Interactive Timeline – 1861-1865

correct incorrect Dec 1860 to Feb 1861 Secession of lower South TX, LA, MS, AL, FL, GA, SC

correct incorrect Apr 12 Confederates open fire on Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor

correct incorrect Apr Lincoln calls up 75,000 militia; precipitates secession of upper South VA, NC, AR, TN

correct incorrect May Benjamin Butler, Union commander at Fortress Monroe on York Peninsula, declares three slaves who entered his camp "contraband" and refuses to return them to their owners

correct incorrect Jul Confederates win Battle of Bull Run VA and drive Union army back to Washington, DC

correct incorrect Aug U.S. Congress passes First Confiscation Act, which provides U.S. Army with authority to confiscate slaves whose owners employ them in direct support of Confederate military

correct incorrect THE WORLD: Kingdom of Italy proclaimed at Turin Tsar Alexander II abolishes serfdom in Russia

correct incorrect Feb Union forces capture Forts Henry and Donelson TN, giving the North control of the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers

correct incorrect Apr Union wins Battle of Shiloh TN, forcing Confederates back to Corinth, MS

correct incorrect Apr President Lincoln signs legislation abolishing slavery in DC, with compensation for the owners

correct incorrect Jun U.S. Congress outlaws slavery in U.S. territories

correct incorrect Jun U.S. Congress passes Second Confiscation Act that frees the slaves of any rebel in areas of the Confederacy controlled by Union army and giving Lincoln authority to use contrabands as soldiers

correct incorrect Jun-Jul Lee repulses McClellan's advance on Richmond, VA during Seven Days' Battles

correct incorrect Aug Confederates win Second Battle of Bull Run, VA and drive Union forces back toward Washington, DC

correct incorrect Sep McClellan claims victory in Battle of Antietam MD after forcing retreat of Lee's army back across the Potomac

correct incorrect Sep Lincoln issues Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation

correct incorrect Oct Battle of Perryville KY forces Braxton Bragg to abandon Confederate invasion of Kentucky

correct incorrect Dec Confederates win Battle of Fredericksburg VA with heavy Union causalities

correct incorrect Jan Lincoln signs Final Emancipation Proclamation, freeing all slaves held in Confederate-controlled territory

correct incorrect May Confederates win Battle of Chancellorsville VA

correct incorrect Jul Union wins Battle of Gettysburg VA

correct incorrect Jul Union captures Vicksburg, MS, and gains control of the Mississippi River

correct incorrect Sep Confederates win Battle of Chickamauga TN, forcing Union troops back into Chattanooga

correct incorrect Nov Union wins Battle of Chattanooga TN, forcing Confederates back into Georgia

correct incorrect THE WORLD: "January Uprising" of Poles against Russia begins

correct incorrect May Battle of Spotsylvania, VA

correct incorrect May Battle of the Wilderness, VA

correct incorrect Jun Confederates win Battle of Cold Harbor, VA but Union forces push south toward Petersburg

correct incorrect Mid-Jun Siege of Petersburg, V, begins

correct incorrect Sep Fall of Atlanta, GA

correct incorrect Nov Sherman's forces leave Atlanta for Savannah

correct incorrect Late Sep-Oct Union wins decisive victories in Battles of Winchester, Fisher's Hill, and Cedar Creek, VA, giving Federals control of lower Shenandoah valley

correct incorrect Nov-Dec Union wins decisive victories in Battles of Franklin and Nashville, completing Union control of western theater

correct incorrect Dec Sherman occupies Savannah, GA

correct incorrect THE WORLD: First Geneva Convention established to regulate treatment of injured soldiers

correct incorrect THE WORLD: End of Taiping Rebellion in China, which leaves 20 million dead over 14 years of fighting

correct incorrect THE WORLD: War of the Triple Alliance--Paraguay against Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay--begins

correct incorrect Feb Fall of Columbia, SC

correct incorrect Mar Confederate Congress passes legislation providing for the enlistment of black men into Confederate military units

correct incorrect Apr Petersburg and Richmond evacuated

correct incorrect Apr Lee surrenders to Grant at Appomattox Courthouse, VA

correct incorrect Apr Joseph Johnston surrenders to William T. Sherman at Durham Station, NC

correct incorrect Dec 13th Amendment ratified, abolishing slavery in United States