Tightening the Reins

KEY EVENTS DURING THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR Use the chart to create an illustrated time line of key events during the American Civil War. Illustrate each event and provide a brief annotation explaining its significance. DATE EVENT DESCRIPTION 1860 Abraham Lincoln Lincoln only had 39% of the popular vote but he won the electoral college vote. No elected president southern state voted for him 1860 Southern states South Carolina is the first state to secede (leave) the Union. The south forms the secede from the Confederate States of America and elected Jefferson Davis as its president. Union 1861 Fort Sumter, South First battle of the Civil War. Fort Sumter guards the entrance into Charleston harbor, Carolina South Carolina. The Union troops refused to surrender to the Confederate soldiers trying to take it over. 1861 First Battle of Bull The Union army was marching to Richmond (capital for the Confederacy) in hopes of Run – Manassas, taking the city and ending the war quickly. They met confederate troops at Manassas. Virginia The Confederacy defeated the Union proving it would not be a short war. Confederate General Thomas Jackson earned the nickname “Stonewall” by displaying courage on the battlefield. 1862 Merrimac v. First clash of the ironclads. The two ships fought all day with no winner. Revolutionized Monitor warfare by making wooden ships obsolete. 1862 Shiloh, Tennessee Union general Grant defeats the south. First battle with large number of casualties: 13,000 Union soldiers dead, 11,000 Confederate soldiers dead. 1862 New Orleans, Union naval captain David Farragut captures the port of New Orleans taking control of Louisiana the lower part of the Mississippi River 1862 Antietam, One of only two battle fought in the North. Also the bloodiest one day battle of the Civil Maryland War with over 23,000 men killed. Confederate General Robert E. Lee is forced to retreat back into the south. This Union victory gives President Lincoln the confidence to issue the Emancipation Proclamation. 1862 Emancipation To give the war a moral purpose, the Emancipation Proclamation stated that slaves in Proclamation the southern states would be free. Lincoln also wanted to stop England and France, who opposed slavery, from helping the south. 1863 Gettysburg, Confederate General Robert E. Lee advances north in hopes of cutting off Washington Pennsylvania D.C. from the rest of the Union. Confederate and Union troops meet at Gettysburg. After three days of fighting, Lee retreats back into the south. Union lost 23,000 men, the Confederacy lost 28,000 men. 1863 Gettysburg, President Lincoln gives his “Gettysburg Address” during a dedication ceremony. Pennsylvania

1863 Vicksburg, After a 47 day siege, Union General Grant captures the town of Vicksburg. With this

1 KEY EVENTS DURING THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR Mississippi victory, the Union now controls the Mississippi River. 1864 Georgia After destroying Atlanta, the Union general Sherman made his famous “March to the Sea” in which he engaged in total war. He torn up railroads, burned towns, crops and destroyed livestock along the way from Atlanta to Savannah. 1865 Appomattox Court Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrenders to Union General Grant, bringing an end House, Virginia to the Civil War. 1865 Ford’s Theatre, John Wilkes Booth assassinates President Lincoln. Washington D.C.