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Summary
| Timeline | Delaware
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October 6, 1859
John Brown leads a tiny army
of 18 white and five black men into Harper's Ferry, in what is now
West Virginia, to seize the federal armory. The raid failed, and
with it his plans to arm the slaves and start a rebellion to end
slavery.
December 20, 1860
South Carolina secedes, or formally withdraws,
from the Union.
January 9 - February 1, 1861
Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana,
and Texas secede from the Union.
February 9, 1861
The Confederate States of America is formed,
with Jefferson Davis, former Mississippi Senator, as president..
March 4, 1861
Abraham Lincoln is sworn in a sthe 16th President
of the United States of America..
March 4, 1861
Abraham Lincoln is sworn in as the 16th President
of the United States of America.
April 12, 1861
The Civil War begins when the Confederate
Army opens fire on Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina.
April 15, 1861
President Lincoln issues a proclamation calling
for 75,000 militiamen for the Union Army.
April 17, 1861
Virginia secedes from the Union. Arkansas, Tennessee, and North
Carolina also seceded within a month to create a Confederacy of
eleven states.
April 20, 1861
Robert E. Lee resigns from the United States Army two days after
Lincoln offers him the position of commander of that army. He goes
to Richmond, Virginia, capitol of the Confederacy, to take command
of the Army of Northern Virginia.
July 21, 1861
In the first major battle of the war, the Union meets the Confederates
at the battle of Bull Run, 25 miles southwest of Washington, D.C.
in Manassas. Hundreds of Washingtonians rode out to the battlefield
with binoculars and picnic lunches to watch the Union's grand victory
and the end of the rebellion. However, the inexperienced troops
were soundly defeated, and the war would continue for four more
years.
November 8, 1861
The U.S. Navy captures two Confederate officials sailing toward
England. England demands their release, threatening war. President
Lincoln gives in and orders their release in December, stating "one
war at a time."
March 8 - 9, 1862
The Confederate Ironclad 'Merrimac' sinks two wooden Union ships,
then battles to a draw with the Union Ironclad 'Monitor'.
September 17, 1862
This is considered the bloodiest day in U.S. military history as
Union forces stop Gen. Robert E. Lee and his Confederates at Sharpsburg,
Maryland, near Antietam Creek. Lee retreats to Virginia.
January 1, 1863
President Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing
all slaves in Confederate States. The President encourages black
soldiers to enlist in the Union Army. The Civil War becomes a struggle
to abolish slavery.
March 3, 1863
The U.S. Congress passes a draft, calling all men aged 20 to 45
to enlist, unless they pay $300 or provide a substitute.
July 1 - 3, 1863
The Confederates are defeated at the Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania.
This is considered the turning point of the war, with the momentum
shifting to the Union.
August 10, 1863
President Lincoln meets with Frederick Douglass, a freed man and
abolitionist, who pushes for full equality for Union 'Negro troops.'
October 6, 1863
President Lincoln appoints General Grant to lead all operations
on the western front.
November 19, 1863
President Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address at a ceremony
dedicating the battlefield as a national cemetery. Edward Everett
Horton, the keynote speaker, gave a two-hour oration. The President
was asked to make a few remarks. His two-minute 'remarks' become
one of the most famous speeches in our country's history.
November 8, 1864
Abraham Lincoln is re-elected president.
January 31, 1865
The U.S. Congress passes the Thirteenth Amendment, abolishing slavery
in the United States.
April 9, 1865
Gen. Robert E. Lee surrenders to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at the village
of Appomattox Court House, Virginia. Although Lee only commanded
the Army of Northern Virginia, the surrender effectively ended the
war.
April 14, 1865
The Stars and Stripes is raised over Fort Sumter. In the evening,
President and Mrs. Lincoln attend a performance of "Our American
Cousin" at Ford's Theater. At 10:13 pm, John Wilkes Booth shoots
President Lincoln and he dies the next morning, never regaining
consciousness.
Despite their acceptance of slavery, Delaware,
Kentucky, Maryland and Missouri did not join the Confederacy. They
became what were known as "border states."
Links:
Civil War Timelines
General Civil War Site
The Gettysburg
Address and Emancipation Proclamation
Ford's Theater
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The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts