Themes
Timeline
- 1860
November 6, 1860
Lincoln elected sixteenth U.S. President
December 20, 1860
South Carolina secedes from the Union
First Flag of Independence . . . Savannah, GA. November 8th, 1860.
Savannah: R.H. Howell, 1860. Prints and Photographs Division
The Dis-United States. Or The Southern Confederacy. New York: Currier & Ives, 1861. Rare Book and Special Collections Division- 1861
January 9–26, 1861
Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana secede
February 1, 1861
Texas secedes
[Unidentified solider in Confederate Artillery Jacket with Secession Badge and Artillery Forage Hat], between 1861 and 1865. Liljenquist Family Collection, Prints and Photographs Division.- February 4, 1861
Confederate States of America (C.S.A) organized in Montgomery, Alabama; U.S. Army sets trap for Apache leaders in the Arizona Territory, igniting the Apache-Navajo Wars (1861-1865)
April 12–13, 1861
Confederates fire on Fort Sumter, South Carolina; Civil War begins
Bombardment of Fort Sumter, Charleston Harbor: 12th & 13th of April, 1861. [New York]: Currier & Ives, ca. 1861, Prints and Photographs Division- April 15–17, 1861
Lincoln calls for troops; Virginia secedes
May 6, 1861
Arkansas secedes
May 8, 1861
C.S.A. President Jefferson Davis authorizes 400,000 C.S.A. volunteers
The Truth is Mighty, the South to the Rescue. Wood engraving on paper envelope. Baltimore, 1861. Rare Book and Special Collections Division- May 20, 1861
Richmond becomes C.S.A. capital; North Carolina secedes
June 8, 1861
Tennessee secedes
June 13, 1861
U.S. Sanitary Commission created to provide care for wounded soldiers and their families
James Gardner, photographer. [Washington, D.C. Field Relief Wagons and Workers of U.S. Sanitary Commission], April 1865. Prints and Photographs Division
The First Battle of Bull Run, VA., Sunday Afternoon, July 21, 1861. New York: J. Howard Brown, 1884. Prints and Photographs Division- July 21, 1861
Confederates rout Union troops at the first Battle of Manassas/Bull Run; Thomas Jackson earns the nickname "Stonewall"
July 22, 1861
Major General George B. McClellan takes command of the Army of the Potomac
Benjamin Brown French, photographer. Inauguration of Mr. Lincoln, March 4, 1861. Prints and Photographs Division- August 5, 1861
Congress levies the first federal income tax
November 8, 1861
U.S. Navy seizes Confederate diplomats Mason and Slidell aboard neutral British vessel H.M.S. Trent, bringing U.S. and Britain to the brink of war
- December 9, 1861
U.S. Congress forms the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War
December 26, 1861
Factions of Creek and other Indian nations loyal to the Confederacy clash with the Union at the Battle of Chustenahlah, Indian Territory
Battle of Fort Donelson—Capture of Generals S. B. Buckner and His Army, February 16th, 1862. Chicago: Kurz & Allison, ca. 1887. Prints and Photographs Division- 1862
February 16, 1862
Brigadier General Ulysses S. Grant victorious at Fort Donelson, Tennessee
March 8, 1862
C.S.S. Virginia (Merrimack) sinks two wooden Union vessels
Battle between the Monitor and the Merrimac—Fought March 9th 1862 at Hampton Roads, Near Norfolk, VA. Chicago: Kurz & Allison, ca. 1889. Prints and Photographs Division- March 9, 1862
Ironclads C.S.S. Virginia (Merrimack) vs U.S.S. Monitor battle to a draw in Hampton Roads, Virginia
March 23, 1862
Stonewall Jackson's Shenandoah Valley Campaign begins
Jedediah Hotchkiss, Cartographer. Map of the Shenandoah Valley, To Illustrate the Valley Campaign of "Stonewall" Jackson, 1862. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1880. Geography and Map Division
Battle of Shiloh April 6th 1862. Chicago: Cosack & co. for McCormick Reaper Company, ca. 1885. Prints and Photographs Division- April 5, 1862
McClellan's forces siege Yorktown, Virginia; Peninsula Campaign begins
April 6–7, 1862
Battle of Shiloh/Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee
April 16, 1862
Slavery ends in the District of Columbia; the C.S.A. initiates the first military draft
Frederick Dielman, artist. "Celebration of the Abolition of Slavery in the District of Columbia by the Colored People, in Washington, April 19, 1866," Published in Harper's Weekly, May 12, 1866. Prints and Photographs Division- April 25, 1862
U.S. Navy Captain David Farragut captures New Orleans
Capture of New Orleans. Boston: L. Prang & Co., n.d. Prints and Photographs Division
- May 6, 1862
U.S. Congress passes Homestead Act, granting up to 160 acres of land to settlers who improve the land for at least five years
May 31, 1862
General Robert E. Lee assumes command of the Army of Northern Virginia
Augustus Tholey, artist. Lee and His Generals. Philadelphia: John Smith, ca. 1867. Prints and Photographs Division- June 17, 1862
U.S. Congress passes the Morrill Land Grant College Act, one of the key pieces of education legislation in U.S. history
June 19, 1862
Slavery outlawed in U.S. territories
Justin Smith Morrill of Vermont, between 1855 and 1865. Brady-Handy Photograph Collection, Prints and Photographs Division- July 1, 1862
Lincoln signs the Pacific Railroad Act; the Union's unsuccessful Peninsula Campaign ends
July 17, 1862
United States Congress passes the Second Confiscation Act, which frees slaves that come under Union control
Alfred A. Hart, photographer. Indian viewing railroad from top of Palisades. 435 miles from Sacramento. Sacramento: Golden State Photographic Gallery, between 1865 and 1869. Prints and Photographs Division- August 17, 1862
U.S.-Dakota War (Sioux Uprising) begins in Minnesota (it ends on September 23, 1862)
August 29–30, 1862
Confederate victory at the Battle of Second Manassas/Bull Run
Freemen! Avoid Conscription! Charleston, Tennessee: Confederate States of America, 1862. Rare Book and Special Collections Division
The Second Battle of Bull Run, Fought Augt. 29th 1862. New York: Currier & Ives, ca. 1862. Prints and Photographs Division
Alexander Gardner, photographer. [Bodies of Confederate Artillerymen near Dunker Church], ca. 1862. Prints and Photographs Division- September 17, 1862
The bloodiest day of the war occurs at the Battle of Sharpsburg/Antietam; 23,000 casualties
September 22, 1862
Lincoln issues the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation
Abraham Lincoln. First Edition of the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, September 22, 1982. Alfred Whital Stern Collection, Rare Books and Special Collections Division- December 13, 1862
The Union suffers one of its worst defeats at the Battle of Fredericksburg
Uebergang Über den Rappahannock [Crossing the Rappahannock]. Neu Ruppin: Oehmigke & Riemschneider, ca. 1863. Prints and Photographs Division- 1863
January 1, 1863
Lincoln issues the final Emancipation Proclamation, officially allowing black soldiers and sailors into Union forces
February 26, 1863
Cherokee Nation abolishes slavery; declares support for the Union
"Pickets of the First Louisiana 'Native Guard' guarding the New Orleans Opelousas and Great Western Railroad," published in Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, March 7, 1863. Prints and Photographs Division- March 3, 1863
Lincoln signs the first Federal draft law
April 2, 1863
A food riot breaks out in Richmond
"Southern Women Feeling the Effects of the Rebellion, and Creating Bread Riots," published in Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, May 23, 1863. Prints and Photographs Division- May 1–4, 1863
Confederates win a stunning victory at the Battle of Chancellorsville; Stonewall Jackson is fatally wounded
May 22, 1863
The Bureau of Colored Troops is established to organize black regiments.
Battle of Chancellorsville—May 2, 3 & 4. Chicago: Kurz & Allison, ca. 1889. Prints and Photographs Division
[Unidentified African American soldier in Union uniform], between 1863 and 1865. Liljenquist Family Collection, Prints and Photographs Division
W. L. Nicholson, compiler. Map of the State of Virginia. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Coast Survey, 1863. Geography and Map Division- June 20, 1863
West Virginia admitted to the Union
July 1–3, 1863
Battle of Gettysburg results in Confederate defeat
July 4, 1863
Vicksburg surrenders to Grant's army
James Fuller Queen, artist. The Story of Gettysburg, ca. 1864. Marian S. Carson Collection, Prints and Photographs Division
Siege of Vicksburg. Chicago: Kurz & Allison, ca. 1888. Prints and Photographs Division- July 13–17, 1863
New York City draft riots
July 18, 1863
Union assault on Fort Wagner lef by the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts, an African American regiment
September 19–20, 1863
Confederate victory at Chickamauga; Union forces to retreat to Chattanooga and are besieged
- September 23, 1863
Largest pre-twentieth century movement of troops begins when Stanton orders 20,000 men, with equipment, moved 1,233 miles to relieve Chattanooga
October 27, 1863
Chicago hosts first sanitary fair to raise funds for the U.S. Sanitary Commission (runs through November 7, 1863)
Washington, District of Columbia. Tent Life of the 31st Penn. Inf. at Queen's Farm, Vicinity of Fort Slocum, 1861. Civil War Glass Negative Collection, Prints and Photographs Division- November 19, 1863
Lincoln delivers Gettysburg Address
December 8, 1863
Lincoln issues Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction, which pardons secessionists who swear allegiance to the U.S.
Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, Gettysburg. November 19, 1863. Brady Civil War Photograph Collection, Prints and Photographs Division
Alfred R. Waud, artist. Negroes Leaving the Plough, published in Harper's Weekly, March 26, 1864. Prints and Photographs Division- 1864
February 27, 1864
War's most notorious prison camp opens near Andersonville, Georgia
Andersonville Prison, GA., south-east view of Stockade, August 17, 1864. Prints and Photographs Division
The Leader and His Battles—Ulysses S. Grant, Lieuteant-General, U.S.A. New York: Haasis & Lubrecht, ca. 1866. Prints and Photographs Division- March 9–10, 1864
Grant is promoted to lieutenant general; appointed general-in-chief of U.S. armies
April 12, 1864
Confederates capture Fort Pillow, Tennessee. Many of the U.S. Colored Troops are murdered
after they surrender.
M. Weir, composer. "Dixie Doodle." New Orleans: P. P. Werlein & Halsey, 1862. Music Division- May 5–7, 1864
Grant launches Overland Campaign; U.S. General William T. Sherman marches toward Atlanta
June 18, 1864
Overland Campaign ends, ten-month siege of Petersburg, Virginia begins
The Battle of Petersburg Va. April 2nd 1865. New York: Currier & Ives, ca. 1865. Prints and Photographs Division- July 2, 1864
Congress passes the punitive Wade-Davis Bill; Lincoln will pocket veto
July 11–12, 1864
Jubal Early and 12,000 Confederate troops threaten Washington
E. G. Arnold. Topographical Map of the Original District of Columbia and Environs Showing the Fortifications around the City of Washington. New york: G. Woolworth Colton, 1862. Geography and Map Division- August 9, 1864
U.S. General Phil Sheridan begins Shenandoah Valley Campaign
September 2, 1864
Sherman captures Atlanta, Georgia
Grand National Democratic Banner. Peace! Union! And Victory! New York: Currier & Ives, ca. 1864. Prints and Photographs Division- November 8, 1864
Lincoln defeats McClellan in the 1864 presidential election
December 15–16, 1864
Confederates' main western army shattered at the Battle of Nashville, Tennessee
December 22, 1864
Ending his March to the Sea, Sherman takes Savannah, Georgia
Battle of Nashville. Chicago: Kurz & Allison, ca. 1891. Prints and Photographs Division
Same Cooley, photographer. Savannah, Georgia. Ruins of Houses, 1865. Civil War Glass Negative Collection, Prints and Photographs Division- 1865
January 31, 1865
Davis appoints Lee general-in-chief; U.S. House passes the 13th Amendment, abolishing slavery (ratified December 1865)
Brady's National Photographic Portrait Galleries. Gen'l. Robt. E. Lee and Staff, April 16, 1865. Promised gift of the Liljenquist Family, Prints and Photographs Division- February 18, 1865
Sherman's army moves through Columbia, South Carolina; Schimmelfenning's Union troops occupy Charleston
George Barnard, photographer. [Charleston, S.C. View of Ruined Buildings through Porch of the Circular Church], April 1865. Prints and Photographs Division
"A Peep at the Freemen's Bureau Office of Lieut. S. Merrill, Superintendent Third District," published in Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, February 2, 1867. Prints and Photographs Division- March 3, 1865
U.S. Congress establishes the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands (Freedmen's Bureau)
March 13, 1865
Davis signs a "Negro Soldier Law," authorizing the enlistment of slaves
The Fall of Richmond Va. on the Night of April 2nd. New York: Currier & Ives, ca. 1865. Prints and Photographs Division- April 2, 1865
Petersburg, Virginia, falls to the Union; Richmond evacuated and set ablaze
April 9, 1865
Lee surrenders to Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia
April 14–15, 1865
John Wilkes Booth assassinates Lincoln; Andrew Johnson becomes president
The Room in the McLean House, at Appomattox C.H. in which Gen. Lee Surrendered to Gen. Grant. New York: Major & Knapp, n.d. Prints and Photographs Division- April 26, 1865
Sherman accepts the surrender of C.S.A's General Joe Johnston in North Carolina
May 10, 1865
President Johnson proclaims armed resistance at an end; Davis is capture
The Surrender of Genl. Joe Johnston near Greensboro N.C., April 26th 1865. New York: Currier & Ives, ca. 1865. Prints and Photographs Division
Alfred R. Waud, artist. The Casemate, Fortress Monroe, Jeff Davis in Prison, 1865. Prints and Photographs Division- 1866
June 13, 1866
U.S. Congress passes Fourteenth Amendment, affirming citizenship for African Americans
July 24, 1866
Tennessee readmitted to the Union
Attributed to Jesse Harrison Whitehurst, photographer. [Andrew Johnson], 1860. Prints and Photographs Division- 1867
Gustavus Dolfuss, composer. K.K.K., or Bloody Moon Waltz. Nashville: Jas. A. McClure, 1868. Music Divison
- March 1867
First Reconstruction Act passed by the U.S. Congress; overturning Johnson's veto
April 1867
The Ku Klux Klan reorganizes into a paramilitary organization led by a former Confederate General, Nathan Bedford Forrest
- 1868
June 22–25, 1868
Arkansas, Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina readmitted to the Union
The Stars and Stripes Must Cover the Whole. Wood engraving on envelope. New York: Chas. Magnus, n.d. Rare Book and Special Collections Division- 1869
March 4, 1869
Ulysses S. Grant inaugurated as president
May 10, 1869
Transcontinental Railroad completed
"Completion of the Pacific Railroad—Meeting of Locomotives of the Union and Central Pacific Lines. . .. ," published in Harper's Weekly, June 5, 1869. Prints and Photographs Division- 1870
January 26, 1870
Virginia readmitted to the Union
February 3, 1870
Fifteenth Amendment ratified; granting all male citizens the right to vote
- February 23, 1870
Mississippi readmitted to the Union
March 30, 1870
Texas readmitted to the Union
July 15, 1870
Georgia readmitted to the Union
The Fifteenth Admendment. New York: Thomas Kelly, ca. 1870. Prints and Photographs Division
Prologue
After Abraham Lincoln became president-elect in November 1860, Southern states, economically dependent on slavery, worried that the balance of power in the Union would soon tip irrevocably in favor of the industrial North. To avoid suffering the consequences of such a political shift, Southern states, began to secede, with South Carolina leading the way on December 20, 1860.
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April 1861–April 1862
Fort Sumter, in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina, continued to fly the United States flag, even as Confederate forces surrounded it. Lincoln decided to send provisions but no additional troops or ordnance to the fort unless resistance was met. Unwilling to tolerate a U.S. garrison in Southern territory, Confederates began shelling the fort in the pre-dawn hours of April 12, 1861, and Union guns responded. The Civil War had begun.
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April 1862–November 1862
In spring 1862, the Union Army of the Potomac took the offensive on the Virginia Peninsula, where its ultimate target was Richmond, the Confederate capital. Northern morale was high. Recent Union victories in the West prompted expectations of a similar outcome in the Peninsula Campaign that would lead to a swift and successful end to the war.
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December 1862–October 1863
On January 1, 1863, Abraham Lincoln issued the final Emancipation Proclamation, which declared that all slaves within the rebellious states “are, and henceforward shall be free.” Bitterly denounced in the South—and by many in the North—the Proclamation reduced the likelihood that the anti-slavery European powers would recognize the Confederacy as an independent nation and opened the way for large numbers of African Americans to join the U.S. armed forces.
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November 1863–April 14, 1865
On November 19, 1863, Abraham Lincoln offered “a few appropriate” remarks at the dedication of a cemetery to fallen Federal troops at Gettysburg. In his brief and eloquent “Gettysburg Address,” Lincoln articulated the purpose of the war and looked beyond it to a time when the nation would once again be made whole.
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Epilogue
By May 10, 1865, when U.S. President Andrew Johnson declared armed resistance at an end, vast areas of the South lay in ruins. Four years of brutal combat had taken the lives of an estimated 620,000 Union and Confederate soldiers, shattered illusions, and fueled social reform movements. In the South, the war gave birth to the “Lost Cause” mythology that idealized Southern life and Confederate principles.
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