Civil War Timeline

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Explore our timeline of the American Civil War and learn about the important events and battles that happened throughout this period of American history – from John Brown's Raid to the adoption of the 13th Amendment. View the American Revolution and War of 1812 timelines.

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1854 

• May 30 - The Kansas-Nebraska Act is signed into law

1859

• October 16 - John Brown raids Harpers Ferry, Virginia (Now West Virginia)
• October 18 - U.S. Marines storm engine house at Harpers Ferry and capture John Brown

1860

November 1860

• November 6 - Abraham Lincoln elected 16th President of the United States
• November 10 - South Carolina Senator James Chestnut Jr. resigns his seat in the U.S. Senate
• November 11 - South Carolina Senator James Henry Hammond resigns his seat in the U.S. Senate
• November 18 - Georgia legislature appropriates $1,000,000 to arm the state

December 1860

• December 20 - South Carolina adopts an Ordinance of Secession
• December 26 - Major Robert Anderson evacuates Fort Moultrie for Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor

1861 

January 1861

• January 2 - South Carolina troops seize Fort Johnson in Charleston Harbor
• January 3 - Georgia state troops seize Fort Pulaski
• January 4 - Alabama state troops seize the U.S. Arsenal at Mount Vernon, Alabama
• January 5 - U.S. Senators from seven Southern states meet in Washington, D.C. to discuss secession
• January 6 - The state of Florida seizes the Apalachicola Arsenal
• January 7 - Mississippi and Alabama State Conventions meet to discuss secession
• January 8 - Jacob Thompson of Mississippi - the Secretary of the Interior and last Southern member of President James Buchanan's Cabinet - resigns
• January 9 - Mississippi secedes from the Union
• January 9 -  The Star of the West fails to relieve Fort Sumter
• January 10 - Florida adopts an Ordinance of Secession
• January 11 - Alabama adopts an Ordinance of Secession
• January 14 - Federal troops occupy Fort Taylor at Key West in order to prevent its seizure by secessionist forces
• January 16 - Crittenden Compromise dies in the U.S. Senate
• January 19 - Georgia adopts an Ordinance of Secession
• January 20 - Mississippi state troops seize Ship Island in the Gulf of Mississippi
• January 24 - Georgia state troops seize the U.S. Arsenal at Augusta
• January 26 - Louisiana adopts an Ordinance of Secession

February 1861

• February 1 - Texas adopts an Ordinance of Secession and schedules a referendum for February 23
• February 4 - Delegates from the seceded states meet to establish the Confederate government
• February 8 - The convention of seceded states adopts a provisional constitution
• February 9 - Jefferson Davis elected provisional Confederate President
• February 15 - The Provisional Confederate Congress establishes a Peace Commission to prevent war with the United States
• February 16 - Texas state troops seize the U.S. Arsenal at San Antonio
• February 18 - Jefferson Davis inaugurated as provisional president of the Confederacy
• February 19 - Louisiana state troops seize the U.S. paymaster's office in New Orleans
• February 23 - President-elect Lincoln arrives in Washington, D.C.
• February 23 -  Voters in Texas approve referendum to secede

March 1861

• March 2 - After forcing the resignation of Governor Sam Houston, Texas formally joins the Confederacy. 
• March 4 - Abraham Lincoln becomes the 16th President of the United States of America
• March 15 - Lincoln meets with his Cabinet to discuss whether or not to resupply Fort Sumter

April 1861

• April 11 - The Confederates demand the surrender of Fort Sumter
• April 12 - The Confederates in Charleston bombard Fort Sumter
• April 13 - Fort Sumter surrenders to Confederate forces
• April 17 - Virginia adopts an Ordinance of Secession and schedules a referendum for May 23
• April 18/19 - Federal troops burn the U.S. Arsenal at Harpers Ferry to prevent it from falling into the hands of secessionists. The Confederates are nonetheless able to seize valuable military supplies when they occupy Harpers Ferry
• April 19 - Pratt Street Riot in Baltimore, Maryland
• April 19 - President Lincoln declares a blockade of Southern ports
• April 20/21 - Federal forces attempt to destroy the Gosport Navy Yard at Norfolk, Virginia by setting it ablaze. Secessionists put out the fires and salvage a large portion of the facility
• April 21 - The slave ship Nightingale is captured by the USS Saratoga
• April 22 - Robert E. Lee accepts command of Virginia forces
• April 23 - United State Army Officers in San Antonio, Texas are seized as prisoners of war
• April 30 - New York Yacht Club offers its vessels to the Federal government

May 1861

• May 3 - Lincoln calls for volunteers to join the Union Army for a three-year term
• May 6 - Arkansas and Tennessee adopt Ordinances of Secession. Tennessee schedules a referendum for June 8
• May 13 - U.S. troops occupy Baltimore, Maryland
• May 20 - North Carolina adopts an Ordinance of Secession
• May 20 -  Kentucky declares its neutrality
• May 21 - The Confederate Congress agrees to move the Confederate capital from Montgomery, Alabama to Richmond, Virginia
• May 23 - Virginia voters ratify the State Convention's decision to secede
• May 24 - Federal troops seize Alexandria, Virginia
• May 24 - Zouave leader Elmer Ellsworth killed in Alexandria by James W. Jackson

June 1861

• June 1 - Skirmish at Fairfax Court House, Virginia
• June 2 - P.G.T. Beauregard takes command of Confederate forces in northern Virginia
• June 8 - Tennessee voters approve referendum to secede
• June 10 - Engagement at Big Bethel, Virginia
• June 16 - Thaddeus Lowe demonstrates the potential of hot air balloons to the government in Washington, D.C.
• June 17 - Engagement at Boonville Missouri
• June 17 - Action at Vienna, Virginia

July 1861

• July 5 - Engagement at Carthage, Missouri
• July 7 - Skirmish at Laurel Hill, Virginia (now West Virginia)
• July 11 - Engagement at Rich Mountain, Virginia (now West Virginia)
• July 18 - Engagement at Blackburn's Ford, Virginia
• July 21 - War's first major battle erupts at Manassas (Bull Run), Virginia
• July 26 - Federal forces evacuate Fort Fillmore, New Mexico Territory
• July 27 - Union Major Isaac Lynde surrenders his command at San Augustine Springs, New Mexico Territory
• July 27 - Major General George McClellan put in command of the Federal Division of the Potomac
• July 31 - Ulysses S. Grant promoted to brigadier general

August 1861

• August 3 - Balloon ascension by John LaMountain at Hampton Roads, Virginia
• August 5 - President Lincoln signs the Revenue Act of 1861 into law, creating the first national income tax in American history
• August 10 - Battle of Wilson's Creek, Missouri
• August 12 - Confederates ambushed by Mescalero Apaches in Big Bend country south of Fort Davis, Texas
• August 14 - Soldiers of the 79th New York mutiny near Washington, D.C.
• August 29 - Capture of Forts Hatteras and Clark, North Carolina
• August 30 - Acting without higher approval, Major General John C. Frémont issues an edict freeing the slaves of all Confederate sympathizers in Missouri

September 1861

• September 3 - Confederate troops enter Kentucky, ending the state's neutral status
• September 5 - Skirmish at Papinsville, Missouri
• September 6 - Federal forces seize Paducah, Kentucky
• September 10 - Engagement at Carinfex Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia)
• September 12 - Siege of Lexington, Missouri begins
• September 12 to 15 - Battle of Cheat Mountain, Virginia (now West Virginia)
• September 20 - Union garrison surrenders Lexington, Missouri
• September 26 - Skirmish near Fort Thorn, New Mexico Territory

October 1861

• October 3 - The Battle of Greenbrier River (Camp Bartow), Virginia (now West Virginia)
• October 9 - Engagement on Santa Rosa Island, Florida
• October 12 - First ironclad in the U.S. Navy, USS St. Louis, launched at Carondelet Missouri
• October 21 - Battle of Ball's Bluff (Leesburg), Virginia
• October 24 - Western Union completes the first trans-continental telegraph line
• October 25 - Union Major Charles Zagonyi's "famous" charge into Springfield, Missouri
• October 31 - Secessionist Missouri legislators meet at Neosho and vote to leave the Union

November 1861

• November 1 - George McClellan replaces Lieutenant General Winfield Scott as general-in-chief of the U.S. Army
• November 2 - General John C. Fremont removed from command of the Department of the West by President Lincoln
• November 7 - Engagement at Belmont, Missouri
• November 8 - The Confederate emissaries to England and France are removed from the British vessel RMS Trent, initiating the "Trent Affair" and endangering the United States' relationship with Great Britain
• November 8/9 - Engagement at Ivy Mountain, Kentucky
• November 12 - The blockade runner Fingal, bought by Confederates in England, arrives in Savannah
• November 21 - Judah P. Benjamin confirmed as Confederate Secretary of War. Benjamin had been serving as Jefferson Davis's Acting Secretary of War since September 17
• November 22 - Union begins bombardment of Fort McRee in Pensacola, Florida
• November 28 - Missouri admitted to the Confederacy despite never officially seceding from the Union

December 1861

• December 8 - CSS Sumter seizes Northern merchant ship Eben Dodge in the mid-Atlantic
• December 9 - The Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War is established by Congress
• December 9 - Engagement at Chusto-Talasah (Bird Creek), Indian Territory (now Oklahoma)
• December 11 - Disastrous fire in Charleston, South Carolina
• December 23 - Skirmish at Dayton, Missouri
• December 26 - Engagement between Confederate forces and Unionist Native Americans at Chustenahlah, Indian Territory (now Oklahoma)
• December 26 - United States releases Mason and Slidell, ending the Trent Affair
• December 27 - Skirmish near Hallsville, Missouri
• December 30 - Banks in New York suspend specie payments

1862 

January 1862

• January 10 - Engagement at Middle Creek, Kentucky
• January 15 - Edwin M. Stanton confirmed as U.S. Secretary of War
• January 18 - The Confederate Congress votes to formally organize the Confederate Territory of Arizona
• January 19 - Battle of Mill Springs (Logan's Cross Roads), Kentucky
• January 22 - Bombardment of Fort Henry, Tennessee by USS Lexington
• January 30 - The USS Monitor is launched at Greenpoint, New York

February 1862

• February 3 - President Lincoln declines an offer of war elephants from the King of Siam
• February 6 - Surrender of Fort Henry, Tennessee
• February 7/8 - Battle of Roanoke Island, North Carolina
• February 10 - Union forces destroy the Confederate "Mosquito" fleet at Elizabeth City, North Carolina
• February 14 - Union ironclad gunboats attack Fort Donelson, Tennessee
• February 15 - All-out Confederate counter-attack at Fort Donelson
• February 16 - Fort Donelson surrenders unconditionally to Ulysses S. Grant
• February 20/21 - Battle of Val Verde, New Mexico Territory
• February 22 - Jefferson Davis inaugurated as President of the Confederate States of America. He had been serving as the Confederacy's provisional president since February 1862
• February 23 - Federal troops occupy Fayettsville, Arkansas
• February 25 - Federal troops occupy Nashville, Tennessee

March 1862

• March 3 - The Union Army arrives at New Madrid, Missouri
• March 6 - Lincoln asks Congress to provide funds to states willing to begin the gradual abolition of slavery
• March 7/8 - Battle of Pea Ridge (Elkhorn Tavern), Arkansas
• March 8 - CSS Virginia engages and destroys the USS Cumberland and the USS Congress
• March 9 - USS Monitor and CSS Virginia battle at Hampton Roads, Virginia
• March 11 - Lincoln relieves McClellan from his position as general-in-chief of the Federal Armies
• March 14 - New Bern, North Carolina captured
• March 14 - Union forces capture New Madrid, Missouri
• March 18 - George W. Randolph appointed Confederate Secretary of War
• March 23 - Battle of First Kernstown, Virginia
• March 24 - Riot at abolition meeting in Cincinnati, Ohio
• March 26 - Engagement at Apache Canyon, New Mexico Territory
• March 28 - Battle of Glorieta Pass, New Mexico Territory

April 1862

• April 4 - Federal ironclad gunboat runs the batteries at Island No. 10 on the Mississippi River
• April 5 - Siege of Yorktown, Virginia begins
• April 6/7 - Battle of Shiloh (Pittsburg Landing), Tennessee begins
• April 8 - Battle of Fallen Timbers
• April 8 - Island No. 10 falls to Union forces under Major General John Pope
• April 10 - Congresses passes Lincoln's suggested resolution offering financial aid to those states willing to begin the gradual abolition of slavery
• April 10 - Battle of Fort Pulaski begins
• April 11 - Surrender of Fort Pulaski, Georgia
• April 16 - Slavery abolished in the District of Columbia
• April 18 - Bombardment begins at Fort Jackson and Fort St. Philip, 70 miles below New Orleans, Louisiana
• April 24 - Federal fleet passes forts below New Orleans, Louisiana
• April 25/26 - Bombardment and surrender of Fort Macon, North Carolina
• April 29 - Union "army group" advances on Corinth, Mississippi

May 1862

• May 5 - Battle of Williamsburg, Virginia
• May 7 - Engagement at West Point (Eltham's Landing), Virginia
• May 8 - Battle of McDowell, Virginia
• May 9 - Bombardment of Pensacola, Florida
• May 10 - Naval engagement at Plum Run Bend, Arkansas
• May 10 - Union forces capture Norfolk, Virginia
• May 11 - Confederate sailors blow up the CSS Virginia to keep her from falling into Union hands
• May 15 - Battle of Drewry's Bluff, Virginia
• May 20 - Lincoln signs the Homestead Act
• May 23 - Engagement at Front Royal, Virginia
• May 25 - Battle of First Winchester, Virginia
• May 26 - Skirmish at Calico Rock, Arkansas
• May 29/30 - Confederates evacuate Corinth, Mississippi
• May 31 - Battle of Seven Pines (Fair Oaks), Virginia begins

June 1862

• June 1 - Battle of Seven Pines (Fair Oaks) ends
• June 1 - General Robert E. Lee takes command of the Army of Northern Virginia
• June 3 to 5 - Evacuation of Fort Pillow, Tennessee
• June 6 - Battle of Memphis, Tennessee
• June 7 - William Mumford hanged in New Orleans for destroying the U.S. flag
• June 8 - Battle of Cross Keys, Virginia
• June 9 - Battle of Port Republic, Virginia
• June 12 - J.E.B. Stuart begins his "Ride Around McClellan"
• June 13 - Skirmish at New Market, Virginia
• June 16 - Battle of Secessionville, South Carolina
• June 19 - Lincoln signs a law prohibiting slavery in the Western territories
• June 25 - Seven Days Battles begin at Oak Grove (French's Field), Virginia
• June 26 - Battle of Mechanicsville, (Beaver Dam Creek), Virginia
• June 27 - Battle of Gaines' Mill (First Cold Harbor), Virginia
• June 27/28 - Action at Garnett's and Golding's Farms, Virginia
• June 28 - Passage of Vicksburg batteries by Flag Officer D.G. Farragut's deep water fleet
• June 29 - Battle of Savage Station, Virginia
• June 30 - Battle of Glendale (Frayser's Farm), Virginia

July 1862

• July 1 - Battle of Malvern Hill, Virginia
• July 2 - Morrill Land Grant Act approved by President Lincoln
• July 12 - John Hunt Morgan's Confederate raiders capture Lebanon, Kentucky on their first raid
• July 13 - Garrison at Murfreesboro, Tennessee captured by Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest
• July 14 - West Virginia Statehood Bill passes the Senate
• July 15 - CSS Arkansas sorties from Yazoo River and passes the combined Union fleets
• July 16 - Confederate representative meets with Napoleon III of France to discuss foreign aid
• July 22 - President Lincoln presents the Emancipation Proclamation to his Cabinet
• July 29 - Belle Boyd, Confederate spy, captured

August 1862

• August 5 - Engagement at Baton Rouge, Louisiana
• August 6 - CSS Arkansas scuttled near Baton Rouge, Louisiana
• August 9 - Battle of Cedar Mountain (Slaughter Mountain), Virginia
• August 10 - German-American Unionist are massacred by Confederates on the banks of the Nueces River in Texas
• August 11 - Confederate partisans capture Independence, Missouri
• August 13 - Skirmish on Yellow Creek, Missouri
• August 15 - Skirmish at Clarendon, Arkansas
• August 17 - Sioux uprising begins in southwest Minnesota
• August 19 to 21 - Federal raid on Louisville & Nashville Railroad
• August 22 - Affair at Catlett's Station, Virginia
• August 24 - CSS Alabama commissioned at sea off Portugal's Azores Islands
• August 27 - Stonewall Jackson captures and plunders Union supply depots at Manassas Junction, Virginia
• August 28 - The Battle of Second Manassas (Bull Run) begins at Brawner's Farm (Groveton), Virginia
• August 29/30 - Battle of Richmond, Kentucky
• August 30 - The Battle of Second Manassas ends with a decisive Confederate victory

September 1862

• September 1 - Battle of Chantilly (Ox Hill), Virginia
• September 2 - Major General George B. McClellan restored to command in Virginia
• September 9 - Skirmish at Barnesville, Maryland
• September 13 - Federal soldiers near Frederick, Maryland find Lee's Special Order No. 191
• September 14 - Battle of South Mountain Gaps, Maryland
• September 15 - Capture of Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia)
• September 17 - Battle of Antietam (Sharpsburg), Maryland
• September 17 -  Union forces evacuate Cumberland Gap, a strategically important mountain pass near the junction of Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky
• September 17 - Munfordville, Kentucky surrenders to Confederate forces
• September 19 - Battle of Iuka, Mississippi
• September 19/20 - Battle of Shepherdstown (Boteler's Ford), Virginia (now West Virginia)
• September 21 - Citizens of San Francisco, California contribute $100,000 for relief of Federal wounded
• September 22 - President Lincoln issues his Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation
• September 25 - Fighting at Snow's Pond, Kentucky
• September 27 - One of the first Federal regiments of black soldiers is organized in New Orleans, Louisiana

October 1862

• October 1 - Skirmish near Sharpsburg, Maryland
• October 3 - Battle of Corinth, Mississippi
• October 8 - Battle of Perryville (Chaplin Hills), Kentucky
• October 10 - Fighting at Harrodsburg and Danville Cross Roads, Kentucky
• October 10 - Jefferson Davis asks Virginia to draft 4,500 blacks to complete fortifications at Richmond
• October 11 - Skirmish near Helena, Arkansas
• October 15 - Skirmish at Neely's Bend on the Cumberland River in Tennessee
• October 18 - Garrison captured at Lexington, Kentucky in Morgan's Raid
• October 22 - Skirmish at Fort Wayne, Indian Territory (now Oklahoma)
• October 24 - Union Major General William Rosecrans replaces Major General Don Carlos Buell as commander of the Army of the Ohio
• October 29 - Skirmish at Island Mound, Missouri, the first time in the Civil War that African American soldiers fight as part an organized unit

November 1862

• November 5 - Lincoln orders that Major General George McClellan  be replaced with Ambrose Burnside as commander of the Army of the Potomac
• November 21 - James A. Seddon replaces George W. Randolph as Confederate Secretary of War
• November 28 - Engagement at Cane Hill, Arkansas

December 1862

• December 2 - Skirmish at Leed's Ferry on Virginia's Rappahannock Rive
• December 5 - Engagement at Coffeeville, Mississippi
• December 7 - Engagement at Hartsville, Tennessee
• December 7 - Battle of Prairie Grove, Arkansas
• December 11 to 15 - The Battle of Fredericksburg, Virginia
• December 12 - USS Cairo sunk on the Yazoo River, Mississippi
• December 18 - Skirmish at Lexington, Tennessee
• December 20 - Confederate cavalry led by General Earl Van Dorn raids Holly Springs, Mississippi
• December 22 - Confederate cavalry under James Hunt Morgan crosses the Cumberland River to begin the Christmas Raid in Kentucky
• December 26 - Confederate cavalry under JEB Stuart leaves winter encampment to raid the rear of the Army of the Potomac in Stafford County, Virginia
• December 26 to 29 - Battle of Chickasaw Bayou, Mississippi
• December 27 - Skirmish at Dumfries, Virginia
• December 31 - Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest's clash at Parker's Cross Roads, Tennessee
• December 31 - Battles of Stones River begins near Murfreesboro, Tennessee

1863 

January 1863

• January 1 - Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation goes into effect
• January 2 - The Battle of Stones River concludes
• January 9 to 11 - The Battle of Arkansas Post (Fort Hindman), Arkansas
• January 12 - Skirmish at Lick Creek, Arkansas
• January 17 - Lincoln approves Congressional resolution authorizing the Treasury to issue $100,000,000 in new notes in order to pay Union soldiers and sailors. President Lincoln also calls for regulation of the national currency
• January 22 - Union Major General Ambrose Burnside's "mud march" ends in failure
• January 25 - Burnside relieved of the command of the Army of the Potomac and replaced with Major General Joseph Hooker
• January 31 - Confederate ironclads temporarily break the blockade in Charleston Harbor

February 1863

• February 5 and 7 - Skirmish at Olive Branch Church, Virginia
• February 13 - Skirmish near Washington, North Carolina
• February 15 - Skirmish at Arkadelphia, Arkansas
• February 18 to 21 - The Cherokee National Council meets at Cowskin Prairie to disavow Stand Watie's pro-Confederate faction and abolish slavery 
• February 26 - Confederate guerrillas attack freight train near Woodburn, Tennessee

March 1863

• March 3 - Abraham Lincoln signs the Conscription Act, creating the first national military draft in American history
• March 11 - Confederates at Fort Pemberton block Union attempt to bypass Vicksburg's defenses
• March 14 - USS Mississippi runs aground near Port Hudson. The ship's crew scuttles the vessel in order to keep it from falling into Confederate hands
• March 17 - Engagement at Kelly's Ford, Virginia
• March 24/25 - Union amphibious expedition skirmishes with Confederates, Steele's Bayou, Mississippi
• March 26 - West Virginia votes for gradual emancipation in the state
• March 27 - Skirmish at Palatka, Florida

April 1863

• April 7 - Naval attack on Charleston, South Carolina
• April 11 - Siege of Suffolk, Virginia by Confederates begins
• April 17 - Union Colonel Benjamin Grierson's Raid from La Grange, Tennessee to Baton Rouge, Louisiana begins
• April 21 - Generals Jones and Imboden begin Confederate raid on the B&O Railroad,Virginia (now West Virginia)
• April 24 - Confederate government passes a tax in-kind on one-tenth of all produce
• April 30 - Battle of Chancellorsville begins near Fredericksburg, Virginia

May 1863

• May 1 - Battle of Port Gibson, Mississippi
• May 2 - During the Battle of Chancellorsville, Confederate General T.J. "Stonewall" Jackson is accidently shot by his own men
• May 3 - Second Battle of Fredericksburg, Virginia
• May 3/4 - Chancellorsville Campaign continues with the Battle of Salem Church
• May 6 - Battle of Chancellorsville ends with Confederate victory
• May 10 - Death of Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson
• May 12 - Battle of Raymond, Mississippi 
• May 14 - Engagement at Jackson, Mississippi
• May 16 - Battle of Champion Hill (Baker's Creek), Mississippi
• May 17 - Battle of Big Black River Bridge, Mississippi
• May 19 - First assault on Vicksburg, Mississippi
• May 21 - Engagement at Plains Store, Louisiana
• May 22 - Second assault on Vicksburg
• May 22 - Siege of Port Hudson, Louisiana begins
• May 27 - First assault on Port Hudson

June 1863

• June 7 - Battle of Milliken's Bend, Louisiana
• June 9 - Battle of Brandy Station (Fleetwood Heights), Virginia
• June 13 to 15 - Battle of Second Winchester
• June 14 - Second Assault on Port Hudson
• June 15 - Fight at Stephenson's Depot, Virginia, part of the Second Battle of Winchester
• June 17 - Engagement in Wassaw Sound, Georgia 
• June 20 - West Virginia joins the Union as the 35th state
• June 23 - Tullahoma Campaign begins in Middle Tennessee
• June 28 - Union Major General George G. Meade replaces Joseph Hooker as head of the Army of the Potomac

July 1863

• July 1 - Battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania begins
• July 2 - Second day of the Battle of Gettysburg, heavy fighting in The Wheatfield
• July 3 - Morgan's raiders cross the Cumberland River near Burkesville, Kentucky
• July 3 - Battle of Gettysburg concludes
• July 4 - Confederates surrender Vicksburg, Mississippi
• July 4 - Lee's forces begin to retreat from Gettysburg
• July 5 - Engagement at Birdson Ferry, Mississippi
• July 6 - Skirmish at Williamsport and Hagerstown, Maryland
• July 8 - Surrender of Port Hudson, Louisiana
• July 8 - General John Hunt Morgan crosses the Ohio River into Indiana at Brandenburg, Kentucky
• July 10 - Action at Falling Waters, Maryland
• July 10 - Siege of Fort Wagner, Charleston Harbor, South Carolina begins
• July 11 - First assault on Fort Wagner
• July 13 - Draft riots in New York City
• July 17 - Engagement at Honey Springs, Indian Territory (now Oklahoma)
• July 18 - Assault on Battery Wagner, led by the 54th Massachusetts
• July 19 - Engagement at Buffington Island on the Ohio River
• July 23 - Skirmish at Manassas Gap, Virginia
• July 26 - John Hunt Morgan captured at Salineville, Ohio
• July 29 - Queen Victoria reconfirms British policy of neutrality

August 1863

• August 1 - Federal cavalry advance from Witteburg on campaign to capture Little Rock, Arkansas
• August 8 - Robert E. Lee offers to resign as commander of the Army of Northern Virginia
• August 17 - Federals begin bombardment of Fort Sumter as siege of Fort Wagner continues
• August 26 -  Engagement at White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia
• August 27 - Skirmish at Bayou Meto (Reed's Bridge), Arkansas

September 1863

• September 5 - Laird Rams detained at Liverpool
• September 6 - Confederates evacuate Fort Wagner and Morris Island, South Carolina
• September 8 - Confederates repulse attack at Sabine Pass (Fort Griffin), Texas
• September 9 - Federal army enters Chattanooga, Tennessee
• September 10 - Little Rock, Arkansas captured by Union forces
• September 15 - Lincoln suspends writ of habeas corpus
• September 18 - Confederates force their way across Chickamauga Creek
• September 18 - Skirmish at Bristol in east Tennessee
• September 19 - Battle of Chickamauga, Georgia
• September 20 - Day two of the Battle of Chickamauga, Union troops retreat to Chattanooga, Tennessee

October 1863

• October 5 - Torpedo attack on USS New Ironsides outside Charleston Harbor, South Carolina
• October 9 - Bristoe Station Campaign begins in Virginia
• October 14 - Battle of Bristoe Station, Virginia
• October 16 - U.S. Grant named to command Union Military Division of the Mississippi
• October 17 - Lincoln calls for 300,000 additional volunteers to join the army 
• October 19 - Cavalry engagement known as the Buckland Races, Virginia
• October 20 - Skirmish at Warm Springs, North Carolina
• October 26 - Fight at King's House near Waynesville, Missouri
• October 28 - Engagement at Wauhatchie, Tennessee
• October 29 - Fighting at Warsaw and Ozark Missouri

November 1863

• November 3 - Engagement at Grand Coteau (Bayou Bourdeau), Louisiana
• November 4 - Knoxville Campaign begins
• November 7 - Battle of Rappahannock Station, Virginia
• November 16 - Battle of Campbell's Station, Tennessee 
• November 17 - Longstreet lays siege to Knoxville, Tennessee
• November 19 - President Lincoln delivers the "Gettysburg Address"
• November 20 - Edward Everett sends complimentary letter to Lincoln on his address at Gettysburg
• November 23 - Battle of Orchard Knob begins near Chattanooga, Tennessee
• November 24 - Battle of Lookout Mountain, Tennessee
• November 25 - Battle of Missionary Ridge, Tennessee
• November 26 - Mine Run Campaign begins in Virginia
• November 27 - Engagement at Payne's Farm, Virginia
• November 29 - Assault on Fort Sanders, Tennessee
• November 30 - General Braxton Bragg resigns from command of the Army of Tennessee

December 1863

• December 1 - Mine Run Campaign concludes in Virginia 
• December 3 - Siege of Knoxville, Tennessee concludes
• December 8 - Lincoln issues Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction
• December 14 - Engagement at Bean's Station, Tennessee
• December 16 - Skirmish at Salem, Virginia
• December 21 - Skirmish at Hunter's Mill, Virginia
• December 23 - Fight at Culpepper Court House, Virginia

1864 

January 1864

• January 11 - Rosser's Raid in West Virginia
• January 18 - Skirmish at Grand Gulf, Mississippi
• January 23 - Skirmish near Newport, Tennessee
• January 27 - Engagement at Fair Gardens (Kelly's Ford), Tennessee
• January 28 - Operations around New Bern, North Carolina
• January 29 - Cavalry skirmish at Medley, West Virginia

February 1864

• February 2 - Southern navy captures U.S. gunboat Underwriter but is forced to burn and flee
• February 3 - Union General William T. Sherman begins the Meridian Campaign in Mississippi
• February 11 - Skirmish at Lake City, Florida
• February 14 - Federal troops capture Meridian, Mississippi
• February 17 - Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley sinks the USS Housatonic
• February 20 - Battle of Olustee (Ocean Pond), Florida
• February 22 - Engagement at Okolona, Mississippi
• February 28 - Kilpatrick's Raid on Richmond begins
• February 29 - George Custer's cavalry fights skirmishes during a raid on Albermarle County, Virginia

March 1864

• March 1 - Federal cavalry raid by Judson Kilpatrick and Ulric Dahlgren on Richmond, Virginia
• March 5 - Confederate government orders all vessels to give half freight capacity to government shipments
• March 9 - U.S. Grant promoted to Lieutenant General
• March 12 - Red River Expedition begins in Louisiana
• March 20 - Confederate raider CSS Alabama arrives at Cape Town, South Africa
• March 21 - Nevada and Colorado territories admitted into the Union
• March 22 - Fighting at Bald Spring Canon on Eel River, California
• March 25 - Attack on Paducah, Kentucky by Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest

April 1864

• April 8 - Battle of Mansfield (Sabine Crossroads), Louisiana (Red River Expedition)
• April 9 - Battle of Pleasant Hill, Louisiana (Red River Expedition)
• April 12 - Capture of Fort Pillow, Tennessee by Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest
• April 20 - Plymouth, North Carolina captured
• April 22 - The motto "In God We Trust" first stamped on U.S. coins
• April 23 - Engagement of Cane River Crossing, Louisiana (Red River Expedition)
• April 25 - Action at Mark's Mills, Arkansas on Steele's Camden Expedition
• April 26 - Union fleet trapped by low water on the Red River near Alexandria, Louisiana
• April 28 - Skirmishes at Princeton, Arkansas on Steele's Camden Expedition
• April 30 - Engagement at Jenkins' Ferry, Arkansas on Steele's Camden Expedition

May 1864

• May 5 - Battle of the Wilderness, Virginia
• May 6 - Day two of the Battle of the Wilderness, General James Longstreet is seriously wounded in combat
• May 7 - Sherman begins his Atlanta campaign
• May 7 - Union troops seize Tunnel Hill on the first day of the Atlanta Campaign, an important tunnel on the Western & Atlantic Railroad. 
• May 8 - Battle of Spotsylvania, Virginia
• May 8 - Engagement at Dug Gap, Georgia
• May 9 - Engagement at Swift Creek, Virginia
• May 11 - Battle of Yellow Tavern, Virginia on Sheridan's Richmond Raid
• May 12 - Battle of Spotsylvania continues with the fight for the Bloody Angle
• May 12 - Death of J.E.B. Stuart
• May 13 - Battle of Resaca, Georgia begins
• May 15 - Battle of New Market, Virginia
• May 18 - Engagement at Yellow Bayou (Bayou de Glaize), Louisiana (Red River Expedition)
• May 20 - Battle of Ware Bottom Church
• May 23 - Battle of North Anna River, Virginia
• May 25 - Battle of New Hope Church, Georgia
• May 27 - Battle of Pickett's Mill, Georgia
• May 28 - Skirmish near Jacksonville, Florida
• May 28 - Battle of Dallas, Georgia
• May 29 - Confederates capture wagon train at Salem, Arkansas
• May 31 - Combat at Bethesda Church, Virginia

June 1864

• June 1 - Major Union attack at Cold Harbor, Virginia
• June 3 - All-out Union assault at Cold Harbor, Virginia
• June 5 - Battle at Piedmont, Virginia
• June 6 - Engagement at Lake Chicot (Dutch Bayou), Arkansas
• June 8 - Abraham Lincoln nominated for a second term as U.S. President
• June 10 - Battle of Brice's Cross Roads (Guntown), Mississippi
• June 11 - Skirmish at Pine Mountain, Georgia
• June 11 - Battle of Trevilian Station, Virginia
• June 15 - First attack on Petersburg, Virginia
• June 19 - USS Kearsarge sinks CSS Alabama near France
• June 21 - Christopher Memminger resigns as Confederate Secretary of the Treasury
• June 22 - Battle of Kolb's Farm (Culp's Farm), Georgia
• June 27 -  Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, Georgia
• June 29 - Skirmish at Reams Station, Virginia on Wilson's Raid

July 1864

• July 9 - Battle of Monocacy, Maryland
• July 12 - Early's raid of Fort Stevens, DC
• July 14 - Battle of Tupelo (Harrisburg), Mississippi
• July 17 - Confederate General J.B. Hood replaces J. Johnston as commander of the Army of Tennessee
• July 18 - Battle of Cool Spring, Virginia
• July 20 - Engagement at Rutherford's Farm, Virginia
• July 20 - Battle of Peachtree Creek, Georgia
• July 22 - Battle of Atlanta, Georgia
• July 24 - Second Battle of Kernstown, Virginia
• July 28 - Battle of Ezra Church, Georgia
• July 30 - Capture and burning of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania
• July 30 - Battle of The Crater at Petersburg, Virginia

August 1864

• August 2 - Cavalry skirmish at Hancock, Maryland
• August 4 - Operations around Brazos Santiago, Texas
• August 5 - Battle of Mobile Bay, Alabama
• August 6 - CSS Tallahassee departs Wilmington, North Carolina on a 3-week cruise
• August 7 - Engagement at Moorefield, West Virginia
• August 9 - Confederates detonante bomb aboard ship at City Point, Virginia
• August 16 - Engagement at Guard Hill (Front Royal), Virginia
• August 18 - Battle of Globe Tavern (Weldon Railroad), Virginia begins
• August 20 - Cavalry combat at Lovejoy's Station on the Macon & Western Railroad in Georgia
• August 21 - Battle of Glove Tavern (Weldon Railroad) concludes
• August 21 - Skirmish at Summit Point, West Virginia
• August 23 - Fort Morgan, at the entrance to Mobile Bay, Alabama, falls to the Federals
• August 25 - Second Battle of Reams Station, Virginia
• August 31 - Battle of Jonesborough, Georgia
• August 31 - Union Gen. George McClellan nominated for President by Democratic Party at Chicago convention

September 1864

• September 1 - Confederates evacuate Atlanta, Georgia
• September 2 - Federal Army enters Atlanta
• September 4 - John Hunt Morgan killed in Greenville, Tennessee
• September 7 - Evacuation of Atlanta citizens ordered by Union General William T. Sherman
• September 8 - George McClellan accepts nomination as Democratic candidate for President
• September 16 - Confederate General Wade Hampton's raid at Coggins Point (Great Cattle Road), Virginia
• September 19 - Battle of Third Winchester (Opequon), Virginia
• September 22 - Battle of Fisher's Hill, Virginia
• September 23 - Skirmish at Athens, Alabama
• September 27 - Battle of Pilot Knox (Fort Davidson), Missouri
• September 27 - Massacre at Centralia, Missouri
• September 28 - Skirmish at Decatur, Georgia
• September 29 - Battle of Fort Harrison (Chaffin's Farm), Virginia
• September 30 - Skirmish at Carter's Station, Tennessee
• September 30 - Battle of Peebles' Farm, Virginia

October 1864

• October 2 - Engagement at Saltville, Virginia
• October 5 - Battle of Allatoona Pass, Georgia
• October 6 - Cavalry engagement at Brock's Gap, Virginia
• October 7 - Capture of CSS Florida by USS Wachusett at Bahia, Brazil
• October 7 - Battle of Darbytown Road, Virginia
• October 9 - Engagement at Tom's Brook, Virginia
• October 12 - Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney dies in Washington, D.C.
• October 13 - Confederate Colonel John S. Mosby robs train near Harpers Ferry, West Virginia
• October 19 - Raid on St. Albans, Vermont
• October 19 - Battle of Cedar Creek (Belle Grove), Virginia
• October 22 - Battle of Byram's Ford, Missouri
• October 23 - Battle of Westport (Kansas City), Missouri
• October 25 - Battle of Mine Creek (Marais Des Cygnes), Kansas
• October 27 - Battle of Boydton Plank Road (Burgess' Mill), Virginia
• October 27 - Engagement at Fair Oaks and on Darbytown Road, Virginia
• October 27 - Union navy uses "torpedo" to sink Confederate ironclad Albermarle at Plymouth, North Carolina
• October 30 - Skirmish at Muscle Shoals, Alabama

November 1864

• November 2 - Affair at Hazen's Farm near Devalls Bluff, Arkansas
• November 4 - Engagement at Johnsonville, Tennessee
• November 8 - Abraham Lincoln is re-elected President of the United States
• November 11 - Battle of Bull's Gap, Tennessee
• November 15 - William T. Sherman departs Atlanta on the March to the Sea, leaving Atlanta in ruins
• November 24 - Skirmish at Columbia, Tennessee
• November 25 - Confederates fail at attempt to set fire to New York City hotels and Barnum's Museum
• November 28 - Rosser's Raid on New Creek near Keyser, West Virginia
• November 29 - Colonel J.M. Chivington leads Sand Creek Massacre in the Colorado Territory
• November 29 - Battle of Spring Hill, Tennessee
• November 30 - Battle of Franklin, Tennessee
• November 30 - Engagement at Honey Hill, South Carolina

December 1864

• December 1 - Union General John Schofield's army evacuates Franklin and retreats to Nashville
• December 4 - Engagement at Waynesborough, Georgia
• December 6 - Salmon P. Chase named Chief Justice of the United States
• December 10 - Federal Army arrives in front of Savannah, Georgia
• December 13 - Storming of Fort McAlister, Georgia
• December 15 - Battle of Nashville, Tennessee begins
• December 17 - Action near Franklin, Tennessee
• December 19 - Skirmish at Rutherford Creek, Tennessee
• December 20 - Confederates evacuate Savannah, Georgia
• December 24 - First attack on Fort Fisher, North Carolina
• December 25 - Federals abandon first attack on Fort Fisher, North Carolina
• December 28 - Engagement at Egypt, Missouri

1865 

January 1865

• January 12 - Francis Preston Blair Sr. attempts to negotiate peace with Jefferson Davis
• January 13 - Second attack on Fort Fisher, North Carolina begins
• January 15 - Fort Fisher stormed
• January 23 - Joseph E. Johnston opposes Sherman's march through the Carolinas
• January 31 - U.S. House passes 13th Amendment abolishing slavery

February 1865

• February 1 - Sherman's march through the Carolinas in "full swing"
• February 3 - Union and Confederate officials meet to discuss peace
• February 5 - Battle of Hatcher's Run (Armstrong's Mill), Virginia begins
• February 6 - John C. Breckinridge named Confederate Secretary of War
• February 17 - Columbia South Carolina burned
• February 17 - Evacuation of Charleston, South Carolina
• February 22 - Wilmington, North Carolina captured

March 1865

• March 2 - Engagement at Waynesboro, Virginia
• March 4 - Abraham Lincoln inaugurated for second term as President
• March 6 - Battle of Natural Bridge, Florida
• March 6 - Lincoln appoints Hugh McCulloch as United States Secretary of the Treasury
• March 7-10 - Battle of Kinston (Wyse's Fork), North Carolina 
• March 10 - Engagement at Monroe's Cross Roads, South Carolina
• March 13 - Jefferson Davis signs law authorizing black men to serve in Confederate Army
• March 16 - Battle of Averasborough, North Carolina
• March 18 - Confederate Congress adjourns
• March 19 - Battle of Bentonville, North Carolina
• March 22 - Wilson's Raid on Selma, Alabama
• March 25 - Battle at Fort Stedman, Virginia
• March 27 - Siege of Spanish Fort, Alabama begins
• March 27 - Lincoln meets with Generals U.S. Grant and William T. Sherman at City Point, Virginia
• March 29 - Appomattox Campaign begins
• March 29 - Engagement at Lewis Farm
• March 30 - Cavalry skirmish at Montevallo, Alabama during Wilson's Raid
• March 31 - Battle of White Oak Road, Virginia
• March 31 -  Engagement at Dinwiddie Court House, Virginia

April 1865

• April 1 - Battle of Five Forks, Virginia
• April 2 - Confederate Government evacuates Richmond, Virginia
• April 2 - Selma, Alabama assailed and captured 
• April 2 - Confederate lines at Petersburg breached and Fort Gregg stormed
• April 3 - Richmond and Petersburg occupied by Federals
• April 4 - Lincoln visits Richmond, Virginia
• April 6 - Battle of Sayler's Creek (Sailor's Creek), Virginia
• April 7 - Engagement at High Bridge, Virginia
• April 7 -  Engagement at Cumberland Church, Virginia
• April 8 - Siege of Spanish Fort, Alabama concludes
• April 8 - Battle of Appomattox Station
• April 9 - Lee surrenders to Grant at Appomattox Court House
• April 12 - Mobile, Alabama surrenders
• April 13 - Skirmish at Raleigh, North Carolina
• April 14 - United States flag raised over Fort Sumter, South Carolina
• April 14 - Abraham Lincoln is shot at Ford's Theatre
• April 15 - Abraham Lincoln dies. Andrew Johnson sworn in as President of the United States
• April 16 - Capture of Columbus and West Point, Georgia
• April 18 - Sherman and J. Johnston sign armistice at Durham Station, North Carolina
• April 26 - General Joseph Johnston surrenders to General William T. Sherman at Durham Station, North Carolina
• April 26 - John Wilkes Booth captured and killed in the Garrett Barn, Port Royal, Virginia
• April 27 - Explosion of the riverboat Sultana

May 1865

• May 2 - A $100,000 reward offered for the arrest of Jefferson Davis
• May 4 - Surrender of Confederate General Richard Taylor's forces at Citronelle, Alabama
• May 10 - Confederate President Jefferson Davis captured by U.S. troops at Irwinville, Georgia
• May 12 - Skirmish at Palmito Ranch, Texas - the last engagement of the Civil War
• May 23 to 24 - Grand Review of Union armies in Washington, D.C.
• May 26 - Surrender of Confederate General E.K. Smith's Trans-Mississippi forces, New Orleans, Louisiana
• May 29 - President Andrew Johnson proclaims amnesty for most ex-Confederates

June 1865

• June 23 - General Stand Watie surrenders Confederate forces in the Indian Territory (OK)
• June 30 - Eight Lincoln-assassination conspirators convicted in Washington, D.C.

July 1865

• July 7 - Conspirators in the assassination of Lincoln are executed

November 1865

• November 10 - War criminal Henry Wirz hanged

December 1865

• December 6 - Georgia becomes the 27th state to ratify the 13th Amendment, abolishing slavery in the United States.
• December 18 - Secretary of State William Seward announced to the world that the 13th Amendment has been ratified.