International Diplomatic Crisis | 8 November 1861
Confederate gain
Two Confederate officials sailing toward England are seized by the U.S. Navy. England demands their release, threatening war. Lincoln eventually gives in and orders their release in Dec. “One war at a time,” he remarks. |
| 21st July 1861
Confederate Victory
Union Army under Gen. Irvin McDowell defeated
by Confederate Gen. Thomas J “Stonewall” Jackson
Lincoln realises the War will be long. “It’s damned bad,” he comments |
Fort Henry and Fort Donelson | 6 February 1862
Union Victory
Victory for Union forces under Gen. Ulysses S. Grant in Tennessee, capturing Fort Henry, and ten days later Fort Donelson. |
| 8/9 March 1862
Confederate Victory
The Confederate Ironclad ‘Merrimac’ sinks two wooden Union ships then battles the Union Ironclad ‘Monitor’ to a draw. Makes wooden ships obsolete. |
| 6-7 April 1862
Confederate Victory
Confederate surprise attack on Gen. Ulysses S. Grant’s unprepared troops at Shiloh on the Tennessee River results in a bitter struggle w/ 13,000 Union killed and wounded and 10,000 Confederates, more men than in all previous American wars combined. Lincoln is pressured to relieve Grant, but resists. |
17 Union ships move up the Mississippi River then take New Orleans | 24 April 1862
Union gain
17 ships under the command of Flag Officer David Farragut move up the Mississippi River then take New Orleans, the South’a greatest seaport. |
The Battle of Seven Pines | 31 May 1862
Confederate victory
Gen. Joseph E. Johnston’s Army attacks McClellan’s troops in front of Richmond and nearly defeats them. But Johnston is badly wounded. |
Second Battle of Bull Run | 29-30 August 1862
Confederate Victory
75,000 Federals under Gen. John Pope are defeated by 55,000 Confederates under Gen. Stonewall Jackson and Gen. James Longstreet at the second Battle of Bull Run in northern Virginia. Once again the Union Army retreats to D.C. Lincoln then relieves Pope. |
| 17 September 1862
Union Victory
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 V.A. |
| 13 December 1862
Confederate victory
Army of the Potomac under Gen. Burnside suffers a costly defeat at Fredericksburg in V.A. 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.
“It is well that war is so terrible - we should grow fond of it,” states Lee during the fighting. |
| 1-4 May 1863
Confederate victory
The Union Army under Gen. Hooker is decisively defeated by Lee’s much smaller forces at the Battle of Chancellorsville in V.A. as a result of Lee’s brilliant and daring tactics. Confederate Gen. Stonewall Jackson is mortally wounded by his own soldiers. Hooker retreats. Union losses are 17,000 killed, wounded and missing out of 130,000. The Confederates 13,000 out of 60,000.
“I just lost confidence in Joe Hooker,” said Hooker later about his own lack of nerve during the battle. |
| 1-3 July 1863
Union victory
The tide of the war turns against the South as the Confederates are defeated at the Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania.
Confederate casualties 28,000 out of 75,000
Union casualties 23,000 out of 88,000 |
| 4 July 1863
Union Victory
Vicksburg, the last Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi River, surrenders to Gen. 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. |
| 18 July 1863
Union Victory
‘Negro troops’ of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment under Col. Robert G. Shaw assault fortified Rebels at Fort Wagner, S.C. Col. Shaw and half of the 600 men in the regiment are killed. |
| 19-20 September 1863
Confederate Victory
A decisive Confederate victory by Gen. Braxton Bragg’s Army of Tennessee at Chickamauga leaves Gen. William S. Rosecran’s Union Army of the Cumberland trapped in Chattanooga, Tennessee, under Confederate siege. |
| 23-25 November 1863
Union Victory
The Rebel siege of Chattanooga ends as Union forces under Grant defeat the siege army of Gen. Braxton Bragg. During the Battle, on of the most dramatic moments of the war occurs. Yelling “Chickamauga! Chickamauga!” Union troops avenge their previous defeat at Chickamauga by storming up the face of Missionary Ridge without orders and sweep the Rebels from what had been thought to be an impregnable position. “My God, come and see ‘em run!” a Union soldier cries. |
The beginning of a massive, coordinated campaign involving all the Union Armies | 4 May 1864
Union gains
In V.A. Grant with an Army of 120,000 begin advancing toward Richmond to engage Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, now numbering 64,000, beginning a war of attrition that will include major battles at the Wilderness (May 5-6), Spotsylvania (May 8-12) and Cold Harbor (June 1-3) |
| 3 June 186
Confederate Victory
A costly mistake by Grant results in 7,000 Union casualties in twenty minutes during an offensive against fortified Rebels at Cold Harbor in V.A. |
| 2 September 1864
Union Victory
Atlanta is capture by Sherman’s Army. “Atlanta is ours, and fairly won,” Sherman telegraphs Lincoln. The victory greatly helps Lincoln’s bid for re-election. |
| 19 October 1864
Union Victory
A decisive Union victory by Cavalry Gen. Philip H. Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley over Jubal Earle’s troops. |
| 15 November 1864
After destroying Atlanta’s warehouse and railroad facilities, Sherman with 62,000 men begins a March to the Sea. Lincoln, on advice from Grant, approved the idea. “I can make Georgia howl!” Sherman boasts. |
| 15-16 December 1864
Union Victory
Hood’s Rebel Army of 23,000 is crushed at Nashville by 55,000 Federals include Negro troops under Gen. George H. Thomas. The Confederate Army of Tennessee ceases as an effective fighting force. |
| 21 December 1864
Union Victory
Sherman reaches Savannah in Georgia leaving behind a 300 mile long path of destruction 60 miles wide all the way from Atlanta. Sherman then telegrams Lincoln, offering him Savannah as a Christmas present. |
| 25 March 1865
Union Victory
The last offensive for Lee’s Army of Northern V.A. begins with an attack on the centre of Grant’s forces at Petersburg. Four hours later the attack is broken. |
| 2 April 1865
Union Victory
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 |
| 9 April 1865
Union Victory
Gen. Robert E. Lee surrenders his Confederate Army to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at the village of Appomattox Court House in V.A. Grant allows Rebel Officers to keep their sidearms and permits soldiers to keep horses and mules. "After four years of arduous service marked by unsurpassed courage and fortitude, the Army of Northern Virginia has been compelled to yield to overwhelming numbers and resources." |
| 18 April 1865
Union Victory
Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston surrenders to Sherman near Durham in N.C. |
| In May 1865 | Remaining Confederate forces surrender. Civil War ends, the Nation is reunited. |