Teacher Resources
- In the Classroom
- In the Outdoor Classroom
- Professional Development
Explore our timeline of the American Civil War’s battles and events, from John Brown's Raid to the Adoption of the 13th Amendment.
Pre-War 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865
1854
May 30 - The Kansas-Nebraska Act is signed into law
1859
October 16 - John Brown raids Harpers Ferry, Virginia (Now West Virginia)
October 18 - U.S. Marines storm engine house at Harpers Ferry and capture John Brown
1860
November 1860
November 6 - Abraham Lincoln elected 16th President of the United States
November 10 - South Carolina Senator James Chestnut Jr. resigns his seat in the U.S. Senate
November 11 - South Carolina Senator James Henry Hammond resigns his seat in the U.S. Senate
November 18 - Georgia legislature appropriates $1,000,000 to arm the state
December 1860
December 20 - South Carolina adopts an Ordinance of Secession
December 26 - Major Robert Anderson evacuates Fort Moultrie for Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor
1861
January 1861
January 2 - South Carolina troops seize Fort Johnson in Charleston Harbor
January 3 - Georgia state troops seize Fort Pulaski
January 4 - Alabama state troops seize the U.S. Arsenal at Mount Vernon, Alabama
January 5 - U.S. Senators from seven Southern states meet in Washington, D.C. to discuss secession
January 6 - The state of Florida seizes the Apalachicola Arsenal
January 7 - Mississippi and Alabama State Conventions meet to discuss secession
January 8 - Jacob Thompson of Mississippi - the Secretary of the Interior and last Southern member of President James Buchanan's Cabinet - resigns
January 9 - Mississippi secedes from the Union
January 9 - The Star of the West fails to relieve Fort Sumter
January 10 - Florida adopts an Ordinance of Secession
January 11 - Alabama adopts an Ordinance of Secession
January 14 - Federal troops occupy Fort Taylor at Key West in order to prevent its seizure by secessionist forces
January 16 - Crittenden Compromise dies in the U.S. Senate
January 19 - Georgia adopts an Ordinance of Secession
January 20 - Mississippi state troops seize Ship Island in the Gulf of Mississippi
January 24 - Georgia state troops seize the U.S. Arsenal at Augusta
January 26 - Louisiana adopts an Ordinance of Secession
February 1861
February 1 - Texas adopts an Ordinance of Secession and schedules a referendum for February 23
February 4 - Delegates from the seceded states meet to establish the Confederate government
February 8 - The convention of seceded states adopts a provisional constitution
February 9 - Jefferson Davis elected provisional Confederate President
February 15 - The Provisional Confederate Congress establishes a Peace Commission to prevent war with the United States
February 16 - Texas state troops seize the U.S. Arsenal at San Antonio
February 18 - Jefferson Davis inaugurated as provisional president of the Confederacy
February 19 - Louisiana state troops seize the U.S. paymaster's office in New Orleans
February 23 - President-elect Lincoln arrives in Washington, D.C.
February 23 - Voters in Texas approve referendum to secede
March 1861
March 2 - After forcing the resignation of Governor Sam Houston, Texas formally joins the Confederacy.
March 4 - Abraham Lincoln becomes the 16th President of the United States of America
March 15 - Lincoln meets with his Cabinet to discuss whether or not to resupply Fort Sumter
April 1861
April 11 - The Confederates demand the surrender of Fort Sumter
April 12 - The Confederates in Charleston bombard Fort Sumter
April 13 - Fort Sumter surrenders to Confederate forces
April 17 - Virginia adopts an Ordinance of Secession and schedules a referendum for May 23
April 18/19 - Federal troops burn the U.S. Arsenal at Harpers Ferry to prevent it from falling into the hands of secessionists. The Confederates are nonetheless able to seize valuable military supplies when they occupy Harpers Ferry
April 19 - Pratt Street Riot in Baltimore, Maryland
April 19 - President Lincoln declares a blockade of Southern ports
April 20/21 - Federal forces attempt to destroy the Gosport Navy Yard at Norfolk, Virginia by setting it ablaze. Secessionists put out the fires and salvage a large portion of the facility
April 21 - The slave ship Nightingale is captured by the USS Saratoga
April 22 - Robert E. Lee accepts command of Virginia forces
April 23 - United State Army Officers in San Antonio, Texas are seized as prisoners of war
April 30 - New York Yacht Club offers its vessels to the Federal government
May 1861
May 3 - Lincoln calls for volunteers to join the Union Army for a three-year term
May 6 - Arkansas and Tennessee adopt Ordinances of Secession. Tennessee schedules a referendum for June 8
May 13 - U.S. troops occupy Baltimore, Maryland
May 20 - North Carolina adopts an Ordinance of Secession
May 20 - Kentucky declares its neutrality
May 21 - The Confederate Congress agrees to move the Confederate capital from Montgomery, Alabama to Richmond, Virginia
May 23 - Virginia voters ratify the State Convention's decision to secede
May 24 - Federal troops seize Alexandria, Virginia
May 24 - Zouave leader Elmer Ellsworth killed in Alexandria by James W. Jackson
June 1861
June 1 - Skirmish at Fairfax Court House, Virginia
June 2 - P.G.T. Beauregard takes command of Confederate forces in northern Virginia
June 8 - Tennessee voters approve referendum to secede
June 10 - Engagement at Big Bethel, Virginia
June 16 - Thaddeus Lowe demonstrates the potential of hot air balloons to the government in Washington, D.C.
June 17 - Engagement at Boonville Missouri
June 17 - Action at Vienna, Virginia
July 1861
July 5 - Engagement at Carthage, Missouri
July 7 - Skirmish at Laurel Hill, Virginia (now West Virginia)
July 11 - Engagement at Rich Mountain, Virginia (now West Virginia)
July 18 - Engagement at Blackburn's Ford, Virginia
July 21 - War's first major battle erupts at Manassas (Bull Run), Virginia
July 26 - Federal forces evacuate Fort Fillmore, New Mexico Territory
July 27 - Union Major Isaac Lynde surrenders his command at San Augustine Springs, New Mexico Territory
July 27 - Major General George McClellan put in command of the Federal Division of the Potomac
July 31 - Ulysses S. Grant promoted to brigadier general
August 1861
August 3 - Balloon ascension by John LaMountain at Hampton Roads, Virginia
August 10 - Battle of Wilson's Creek, Missouri
August 12 - Confederates ambushed by Mescalero Apaches in Big Bend country south of Fort Davis, Texas
August 14 - Soldiers of the 79th New York mutiny near Washington, D.C.
August 29 - Capture of Forts Hatteras and Clark, North Carolina
September 1861
September 3 - Confederate troops enter Kentucky, ending the state's neutral status
September 5 - Skirmish at Papinsville, Missouri
September 6 - Federal forces seize Paducah, Kentucky
September 10 - Engagement at Carinfex Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia)
September 12 - Siege of Lexington, Missouri begins
September 12 to 15 - Battle of Cheat Mountain, Virginia (now West Virginia)
September 20 - Union garrison surrenders Lexington, Missouri
September 26 - Skirmish near Fort Thorn, New Mexico Territory
October 1861
October 3 - The Battle of Greenbrier River (Camp Bartow), Virginia (now West Virginia)
October 9 - Engagement on Santa Rosa Island, Florida
October 12 - First ironclad in the U.S. Navy, USS St. Louis, launched at Carondelet Missouri
October 21 - Battle of Ball's Bluff (Leesburg), Virginia
October 24 - Western Union completes the first trans-continental telegraph line
October 25 - Union Major Charles Zagonyi's "famous" charge into Springfield, Missouri
October 31 - Secessionist Missouri legislators meet at Neosho and vote to leave the Union
November 1861
November 1 - George McClellan replaces Lieutenant General Winfield Scott as general-in-chief of the U.S. Army
November 2 - General John C. Fremont removed from command of the Department of the West by President Lincoln
November 7 - Engagement at Belmont, Missouri
November 8 - The Confederate emissaries to England and France are removed from the British vessel RMS Trent, initiating the "Trent Affair" and endangering the United States' relationship with Great Britain
November 8/9 - Engagement at Ivy Mountain, Kentucky
November 12 - The blockade runner Fingal, bought by Confederates in England, arrives in Savannah
November 22 - Union begins bombardment of Fort McRee in Pensacola, Florida
November 28 - Missouri admitted to the Confederacy despite never officially seceding from the Union
December 1861
December 8 - CSS Sumter seizes Northern merchant ship Eben Dodge in the mid-Atlantic
December 9 - The Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War is established by Congress
December 9 - Engagement at Chusto-Talasah (Bird Creek), Indian Territory (now Oklahoma)
December 11 - Disastrous fire in Charleston, South Carolina
December 23 - Skirmish at Dayton, Missouri
December 26 - Engagement between Confederate forces and Unionist Native Americans at Chustenahlah, Indian Territory (now Oklahoma)
December 26 - United States releases Mason and Slidell, ending the Trent Affair
December 27 - Skirmish near Hallsville, Missouri
December 30 - Banks in New York suspend specie payments
1862
January 1862
January 10 - Engagement at Middle Creek, Kentucky
January 15 - Edwin M. Stanton confirmed as U.S. Secretary of War
January 18 - The Confederate Congress votes to formally organize the Confederate Territory of Arizona
January 19 - Battle of Mill Springs (Logan's Cross Roads), Kentucky
January 22 - Bombardment of Fort Henry, Tennessee by USS Lexington
January 30 - The USS Monitor is launched at Greenpoint, New York
February 1862
February 3 - President Lincoln declines an offer of war elephants from the King of Siam
February 6 - Surrender of Fort Henry, Tennessee
February 7/8 - Battle of Roanoke Island, North Carolina
February 10 - Union forces destroy the Confederate "Mosquito" fleet at Elizabeth City, North Carolina
February 14 - Union ironclad gunboats attack Fort Donelson, Tennessee
February 15 - All-out Confederate counter-attack at Fort Donelson
February 16 - Fort Donelson surrenders unconditionally to Ulysses S. Grant
February 20/21 - Battle of Val Verde, New Mexico Territory
February 22 - Jefferson Davis inaugurated as President of the Confederate States of America. He had been serving as the Confederacy's provisional president since February 1862
February 23 - Federal troops occupy Fayettsville, Arkansas
February 25 - Federal troops occupy Nashville, Tennessee
March 1862
March 3 - The Union Army arrives at New Madrid, Missouri
March 6 - Lincoln asks Congress to provide funds to states willing to begin the gradual abolition of slavery
March 7/8 - Battle of Pea Ridge (Elkhorn Tavern), Arkansas
March 8 - CSS Virginia engages and destroys the USS Cumberland and the USS Congress
March 9 - USS Monitor and CSS Virginia battle at Hampton Roads, Virginia
March 11 - Lincoln relieves McClellan from his position as general-in-chief of the Federal Armies
March 14 - New Bern, North Carolina captured
March 14 - Union forces capture New Madrid, Missouri
March 18 - George W. Randolph appointed Confederate Secretary of War
March 23 - Battle of First Kernstown, Virginia
March 24 - Riot at abolition meeting in Cincinnati, Ohio
March 26 - Engagement at Apache Canyon, New Mexico Territory
March 28 - Battle of Glorieta Pass, New Mexico Territory
April 1862
April 4 - Federal ironclad gunboat runs the batteries at Island No. 10 on the Mississippi River
April 5 - Siege of Yorktown, Virginia begins
April 6/7 - Battle of Shiloh (Pittsburg Landing), Tennessee begins
April 8 - Battle of Fallen Timbers
April 8 - Island No. 10 falls to Union forces under Major General John Pope
April 10 - Congresses passes Lincoln's suggested resolution offering financial aid to those states willing to begin the gradual abolition of slavery
April 10 - Battle of Fort Pulaski begins
April 11 - Surrender of Fort Pulaski, Georgia
April 16 - Slavery abolished in the District of Columbia
April 18 - Bombardment begins at Fort Jackson and Fort St. Philip, 70 miles below New Orleans, Louisiana
April 24 - Federal fleet passes forts below New Orleans, Louisiana
April 25/26 - Bombardment and surrender of Fort Macon, North Carolina
April 29 - Union "army group" advances on Corinth, Mississippi
May 1862
May 5 - Battle of Williamsburg, Virginia
May 7 - Engagement at West Point (Eltham's Landing), Virginia
May 8 - Battle of McDowell, Virginia
May 9 - Bombardment of Pensacola, Florida
May 10 - Naval engagement at Plum Run Bend, Arkansas
May 10 - Union forces capture Norfolk, Virginia
May 11 - Confederate sailors blow up the CSS Virginia to keep her from falling into Union hands
May 15 - Battle of Drewry's Bluff, Virginia
May 20 - Lincoln signs the Homestead Act
May 23 - Engagement at Front Royal, Virginia
May 25 - Battle of First Winchester, Virginia
May 26 - Skirmish at Calico Rock, Arkansas
May 29/30 - Confederates evacuate Corinth, Mississippi
May 31 - Battle of Seven Pines (Fair Oaks), Virginia begins
June 1862
June 1 - Battle of Seven Pines (Fair Oaks) ends
June 1 - General Robert E. Lee takes command of the Army of Northern Virginia
June 3 to 5 - Evacuation of Fort Pillow, Tennessee
June 6 - Battle of Memphis, Tennessee
June 7 - William Mumford hanged in New Orleans for destroying the U.S. flag
June 8 - Battle of Cross Keys, Virginia
June 9 - Battle of Port Republic, Virginia
June 12 - J.E.B. Stuart begins his "Ride Around McClellan"
June 13 - Skirmish at New Market, Virginia
June 16 - Battle of Secessionville, South Carolina
June 19 - Lincoln signs a law prohibiting slavery in the Western territories
June 25 - Seven Days Battles begin at Oak Grove (French's Field), Virginia
June 26 - Battle of Mechanicsville, (Beaver Dam Creek), Virginia
June 27 - Battle of Gaines' Mill (First Cold Harbor), Virginia
June 27/28 - Action at Garnett's and Golding's Farms, Virginia
June 28 - Passage of Vicksburg batteries by Flag Officer D.G. Farragut's deep water fleet
June 29 - Battle of Savage Station, Virginia
June 30 - Battle of Glendale (Frayser's Farm), Virginia
July 1862
July 1 - Battle of Malvern Hill, Virginia
July 2 - Morrill Land Grant Act approved by President Lincoln
July 12 - John Hunt Morgan's Confederate raiders capture Lebanon, Kentucky on their first raid
July 13 - Garrison at Murfreesboro, Tennessee captured by Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest
July 14 - West Virginia Statehood Bill passes the Senate
July 15 - CSS Arkansas sorties from Yazoo River and passes the combined Union fleets
July 16 - Confederate representative meets with Napoleon III of France to discuss foreign aid
July 22 - President Lincoln presents the Emancipation Proclamation to his Cabinet
July 29 - Belle Boyd, Confederate spy, captured
August 1862
August 5 - Engagement at Baton Rouge, Louisiana
August 6 - CSS Arkansas scuttled near Baton Rouge, Louisiana
August 9 - Battle of Cedar Mountain (Slaughter Mountain), Virginia
August 10 - German-American Unionist are massacred by Confederates on the banks of the Nueces River in Texas
August 11 - Confederate partisans capture Independence, Missouri
August 13 - Skirmish on Yellow Creek, Missouri
August 15 - Skirmish at Clarendon, Arkansas
August 17 - Sioux uprising begins in southwest Minnesota
August 19 to 21 - Federal raid on Louisville & Nashville Railroad
August 22 - Affair at Catlett's Station, Virginia
August 24 - CSS Alabama commissioned at sea off Portugal's Azores Islands
August 27 - Stonewall Jackson captures and plunders Union supply depots at Manassas Junction, Virginia
August 28 - The Battle of Second Manassas (Bull Run) begins at Brawner's Farm (Groveton), Virginia
August 29/30 - Battle of Richmond, Kentucky
August 30 - The Battle of Second Manassas ends with a decisive Confederate victory
September 1862
September 1 - Battle of Chantilly (Ox Hill), Virginia
September 2 - Major General George B. McClellan restored to command in Virginia
September 9 - Skirmish at Barnesville, Maryland
September 13 - Federal soldiers near Frederick, Maryland find Lee's Special Order No. 191
September 14 - Battle of South Mountain Gaps, Maryland
September 15 - Capture of Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia)
September 17 - Battle of Antietam (Sharpsburg), Maryland
September 17 - Union forces evacuate Cumberland Gap, a strategically important mountain pass near the junction of Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky
September 17 - Munfordville, Kentucky surrenders to Confederate forces
September 19 - Battle of Iuka, Mississippi
September 19/20 - Battle of Shepherdstown (Boteler's Ford), Virginia (now West Virginia)
September 21 - Citizens of San Francisco, California contribute $100,000 for relief of Federal wounded
September 22 - President Lincoln issues his Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation
September 25 - Fighting at Snow's Pond, Kentucky
September 27 - One of the first Federal regiments of black soldiers is organized in New Orleans, Louisiana
October 1862
October 1 - Skirmish near Sharpsburg, Maryland
October 3 - Battle of Corinth, Mississippi
October 8 - Battle of Perryville (Chaplin Hills), Kentucky
October 10 - Fighting at Harrodsburg and Danville Cross Roads, Kentucky
October 10 - Jefferson Davis asks Virginia to draft 4,500 blacks to complete fortifications at Richmond
October 11 - Skirmish near Helena, Arkansas
October 15 - Skirmish at Neely's Bend on the Cumberland River in Tennessee
October 18 - Garrison captured at Lexington, Kentucky in Morgan's Raid
October 22 - Skirmish at Fort Wayne, Indian Territory (now Oklahoma)
October 24 - Union Major General William Rosecrans replaces Major General Don Carlos Buell as commander of the Army of the Ohio
October 29 - Skirmish at Island Mound, Missouri, the first time in the Civil War that African American soldiers fight as part an organized unit
November 1862
November 21 - James A. Seddon replaces George W. Randolph as Confederate Secretary of War
November 28 - Engagement at Cane Hill, Arkansas
December 2 - Skirmish at Leed's Ferry on Virginia's Rappahannock River
December 1862
December 5 - Engagement at Coffeeville, Mississippi
December 7 - Engagement at Hartsville, Tennessee
December 7 - Battle of Prairie Grove, Arkansas
December 11 to 15 - The Battle of Fredericksburg, Virginia
December 12 - USS Cairo sunk on the Yazoo River, Mississippi
December 18 - Skirmish at Lexington, Tennessee
December 20 - Confederate cavalry led by General Earl Van Dorn raids Holly Springs, Mississippi
December 22 - Confederate cavalry under James Hunt Morgan crosses the Cumberland River to begin the Christmas Raid in Kentucky
December 26 - Confederate cavalry under JEB Stuart leaves winter encampment to raid the rear of the Army of the Potomac in Stafford County, Virginia
December 26 to 29 - Battle of Chickasaw Bayou, Mississippi
December 27 - Skirmish at Dumfries, Virginia
December 31 - Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest's clash at Parker's Cross Roads, Tennessee
December 31 - Battles of Stones River begins near Murfreesboro, Tennessee
1863
January 1863
January 1 - Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation goes into effect
January 2 - The Battle of Stones River concludes
January 9 to 11 - The Battle of Arkansas Post (Fort Hindman), Arkansas
January 12 - Skirmish at Lick Creek, Arkansas
January 17 - Lincoln approves Congressional resolution authorizing the Treasury to issue $100,000,000 in new notes in order to pay Union soldiers and sailors. President Lincoln also calls for regulation of the national currency
January 22 - Union Major General Ambrose Burnside's "mud march" ends in failure
January 31 - Confederate ironclads temporarily break the blockade in Charleston Harbor
February 1863
February 5 and 7 - Skirmish at Olive Branch Church, Virginia
February 13 - Skirmish near Washington, North Carolina
February 15 - Skirmish at Arkadelphia, Arkansas
February 26 - Confederate guerrillas attack freight train near Woodburn, Tennessee
March 1863
March 3 - Abraham Lincoln signs the Conscription Act, creating the first national military draft in American history
March 11 - Confederates at Fort Pemberton block Union attempt to bypass Vicksburg's defenses
March 14 - USS Mississippi runs aground near Port Hudson. The ship's crew scuttles the vessel in order to keep it from falling into Confederate hands
March 17 - Engagement at Kelly's Ford, Virginia
March 24/25 - Union amphibious expedition skirmishes with Confederates, Steele's Bayou, Mississippi
March 26 - West Virginia votes for gradual emancipation in the state
March 27 - Skirmish at Palatka, Florida
April 1863
April 7 - Naval attack on Charleston, South Carolina
April 11 - Siege of Suffolk, Virginia by Confederates begins
April 17 - Union Colonel Benjamin Grierson's Raid from La Grange, Tennessee to Baton Rouge, Louisiana begins
April 21 - Generals Jones and Imboden begin Confederate raid on the B&O Railroad,Virginia (now West Virginia)
April 24 - Confederate government passes a tax in-kind on one-tenth of all produce
April 30 - Battle of Chancellorsville begins near Fredericksburg, Virginia
May 1863
May 1 - Battle of Port Gibson, Mississippi
May 2 - During the Battle of Chancellorsville, Confederate General T.J. "Stonewall" Jackson is accidently shot by his own men
May 3 - Second Battle of Fredericksburg, Virginia
May 3/4 - Chancellorsville Campaign continues with the Battle of Salem Church
May 6 - Battle of Chancellorsville ends with Confederate victory
May 10 - Death of Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson
May 14 - Engagement at Jackson, Mississippi
May 16 - Battle of Champion Hill (Baker's Creek), Mississippi
May 17 - Battle of Big Black River Bridge, Mississippi
May 19 - First assault on Vicksburg, Mississippi
May 21 - Engagement at Plains Store, Louisiana
May 22 - Second assault on Vicksburg
May 22 - Siege of Port Hudson, Louisiana begins
May 27 - First assault on Port Hudson
June 1863
June 7 - Battle of Milliken's Bend, Louisiana
June 9 - Battle of Brandy Station (Fleetwood Heights), Virginia
June 13 to 15 - Battle of Second Winchester
June 14 - Second Assault on Port Hudson
June 15 - Fight at Stephenson's Depot, Virginia, part of the Second Battle of Winchester
June 17 - Engagement in Wassaw Sound, Georgia
June 20 - West Virginia joins the Union as the 35th state
June 23 - Tullahoma Campaign begins in Middle Tennessee
July 1863
July 1 - Battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania begins
July 2 - Second day of the Battle of Gettysburg, heavy fighting in The Wheatfield
July 3 - Morgan's raiders cross the Cumberland River near Burkesville, Kentucky
July 3 - Battle of Gettysburg concludes
July 4 - Confederates surrender Vicksburg, Mississippi
July 4 - Lee's forces begin to retreat from Gettysburg
July 5 - Engagement at Birdson Ferry, Mississippi
July 6 - Skirmish at Williamsport and Hagerstown, Maryland
July 8 - Surrender of Port Hudson, Louisiana
July 8 - General John Hunt Morgan crosses the Ohio River into Indiana at Brandenburg, Kentucky
July 10 - Action at Falling Waters, Maryland
July 10 - Siege of Fort Wagner, Charleston Harbor, South Carolina begins
July 11 - First assault on Fort Wagner
July 13 - Draft riots in New York City
July 17 - Engagement at Honey Springs, Indian Territory (now Oklahoma)
July 18 - Assault on Battery Wagner, led by the 54th Massachusetts
July 19 - Engagement at Buffington Island on the Ohio River
July 23 - Skirmish at Manassas Gap, Virginia
July 26 - John Hunt Morgan captured at Salineville, Ohio
July 29 - Queen Victoria reconfirms British policy of neutrality
August 1863
August 1 - Federal cavalry advance from Witteburg on campaign to capture Little Rock, Arkansas
August 8 - Robert E. Lee offers to resign as commander of the Army of Northern Virginia
August 17 - Federals begin bombardment of Fort Sumter as siege of Fort Wagner continues
August 26 - Engagement at White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia
August 27 - Skirmish at Bayou Meto (Reed's Bridge), Arkansas
September 1863
September 5 - Laird Rams detained at Liverpool
September 6 - Confederates evacuate Fort Wagner and Morris Island, South Carolina
September 8 - Confederates repulse attack at Sabine Pass (Fort Griffin), Texas
September 9 - Federal army enters Chattanooga, Tennessee
September 10 - Little Rock, Arkansas captured by Union forces
September 15 - Lincoln suspends writ of habeas corpus
September 18 - Confederates force their way across Chickamauga Creek
September 18 - Skirmish at Britstol in east Tennessee
September 19 - Battle of Chickamauga, Georgia
September 20 - Day two of the Battle of Chickamauga, Union troops retreat to Chattanooga, Tennessee
October 1863
October 5 - Torpedo attack on USS New Ironsides outside Charleston Harbor, South Carolina
October 9 - Bristoe Station Campaign begins in Virginia
October 14 - Battle of Bristoe Station, Virginia
October 16 - U.S. Grant named to command Union Military Division of the Mississippi
October 17 - Lincoln calls for 300,000 additional volunteers to join the army
October 19 - Cavalry engagement known as the Buckland Races, Virginia
October 20 - Skirmish at Warm Springs, North Carolina
October 26 - Fight at King's House near Waynesville, Missouri
October 28 - Engagement at Wauhatchie, Tennessee
October 29 - Fighting at Warsaw and Ozark Missouri
November 1863
November 3 - Engagement at Grand Coteau (Bayou Bourdeau), Louisiana
November 4 - Knoxville Campaign begins
November 7 - Battle of Rappahannock Station, Virginia
November 16 - Battle of Campbell's Station, Tennessee
November 17 - Longstreet lays siege to Knoxville, Tennessee
November 19 - President Lincoln delivers the "Gettysburg Address"
November 20 - Edward Everett sends complimentary letter to Lincoln on his address at Gettysburg
November 23 - Battle of Orchard Knob begins near Chattanooga, Tennessee
November 24 - Battle of Lookout Mountain, Tennessee
November 25 - Battle of Missionary Ridge, Tennessee
November 26 - Mine Run Campaign begins in Virginia
November 27 - Engagement at Payne's Farm, Virginia
November 29 - Assault on Fort Sanders, Tennessee
November 30 - General Braxton Bragg resigns from command of the Army of Tennessee
December 1863
December 1 - Mine Run Campaign concludes in Virginia
December 3 - Siege of Knoxville, Tennessee concludes
December 8 - Lincoln issues Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction
December 14 - Engagement at Bean's Station, Tennessee
December 16 - Skirmish at Salem, Virginia
December 21 - Skirmish at Hunter's Mill, Virginia
December 23 - Fight at Culpepper Court House, Virginia
1864
January 1864
January 11 - Rosser's Raid in West Virginia
January 18 - Skirmish at Grand Gulf, Mississippi
January 23 - Skirmish near Newport, Tennessee
January 27 - Engagement at Fair Gardens (Kelly's Ford), Tennessee
January 28 - Operations around New Bern, North Carolina
January 29 - Cavalry skirmish at Medley, West Virginia
February 1864
February 2 - Southern navy captures U.S. gunboat Underwriter but is forced to burn and flee
February 3 - Union General William T. Sherman begins the Meridian Campaign in Mississippi
February 11 - Skirmish at Lake City, Florida
February 14 - Federal troops capture Meridian, Mississippi
February 17 - Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley sinks the USS Housatonic
February 20 - Battle of Olustee (Ocean Pond), Florida
February 22 - Engagement at Okolona, Mississippi
February 28 - Kilpatrick's Raid on Richmond begins
February 29 - George Custer's cavalry fights skirmishes during a raid on Albermarle County, Virginia
March 1864
March 1 - Federal cavalry raid by Judson Kilpatrick and Ulric Dahlgren on Richmond, Virginia
March 5 - Confederate government orders all vessels to give half freight capacity to government shipments
March 9 - U.S. Grant promoted to Lieutenant General
March 12 - Red River Expedition begins in Louisiana
March 20 - Confederate raider CSS Alabama arrives at Cape Town, South Africa
March 21 - Nevada and Colorado territories admitted into the Union
March 22 - Fighting at Bald Spring Canon on Eel River, California
March 25 - Attack on Paducah, Kentucky by Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest
April 1864
April 8 - Battle of Mansfield (Sabine Crossroads), Louisiana (Red River Expedition)
April 9 - Battle of Pleasant Hill, Louisiana (Red River Expedition)
April 12 - Capture of Fort Pillow, Tennessee by Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest
April 20 - Plymouth, North Carolina captured
April 22- The motto "In God We Trust" first stamped on U.S. coins
April 23 - Engagement of Cane River Crossing, Louisiana (Red River Expedition)
April 25 - Action at Mark's Mills, Arkansas on Steele's Camden Expedition
April 26 - Union fleet trapped by low water on the Red River near Alexandria, Louisiana
April 30 - Engagement at Jenkins' Ferry, Arkansas on Steele's Camden Expedition
May 1864
May 5 - Battle of the Wilderness, Virginia
May 7 - Sherman begins his Atlanta campaign
May 7 - Union troops seize Tunnel Hill on the first day of the Atlanta Campaign, an important tunnel on the Western & Atlantic Railroad.
May 8 - Battle of Spotsylvania, Virginia
May 8 - Engagement at Dug Gap, Georgia
May 9 - Engagement at Swift Creek, Virginia
May 11 - Battle of Yellow Tavern, Virginia on Sheridan's Richmond Raid
May 12 - Battle of Spotsylvania continues with the fight for the Bloody Angle
May 12 - Death of J.E.B. Stuart
May 14 - Battle of Resaca, Georgia begins
May 15 - Battle of New Market, Virginia
May 18 - Engagement at Yellow Bayou (Bayou de Glaize), Louisiana (Red River Expedition)
May 20 - Battle of Ware Bottom Church
May 23 - Battle of North Anna River, Virginia
May 25 - Battle of New Hope Church, Georgia
May 27 - Battle of Pickett's Mill, Georgia
May 28 - Skirmish near Jacksonville, Florida
May 28 - Battle of Dallas, Georgia
May 29 - Confederates capture wagon train at Salem, Arkansas
May 31 - Combat at Bethesda Church, Virginia
June 1864
June 1 - Major Union attack at Cold Harbor, Virginia
June 3 - All-out Union assault at Cold Harbor, Virginia
June 5 - Battle at Piedmont, Virginia
June 6 - Engagement at Lake Chicot (Dutch Bayou), Arkansas
June 8 - Abraham Lincoln nominated for a second term as U.S. President
June 10 - Battle of Brice's Cross Roads (Guntown), Mississippi
June 11 - Skirmish at Pine Mountain, Georgia
June 11 - Battle of Trevilian Station, Virginia
June 15 - First attack on Petersburg, Virginia
June 19 - USS Kearsarge sinks CSS Alabama near France
June 21 - Christopher Memminger resigns as Confederate Secretary of the Treasury
June 22 - Battle of Kolb's Farm (Culp's Farm), Georgia
June 27 - Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, Georgia
June 29 - Skirmish at Reams Station, Virginia on Wilson's Raid
July 1864
July 9 - Battle of Monocacy, Maryland
July 12 - Early's raid of Fort Stevens, DC
July 14 - Battle of Tupelo (Harrisburg), Mississippi
July 17 - Confederate General J.B. Hood replaces J. Johnston as commander of the Army of Tennessee
July 18 - Battle of Cool Spring, Virginia
July 20 - Engagement at Rutherford's Farm, Virginia
July 20 - Battle of Peachtree Creek, Georgia
July 22 - Battle of Atlanta, Georgia
July 24 - Second Battle of Kernstown, Virginia
July 28 - Battle of Ezra Church, Georgia
July 30 - Capture and burning of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania
July 30 - Battle of The Crater at Petersburg, Virginia
August 1864
August 2 - Cavalry skirmish at Hancock, Maryland
August 4 - Operations around Brazos Santiago, Texas
August 5 - Battle of Mobile Bay, Alabama
August 6 - CSS Tallahassee departs Wilmington, North Carolina on a 3-week cruise
August 7 - Engagement at Moorefield, West Virginia
August 9 - Confederates detonante bomb aboard ship at City Point, Virginia
August 16 - Engagement at Guard Hill (Front Royal), Virginia
August 18 - Battle of Globe Tavern (Weldon Railroad), Virginia begins
August 20 - Cavalry combat at Lovejoy's Station on the Macon & Western Railroad in Georgia
August 21 - Battle of Glove Tavern (Weldon Railroad) concludes
August 21 - Skirmish at Summit Point, West Virginia
August 23 - Fort Morgan, at the entrance to Mobile Bay, Alabama, falls to the Federals
August 25 - Second Battle of Reams Station, Virginia
August 31 - Battle of Jonesborough, Georgia
September 1864
September 1 - Confederates evacuate Atlanta, Georgia
September 2 - Federal Army enters Atlanta
September 4 - John Hunt Morgan killed in Greenville, Tennessee
September 7 - Evacuation of Atlanta citizens ordered by Union General William T. Sherman
September 8 - George McClellan accepts nomination as Democratic candidate for President
September 19 - Battle of Third Winchester (Opequon), Virginia
September 22 - Battle of Fisher's Hill, Virginia
September 23 - Skirmish at Athens, Alabama
September 24 - Battle of Pilot Knox (Fort Davidson), Missouri
September 27 - Massacre at Centralia, Missouri
September 28 - Skirmish at Decatur, Georgia
September 29 - Battle of Fort Harrison (Chaffin's Farm), Virginia
September 30 - Skirmish at Carter's Station, Tennessee
September 30 - Battle of Peebles' Farm, Virginia
October 1864
October 2 - Engagement at Saltville, Virginia
October 5 - Battle of Allatoona Pass, Georgia
October 6 - Cavalry engagement at Brock's Gap, Virginia
October 7 - Capture of CSS Florida by USS Wachusett at Bahia, Brazil
October 7 - Battle of Darbytown Road, Virginia
October 9 - Engagement at Tom's Brook, Virginia
October 12 - Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney dies in Washington, D.C.
October 13 - Confederate Colonel John S. Mosby robs train near Harpers Ferry, West Virginia
October 19 - Raid on St. Albans, Vermont
October 19 - Battle of Cedar Creek (Belle Grove), Virginia
October 22 - Battle of Byram's Ford, Missouri
October 23 - Battle of Westport (Kansas City), Missouri
October 25 - Battle of Mine Creek (Marais Des Cygnes), Kansas
October 27 - Battle of Boydton Plank Road (Burgess' Mill), Virginia
October 27 - Engagement at Fair Oaks and on Darbytown Road, Virginia
October 27 - Union navy uses "torpedo" to sink Confederate ironclad Albermarle at Plymouth, North Carolina
October 30 - Skirmish at Muscle Shoals, Alabama
November 1864
November 2 - Affair at Hazen's Farm near Devalls Bluff, Arkansas
November 4 - Engagement at Johnsonville, Tennessee
November 8 - Abraham Lincoln is re-elected President of the United States
November 11 - Battle of Bull's Gap, Tennessee
November 15 - William T. Sherman departs Atlanta on the March to the Sea, leaving Atlanta in ruins
November 24 - Skirmish at Columbia, Tennessee
November 25 - Confederates fail at attempt to set fire to New York City hotels and Barnum's Museum
November 28 - Rosser's Raid on New Creek near Keyser, West Virginia
November 29 - Colonel J.M. Chivington leads Sand Creek Massacre in the Colorado Territory
November 29 - Battle of Spring Hill, Tennessee
November 30 - Battle of Franklin, Tennessee
November 30 - Engagement at Honey Hill, South Carolina
December 1864
December 1 - Union General John Schofield's army evacuates Franklin and retreats to Nashville
December 4 - Engagement at Waynesborough, Georgia
December 6 - Salmon P. Chase named Chief Justice of the United States
December 10 - Federal Army arrives in front of Savannah, Georgia
December 13 - Storming of Fort McAlister, Georgia
December 15 - Battle of Nashville, Tennessee begins
December 17 - Action near Franklin, Tennessee
December 19 - Skirmish at Rutherford Creek, Tennessee
December 20 - Confederates evacuate Savannah, Georgia
December 24 - First attack on Fort Fisher, North Carolina
December 25 - Federals abandon first attack on Fort Fisher, North Carolina
December 28 - Engagement at Egypt, Missouri
1865
January 1865
January 12 - Francis Preston Blair Sr. attempts to negotiate peace with Jefferson Davis
January 13 - Second attack on Fort Fisher, North Carolina begins
January 15 - Fort Fisher stormed
January 23 - Joseph E. Johnston opposes Sherman's march through the Carolinas
January 31 - U.S. House passes 13th Amendment abolishing slavery
February 1865
February 1 - Sherman's march through the Carolinas in "full swing"
February 3 - Union and Confederate officials meet to discuss peace
February 5 - Battle of Hatcher's Run (Armstrong's Mill), Virginia begins
February 6 - John C. Breckinridge named Confederate Secretary of War
February 17 - Columbia South Carolina burned
February 17 - Evacuation of Charleston, South Carolina
February 22 - Wilmington, North Carolina captured
March 1865
March 2 - Engagement at Waynesboro, Virginia
March 4 - Abraham Lincon inaugurated for second term as President
March 6 - Battle of Natural Bridge, Florida
March 6 - Lincoln appoints Hugh McCulloch as United States Secretary of the Treasury
March 7-10 - Battle of Kinston (Wyse's Fork), North Carolina
March 10 - Engagement at Monroe's Cross Roads, South Carolina
March 13 - Jefferson Davis signs law authorizing black men to serve in Confederate Army
March 16 - Battle of Averasborough, North Carolina
March 18 - Confederate Congress adjourns
March 19 - Battle of Bentonville, North Carolina
March 22 - Wilson's Raid on Selma, Alabama
March 25 - Battle at Fort Stedman, Virginia
March 27 - Siege of Spanish Fort, Alabama begins
March 27 - Lincoln meets with Generals U.S. Grant and William T. Sherman at City Point, Virginia
March 29 - Appomattox Campaign begins
March 29 - Engagement at Lewis Farm
March 30 - Cavalry skirmish at Montevallo, Alabama during Wilson's Raid
March 31 - Battle of White Oak Road, Virginia
March 31 - Engagement at Dinwiddie Court House, Virginia
April 1865
April 1 - Battle of Five Forks, Virginia
April 2 - Confederate Government evacuates Richmond, Virginia
April 2 - Selma, Alabama assailed and captured
April 2 - Confederate lines at Petersburg breached and Fort Gregg stormed
April 3 - Richmond and Petersburg occupied by Federals
April 4 - Lincoln visits Richmond, Virginia
April 6 - Battle of Sayler's Creek (Sailor's Creek), Virginia
April 7 - Engagement at High Bridge, Virginia
April 7 - Engagement at Cumberland Church, Virginia
April 8 - Siege of Spanish Fort, Alabama concludes
April 8 - Battle of Appomattox Station
April 9 - Lee surrenders to Grant at Appomattox Court House
April 12 - Mobile, Alabama surrenders
April 13 - Skirmish at Raleigh, North Carolina
April 14 - United States flag raised over Fort Sumter, South Carolina
April 14 - Abraham Lincoln is shot at Ford's Theatre
April 15 - Abraham Lincoln dies. Andrew Johnson sworn in as President of the United States
April 16 - Capture of Columbus and West Point, Georgia
April 18 - Sherman and J. Johnston sign armistice at Durham Station, North Carolina
April 26 - General Joseph Johnston surrenders to General William T. Sherman at Durham Station, North Carolina
April 26 - John Wilkes Booth captured and killed in the Garrett Barn, Port Royal, Virginia
April 27 - Explosion of the riverboat Sultana
April 28 - Skirmishes at Princeton, Arkansas on Steele's Camden Expedition
May 1865
May 2 - A $100,000 reward offered for the arrest of Jefferson Davis
May 4 - Surrender of Confederate General Richard Taylor's forces at Citronelle, Alabama
May 10 - Confederate President Jefferson Davis captured by U.S. troops at Irwinville, Georgia
May 12 - Skirmish at Palmito Ranch, Texas - the last engagement of the Civil War
May 23 to 24 - Grand Review of Union armies in Washington, D.C.
May 26 - Surrender of Confederate General E.K. Smith's Trans-Mississippi forces, New Orleans, Louisiana
May 29 - President Andrew Johnson proclaims amnesty for most ex-Confederates
June 1865
June 23 - General Stand Watie surrenders Confederate forces in the Indian Territory (OK)
June 30 - Eight Lincoln-assassination conspirators convicted in Washington, D.C.
July 1865
July 7 - Conspirators in the assassination of Lincoln are executed
November 1865
November 10 - War criminal Henry Wirz hanged
December 1865
December 6 - Georgia becomes the 27th state to ratify the 13th Amendment, abolishing slavery in the United States.
December 18 - Secretary of State William Seward announced to the world that the 13th Amendment has been ratified.
Join t Fight
Donate today to preserve Civil War battlefields and the nation’s history for generations to come.
EXPLORE THE WARS
American Battlefield Trust Store
53,000
ACRES SAVED
The American Battlefield Trust and our members have saved more than 53,000 acres in 24 states!
SEE THE LAND WE'VE SAVED
Shop and Preserve
Show your pride in battlefield preservation by shopping in our store. Every purchase supports the mission.
Give with Confidence!
The Majority of our funds go directly to Preservation and Education.