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Cornwall Terrace Elementary: American Civil War

Important Events of the Civil War - World Book Student

Important events during the American Civil War

(from the Civil War, American article)
1861
April 12
Confederate troops attacked Fort Sumter.
April 15
Lincoln issued a call for troops.
April 19
Lincoln proclaimed a blockade of the South.
May 21
Richmond, Virginia, chosen as the Confederate capital.
July 21
Northern troops retreated in disorder after the  First Battle of Bull Run (Manassas).

 

1862
Feb. 6
Fort Henry fell to Union forces.
Feb. 16
Grant's troops captured  Fort Donelson.
March 9
The ironclad ships Monitor and Merrimack (Virginia) battled to a draw.
April 6-7
Both sides suffered heavy losses in the  Battle of Shiloh, won by the Union.
April 16
The Confederacy began to draft soldiers.
April 18-25
Farragut attacked and captured New Orleans.
May 4
McClellan's Union troops occupied Yorktown, Virginia, and advanced on Richmond.
May 30
Northern forces occupied Corinth, Mississippi.
June 6
Memphis fell to Union armies.
June 25-July 1
Confederate forces under Lee saved Richmond in the  Battles of the Seven Days.
Aug. 27-30
Lee and Jackson led Southern troops to victory in the  Second Battle of Bull Run (Manassas).
Sept. 17
Confederate forces retreated in defeat after the bloody  Battle of Antietam (Sharpsburg).
Sept. 22
Lincoln issued a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation.
Oct. 8
Buell's forces ended Bragg's invasion of Kentucky in the  Battle of Perryville.
Dec. 13
Burnside's Union forces received a crushing blow in the  Battle of Fredericksburg.
Dec. 31-Jan. 2, 1863
Union troops under Rosecrans forced the Confederates to retreat after the  Battle of Stones River (Murfreesboro).

 

1863
Jan. 1
Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation.
March 3
The North passed a draft law.
May 1-4
Northern troops under Hooker were defeated in the  Battle of Chancellorsville.
May 1-19
Grant's army defeated the Confederates in Mississippi and began to besiege  Vicksburg .
July 1-3
The  Battle of Gettysburg ended in a Southern defeat and marked a turning point in the war.
July 4
 Vicksburg fell to Northern troops.
July 8
Northern forces occupied Port Hudson, Louisiana.
Sept. 19-20
Southern troops under Bragg won the  Battle of Chickamauga.
Nov. 19
Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address.
Nov. 23-25
Grant and Thomas led Union armies to victory in the  Battle of Chattanooga.

 

1864
March 9
Grant became general in chief of the North.
May 5-6
Union and Confederate troops clashed in the  Battle of the Wilderness.
May 8-19
Grant and Lee held their positions in the  Battle of Spotsylvania Court House.
June 3
The Union suffered heavy losses on the final day of the  Battle of Cold Harbor.
June 20
Grant's troops began the  Siege of Petersburg, Virginia.
July 11-12
Early's Confederate forces almost reached Washington but retreated after brief fighting.
Aug. 5
Farragut won the  Battle of Mobile Bay.
Sept. 2
Northern troops under Sherman captured Atlanta.
Sept. 19-Oct. 19
Sheridan led his troops on a rampage of destruction in the Shenandoah Valley.
Nov. 8
Lincoln was reelected president.
Nov. 15
 Sherman's March through Georgia began.
Nov. 23
Hood invaded Tennessee.
Nov. 30
Schofield's Union forces inflicted heavy losses on Hood in the  Battle of Franklin.
Dec. 15-16
 The Battle of Nashville smashed Hood's army.
Dec. 21
Sherman's troops occupied Savannah, Georgia.

 

1865
Feb. 6
Lee became general in chief of the South.
April 2
Confederate troops gave up Petersburg and Richmond.
April 9
Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox.
April 14
Lincoln was shot. He died the following morning.
April 26
Johnston surrendered to Sherman.
May 4
Confederate forces in Alabama and Mississippi surrendered.
May 11
Jefferson Davis was captured.
May 26
The last Confederate troops surrendered.

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