CSS Shenandoah, docked in Liverpool and surrendered to the Royal Navy on November 6, 1865. Buchanan endorses the Lecompton constitution and breaks with Douglas, who regards the document as a mockery of popular sovereignty because its referendum provision does not offer a true free state option. The Battle of Seven Pines near Richmond, Virginia. June 6, 1862- Battle of Memphis, Tennessee. July 9, 1864- Battle of Monocacy, Maryland. The Confederate Army under John Bell Hood is thoroughly defeated and the threat to Tennessee ends. In an early morning surprise attack, Jubal Early's Confederates successfully attack and drive troops of the Army of the Shenandoah from their camps on the banks of Cedar Creek south of Middletown, Virginia. July 1-3- Battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. These events are roughly divided into two periods: the first encompasses the gradual build-up over many decades of the numerous social, economic, and political issues that ultimately contributed to the war's outbreak, and the second encompasses the five-month span following the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States in 1860 and culminating in the capture of Fort Sumter in April 1861. The Peace Democrats, dubbed "Copperheads" by . As a result, between December 1860 and April 1861, 11 Southern states secede from the Union. December 31-January 3, 1863- Battle of Stones River, Tennessee. March 8, 13: The Confederate commissioners present their terms to avoid war and try to reach Secretary of State Seward through pro-Confederate U.S. Supreme Court Justice, March 11, 13, 16, 21, 23, 29, April 3, 22: The Confederate Congress adopts a permanent. ", Lyon Rathbun, "The debate over annexing Texas and the emergence of Manifest Destiny. Anderson offered to surrender, but only after he had exhausted his supplies. Dive deeper into America's infamous war by following this series of events. Within weeks, four more Southern states (Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina) left the Union to join the Confederacy. Yet, to Southerners, as late as 1860, this appeared to be a sound business decision. Though 48 of the escapees were later captured and two drowned, 59 were able to make their way into US lines. The American Civil War tested the strength, the principles and the future of the United States. The extension of slavery into new territories and states had been an issue as far back as the Northwest Ordinance of 1784. December 20, 1860: South Carolina secedes from the Union. February, MarchOctober: A Missouri State Convention meets in Jefferson City to consider secession. February 17, 1865- Sherman's Army captures Columbia, South Carolina while Confederate defenders evacuate Charleston, South Carolina. The total U.S. slave population according to the. Southern senators block a homestead act that would have given settlers in the West each 160 acres of land. April 6, 1865- The Battle of Sailor's Creek, Virginia. The prisoner exchange system effectually suspended. June 19, 1864- The USS Kearsarge sinks the Confederate raider CSS Alabama near Cherbourg, France. Pre-War 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1854 1859 October 16-18, 1859: John Brown, an abolitionist, attacks the federal armory at Harpers Ferry, Virginia in order to gather arms for slave insurrection. General Sherman's army occupies the city and its defenses the following day. Events in the 1850s culminated with the election of the anti-slavery Republican Abraham Lincoln as president on November 6, 1860. Kentucky drafts a constitution permitting slavery and is admitted to the Union. Six miles north of Richmond, Confederate cavalry under General J.E.B. November 16, 1864- General Sherman's Army of Georgia begins the March to the Sea. The flag was revived as a popular symbol in the 1940s and 50s by the Dixiecrat Democratic splinter group and others who opposed the American civil rights movement. Pogue, Dennis J., Ph.D. (Spring/Summer 2003). The events begin in 1860 with the election of Abraham Lincoln and end with the 1865 surrender of the last Confederate general. July 1861- To thwart the Confederate threat in northern Virginia, a series of earthworks and forts are engineered to surround the City of Washington, adding to protection already offered by active posts such as Fort Washington on the Potomac River. In the early morning hours of April 12, 1861, rebels opened fire on Fort Sumter, at the entrance to the harbour of Charleston, South Carolina. January 10: Florida secedes from the Union. This pushed four other states in the Upper South (Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Arkansas) also to secede, completing the incorporation of the Confederate States of America by July 1861. This figure represents approximately 2 percent of the American population in 1860. Missouri voters elect all conditional or unconditional Unionists to their convention. Foner, Philip Sheldon and Robert J. Branham. January 8: Irregularly arranged voting for a Texas convention begins after Governor, South Carolina state troops at Charleston fire upon the merchant ship. 17325, Download the official NPS app before your next visit. Virginians vote for convention delegates, only 32 of 152 are immediate secessionists; the voters require any action by the convention to be submitted to the voters. Hunley, a seven-man submergible craft, attacked the USS Housatonic outside of Charleston, South Carolina. The National Negro Convention, a black abolitionist and civil rights organization, is founded. January 12: Mississippi representatives to the U.S. Congress resign. December 8, 1863- Lincoln Issues his Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction, which would pardon those who participated in the "existing rebellion" if they take an oath to the United States. All hope of a settlement short of a catastrophic war was lost. Entries are listed below by date-of-occurrence ascending (first-to-last). Both ships survived the attack, though the commander of the David and one of his crew were captured. Union troops fall back to Washington. After four days of bloody attacks, Grant accepts that only a siege can systematically isolate the city and cut off Confederate supplies to the capital of Richmond. 06/16/1898. Missouri again petitions for admission to the Union. "The New York Slave Conspiracy of 1741 as Black Protest." March 3, 1863- Conscription, or the drafting of soldiers into military service, begins in the North. Elsewhere on our websites What's On Exhibitions, live events and downloads Newsletter Latest events - register free online Online Shop Buy books and more from us now Fine art prints For various reasons, over the next two weeks, members advise the President not to attempt to relieve Fort Sumter. Updated on May 30, 2019 The American Civil War was made inevitable when, in response to growing Northern resistance to the practice of slavery, several Southern states began to secede from the union. August 28-29, 1861- Fort Hatteras at Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, falls to United States naval forces. A Confederate defeat, the battle resulted in US occupation of eastern North Carolina and control of Pamlico Sound, to be used as Northern base for further operations against the southern coast. Lee's victory at Chancellorsville is marred by high casualties, including the mortal wounding of "Stonewall" Jackson, who dies on May 10. October 5, 1863- Outside of Charleston Harbor, the Confederate David, a partially submerged, steam powered vessel, attacked the New Ironsides, part of the US fleet blockading the harbor, with a torpedo. John C. Calhoun asserts that slavery is legal in all of the territories, foreshadowing the U.S. Supreme Court's, Radical New York Democrats and anti-slavery Whigs form the, The Polk administration offers Spain $100 million for, President Taylor dies on July 9 and is succeeded by Vice President. The Union Army under General Irwin McDowell initially succeeds in driving back Confederate forces under General Pierre Gustav Toutant Beauregard, but the arrival of troops under General Joseph E. Johnston initiates a series of reverses that sends McDowell's army in a panicked retreat to the defenses of Washington. On 20 December 1860, South Carolina called a state convention which formally announced their secession from the Union due to the election of Lincoln. The riots continue through July 16. April 12, 1864- Capture of Fort Pillow, Tennessee. May 11, 1864- Battle of Yellow Tavern. ", Thomas J. Davis, "The New York Slave Conspiracy of 1741 as Black Protest". Timeline of United States military operations Notes ^ Some historians name the 1861-1865 war the "Second American Civil War", because in their view, the American Revolutionary War can also be considered a civil war (since the term can be used in reference to any war in which one political body separates itself from another political body). The Civil War was fought in 10,000 places, from Valverde, New Mexico, and Tullahoma, Tennessee, to St. Albans, Vermont, and Fernandina on the Florida coast. May 6: The Confederate Congress recognizes that a state of war exists between the Confederate States of America and the United States of America. General Stuart was mortally wounded during the encounter. Confederates pass through York and reach the bridge over the Susquehanna River at Columbia, but Federal militia set fire to the bridge, denying access to the east shore. February 27, 1864- In Georgia, Camp Sumter Prison Camp opens. Grant assumes command of all United States Armies in the field the following day. February 9, 1864- Escape from Libby Prison, Richmond. By day's end, Early's forces are put to flight. U.S. The deadliest day of the war up to that date was on Sept. 17, 1862, at the Battle of Antietam near Sharpsburg, Maryland, where 12,401 Union soldiers and 10,316 Confederates died and thousands were injured. The result of the battle ends Confederate General Lee's first invasion of the North. April 14, 1865- President Abraham Lincoln is assassinated by actor John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theater in Washington, DC. May 8-21, 1864- Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, Virginia. On this same day, Joseph E. Johnston is restored to command the nearly shattered Army of the Tennessee, vice John B. An engagement at Bristoe Station, Virginia, on October 14 gives the campaign its name. At Gettysburg, Lee begins his retreat to Virginia. April 25: The 7th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment arrives in Washington, D.C. April 29: The Maryland House of Delegates votes against secession 53 to 13.