Civil War Milestones – The Heritage Post

AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

Milestones

Notable milestones throughout the entirety of the American Civil War, condensed into one simplistic timeline

For a nation divided by Civil War, many turning points along the way, whether political, social, economic or war related, helped pave the way for a Union victory.
The south won significant victories in 1861, but in spring 1862, the North gained control of railroad junctions and rivers in the West and launched a campaign against the Confederate capital of Richmond. In late April the Federals took control of the large southern port of New Orleans. The South, however, won a major battle at Bull Run and began to invade Kentucky and Maryland. After a major loss at Antietam, the Confederates were victorious at Fredericksburg.
Early in 1863 the South won the Battle of Chancellorsville, but in July the North beat the Confederates back at Gettysburg and took Vicksburg, thus gaining control of the entire Mississippi River. The war was beginning to turn in favor of the Union.
In late 1864, the capture of Atlanta allowed Sherman to divide the Confederacy. Supply lines in Virginia were also cut when Union forces laid waste to the breadbasket of the Confederacy — the Shenandoah Valley. It was now clear that the Union would be victorious, but the South continued to fight at Petersburg defending Richmond until defeat was inevitable, and they finally surrendered at Appomattox Court House in Virginia, on April 9, 1865.

Pre-War

1820 – 21 – Missouri Compromise enacted.
August 22, 1831 – Nat Turner leads a
slave rebellion in Virginia.
September 18, 1850 – Fugitive Slave Act adopted.
1851 – 52 – Uncle Tom’s Cabin published, first in serial form, then in book form.
May 30, 1854 – Kansas-Nebraska Act adopted.
May 22, 1856 – Senator Charles Sumner attacked by Congressman Preston Brooks.
May 24, 1856 – John Brown’s raid at Pottawatomie Creek in Kasnas
March 6, 1857 – Supreme Court rules against Dred Scott.
October 16, 1859 – John Brown’s raid at Harpers Ferry, Virginia.
May 1860 – U.S. Congress passed the Morrill Tariff Bill, raising the average tariff from about 15% to 37%.
November 6, 1860 – Abraham Lincoln elected U.S President.
December 14, 1860 – Georgia legislature calls for a convention to consider a confederacy of southern states.
December 20, 1860 – South Carolina secedes from the Union.
December 30, 1860 – South Carolinian’s seize Federal arsenal at Charleston.
March 1861 – Morrill Tariff was signed into law by President James Buchanan.

Fort Sumter, 1861

January 9 – Secessionist batteries at Charleston, South Carolina, repulse ship sent to reinforce Fort Sumter.
February 18 – Jefferson Davis inaugurated provisional president of the Confederacy.
March 4 – Abraham Lincoln inaugurated president of the United States.
April 12 – Civil War beings as Confederates open fire on Fort Sumter.
April 14 – Fort Sumter falls.

Bull Run

April 17 – Virginia delegates convening in Richmond back secession; Governor John Letcher sends state troops to seize Federal facilities.
April 29 – Maryland delegates vote against secession.
May 23 – Secession approved by voters in Virginia, which becomes the 11th state to leave the Union.
May 24 – Federal troops cross the Potomac River and occupy Arlington and Alexandria, Virginia.
July 21 – First Battle of Bull Run (Virginia)

Borderlands

July 3 – John Charles Fremont appointed commander of Union’s newly created Western Department, which includes the neutral state of Missouri.
August 10 – Battle of Wilson’s Creek (Missouri).
August 30 – Fremont declares martial law in Missouri and names Ulysses S. Grant to command Federal forces along the Mississippi River.
September 3 – Confederates under Leonidas Polk occupy Columbus Kentucky, in defiance of Kentucky’s neutrality.
November 2 – Fremont relieved of command

Shiloh, 1862

February 6 – Battle of Fort Henry (Tennessee)
February 14-15 – Battle of Fort Donelson (Tennessee)
April 6-7 – Battle of Shiloh (Tennessee

The Coastal War

February 10 – Battle of Elizabeth City (North Carolina)
March 9 – The Virginia and the Monitor clash at Hampton Roads (Virginia)
April 18-28 – Federal forces capture New Orleans

Richmond

March 17 – McClellan‘s Army of the Potomac begins its campaign against Richmond.
April 16 – Battle of Burnt Chimneys (Virginia)
May 3 – Confederates withdraw without a battle from Yorktown (Virginia)
May 5 – Battle of Williamsburg (Virginia)
May 23 – Battle of Front Royal (Virginia)
May 31-June 1 – Battle of Seven Pines, or Fair Oaks, near Richmind
June 25-July 1 – Seven Days’ Battles around Richmond
August 3 – Lincoln recalls McClellan’s army

Antietam

August 3 – Robert E. Lee launches offensive in northern Virginia.
August 28-30 – Second Battle of Bull Run (Virginia)
September 4 – Lee invades Maryland.
September 12-15 – Battle of Harpers Ferry (western Virginia)
September 17 – Battle of Antietam (Mayland)

Emancipation

September 22 – Lincoln issues Emancipation Proclamation, to take effect January 1, 1863.
December 13 – Battle of Fredericksburg (Virginia)

Vicksburg, 1863

December 29, 1862 – Grant’s first campaign against Vicksburg ends with Sherman’s defeat at Chickasaw Bluffs (Mississippi).
April 16 – Grant launches second campaign against Vicksburg (Mississippi).
May 16 – Battle of Champion’s Hill (Mississippi).
May 18 – July 4 – Siege of Vicksburg
May 27 – July 9 – Siege of Port Hudson (Louisiana)

Chancellorsville / Gettysburg

January 26 – Joseph Hooker replaces Ambrose Burnside as commander of the Army of the Potomac.
May 1-4 – Battle of Chancellorsville (Virginia)
June 9 – Battle of Brandy Station (Virginia)
July 1-3 – Battle of Gettysburg (Pennsylvania)
November 19 – President Lincoln presents the Gettysburg Address to dedicate the Gettysburg National Cemetery.

Homefront

April 2 – Richmond Bread Riot
July 13-16 – New York City Draft Riots
August 21 – Confederate raider William Quantrill leads deadly attack on town of Lawrence, Kansas.
August 25 – Union general Thomas Ewing, Jr., retaliates by ordering inhabitants to evacuate four Missouri counties.

Chattanooga

September 2 – Federals seize Knoxville, Tennessee.
September 7 – Braxton Bragg orders his Confederates to evacuate Chattanooga.
September 19-20 – Battle of Chickamauga (Georgia)
October 23 – Ulysses Grant takes command in Chattanooga, where Federals have come under siege.
November 23-25 – Battle of Chattanooga (Campaign).

Grant vs Lee, 1864

March 9 – Lincoln promotes Ulysses S. Grant to lieutenant general, in command of all Federal forces.
May 4 – Grant launches campaign against Robert E. Lee in Virginia.
May 5-6 – Battle of Wilderness (Virginia)
May 8-18 – Battles at Spotsylvania (Virginia)
June 1-3 – Battle of Cold Harbor (Virginia)
June 15 – Grant’s troops reach Petersburg, Virginia, where Confederates soon come under siege.
July 18 – Battle of the Crater at Petersburg (Virginia)

Atlanta

May 7 – William Sherman launches campaign against Joseph Johnston by advancing into Georgia.
June 24 – Battle of Kennesaw Mountain (Georgia)
July 17 – Jefferson Davis replaces Johnston with John Bell Hood.
July 20 – Battle of Peachtree Creek (Georgia)
July 22 – Battle of Atlanta
August 31-September 1 – Battle of Jonesboro (2) (Georgia)
September 2 – Sherman takes Atlanta

Paths to Victory

August 31 – George McClellan nominated by Democrats to challenge Abraham Lincoln in the November election.
November 8 – Lincoln wins reelection decisively.
November 15 – William Sherman launches his devastating march from Atlanta to Savannah.
November 30-December 16 – Battles of Franklin and Nashville (Tennessee)
December 13 – Sherman captures Fort McAllister, below Savannah, and links up with Federal fleet.
December 21 – Sherman takes Savannah.

Carolinas, 1865

January 13-15 – Federals capture Fort fisher and proceed to seal off Wilmington, North Carolina, the last Confederate port open to foreign trade.
January 21 – William Sherman leaves Savannah to advance through the Carolinas.
January 31 – U.S. Congress passes Thirteenth Amendment, outlawing slavery.
February 3 – Peace talks between Union and Confederate leaders at Fort Monroe, on the Virginia coast, conclude without an agreement.
February 17 – Confederates abandon Charleston, South Carolina; Sherman’s troops occupy Columbia, South Carolina.
Mach 19-21 – Battle of Bentonville (North Carolina)
March 28 – President Lincoln lays out plans for peace in a meeting with top commanders near Petersburg, Virginia.

Appomattox

March 31-April 1 – Battle of Five Forks (Virginia)
April 2 – Grant breaks through at Petersburg, forcing Confederates to abandon that city and nearby Richmond overnight.
April 6 – Battle of Sayler’s Creek (Virginia)
April 9 – Lee surrenders to Grant at Appomattox Court House.
April 15 – Abraham Lincoln dies after being shot by Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth.
April 26 – Joseph Johnston surrenders to William Sherman.
May 10 – Jefferson Davis captured by Federals in Georgia.
May 23-24 – Victorious Union troops parade through Washington, D.C.
May 26 – Armed resistance to the Union ends with surrender of Confederate troops west of the Mississippi.

Post-War

April 15, 1865 – Abraham Lincoln dies after being shot by Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth. Democrat Andrew Johnson succeeds Abraham Lincoln as president following Lincoln’s assassination.
December 1865 – Republican-dominated Congress refuses to seat newly elected representatives from Southern states reorganized under Johnson’s proclamation and launches its own program of Reconstruction.
May 1868 – Impeachment trial in Senate ends with Johnson’s acquittal when his opponents fall one vote short of the two-thirds majority needed to convict.
March 4, 1869 – Republican Ulysses S. Grant succeeds Johnston and supports the Fifteenth Amendment, barring states from denying citizens the right to vote on the basis of race.
March 2, 1877 – Republican Rutherford B. Hayes declared winner of disputed presidential election after signaling the end of Reconstruction by pledging to remove the last Federal troops in the South, send there by Grant to protect voting rights.