America’s bloodiest clash, the Civil War conflict (1861-65) pitted the Union against the Confederate States of America and resulted in the death of more than 620,000, with millions more injured.;xNLx;;xNLx;Academic Content Standard: ;xNLx;;xNLx;Disputes over the nature of federalism, complicated by economic developments in the United States, resulted in sectional issues, including slavery, which led to the American Civil War.
Confederate forces attack Fort Sumter, a Union held base in South Carolina.
Troops from Washington DC, including the Sixth Massachusetts, under General Benjamin Butler, took possesion of the Relay House on the Baltimore and Washington Railroad in Maryland and began its fortification. This secured the communication between the capital and Annapolis and further protected the railroad after the Confederate seizure of Harpers Ferry and sections of the Baltimore and Ohio line in Virginia. A Union fort known as Fort Dix was built in Relay on top of the hill behind the Relay House
General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson defeats General Mcdowell and forces Union troops back to Washington.
Two confederate officials were seized by the U.S Navy headed to England. England then demands their release or threatens war. With no choice Lincoln releases the men.
President Lincoln issues General War Order No. 1 calling for all United States naval and land forces to begin a general advance by February 22, George Washington's birthday
President Lincoln is struck with grief as his beloved 11 year old son, Willie, dies from typhoid fever, probably caused by polluted drinking water in the White House.
The Confederate Ironclad 'Merrimac' sinks two wooden Union ships then battles the Union Ironclad 'Monitor' to a draw. Naval warfare is changed forever, making wooden ships useless.
17 Union ships under the command of Flag Officer David Farragut head up the Mississippi River to take New Orleans, the South's greatest seaport.
75,000 union soldiers are defeated by 55,000 confederates led by Stonewall Jackson. The union is once again required to retreat to Washington.
The bloodiest day in U.S. military history as Gen. Robert E. Lee and the Confederate Armies are stopped at Antietam in Maryland by McClellan and numerically superior Union forces. By nightfall 26,000 men are dead, wounded, or missing. Lee then withdraws to Virginia.
President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, as the nation approached its third year of bloody civil war. The proclamation declared "that all persons held as slaves 'within the rebellious states' are, and henceforward shall be free."
Army of the Potomac under General Burnside suffers a costly defeat at Fredericksburg in Virginia with a loss of 12,653 men after 14 frontal assaults on well entrenched Rebels on Marye's Heights. "We might as well have tried to take hell," a Union soldier remarks. Confederate losses are 5,309.
President Lincoln issues the final Emancipation Proclamation freeing all slaves in territories held by Confederates and emphasizes the enlisting of black soldiers in the Union Army. The war to preserve the Union now becomes a revolutionary struggle for the abolition of slavery.
The South loses one of its boldest and most colorful generals on this day, when 39-year-old Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson dies of pneumonia a week after his own troops accidentally fired on him during the Battle of Chancellorsville in Virginia.
The tide of war turns against the South as the Confederates are defeated at the Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania.
Vicksburg, the last Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi River, surrenders to General Grant and the Army of the West after a six week siege. With the Union now in control of the Mississippi, the Confederacy is effectively split in two, cut off from its western allies.
President Lincoln delivers a two minute Gettysburg Address at a ceremony dedicating the Battlefield as a National Cemetery.
President Lincoln appoints General Grant to command all of the armies of the United States. General William T. Sherman succeeds Grant as commander in the west.
Union forces miss an opportunity to capture Petersburg and cut off the Confederate rail lines. As a result, a nine month siege of Petersburg begins with Grant's forces surrounding Lee.
Democrats nominate George B. McClellan for president to run against Republican incumbent Abraham Lincoln.
Atlanta is captured by Sherman's Army. "Atlanta is ours, and fairly won," Sherman telegraphs Lincoln. The victory greatly helps President Lincoln's bid for re-election.
Abraham Lincoln is re-elected president, defeating Democrat George B. McClellan. Lincoln carries all but three states with 55 percent of the popular vote and 212 of 233 electoral votes.
The U.S. Congress approves the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, to abolish slavery. The amendment is then submitted to the states for ratification.
A peace conference occurs as President Lincoln meets with Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephens at Hampton Roads in Virginia, but the meeting ends in failure - the war will continue.
The last offensive for Lee's Army of Northern Virginia begins with an attack on the center of Grant's forces at Petersburg. Four hours later the attack is broken
Grant's forces begin a general advance and break through Lee's lines at Petersburg. Confederate Gen. Ambrose P. Hill is killed. Lee evacuates Petersburg. The Confederate Capital, Richmond, is evacuated. Fires and looting break out. The next day, Union troops enter and raise the Stars and Stripes.
Gen. Robert E. Lee surrenders his Confederate Army to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at the village of Appomattox Court House in Virginia. This signaled the end of the Southern States attempt to create a separate nation. It set the stage for the emergence of an expanded and more powerful Federal government.
At the end of May 1865, President Andrew Johnson announced his plans for Reconstruction, which reflected both his staunch Unionism and his firm belief in states’ rights.
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