1861 American Civil War: The "Star of the West" incident occurs near Charleston, South Carolina. It is considered by some historians to be the "First Shots of the American Civil War".
1861 American Civil War: Florida secedes from the Union.
1861 American Civil War: Georgia joins South Carolina, Florida, Mississippi, and Alabama in seceding from the United States.
1861 American Civil War: Jefferson Davis resigns from the United States Senate.
1861 American Civil War: The state of Louisiana secedes from the Union.
1861 American Civil War: Texas secedes from the United States.
1861 American Civil War: In Montgomery, Alabama, delegates from six break-away U.S. states meet and form the Confederate States of America.
1861 American Civil War: Jefferson Davis is elected the Provisional President of the Confederate States of America by the Confederate convention at Montgomery, Alabama.
1861 American Civil War: United States House of Representatives unanimously passes a resolution guaranteeing noninterference with slavery in any state.
1861 American Civil War: The Constitution of the Confederate States of America is adopted.
1861 American Civil War: The war begins with Confederate forces firing on Fort Sumter, in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina.
1861 American Civil War: Fort Sumter surrenders to Confederate forces.
1861 American Civil War: Virginia secedes from the United States.
1861 American Civil War: Baltimore riot of 1861, a pro-Secession mob in Baltimore, Maryland, attacks United States Army troops marching through the city.
1861 American Civil War: Robert E. Lee resigns his commission in the United States Army in order to command the forces of the state of Virginia.
1861 American Civil War: The Union Army arrives in Washington, D.C.
1861 American Civil War: Maryland's House of Delegates votes not to secede from the Union.
1861 American Civil War: Arkansas secedes from the Union.
1861 American Civil War: Richmond, Virginia is named the capital of the Confederate States of America.
1861 American Civil War: Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom issues a "proclamation of neutrality" which recognizes the breakaway states as having belligerent rights.
1861 American Civil War: The state of Kentucky proclaims its neutrality, which will last until September 3 when Confederate forces enter the state.
1861 American Civil War: Union troops occupy Alexandria, Virginia.
1861 American Civil War: Battle of Philippi (also called the Philippi Races) – Union forces rout Confederate troops in Barbour County, Virginia, now West Virginia, in first land battle of the War.
1861 American Civil War: Tennessee secedes from the Union.
1861 American Civil War: at the order of President Abraham Lincoln, Union troops begin a 25 mile march into Virginia for what will become The First Battle of Bull Run, the first major land battle of the war.
1861 American Civil War: irst Battle of Bull Run
1861 American Civil War: The United States Congress passes the Crittenden-Johnson Resolution, stating that the war is being fought to preserve the Union and not to end slavery.
1861 American Civil War: George B. McClellan assumes command of the Army of the Potomac following a disastrous Union defeat at the First Battle of Bull Run.
1861 American Civil War: in order to help pay for the war effort, the United States government levies the first income tax as part of the Revenue Act of 1861 (3% of all incomes over US $800; rescinded in 1872).
1861 American Civil War: attle of Wilson's Creek
1861 American Civil War: US Navy squadron captures forts at Hatteras Inlet, North Carolina.
1861 American Civil War: Confederate General Leonidas Polk invades neutral Kentucky, prompting the state legislature to ask for Union assistance.
1861 American Civil War: Forces under Union General Ulysses S. Grant bloodlessly capture Paducah, Kentucky, which gives the Union control of the mouth of the Tennessee River.
1861 American Civil War: attle of Santa Rosa Island
1861 American Civil War: attle of Ball's Bluff
1861 American Civil War: Citing failing health, Union General Winfield Scott resigns as Commander of the United States Army.
1861 American Civil War: US President Abraham Lincoln appoints George B. McClellan as the commander of the Union Army, replacing the aged General Winfield Scott.
1861 American Civil War: Western Department Union General John C. Fremont is relieved of command and replaced by David Hunter.
1861 American Civil War: Jefferson Davis is elected president of the Confederate States of America.
1861 American Civil War: Battle of Belmont: In Belmont, Missouri, Union forces led by General Ulysses S. Grant overrun a Confederate camp but are forced to retreat when Confederate reinforcements arrive.
1861 American Civil War: The "Trent Affair" – The USS San Jacinto stops the United Kingdom mail ship Trent and arrests two Confederate envoys, sparking a diplomatic crisis between the UK and US.
1861 American Civil War: Secession ordinance is filed by Kentucky's Confederate government.
1861 American Civil War: Confederate President Jefferson Davis appoints Judah Benjamin secretary of war.
1861 American Civil War: The Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War is established by the U.S. Congress.
1861 American Civil War: the Confederate States of America accept a rival state government's pronouncement that declares Kentucky to be the 13th state of the Confederacy.
1861 American Civil War: The ''Trent Affair'': Confederate diplomatic envoys James M. Mason and John Slidell are freed by the United States government, thus heading off a possible war between the United States and Britain.
1862 American Civil War: attle of Mill Springs
1862 American Civil War: Ulysses S. Grant gives the United States its first victory of the war, by capturing Fort Henry, Tennessee, known as the Battle of Fort Henry.
1862 American Civil War: General Ulysses S. Grant attacks Fort Donelson, Tennessee.
1862 American Civil War: General Ulysses S. Grant captures Fort Donelson, Tennessee.
1862 American Civil War: Battle of Valverde fought near Fort Craig in New Mexico Territory.
1862 American Civil War: Union forces defeat Confederate troops at Pea Ridge in northwestern Arkansas.
1862 American Civil War: The iron-clad {{Ship|CSS|Virginia}} (formerly {{USS|Merrimack|1855|6}}) is launched at Hampton Roads, Virginia.
1862 American Civil War: The {{USS|Monitor}} and {{Ship|CSS|Virginia}} fight to a draw in the Battle of Hampton Roads, the first battle between two ironclad warships.
1862 American Civil War: The U.S. federal government forbids all Union army officers to return fugitive slaves, thus effectively annulling the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 and setting the stage for the Emancipation Proclamation.
1862 American Civil War: attle of Glorieta Pass
1862 American Civil War: The Battle of Yorktown begins.
1862 American Civil War: The Battle of Shiloh begins – in Tennessee, forces under Union General Ulysses S. Grant meet Confederate troops led by General Albert Sidney Johnston.
1862 American Civil War: Battle of Shiloh ends – the Union Army under General Ulysses S. Grant defeats the Confederates near Shiloh, Tennessee.
1862 American Civil War: The Battle at Lee's Mills in Virginia.
1862 American Civil War: A flotilla commanded by Union Admiral David Farragut passes two Confederate forts on the Mississippi River on its way to capture New Orleans, Louisiana.
1862 American Civil War: The ironclad {{Ship|CSS|Virginia}} is scuttled in the James River northwest of Norfolk, Virginia.
1862 American Civil War Peninsula Campaign: Battle of Seven Pines or (Battle of Fair Oaks) – Confederate forces under Joseph E. Johnston & G. W. Smith engage Union forces under George B. McClellan outside Richmond, Virginia.
1862 American Civil War, Peninsula Campaign: Battle of Seven Pines (or the Battle of Fair Oaks) ends inconclusively, with both sides claiming victory.
1862 American Civil War: Confederate troops evacuate Fort Pillow on the Mississippi River, leaving the way clear for Union troops to take Memphis, Tennessee.
1862 American Civil War: attle of Memphis
1862 American Civil War: the Battle of Malvern Hill takes place. It is the final battle in the Seven Days Campaign, part of the George B. McClellan's Peninsula Campaign.
1862 American Civil War: Henry W. Halleck takes command of the Union Army.
1862 American Civil War: the Confederate ironclad {{Ship|CSS|Arkansas}} is scuttled on the Mississippi River after suffering damage in a battle with {{USS|Essex|1856|6}} near Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
1862 American Civil War: attle of Cedar Mountain
1862 American Civil War: Major General J.E.B. Stuart is assigned command of all the cavalry of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia.
1862 American Civil War: the Second Battle of Bull Run begins.
1862 American Civil War: Second Battle of Bull Run, also known as the Battle of Second Manassas.
1862 American Civil War - Battle of Richmond: Confederates under Edmund Kirby Smith rout Union forces under General Horatio Wright.
1862 American Civil War: attle of Chantilly
1862 American Civil War: President Abraham Lincoln reluctantly restores Union General George B. McClellan to full command after General John Pope's disastrous defeat at the Second Battle of Bull Run.
1862 Civil War Maryland Campaign: General Robert E. Lee takes the Army of Northern Virginia, and the war, into the North.
1862 American Civil War: the Potomac River is crossed at White's Ford in the Maryland Campaign.
1862 American Civil War: Union soldiers find a copy of Robert E. Lee's battle plans in a field outside Frederick, Maryland. It is the prelude to the Battle of Antietam.
1862 American Civil War: The Battle of South Mountain, part of the Maryland Campaign, is fought.
1862 American Civil War: Confederate forces capture Harpers Ferry, Virginia.
1862 American Civil War: George B. McClellan halts the northward drive of Robert E. Lee's Confederate army in the single-day Battle of Antietam, the bloodiest day in American history.
1862 American Civil War: The Allegheny Arsenal explosion results in the single largest civilian disaster during the war.
1862 American Civil War: attle of Iuka
1862 American Civil War: attle of Perryville
1862 American Civil War: In the aftermath of the Battle of Antietam, Confederate General J.E.B. Stuart and his men loot Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, during a raid into the north.
1862 American Civil War: Abraham Lincoln removes George B. McClellan as commander of the Union Army for the second and final time.
1862 American Civil War: Union General Ambrose Burnside assumes command of the Army of the Potomac, after George B. McClellan is removed.
1862 American Civil War: President Abraham Lincoln approves General Ambrose Burnside's plan to capture the Confederate capital at Richmond, Virginia, leading to the Battle of Fredericksburg.
1862 American Civil War: In the Battle of Cane Hill, Union troops under General John Blunt defeat General John Marmaduke's Confederates.
1862 American Civil War: At the Battle of Fredericksburg, Confederate General Robert E. Lee defeats the Union Major General Ambrose E. Burnside.
1862 American Civil War: General Ulysses S. Grant issues ''General Order No. 11'', expelling Jews from Tennessee, Mississippi, and Kentucky.
1862 American Civil War: In the Battle of Lexington, General Nathan Bedford Forrest defeats a Union force under Colonel Robert Ingersoll.
1862 American Civil War: The Battle of Chickasaw Bayou begins.
1862 American Civil War: Abraham Lincoln signs an act that admits West Virginia to the Union, thus dividing Virginia in two.
1863 American Civil War: The Emancipation Proclamation takes effect in Confederate territory.
1863 American Civil War: Second Battle of Springfield
1863 American Civil War: attle of Arkansas Post
1863 American Civil War: Grierson's Raid begins – troops under Union Army Colonel Benjamin Grierson attack central Mississippi.
1863 American Civil War: The Battle of Chancellorsville begins.
1863 American Civil War: Stonewall Jackson is wounded by friendly fire while returning to camp after reconnoitering during the Battle of Chancellorsville. He succumbs to pneumonia eight days later.
1863 American Civil War: The Battle of Chancellorsville ends with a Union retreat.
1863 American Civil War: Confederate General Stonewall Jackson dies eight days after he is accidentally shot by his own troops.
1863 American Civil War: Battle of Raymond: two divisions of James B. McPherson's XVII Corps (ACW) turn the left wing of Confederate General John C. Pemberton's defensive line on Fourteen Mile Creek, opening up the interior of Mississippi to the Union Army during the Vicksburg Campaign.
1863 American Civil War: The Battle of Jackson takes place.
1863 American Civil War: The Siege of Vicksburg begins.
1863 American Civil War: iege of Port Hudson
1863 American Civil War: First Assault on the Confederate works at the Siege of Port Hudson.
1863 American Civil War: The 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, the first African American regiment, leaves Boston, Massachusetts, to fight for the Union.
1863 American Civil War: Battle of Brandy Station, Virginia.
1863 American Civil War: attle of Second Winchester
1863 Second Assault on the Confederate works at the Siege of Port Hudson during the American Civil War.
1863 Battle of Aldie in the Gettysburg Campaign of the American Civil War.
1863 American Civil War: West Virginia is admitted as the 35th U.S. state.
1863 American Civil War: The final day of the Battle of Gettysburg culminates with Pickett's Charge.
1863 American Civil War: iege of Vicksburg
1863 American Civil War: the Siege of Port Hudson ends.
1863 American Civil War: organ's Raid
1863 American Civil War: Morgan's Raid ends – At Salineville, Ohio, Confederate cavalry leader John Hunt Morgan and 360 of his volunteers are captured by Union forces.
1863 American Civil War: following his defeat in the Battle of Gettysburg, General Robert E. Lee sends a letter of resignation to Confederate President Jefferson Davis (which is refused upon receipt).
1863 American Civil War: Confederates evacuate Battery Wagner and Morris Island in South Carolina.
1863 American Civil War: econd Battle of Sabine Pass
1863 American Civil War: The Union Army enters Chattanooga, Tennessee.
1863 American Civil War: The Battle of Chickamauga ends.
1863 American Civil War: attle of Bristoe Station
1863 American Civil War: The ''H. L. Hunley'', the first submarine to sink a ship, sinks during a test, killing its inventor, Horace L. Hunley.
1863 American Civil War: attle of Wauhatchie
1863 American Civil War: Battle of Campbell's Station near Knoxville, Tennessee. Confederate troops unsuccessfully attack Union forces.
1863 American Civil War: Siege of Knoxville begins – Confederate forces led by General James Longstreet place Knoxville, Tennessee under siege.
1863 American Civil War: U.S. President Abraham Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address at the dedication of the military cemetery ceremony at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
1863 American Civil War: Battle of Chattanooga begins – Union forces led by General Ulysses S. Grant reinforce troops at Chattanooga, Tennessee and counter-attack Confederate troops.
1863 American Civil War: hird Battle of Chattanooga|Battle of Lookout Mountain
1863 American Civil War: attle of Missionary Ridge
1863 American Civil War: attle of Mine Run|Mine Run
1863 American Civil War: Confederate cavalry leader John Hunt Morgan and several of his men escape the Ohio Penitentiary and return safely to the South.
1863 American Civil War: Joseph E. Johnston replaces Braxton Bragg as commander of the Army of Tennessee.
1864 American Civil War: The {{Ship||H. L. Hunley|submarine|6}} becomes the first submarine to engage and sink a warship, the {{USS|Housatonic|1861|6}}.
1864 American Civil War: Battle of Olustee occurs – the largest battle fought in Florida during the war.
1864 American Civil War: The first Northern prisoners arrive at the Confederate prison at Andersonville, Georgia.
1864 American Civil War: Kilpatrick-Dahlgren Raid fails – plans to free 15,000 Union soldiers being held near Richmond, Virginia are thwarted.
1864 American Civil War: The Red River Campaign begins as Union troops reach Alexandria, Louisiana.
1864 American Civil War: attle of Mansfield
1864 American Civil War: The Battle of the Wilderness begins in Spotsylvania County, Virginia.
1864 American Civil War: The Army of the Potomac, under General Ulysses S. Grant, breaks off from the Battle of the Wilderness and moves southwards.
1864 American Civil War: Battle of Resaca, Georgia ends.
1864 American Civil War: the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House ends.
1864 American Civil War Overland Campaign: attle of Cold Harbor
1864 American Civil War: Battle of Piedmont: Union forces under General David Hunter defeat a Confederate army at Piedmont, Virginia, taking nearly 1,000 prisoners.
1864 American Civil War: Battle of Brice's Crossroads. Confederate troops under Nathan Bedford Forrest defeat a much larger Union force led by General Samuel D. Sturgis in Mississippi.
1864 American Civil War, Overland Campaign: attle of Cold Harbor
1864 American Civil War: The Siege of Petersburg begins.
1864 American Civil War: Battle of Fort Stevens; Confederate forces attempt to invade Washington, D.C..
1864 American Civil War: attle of Atlanta
1864 American Civil War: attle of Kernstown II|Battle of Kernstown
1864 American Civil War: attle of Ezra Church
1864 American Civil War: Confederate spy Belle Boyd is arrested by Union troops and detained at the Old Capitol Prison in Washington, D.C..
1864 American Civil War: attle of the Crater
1864 American Civil War: attle of Globe Tavern
1864 During the American Civil War, Union forces led by General William T. Sherman launch an assault on Atlanta, Georgia.
1864 American Civil War: Atlanta, Georgia, is evacuated on orders of Union General William Tecumseh Sherman.
1864 American Civil War: The Battle of Chaffin's Farm is fought.
1864 American Civil War: attle of Saltville I|Battle of Saltville
1864 American Civil War: Battle of Darbytown Road: the Confederate forces' attempt to regain ground that had been lost around Richmond is thwarted.
1864 American Civil War: attle of Westport
1864 American Civil War: Second Battle of Fair Oaks ends – Union forces under General Ulysses S. Grant withdraw from Fair Oaks, Virginia, after failing to breach the Confederate defenses around Richmond, Virginia.
1864 American Civil War: attle of Johnsonville
1864 American Civil War: herman's March to the Sea
1864 American Civil War: Union General William Tecumseh Sherman burns Atlanta, Georgia and starts Sherman's March to the Sea. thumb
1864 American Civil War: Sherman's March to the Sea: Confederate General John Bell Hood invades Tennessee in an unsuccessful attempt to draw Union General William T. Sherman from Georgia.
1864 American Civil War: attle of Spring Hill
1864 American Civil War: Battle of Franklin — The Army of Tennessee led by General John Bell Hood mounts a dramatically unsuccessful frontal assault on Union positions commanded by John McAllister Schofield around Franklin, Tennessee, with Hood lost six generals and almost a third of his troops.
1864 American Civil War: herman's March to the Sea
1865 American Civil War: The United States Congress passes the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, abolishing slavery, submitting it to the states for ratification.
1865 American Civil War: The Battle of Averasborough begins as Confederate forces suffer irreplaceable casualties in the final months of the war.
1865 American Civil War: The Congress of the Confederate States of America adjourns for the last time.
1865 American Civil War: The Battle of Bentonville begins. By the end of the battle two days later, Confederate forces had retreated from Four Oaks, North Carolina.
1865 American Civil War: In Virginia, Confederate forces temporarily capture Fort Stedman from the Union.
1865 American Civil War: Federal forces under Major General Philip Sheridan move to flank Confederate forces under Robert E. Lee as the Appomattox Campaign begins.
1865 American Civil War: attle of Five Forks
1865 American Civil War: The Siege of Petersburg is broken – Union troops capture the trenches around Petersburg, Virginia, forcing Confederate General Robert E. Lee to retreat.
1865 American Civil War: Union forces capture Richmond, Virginia, the capital of the Confederate States of America.
1865 American Civil War: A day after Union forces capture Richmond, Virginia, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln visits the Confederate capital.
1865 American Civil War: Robert E. Lee surrenders the Army of Northern Virginia (26,765 troops) to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia, effectively ending the war.
1865 American Civil War: A day after his surrender to Union forces, Confederate General Robert E. Lee addresses his troops for the last time.
1865 American Civil War: Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston surrenders his army to General William Tecumseh Sherman at the Bennett Place near Durham, North Carolina.
1865 American Civil War: Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith, commander of the Confederate Trans-Mississippi division, is the last general of the Confederate Army to surrender, at Galveston, Texas.
1865 American Civil War: at Fort Towson in the Oklahoma Territory, Confederate, Brigadier General Stand Watie surrenders the last significant rebel army.
1865 American Civil War: four conspirators in the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln are hanged.
1865 Major Henry Wirz, the superintendent of a prison camp in Andersonville, Georgia, is hanged, becoming the only American Civil War soldier executed for war crimes.
1865 Several U.S. Civil War Confederate veterans form the Ku Klux Klan.
1866 President Andrew Johnson formally declares the American Civil War over.
1868 U.S. President Andrew Johnson grants unconditional pardon to all Civil War Confederate soldiers.
1870 In the United States, post-Civil War military control of Mississippi ends and it is readmitted to the Union.
1900 American Civil War: Sergeant William Harvey Carney becomes the first African American to be awarded the Medal of Honor, for his heroism in the Assault on the Battery Wagner in 1863.
1913 American Civil War veterans begin arriving at the Great Reunion of 1913.
1913 President Woodrow Wilson addresses American Civil War veterans at the Great Reunion of 1913.
1945 US Army private Eddie Slovik is executed for desertion, the first such execution of an American soldier since the Civil War.