Civil War Event Timeline

Battle of Fort Sumter (April 12, 1861)

Source: https://www.craftedcharlestontours.com/templates/yooth
eme/ache/31/battle-of-fort-sumter-charleston-history-31dfd658.webp

On April 12, 1861, Abraham Lincoln sent troops to Fort Sumter to guard it. When the Confederates saw what the Union had done, they started to attack the fort. Albeit there were no injuries, this gave the Union the chance to start the War Between the States, one of the most bloodiest wars in the history of the nation and the entire world.

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The Battle of Bull Run (July 21, 1861)

The Battle of Bull Run was one of the first important conflicts in the War Between the States. General Irwin McDowell was leading a force of 35,000 Union soldiers, while General Pierre Beauregard, a Confederate soldier, led 33,000 of his men. During this battle, there were citizens who had come in their carriages and brought picnic blankets. They were mainly there to be entertained by the fighting and bloodshed. However, some of the bullets were beginning to threaten to take the lives of those individuals, so they hustled away from the battlefield.

In this particular battle, the Confederates almost lost. However, one of their heroes, Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, led his men into the thick of the battle and claimed the victory for that day. In fact, in this very battle, he was hit by a bullet but kept on fighting. This gained him the nickname "Stonewall."

"Manassas National Battlefield Park" by InSapphoWeTrust is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 .

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The First Confederate President is Elected (November 6, 1861)

Photo via Good Free Photos

Jefferson Davis became president of the confederacy in November 6, 1861. What was interesting concerning the presidency for a president of the Confederate States of America was that they would only have to serve one term that lasted six years (Wikipedia). The president was not given that much power, which was quite similar to what the US president should have been. It wasn't until Abraham Lincoln became president that the presidency became one of the most powerful positions in the US.

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Battle of the Ironclads (March 9, 1862)

This particular battle is a bit more interesting than the others. The Battle of the Ironclads was a fight that occurred between two ships covered in iron plates. One of the ships belonged to the Union, and the other belonged to the Confederate army. What makes this battle interesting was that neither of the ships sank. Because they were covered in iron plates, the cannons that were fired would bounce off the sides of the ship. Because of this, everyone came back from that battle without a scratch.

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Battle of Shiloh (April 6, 1862)

Date found on Google

"Battle of Shiloh" by exit78 is marked with Public Domain Mark 1.0 .

In the Battle of Shiloh, General Bragg and his men attacked at the Hornet's Nest, which was a location on the battle field. During the first day of the battle, April 6, 1862, the Confederate troops were able to drive the Union soldiers away from the battlefield. To the Confederates, it looked as if the Union had lost that day.

The following morning, the Union armies had received reinforcements, which gave them the chance to try to "get back" at the Confederate armies. Because of this, the army, which was led by General Sherman, was able to force the Confederate armies to retreat. At one point, it looked as if the Union was beginning to win. However, Nathan Forrest, along with his men, charged into the battle where Sherman's men were at. At one point in the battle, there were Union soldiers all around Forrest, so much so that he had to take out his saber and hack at them. At one point, Forrest had a bullet shot into his leg, but that did not stop him. At one point, he even used a Union soldier as a shield, and, as he was charging up a hill, dropped him off along the way. This was the main reason why General Sherman called Nathan Forrest "Devil Forrest."

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Battle of Antietam (September 17, 1862)

Date found on history.com.

Photo via Good Free Photos

The way the Battle of Antietam started is quite interesting. It all starts when the Confederates devised a plan to cross Confederate lines into the Union lines. During the planning stage, "Stonewall" Jackson advised that they take the fight to the enemy, and that the forces of Great Britain could help out with this endeavor if necessary.

Finally, the process of executing the plan began. General Lee, with his 40,000 men, marched into Maryland, where they were welcomed in by the citizens. However, during the journey, they lost the dispatch papers for their battle plans. These very papers were found by a single Union soldier, who later gave the papers to General McClellan. Using these plans, General McClellan, along with his 75,000 men, went to Antietam to cut off the battle plans. This was when things started to get pretty nasty.

When the opposing troops met up at Antietam, there was a river that ran in the middle of the site. Lee decided to fight with the river to his back, which was quite risky due to the fact that the only way to retreat was by going across a bridge, which could get many soldiers killed. However, Lee was able to live to fight another day since General McClellan was a cautious individual and sent in his troops one at a time.

When the battle ended, there were 23,000 dead bodies throughout the area of impact. This is the main reason why this was one of the bloodiest battles in the history of the Civil War.

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The Emancipation Proclamation (January 1, 1863)

"The First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation Before the Cabinet, 1866." by The Henry Ford is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 .

The Emancipation Proclamation, which was signed in January 1, 1863, ordered that those who were enslaved be released from slavery. Even though benefits came to the slaves because of this order, it was published in order to make a political move against the Confederates. However, it was this event that made the focus of the war shift to slavery instead of keeping the states together.

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Battle of Chancellorsville (April 30, 1863 - May 6, 1863)

Dates provided by www.battlefields.org, the official website of American Battlefield Trust.

Before this battle occurred, General Joseph Hooker became the replacement leader for the Union (I think? Check online for more information). Throughout the war, the Union troops made many failed attempts to take Richmond from the Confederate side. Because of this, General Hooker decided to make another attempt: he, with his 133,000 men, would attack General Lee and his 60,000 men. The battle plan involved having his men attacking from three different positions, thus surrounding Lee and his men. This would have been a successful plan if it weren't for the fact that Lee had a plan of his own, which involved dividing his own men twice into three groups of defense, which helped create a wall of protection for the Confederate army.

It was during this battle, however, that the Confederate army experienced a devastating loss. When the Confederate armies were sent off to battle, Lee had appointed General "Stonewall" Jackson to lead the troops. During the battle, the Confederates accidentally fired on Jackson, injuring him badly. The results were not that pretty: Jackson had to have his arm chopped off by the surgeons at their camp. After General Lee learned what had happened to Jackson, he remarked, "Jackson has lost his left arm, but I have lost my right."

As Jackson was breathing his final breaths, he began to give orders to those listening to him:

"Order A.P. Hill to prepare for action. Pass the infantry to the front rapidly. Tell Major Hawks—"

Jackson paused for a moment, but he did not finish his sentence. Instead, he smiled to those listening and whispered, "Let us pass over the river and rest under the shade of the trees."

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Battle of Gettysburg (July 1, 1863)

Date found on Google

"Gettysburg museum diorama of the Civil War battle." by denisbin is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0 .

On July 1, 1863, General Lee, with his 76,000 men, entered Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, which was a territory held by the Union troops. When the Union troops, which were led by General Meade, saw the Confederate armies in their territory, they knew that there was no avoiding with what was going to happen. It was never the plan of either opposing side to meet up with each other, but they decided to fight each other then and there.

When the Battle of Gettysburg began, the Confederates made a great effort to take over Little Round Top, which was held by Joshua Chamberlain at the time. However, they never had any luck in that endeavor, for after two days of open fire, neither side had lost. Because of this, on the third day of battle, Lee sent his men down the ridge, across the valley, and down the other ridge in order to make an attempt to charge at the Union line. If they were able to break through, the Union army could be ended then and there and march into Washington DC. General George Pickett had the honor of leading the men in order to accomplish this strategy.

When Pickett and his men were down the ridge that they were told to go down, he and his men charged into the fray of the battle. However, he and his men were stopped by Union fire. As a result, only 100 men made it to the other side, for fifteen of the commanders died, and five were wounded.

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The Gettysburg Address (November 19, 1863)

Shortly after the devastating Battle of Gettysburg, Abraham Lincoln visited the Gettysburg battleground. As he was looking throughout the battlefield, he was able to see what were the results of the decision to war against the Confederacy. All of this inspired him to write the Gettysburg Address, which he presented at the Gettysburg battlefield in November 19, 1863:

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate—we can not consecrate—we can not hallow—this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

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Battle of Franklin (November 30, 1864)

Date found on www.battlefields.org.

"Battle of Franklin. November 30" is marked with CC0 1.0 .

Before this particular battle occurred, General Nathan Bedford Forrest was put under the command of General Hood, another of the Confederate officers. General Hood was the individual who came up with a battle plan for taking over Franklin, Tennesee (Wikipedia). The idea was that the Confederate forces would charge at the city in a suicidal fashion, thus surprising the Union forces. Bedford Forrest advised him not to do this, but Hood would not listen.

When the Battle of Franklin occurred, there was a lot of bloodshed, more bloodshed than in any of all of the other battles that occured during the War Between the States. Because of this, when everything was said and done, the Union army ended victorious, and the Confederates ended with shame.

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Lee & Grant Surrender (April 9—12, 1865)

Dates found on www.nps.gov.

The event which involved General Lee and his forces surrendering to General Grant and his forces occurred after the Union troops had captured Richmond, Virginia, the capital of the Confederate States of America. Lee, who was quite devastated at this occurence, decided to surrender to the opposing force on April 9, 1865. The process of surrender ended in April 12, 1865—the very date when the war started approximately four years before.

The following days afterward, Lee was given the privilege to march with his men in a procession during a celebration that marked the end of a devastating war. Following behind Lee and his men was the famous Stonewall brigade, the men that "Stonewall" Jackson led while he was still alive. General Joshua Chamberlain, one of the Union generals during the Civil War, ordered his men to salute the brigade, to which they gladly did.

Even though things were making a turn for the better by the time the Civil War ended, the America that they met with at the end of the Civil War was not the same America that they had known before the war. Before the four-year conflict, the United States of America was made up of individual states which operated as individual nations. After the Civil War, the United States of America was a complete nation. Before the war, slavery was common throughout the states. Afterwards, the process had started to give colored individuals all of the freedoms that Americans enjoy to this very day. Before the War Between the States, the president had limited powers. After the Civil War, the president became one of the most powerful individuals in the world.

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