First post

This blog is to provide my friends with a common place to check our plans for our Civil War tour of 2011 through 2015, the 150th anniversary of the Civil War.
It will become the central repository for the schedule for the Civil Wargasm, a journey to be conducted out of a profound sense of history by Mark Wilson Seymour, H.P Tyner, Michael Benson, Dave Matt, and those Companions of the Gasm who choose to come along. Since few of us will be spry enough (assuming we're even alive then), we'll likely not be able to repeat this in another fifty years, during the Bicentennial of the War, thus we're going to take this opportunity to see every reenactment of the Civil War...
It will take place from 12 April 2011 (the 150th anniversary of the shelling of Fort Sumter and my 59th birthday) in Charleston, South Carolina through 12 April 2015 (the 150th anniversary of the surrender of Lee's army and my 63rd birthday) in Appomattox Court House, Virginia. There may be, as events warrant and there are willing participants, events that occurred after Appomattox which will be of sufficient interest that the Companions will attend.

1962 events

Thirty-six loaded shells, believed abandoned by the Confederate Army after the battle of Gettysburg, were uncovered on 31 April, 1862, near Duffield, Pennsylvania. Using a mine detector, three men (Mike Marotte from East Chambersburg, Ken Fields, and Clayton George) found the ammunition buried two feet underground at School House Hill, an area used by the Confederates in the retreat after the 1863 battle.

From an AP wire story, 1 May 1962

2011 events

January
9 Charleston, South Carolina. Cadets from the Citadel fire on the Star of the West from Cummings Point, South Carolina; arguably the first shot fired in the Civil War.

February
18 Jefferson Davis is inaugurated as President of the Confederate States of America.

March
4 Abraham Lincoln is inaugurated as President of the United States of America.

April
12 Charleston, South Carolina. Bombardment of Ft. Sumter, 0430. First Union return fire is ordered by Brigadier General Abner Doubleday. The CWgasm troops were not in Charleston, South Carolina for the event, due to an unexpected failure of transport.
Santa Rosa Island, Florida. Troops land at Fort Pickens
13 Robert Anderson, Major General, USA, surrenders Fort Sumter.
14 Fort Sumter evacuated.
15 Lincoln calls for 75,000 volunteers.
17 Indianola, Texas. The Star of the West is seized by Confederate troops. Virginia secedes from the Union.
19 Baltimore, Maryland. The 6th Massachusetts is caught up in a riot, losing the first Union soldiers.
20 Norfolk, Virginia. The Union naval yard is burned.
27 Washington, DC. Lincoln suspends habeas corpus.

May
1 Harper’s Ferry, Virginia. T. Jackson sent with troops by RE Lee.
6 The Confederacy issues letters of marque and reprisal.
9 Newport, Rhode Island. US Naval Academy relocates from Annapolis.
13 Baltimore, Maryland. General Butler’s troops occupy the city.
20 Richmond, Virginia. Confederate capital relocates.
24 Alexandria, Virginia. Elmer Ellsworth, 11th NY, is first Union combat casualty, shot while removing a Confederate flag from a hotel; the shooter, James Jackson, is shot in turn.
31 Washington, DC. Postal service is cut between the Union and the Confederacy.

June
1 Fairfax County Courthouse, Virginia. First skirmishes; Captain John Marr, CSA, is one of the earliest Southern casualties.
5 Delaware. Federal marshals seize powder at the Dupont works.
10 Bethel Church, Virginia. Skirmish; 18 Union dead, only 1 Confederate.
14 Harper’s Ferry, Virginia. Confederates flee oncoming Union troops.
17 Washington, DC. Thaddeus Lowe demonstrates a hot-air balloon.
30 Charleston, South Carolina. CSS Sumter evades Union blockade.

July
8 New Mexico Territory. General HH Sibley put in command of CSA troops.
21 Manassas, Virginia. First Battle of Manassas/Bull Run ends with Union retreat. The CWgasm troops were not there, fortunately; it was exceedingly hot.
27 Washington, DC. George McClellan is given command of the Army of the Potomac.

August
5 Fernandina, Florida. USS Vincennes captures and burns CSS Alvarado.
9 Wilson’s Creek, Missouri. Battle between Union troops under General Lyon (who is killed) and Confederate militia under Sterling Price.
12 Texas. Confederate troops are attacked by Apaches, who kill fifteen.
15 Dry Tortugas, Florida. Sixty soldiers of the Second Maine Volunteers are sent to the islands following a mutiny.
27 Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. Union troops land and seize Forts Clark and Hatteras with few casualties.

September
1 Cape Girardau, Missouri. General Ulysses S. Grant assumes command of Union forces in Missouri.
6 Paducah, Kentucky. Union forces move to prevent Confederates from taking the city.

October
1 Pamilco Sound, North Carolina. Confederates seize the Union steamer Fanny.
4 Washington, DC. John Ericsson is given a contract to build ironclads, including the Monitor.
5 California. Expedition by Union forces to Oak Grove and Temecula Ranch to find Confederates.
21 Leesburg, Virginia. Debacle at Ball’s Bluff.
25 Greenpoint, Long Island. Keel for the Monitor is laid.
29 Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. Naval expedition under Admiral DuPont runs into major storm.

November
1 Washington, DC. General Winfield Scott resigns and is succeeded by General George McClellan.
5 & 6 Hamilton, North Carolina. The CWGasm (represented only by Mark Wilson Seymour) is there for the off-year reenactment at Fort Branch.
6 Richmond, Virginia. Jefferson Davis is reelected as president of the Confederacy.
7 Port Royal Sound, South Carolina. DuPont’s expedition lands.
8 Havana, Cuba. USS San Jacinto captures Confederate emissaries Slidell and Mason from the British ship Trent. Major scandal ensues.
24 Tybee Island, Georgia. Federal troops land.
25 Wheeling, West Virginia. Suceeding from secession, West Virigina leaves Virginia.
27 Ship Island, Mississippi. Union expeditionary force lands to prepare for assault on New Orleans.

December
3 Ship Island, Mississippi. General Butler lands troops of the 26th Massachusetts and the Ninth Connecticut.
8 Atlantic Ocean. Northern whaler Eben Dodge is seized by CSS Sumter.
11 Charleston, South Carolina. City is ravaged by a fire.
14 London, England Queen Victoria dies.
30 Boston, Massachusetts. Mason and Slidell are released into British custody.

2012 events

January
11 Roanoke Island, North Carolina. Troops under General Ambrose Burnside land on the Outer Banks.
16 Cedar Key, Florida. Blockade runners are burned by the Federal navy.
19 Nancy, Kentucky. The Battle of Mills Springs.
27 Washington, DC. Lincoln issues General War Order Number One.
30 Greenpoint, Long Island. The USS Monitor is launched.
31 Washington, DC. Lincoln issues Special War Order Number One.

February
6 Fort Henry, Tennesee. Fort Henry is attacked by troops under General Grant.
8 Roanoke Island, North Carolina. Confederate defences fall to General Burnside’s troops.
13 Dover, Tennessee. Union troops move to attack Fort Donelson.
16 Dover, Tennessee. Fort Donelson surrenders after General Grant first uses “unconditional and immediate surrender” in a letter to General Buckner. Both Tennessee and Kentucky fall into Union hands as a result. Grant is promoted to major general.
20 Washington, DC. Lincoln’s son Willie dies of typhoid fever.
21 Val Verde, New Mexico. CSA troops under General Sibley defeat Union forces at Fort Craig, then move on Santa Fe.
24 Harper’s Ferry, Virginia. Union troops take the ferry.
27 New York harbor. USS Monitor steams south.

March
7 Elkhorn Tavern, Arkansas. The Battle of Pea Ridge. The CWgasm troops are there, dressed in the uniform of their choice.
8 Washington, DC. Lincoln issues General War Order Number Two.
Hampton Roads, Virginia. The CSS Virginia (aka the Merrimack) shoots up the Union fleet.
9 Hampton Roads, Virginia. The CSS Virginia engages in the first sea battle by ironclads with the USS Monitor.
11 Washington, DC. Lincoln issues General War Order Number Three, relieving General McClellan as commander in chief and appointing him as commander of the Army of the Potomac.
14 New Berne, North Carolina. General Burnside’s troops occupy the town.
17 Virginia. General McClellan opens the Peninsular Campaign.
18 Corinth, Mississippi. Confederate troops begin to arrive from Murfreesboro.
23 Kernstown, Virginia. Preliminary battle for the Shenandoah Valley campaign, with 9000 Union and 4200 Confederate troops.
26 Glorietta, New Mexico. Clash at Apache Canyon.
28 Glorietta, New Mexico. Battle at Glorietta Pass. The CWgasm troops are there, dressed in the uniform of their choice.

April
3 Apalachicola, Florida. Confederates surrender.
6 Pittsburgh Landing, Tennessee. Battle of Shiloh. The CWgasm troops are there, dressed in the uniform of their choice.
10 Fernandina, Florida. Skirmishing.
11 Union troops capture Fort Pulaski outside Savannah in Georgia.
12 Western & Atlantic Railroad. The General is seized.
13 New Mexico. Confederates retreat to El Paso.
16 Confederacy. Jeff Davis implements the draft.
26 New Orleans, Louisiana. Federal troops enter the city.
31 Virginia. Battle of Seven Pines (Fair Oaks).

May
9 Pensacola, Florida. City is evacuated by Confederate troops and occupied by Federal troops.
11 Virginia . Confederates burn the Virgina.
15 Drewry’s Bluff, Virginia. Battle of Drewry’s Bluff, including the Monitor. The CWgasm troops are there, dressed in the uniform of their choice.
20 Washington, DC. Lincoln signs the Homestead Act.
25 Shenandoah Valley, Virginia. Battle of Winchester.
30 Corinth, Mississippi. City is taken by Federal troops under General Halleck.
31 Richmond, Virginia. Battle of Seven Pines. The CWgasm troops are there, dressed in the uniform of their choice.

June
1 Richmond, Virginia. General Robert E. Lee assumes command of the Army of Northern Virginia.
3 Memphis, Tennessee. Confederates retreat from Fort Pillow.
6 Memphis, Tennessee. City surrenders.
8 Port Republic, Virginia. Battle of Cross Keys. The CWgasm troops are there, dressed in the uniform of their choice.
12 Peninsular Campaign, Virginia. JEB Stuart ‘rides around’ the Federal lines.
25 Richmond, Virginia. Seven Days campaign opens.
27 Richmond, Virginia. Battle of Gaines’ Mills. The CWgasm troops are there, dressed in the uniform of their choice.

July
2 Richmond, Virginia. Union forces retreat to Harrison’s Landing on the James River.
14 Washington, DC. The State of West Virginia is created.
29 Liverpool, England. The CSS Alabama sails.

August
5 Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Confederates attack the city unsuccessfully.
9 Cedar Mountain, Virginia. Beginning of the Second Manassas Campaign.
17 Minnesota. Sioux Uprising begins.
29 Manassas, Virginia. Second Battle of Manassas. The CWgasm troops are there, dressed in the uniform of their choice.

September
1 Virginia. Battle of Chantilly.
17 Antietam, Maryland. Battle of Antietam, the bloodiest day in American history; total killed were more than 4,700. The CWgasm troops are there, dressed in the uniform of their choice.

October
3 Columbia, Mississippi. Battle of Corinth. The CWgasm troops are there, dressed in the uniform of their choice.
8 Perryville, Kentucky. Battle of Perryville. The CWgasm troops are there, dressed in the uniform of their choice.
9 Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. JEB Stuart rides around the Federal lines.
18 Lexington, Kentucky. Morgan’s men take prisoners.
22 Maysville, Arkansas. Second Battle of Pea Ridge. The CWgasm troops are there, dressed in the uniform of their choice.

November
4 New York. Horatio Seymour is elected as governor.
4 Fort Branch, Hamilton, North Carolina. Union army troops under General Foster force Confederates from the area and chase them out of Hamilton, temporarily halting construction on the fort. The U.S.S. I.N. Seymour  destroys part of the deserted battery at Rainbow Bend. (Total destruction is interrupted when an accident kills one and wounds another.) Confederates regroup, gathering as many as five regiments in Tarboro, the threat of which forces General Foster to quickly retreat to Plymouth on the 10th. Eventually, Confederates return to repair damage and resume work. The CWgasm will be there, dressed as Union infantry.
5 Washington, DC. General McClellan is relieved of command of the Army of the Potomac, replaced by Burnside.
8 Washington, DC. General Butler is replaced as head of the Department of the Gulf by General Banks.
17 Martinique, in the Caribbean. The CSS Alabama sails into port.

December
13 Fredericksburg, Virginia. Battle of Fredericksburg. The CWgasm troops are there, dressed in the uniform of their choice.
30 Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. USS Monitor sinks.
31 Washington, DC. Lincoln signs the bill establishing West Virginia as a state.
31 Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Battle of Stone’s River. The CWgasm troops are there, dressed in the uniform of their choice.

2013 events

January
1 Washington, DC. Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation.
1 through 3 Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Battle of Stones River (Murfreesboro).
10 Washington, DC. General Fitz John Porter is court-martialed and cashiered from the army for failure to follow orders at the Second Battle of Manassas in August; revoked after review in 1879, he is reinstated as a colonel.
11 Texas coastal waters. The CSS Alabama sinks USS Hatteras.
16 Mobile Bay. CSS Florida slips through the blockade; eventually sunk off Bahia, Brazil.
22 Fredericksburg, Virginia. The Mud March begins.
25 Washington, DC. General Burnside is relieved of command of the Army of the Potomac and replaced by General Hooker.

February
26 Virginia. General Longstreet takes command of the Department of Virginia and North Carolina.

March
2 New Orleans. Union troops set out on a three-week reconnaissance to the Rio Grande in Texas.
3 Northwest. The territory of Idaho is formed from the eastern part of Washington state.
9 St. Augustine, Florida. Minor skirmishing.
10 Jacksonville, Florida. Union forces, predominantly black regiments, occupy the city.
31 Jacksonville, Florida. Union forces evacuate the city.

April
15 Brazil. The CSS Alabama seizes two Union whaling ships.
16 Vicksburg, Mississippi. Admiral David Porter runs the batteries at Vicksburg with a dozen vessels.
17 Tennessee. Colonel Grierson leads 1700 horse soldiers on a 16-day raid through Mississippi.
26 Franklin, Kentucky. The Texas Legion surrenders.

May
2 Chancellorsville, Virginia. Battle of Chancellorsville. Jackson’s Second Corps attacks the Union right; Jackson and AP Hill are wounded.
10 Guinea’s Station, Virginia. General Jackson dies.
16 Vicksburg, Mississippi. Battle of Champion’s Hill.
18 Vicksburg. Siege of Vicksburg begins.

June
3 Fredericksburg. RE Lee moves the Army of Northern Virginia out of the city, headed north.
4 Culpeper Court House, Virginia. The ANV continues to move north.
6 Brandy Station, Virginia. JEB Stuart holds a cavalry review.
7 Brierfield, Mississippi. The home plantation of Jefferson Davis is burned by Union troops.
8 Vicksburg. Union artillery begins a 24-hour-a-day bombardment of the city.
9 Brandy Station, Virginia. Battle of Brandy Station. In an accidental meeting, cavalry under General Pleasanton confronts JEB Stuart’s cavalry in the worst cavalry fight of the war. The CWgasm troops are there, dressed in the uniform of their choice.
12 Shenandoah Valley. The ANV crosses the Blue Ridge mountains.
13 Winchester, Virginia. The Second Battle of Winchester. The CWgasm troops are there, dressed in the uniform of their choice.
16 Potomac River. General Lee crosses with the Army of Northern Virginia.
20 Washington, DC. Lincoln proclaims West Virginia as the 35th state.
22 Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, General Lee moves into the town.
25 Near Gettysburg, JEB Stuart begins his ‘ride around the Union Army’.
26 Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Jubal A. Early moves his troops into town.
27 Washington, DC. Lincoln decides to replace General Hooker as head of the Army of the Potomac with General Meade. Hooker resigns.
Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. General Lee’s army moves toward Harrisburg.
30 Hanover, Pennsylvania. Battle between JEB Stuart’s and General Kirkpatrick’s cavalry troops. The CWgasm troops are there, dressed in the uniform of their choice.

July
1 through 4 Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Battle of Gettysburg.
1 Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Opening skirmishes in the battle along the Chambersburg Road. General Reynolds is killed. Federal troops fall back into positions on Cemetery Ridge and Cemetery Hill.
2 Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Fighting in the Peach Orchard. Attack on Culp’s HIll.
3 Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Pickett’s Charge and the defeat of the Army of Northern Virginia. The CWgasm troops are there, dressed in the uniform of their choice.
4 Vicksburg, Mississippi. The Confederates surrender. Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The Army of Northern Virginia retreats into Maryland.
5 Vicksburg, Mississippi. The Confederate prisoners begin to sign their paroles.
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The Army of Northern Virginia continues its retreat into Maryland.
6 Buford's troopers are repulsed by Lee's advance guard at Williamsport, Maryland..
7 The Army of Northern Virginia entrenches at Hagerstown, Maryland, awaiting the fall of the storm-swollen Potomac.
Braxton Bragg, driven from Tennessee by the Army of the Cumberland, gathers his troops at Chattanooga.
8 Port Hudson, Louisiana surrenders to the Union; the whole of the Mississippi is now under Federal control. In Ohio, John H. Morgan and 2500 men cross the Ohio River into Indiana, meeting only slight resistance. The Army of Northern Virginia remains at Hagerstown.
9 Other than a slight skirmish at Beaver Creek, General Lee meets no opposition to his retreat. Port Hudson, Louisiana. General Gardner, CSA, formally surrenders to General Nathaniel Banks, USA. Jackson, Mississippi. General Sherman's troops close on those of General Joe Johnston, CSA.
10 Meade's army begins to move toward that of Lee. Charleston, South Carolina. Federal troops prepare an assault on Battery Wagner upon Morris Island.
11 The first draftee names are chosen in New York. In Charleston, South Carolina, Union forces mount their first attack on Battery Wagner.
12 Meade finally catches Lee, but puts off an attack. Lee builds bridges across the now-subdued Potomac and begins moving his troops south. In Indiana, Morgan's raiders meet increased resistance.
13 New York sees the first draft riots, along with Boston and other Eastern cities. Troops just returned from Gettysburg finally put down the riot, with over 1000 dead and wounded. At Gettysburg, with the Federals deceived by campfires, Lee’s army succeeds in escaping across the Potomac.
14 Meade finally attacks, finding only an empty camp.
15 Lee’s army moves south through the Shenandoah Valley.
16 In Ohio, Morgan’s raiders meet increasing resistance.
In Jackson, Mississippi, Joe Johnston, CSA, pulls his troops out, leaving the city to the Federals.
18 In Charleston, South Carolina, a second unsuccessful Federal attack on Battery Wagner, with severe losses in the 54th Massachusetts, including Colonel Shaw, its commander.
19 At Gettysburg, Meade crosses the Potomac at Harper’s Ferry and Berlin.
In Ohio, Federal troops overrun Morgan’s raiders, killing and capturing over 800. Morgan escapes toward Pennsylvania with 300 men.
20 Meade’s troops move into the passes of the Blue Ridge.
22 Near Gettysburg, Federal troops under General French fail to clear the Manassas Gap and thus fail to cut Lee’s army in two. The Army of Northern Virginia moves down-valley.
24 Meade’s forces finally enter the Shenandoah Valley, but Lee’s army has already preceded them.
At Charleston, South Carolina, the siege of Battery Wagner continues.
In Athens, Ohio, Morgan’s raiders continue to be harassed by Union troops.
26 At New Lisbon, Ohio, Morgan’s raiders are captured.
28 Near Gettysburg, John Mosby, CSA, leads his men on raids against Meade’s army.

August
1 At Brandy Station, Virginia, skirmishes between Union and Confederate cavalry.
6 Off the Cape of Good Hope in Southern Africa, the CSS Alabama captures the Union bark Sea Bride.
8 Richmond, Virginia. General Lee sends a letter of resignation to Jefferson Davis, who refuses the request.
16 In Tennessee, the first movement of troops in what will become the Chickamauga and Chattanooga campaigns.
18 Washington, DC. Abraham Lincoln test fires the new Spencer carbine on the Mall.
20 In New Mexico, Kit Carson moves against the Navajo.
21 At Lawrence, Kansas, William C. Quantrill {whose troops included 'Bloody Bill' Anderson, Cole Younger, and Frank James} leads 400 Confederate guerrillas into Lawrence, Kansas; 150 men and boys are killed and the town burned.
29 In the harbor at Charleston, South Carolina, the CSS Hunley sinks during a trial run, killing its crew.

September
2 Troops under General Burnside occupy Knoxville, Tennessee.
5 The British government seizes two Confederate ironclads in the Laird shipyard in Liverpool.
6 General Braxton Bragg decides to evacuate Chattanooga, Tennessee.
PGT Beauregard, CSA, evacuates Batteries Wagner and Gregg in Charleston.
7 Federal troops assault Batteries Wagner and Gregg and find them empty.
8 Sabine Pass, Texas. Federal transport ships and gunboats assault a Confederate fort and suffer the loss of 70 men.
Chattanooga, Tennessee. Braxton Bragg’s 65,000 troops withdraw toward Lafayette, Georgia.
In Virginia, Longstreet’s divisions separate from Lee’s army and take the trains to reinforce Bragg’s army in Georgia.>
10 In Tennessee, Bragg fails to spring his trap on the Federal troops.
13 In Virginia, Lee’s army withdraws across the Rapidan, while Meade’s army advances to the river, occupying Culpeper Court House.
At Chickamauga, Tennessee, Polk fails to move and Bragg's trap remains unsprung; Crittenden has concentrated his forces.
15 From Washington, DC, Lincoln urges Meade to attack at once.
17 Chickamauga, Tennessee. Union troops are at last concentrated. Bragg intends to turn the Union left flank and cut off Rosecrans from Chattanooga. (Translated from the local Indian language, Chickamauga means ‘River of Death’.)
18 Bragg’s attack fails to materialize. The first of Longstreet’s forces arrive.
19 Chattanooga, Tennessee. Battle of Chickamauga. A long day of fighting at Chickamauga, with little to show for it besides casualties. Longstreet brings up the rest of his men, but does not meet with Bragg until 2300.
20 Bragg awaits Polk’s dawn attack, but discovers via messenger that Polk is still having breakfast. At 0930 he orders the right flank forward. Wood pulls out his troops and opens the way for a fortuitous attack by Longstreet’s men, cutting the Union line in two. In spite of the general retreat to Chattanooga, Thomas holds a hill all day, becoming the ‘Rock of Chickamauga’.
21 At Chattanooga, Tennessee, Bragg fails to move rapidly, given the Union troops time to reorganize.
22 Bragg attacks Union defenses on Missionary Ridge and Lookout Mountain, but fails to dislodge them.

October
5 CSA cavalry destroy a bridge at Stone’s River, near Murfreesboro, breaking a vital Union supply line.
15 At Charleston, South Carolina, the CSS Hunley sinks, yet again, this time drowning its inventor.
16 The Departments of Ohio, Cumberland, and Tennesse are combined into the Military Division of the Mississippi, under the command of General US Grant.
17 At Bristoe, Virginia, Lee withdraws his troops toward the Rappahannock.
In Louisville, Kentucky, Grant is given a choice of subcommanders and chooses Thomas over Rosecrans.
18 At Chattanooga, Tennessee, General Thomas declares “We will hold this town ‘til we starve.”
23 In Richmond, Virginia, Jefferson Davis removes General Polk, sending him to Mississippi.
27 Grant opens the ‘cracker line’ to resupply Chattanooga, Tennessee.

November
15 General Sherman arrives at Chattanooga, Tennessee with 17,000 men.
19 Following another's lengthy oration at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, President Abraham Lincoln gives the ten-sentence Gettysburg Address in front of 15,000.
23 Chattanooga, Tennessee. Battle of Chattanooga. Thinking they’re witnessing a grand parade, the Confederates are surprised when the Union troops charge, taking Orchard Knob.
24 Sherman’s troops move across the river and advance up Missionary Ridge while Hooker’s men advance through the fog on Lookout Mountain in what’s called “The Battle Above the Clouds”.
25 Disobeying orders to halt halfway up the mountain, Union troops push the Confederates over Lookout Mountain and down the other side.
26 At the Rapidan River in Virginia, Meade begins an offensive against Lee.
27 John Hunt Morgan, CSA, and some of his officers escape from the Ohio State Penitentiary.
29 At Knoxville, Kentucky, General Longstreet opens his assault on Fort Sanders. It fails.
30 In Richmond, Virginia, Jefferson Davis accepts the resignation of Braxton Bragg.

December
1 The Army of the Potomac withdraws across the Rapidan River and sets up winter quarters.
8 In Washington, DC, Abraham Lincoln, in his Message to Congress, outlines Reconstruction.
9 At Knoxville, Kentucky, General Burnside is, by his own request, relieved of command and replaced by Major General Foster.

2014 events

January
6 In the New Mexico Territory, Colonel Kit Carson traps Navajos in Cañon de Chelly, sending them on the ‘Long Walk’ to Fort Sumner.
8 In Richmond, Virginia John Hunt Morgan completes his escape from Ohio.

February
1 In Washington, DC, Abraham Lincoln calls for 500,000 additional draftees. Congress revives the rank of lieutenant general, so they can award it to US Grant.
7 Union troops seize Jacksonville, Florida.
9 In Richmond, Virginia, 109 Union POWs dig their way out of Libby prison.
17 Charleston, South Carolina The CSS Hunley sinks the USS Housatonic and itself, killing its third crew.
20 The Battle of Olustee, Florida. The CWgasm troops are there, dressed in the uniform of their choice.
27 The first Federal troops arrive at the new POW camp at Andersonville, Georgia.
28 General Kilpatrick ("Kilcavalry") leads a cavalry raid to free Union POWs from Richmond.

March
1 In Washington, DC, Abraham Lincoln nominates US Grant as lieutenant general and commander of the Army.
In Richmond, Virginia, the Kilpatrick/Dahlgren raid falls apart in the dark.
2 In Washington, DC, the Senate confirms US Grant’s new rank and position.
8 At the White House, Grant meets Lincoln for the first time.
10 At Alexandria, Louisiana, the Red River campaign opens.
24 Confederate cavalry under Nathan Bedford Forrest captures Union City, Tennessee.

April
6 In New Orleans, the state convention adopts a new constitution and abolishes slavery.
8 In Washington, DC, the Senate passes the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, abolishing slavery. In Louisiana, the Battle of Sabine Crossroads.
11 On the Red River in Louisiana, Federal troops withdraw from the campaign.
12 At Fort Pillow, Tennessee, Nathan Bedford Forrest tries to get the Union commander to surrender the fort, then attacks. The defenders, most of them black troops, are massacred.
17 At Plymouth, North Carolina, Confederate troops under General Hoke attacked 3,000 Union defenders; once the CSS Albemarle drove off the defending Union gunboats, the Union troops surrendered.
22 In Washington, DC, Congress adds In God We Trust to all coinage.

May
4 In the Wilderness Campaign, the Army of the Potomac, nominally under the command of Meade but actually directed by Grant, crosses the Rapidan.
5 Virginia. Battle of the Wilderness. Fighting begins in earnest along the Orange Turnpike and, later, the Plank Road.
6 Longstreet is wounded by friendly fire during a reconnaissance ride in the Wilderness. General Seymour, USA, is captured late in the day. On the Peninsula, Butler’s men fail to move forward, though Richmond is only fifteen miles away.
7 In the Wilderness, rain puts out the fires in the brush, saving the remaining wounded. The race to Spotsylvania begins.
Sherman begins his ‘March to the Sea’ from Atlanta.
8 Virginia. Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse. The Confederates arrive in Spotsylvania first, ahead of Warren’s troops, and Warren’s cavalry clashes with Stuart’s cavalry.
9 At Spotsylvania, General Sedgwick comments to a skittish soldier, “They couldn’t hit an elephant at this distance”, just before being hit by a sharpshooter and dying. Sheridan’s cavalry rides out toward Richmond.
In the Atlanta Campaign, Sherman’s army bumps into the Confederates at Resaca, but McPherson pulls back.
10 At Spotsylvania, the wounded Longstreet has been replaced by Anderson, and AP Hill (out sick) by Jubal Early, and the slain Sedgwick by Wright. General Butler’s men return to their positions on the Peninsula.
11 JEB Stuart’s cavalry take up defensive positions at Yellow Tavern; Sheridan’s cavalry arrives and, in the fighting, Stuart is mortally wounded. Sheridan gives up his drive on Richmond and moves south toward Butler.
12 In the Atlanta Campaign, Sherman continues to advance and Johnston continues to retreat.
Federal troops attack the Horseshoe Salient, taking the first line but being mowed down by the second line of defense. Now known as the ‘Bloody Angle’, the battle costs the Union 6800 casualties to 5000 for the Confederacy.
14 In the Peninsula Campaign, Sheridan’s cavalry makes contact with Butler. In Georgia, the Battle of Resaca.
15 In the Spotsylvania Campaign, there's a skirmish at Piney Branch Church. In Virginia, the Battle of New Market. The CWgasm troops are there, dressed as they choose.
16 In the Peninsula Campaign, it's the Battle of Drewry’s Bluff. The CWgasm troops are there, dressed as they choose.
19 In the Spotsylvania Campaign, Lee sends General Ewell to make contact with the Federal armies; he does so at Harris’ Farm.
In the Atlanta Campaign, Johnston stops long enough to order General JB Hood to mount an attack, which fails. The Confederates continue their retreat.
20 Grant sends General Hancock’s corps toward Hanover Junction in Virginia.
22 In the Richmond Campaign, General Ewell arrives at Hanover Junction ahead of Grant and entrenches.
23 In the Richmond Campaign, General AP Hill arrives at Hanover Junction and digs in. While the Union army splits in two, Lee is ill and cannot follow up.
24 In the Atlanta Campaign, Johnston continues his retreat in the face of pressure from Sherman.
The Battle of the North Anna continues. General Sheridan completes his ‘ride around the enemy’ and returns to the Army of the Potomac.
25 In the Richmond Campaign, the Battle of the North Anna continues.
26 In the Richmond Campaign, Grant and Meade move the Army of the Potomac across the river and around Lee’s right toward Hanovertown.
27 Sheridan’s cavalry put two pontoon bridges across the Pamunkey and occupy Hanovertown.
28 The Army of Northern Virginia moves hastily in front of Grant’s army near Cold Harbor, Virginia.
30 John Hunt Morgan, CSA, begins attacking Sherman’s supply lines in Kentucky.
Federal troops are within ten miles of Richmond.
31 In Cleveland, Ohio, the Radical Republicans nominate General John C. Frémont as their candidate for president.

June
1 In the Richmond Campaign, the Battle of Cold Harbor. The CWgasm troops are there, dressed as they choose.
In the Atlanta Campaign, General Stoneman, under Sherman’s command, captures the railroad line at Altoona Pass.
2 In the Richmond Campaign, the Battle of Cold Harbor. The CWgasm troops are there, dressed as they choose.
3 In the Richmond Campaign, the Battle of Cold Harbor. The CWgasm troops are there, dressed as they choose. The Federals lose 7000 killed and wounded in less than half an hour.
4 In the Richmond Campaign, the armies lie quiet, listening to the wounded.
In the Atlanta Campaign, with Sherman outflanking him again, Johnston retreats.
7 Only two of the wounded from Cold Harbor have survived for four days to be picked up.
9 General Butler makes another mismanaged attempt to attack Petersburg, but is repulsed by Confederates numbering only half his force.
10 At Brice’s Crossroads, Mississippi, General Sturgis, USA, meets General Nathan Bedford Forrest’s cavalry, but is beaten soundly.
At Richmond, Virginia, the Confederacy expands the draft to include all men from 17 to 50.
11 In the Richmond Campaign, General Custer’s men attack General Hampton’s column. General Hunter’s men burn the Virginia Military Institute, and Lee send Jubal A. Early to deal with him.
The CSS Alabama goes into Cherbourg, France for refitting.
12 The Army of the Potomac sneaks out of Cold Harbor and across the James River, leaving Lee in the dark.
John Hunt Morgan, CSA, is beaten by 1500 Federals in Cynthiana, Kentucky.
14 In the Atlanta Campaign, Sherman’s guns shell Confederate positions, while General Polk is killed during a staff meeting atop Pine Mountain near Marietta, Georgia.
15 In the Petersburg Campaign, General ‘Baldy’ Smith, USA, fails to take advantage of a night assault on Petersburg, prolonging the war by months.
16 Badly-coordinated attacks continue against Petersburg, while reinforcments continue to arrive from Lee. With the opportunity to take the city lost, Grant begins the siege.
19 At Cherbourg, France, the CSS Alabama sails out to meet the USS Kearsarge, and is sunk. Some of the crew, including Captain Semmes, are rescued by a British steam yacht, the Deerhound, which takes them to safety in England.
21 In the Petersburg Campaign, Grant orders General Birney to seize the Weldon Railroad and General Wright to cut the railroad to Lynchburg.
22 Both Birney and Wright are stopped by AP Hill’s divisions.
23 In the Petersburg Campaign, General Sheridan moves toward Grant’s army with a ‘huge wagon train’.
24 Work begins at Petersburg on a tunnel to be exploded under the Confederate lines.
27 In the Atlanta Campaign in Georgia, Sherman’s troops assault the Confederate lines at the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain. It is a total failure, garnering the Union some 2000 killed and wounded, with Confederate losses under 300.
In Washington, DC, Abraham Lincoln formally accepts the nomination for president.
30 In Washington, DC, Secretary of the Treasury Chase submits another in a series of resignation letters. To his surprise, Lincoln accepts it.
Beginning a raid into the North, Jubal A. Early moves his army to New Market, Virginia.

July
2 In the Atlanta Campaign, General Johnston, CSA, retreats past Marietta, Georgia.
At Winchester, Virginia, Jubal A. Early heads north toward the Potomac.
4 In the Atlanta Campaign, Johnston retreats again, to the Chattahoochee River, northwest of Atlanta.
5 At Harper’s Ferry, Virginia, Jubal A. Early avoids Sigel’s forces and begins crossing the Potomac at Shepherdstown.
8 Johnston orders the Army of Tennessee south to the gates of Atlanta.
9 On the Monocacy River in Virginia, General Lew Wallace attempts to hold up Jubal A. Early’s drive toward Washington, with no success. Battle of Monocacy.
11 Jubal A. Early’s troops arrive in Silver Springs, Maryland, but fail to attack Washington.
13 Jubal A. Early’s troops retreat toward the Potomac, pursued by General Wright.
14 Jubal A. Early’s men cross the Potomac at Leesburg, Maryland into Virginia.
16 In the Shenandoah Valley, Jubal A. Early’s troops do some foraging.
17 In the Atlanta Campaign, Jefferson Davis relieves General Johnston from command, replacing him with John Bell Hood.
20 In the Atlanta Campaign, Hood’s soldiers attack General Thomas’ men, who are resting after crossing Peachtree Creek.
22 In the Atlanta Campaign, General McPherson goes to investigate a Confederate attack, is confronted by skirmishers, declines to surrender, and is shot off his horse and killed.
30 In the Petersburg Campaign, with the mining completed the explosives under the Confederate lines are detonated at 0445, leaving a crater 170x75x30 in their positions, and killing 278 men. The initial advantage is not taken up, and even sending in the specially-trained black assault troops fails to move the 15,000 attackers out of the crater. The Union takes 3748 casualties.
Jubal A. Early’s cavalry ride into Chambersburg, Pennsylvania and demand reparations of $100,000 in gold; when it cannot be raised, the town is burned.
In the Atlanta Campaign, Stoneman and 700 CSA cavalry are captured at Macon.

August
1 Grant gives Sheridan the task of cleaning out the Shenandoah Valley, especially of Early’s men.
3 Federal troops attack Fort Gaines on Dauphin Island in Mobile Bay.
5 Admiral Farragut orders the fleet into Mobile Bay, exclaiming Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!
18 In the Petersburg Campaign, General Warren, USA, fights at Globe Tavern, Yellow House, and Blick’s Station on the Weldon Railroad.
23 In Mobile Bay, when Fort Morgan falls the city of Mobile is closed to blockade runners, leaving only Wilmington, North Carolina as an open port.
In the Petersburg Campaign, AP Hill’s men attack Federal troops under Hancock on the Weldon Railroad.
31 In Chicago, the Democratic National Convention nominates General George McClellan for president.

September
1 In Georgia, the Army of Tennessee under John Bell Hood retreats out of Atlanta, burning whatever stores they cannot carry with them. Battle of Jonesboro.
2 Slocum's XX Corps (USA) enters Atlanta.
3 In Washington, DC, Abraham Lincoln declares a day of national celebration.
4 At Greenville, Tennessee, John Hunt Morgan and his raiders are surrounded by Union troops under General Gillem; Morgan is shot and killed, along with 100 of his troopers, with 75 taken prisoner.
5 In Louisiana, the citizens vote to abolish slavery.
7 In an unpopular order, General Sherman orders the evacuation of all civilians from Atlanta.
17 In Washington, DC, John C. Frémont withdraws from the presidential race in favor of Lincoln.
19 In Virginia, the Battle of Winchester.
27 Guerrillas under ‘Bloody’ Bill Anderson ride into Centralia, Missouri, burn it, shoot twenty Federal soldiers on an arriving train, and ambush a pursuing cavalry unit, killing 116.

October
7 Off Bahia, Brazil, the USS Wachusett captures the CSS Florida over the protestations of the Brazilians.
8 The CSS Shenandoah sails from London, England.
19 In Vermont, a small group of Confederate raiders, led by Lieutenant Bennet Young, crosses the border from Canada and descend upon St. Albans. They rob three local banks, but resistance by the locals prevent them from burning the town. Eleven of the raiders make it back across the border, but Canadian authorities release them after determining they have no jurisdiction.
19 In the Shenandoah Valley, Jubal A. Early attacks General Crook’s men, who retreat in disarray. Sheridan, awakened in Winchester by gunfire, rides down the Valley and collects the retreating soldiers as he comes. Battle of Cedar Creek. Leading a counterattack, they drive the Confederates from the field.
20 In Washington, DC, Abraham Lincoln formally establishes Thanksgiving as a national holiday.
24 In Missouri, General Sterling Price and his men retreat south with a train of plunder from their month-long raid through the state.
25 Union cavalry catch up with Price's columns at Marais des Cygnes (the Marsh of Swans) in Kansas, capturing two Confederate generals (including Marmaduke), four colonels, a thousand men, and ten pieces of artillery.
26 Near Richmond, Missouri, Union troops ambush and kill 'Bloody' Bill Anderson.
27 At Petersburg, Virginia, General Grant orders an attack to gain control of the Southside Railroad and the Boydton Road; the attack fails, frustrated by troops under General Ambrose Hill (CSA). 1194 Federal troops are killed or wounded, with 564 missing; Confederate casualties are unknown.
29 On the Tennessee River, General NB Forrest (CSA) captures the Federal steamer Mazeppa.
30 The Army of Tennessee moves into Tuscumbia, Alabama, cross the Tennessee River, and capture Florence, Tennessee.
30 In North Carolina, the CSS Olustee runs the Federal blockade.
31 In Washington, DC, Nevada is admitted to the Union.
31 In North Carolina, seven Federal vessels capture the town of Plymouth.

November
3 In Pulaski, Tennessee, the IV Corps (USA) arrives.
6 In Chicago, Illinois, Colonel Benjamin Sweet and his officers arrest nearly 100 men as Confederate sympathizers and agents.
8 Election Day in the North; Lincoln is reelected, beating McClellan, with Andrew Johnson as vice president.
9 In Kingston, Georgia, General Sherman issues orders to prepare for his 'March to the Sea'.
10 After burning all property that might be of use to the Confederates, Sherman's army leaves Kingston for Atlanta.
13 General Jubal A. Early (CSA) moves his army back to New Market and sends a portion of his troops to reinforce Lee at Richmond and Petersburg.
15 Sherman's men complete their destruction of stores in Atlanta.
16 Sherman and his army leave Atlanta along two paths, beginning his famed 'March to the Sea'.
19 With Norfolk, Virginia and Fernandina and Pensacola, Florida all in Federal hands, Lincoln lifts the blockade at those ports.
21 General John Bell Hood (CSA) moves the Army of Tennessee north out of Florence, Alabama.
22 The Georgia legislature calls for more troops to stop Sherman, then flee the capital as General Slocum's men occupy the city.
25 Confederate agents set fire to ten hotels in New York City and Barnum's Museum.
26 Sherman's army skirmishes with Confederate troops at Sanderson, Georgia.
27 The flagship of General Benjamin Butler (USA), the Greyhound, is blown up on the James River, apparently by Southern saboteurs.
28 General Rosser (CSA) leads his cavalry on a raid into Maryland before retreating up-Valley into Virginia.
29 Federal troops led by Colonel Chivington commit the Sand Hill Massacre at Sand Creek, Colorado, killing over 150 Cheyenne, mostly women and children.
30 In Tennessee, the Battle of Franklin, with 2326 Union casualties, and 6252 Confederate casualties.

December
3 Sherman's four corps continue their march to the sea.
5 General JB Hood (CSA) sends Nathan Bedford Forrest with his cavalry and a division of infantry to Murfreesboro, Tennessee, to oppose Federal troops under General Rosseau.
7 At Murfreesboro, General Rosseau (USA) orders Robert Milroy to make a reconnaissance against General Forrest; Forrest is defeated, losing 200 men as prisoners and 14 guns.
8 Sherman's army nears Savannah.
10 Sherman's army besieges Savannah.
15 Union troops under Generals Steadman and Thomas hit Hood's men hard; the Confederate cavalry is away at Murfreesboro. The Battle of Nashville.
16 His left turned and his center collapsing, General Hood watches his army retreat; the Army of the Tennessee is effectively destroyed.
17 General Sherman issues a demand to the commander of Savannah to surrender.
18 In Washington, Lincoln issues a call for 300,000 more Union troops.
19 At Savannah, General Hardee declines Sherman's surrender.
20 With Sherman's armies surrounding the city, General Hardee, CSA, moves his troops northward toward South Carolina.
21 General WT Sherman's troops occupies Savannah and he sends a message to President Lincoln: "I beg to present you, as a Christmas gift, the city of Savannah".
23 Admiral Porter's fleet arrives off Fort Fisher at Wilmington, North Carolina.
24 Admiral Porter's fleet begins its bombardment of Fort Fisher..
25 On Christmas Day, troops commanded by General Butler (USA) advance to within 75 yards of Fort Fisher, but are halted by heavy fire from the fort..
26 President Lincoln congratulates General Sherman on his successful March to the Sea..
30 In a cabinet meeting, President Lincoln finally acquiesces to the removal of General Butler.

2015 events

January
1 Captain William Quantrill (CSA) takes two dozen troopers (including Frank James and Jim Younger) disguised as the '4th Missouri Cavalry' (USA) out of Arkansas and through Tennessee into Kentucky, bound for Washington to assassinate Lincoln; his mission ends in failure in Kentucky on 10 May.
7 The Danish ironclad Sphinx, having been secretly purchased by the Confederate government and soon to become the CSS Stonewall, sails from Copenhagen, bound for Quiberon Bay in France..
7 In Washington, the War Office issues an order relieving General Benjamin Butler of command of the Army of the James and the Department of Virginia and North Carolina, replacing him with General Edward Ord.
8 The Dove Creek battle with Indians, sixteen miles south of San Angelo, Texas..
9 Secretary of War Stanton arrives in Savannah, Georgia to confer with General Sherman.
11 Fighting, through the 14th, at the Palmetto and White's Ranches in Texas; the "last of the war"..
11 General Thomas Rosser (CSA) leads 300 cavalry men in a raid into West Virginia, killing or wounding 25 Federal troops and taking 583 prisoners.
13 Admiral Porter's fleet begins the bombardment of Fort Fisher.
15 Assaulted by two attacks, Fort Fisher falls.
16 General Sherman issues his famed 'forty acres and a mule' order, setting aside all abandoned or captured land along the coast of Georgia to the settlement of freed blacks.
19 General Robert E. Lee finally accepts command of all Confederate forces.
21 General Sherman moves north toward Beaufort, South Carolina..
31 Congress passes the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constituion, abolishing slavery, and sends it to the states for ratification.

February
1 Illinois becomes the first state to ratify the 13th Amendment.
1 General Sherman's army moves north through the Carolinas.
2 Lincoln and Seward meet off Hampton Roads with two emissaries from Jeff Davis; the meeting quickly breaks down over the issue of Confederate independence.
2 Rhode Island and Michigan ratify the 13th Amendment.
3 Lincoln and Seward meet with Stephens, Hunter, and Campbell aboard the River Queen off Hampton Roads to discuss peace terms.
3 Maryland, New York, and West Virginia ratify the 13th Amendment.
7 Maine and Kansas ratify the 13th Amendment; Delaware does not.
7 Sherman's march is impeded by swollen rivers in South Carolina.
9 General Lee assumes command of all Confederate armies, and suggests that deserters be pardoned if they report within thirty days.
9 General John Schofield (USA) assumes command of the Department of North Carolina and prepares to assault Wilmington.
12 Lincoln's re-election is certified by the electoral college, 212 to 21.
17 In South Carolina, Union troops under Sherman occupy Columbia; during the night, fires break out (cause uncertain) and two-thirds of the city burns.
17 General Hardee (CSA) evacuates Charleston; Fort Sumter finally returns to Union hands.
18 General Lee endorses the notion of arming slaves to fight against the North, but as free men.
18 In Melbourne, Australia, the CSS Shenandoah leaves port.
19 Sherman's army marches north toward Goldsboro, North Carolina.
20 In Richmond, Virginia, the Confederate House of Representatives authorizes the use of slaves as soldiers, but the Senate postpones a vote on the measure.
21 General Braxton Bragg (CSA) orders the evacuation of Wilmington, North Carolina.
21 General Lee writes Secretary of War John Breckenridge that, if it becomes necessary to abandon Richmond, he will move the army to Burkeville, Virginia.
22 Federal troops occupy Wilmington, North Carolina.
24 General Sherman (USA) complains to General Wade Hampton (CSA) about the execution of Union foragers. Hampton replies: "This order (to shoot on sight any Northern troops caught burning homes) will remain in force so long as you disgrace the profession of arms by allowing your men to destroy private dwellings".
27 Pursuant to orders from General Grant, General Sherman sends 10,000 cavalrymen under General Wesley Merritt (USA) to destroy the Virginia Central Railroad and the James River canal; they are then to take Lynchburg, Virginia.

March
2 General RE Lee sends a note through the lines to General Grant, suggesting the two of them try to reach a "satisfactory adjustment of the present unhappy difficulties".
2 The Battle of Waynesborough ends the Shenandoah Valley campaign, with Jubal A. Early's forces losing 1000 men as prisoners.
3 Congress passes the Freedmen's Bureau act and adjourns.
3 Lincoln instructs Grant not to have any conference with Lee unless it is to accept his surrender.
4 President Lincoln is inaugurated for his second term, giving his famed 'with malice toward none' inaugural address.
9 Vermont ratifies the 13th Amendment.
12 Sherman's army destroys all machinery, industry, and transport in Fayetteville, North Carolina.
13 The Confederate Congress passes a bill authorizing the use of armed slaves.
16 The Battle of Averasborough in North Carolina; the Union loses 682 men, while Confederate casualties are some 865.
17 Troops under General Edward Canby (USA), some 45,000, begin the campaign to capture Mobile, Alabama, garrisoned by only 10,000 Confederates.
19 Union cavalry under General Sheridan arrive at White House on the Pamunkey river in Virginia.
20 In North Carolina, the Battle of Bentonville, with 100,000 Union troops versus 20,000 Confederates; in three days of fighting, the Union suffers 1646 casualties, the Confederates 2606.
23 President Lincoln leaves the White House with his wife and son for a visit to the troops at City Point, Virginia.
23 Sherman's army reaches Goldsboro, North Carolina.
24 Off Ferrol, Spain, the newly-launched CSS Stonewall, an ironclad, offers battle two Union frigates, the Niagara and the Sacramento, who decline the opportunity.
27 At City Point, Virginia, President Lincoln confers with General Grant and General Sherman and Admiral Porter on reconstruction.
31 General Pickett withdraws his troops from the White Oak Road to Five Forks; it's the beginning of the end for the Confederacy.

April
1 In Virginia, the Battle of Five Forks. General Lee sends General Pickett a message commanding him to hold that position 'at all costs', but he is crushed by troops under General Sheridan and General Gouverneur Warren; General Warren is relieved by Sheridan for moving too slowly. Half the Confederate troops end up captured.
1 In the Pacific, the CSS Shenandoah makes port in the Eastern Caroline Islands after several days of operations against the Northern whaling fleet.
2 After receiving word while in church that Lee is being forced to evacuate the capital, President Davis boards a special train bound for Danville, Virginia. In Richmond, entire sections of the city are set on fire by Confederate troops.
2 General Ambrose P. Hill is killed in the defense of Petersburg, Virginia.
2 Union troops occupy Selma, Alabama, capturing 2700 Confederates.
3 In Virginia, Confederate defenses collapse in front of Petersburg.
3 In Virginia, Jefferson Davis and members of his cabinet arrive in Danville.
3 General Godfrey Weitzel (USA) accepts the surrender of Richmond, Virginia, and Union troops occupy Petersburg.
4 President Lincoln travels to Richmond, coming up the James River from City Point, Virginia.
5 In Washington, Secretary of State William Seward is injured in a carriage accident.
6 An accidental battle occurs at Sayler's Creek after the Confederates inadvertently split the army.
7 General Sheridan advises President Lincoln that Lee might surrender if pressed; Lincoln tells Grant: "Let the thing be pressed".
7 Grant sends Lee a message asking him to surrender and prevent "any further effusion of blood". Lee asks what the terms might be.
8 Lincoln returns to Washington.
8 Grant tells Lee that the one condition of surrender is that the "men and officers surrendered shall be disqualified from taking up arms against the Government of the United States until properly exchanged". Lee declines the offer and tries to break through at Appomattox Court House.
9 With further fighting hopeless, General Robert E. Lee signs the capitulation of the Army of Northern Virginia in the parlor of Wilbur McLean at Appomattox Court House, Virginia.
10 As 3000 people and a band cheer the president at the White House, Lincoln tells the band to play Dixie, as it, too, now belongs to the Union.
10 From Danville, Virginia, Davis and his cabinet set out for Greensborough, North Carolina.
10 At Appomattox, General Lee gives his 'affectionate' farewell to the Army of Northern Virginia; the time had arrived when any more sacrifice by them could produce nothing that would compensate them for the loss that would be suffered.
10 General Sherman marches toward Raleigh, North Carolina.
11 President Lincoln addresses a crowd outside the White House on reconstruction and granting the vote to black soldiers and the 'most intelligent of that race'. It is his last speech.
11 Confederate troops withdraw from Mobile, Alabama.
12 At Appomattox Court House, the formal surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia takes place, with General Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain (USA) accepting the surrender from General John B. Gordon (CSA).
12 Union troops occupy Mobile and Montgomery, Alabama.
13 General Sherman's army occupies Raleigh, North Carolina.
14 Abraham Lincoln is shot by John Wilkes Booth inside Ford's Theatre in Washington at ten o'clock, and Lewis Payne stabs William Seward at home. Secretary of War Edwin Stanton declares martial law.
14 In Charleston, South Carolina, Major General Robert Anderson (USA) returns to Fort Sumter and raises the same U.S. flag he had lowered when he surrendered it four years earlier.
14 General Sherman receives a message from General joseph Johnston (CSA) requesting a "temporary cessation of hostilities" until a peace can be worked out.
14 The CSS Shenandoah leaves the Carolines for the Kuriles.
15 General Robert E. Lee rides Traveler into Richmond at three o'clock in the afternoon, direct from Appomattox.
15 In Washington, Abraham Lincoln dies at half past seven in the morning and Andrew Johnson is sworn in as president close to noon.
15 Davis and his cabinet leave Greensborough, North Carolina, bound for Lexington.
16 John Wilkes Booth and David Herold arrive at Rich HIll, Maryland.
17 Abraham Lincoln's body is laid in state in the White House in the East Room.
17 Booth and Herold arrive in Port Tobacco, Maryland, trying to cross the Potomac into Virginia.
17 General Sherman (USA) and General Johnston (CSA) meet in North Carolina to discuss surrender terms.
19 The funeral of Abraham Lincoln takes place in the East Room of the White House. The casket is then escorted to the rotunda of the Capitol, where the public can view it.
19 Davis and his party arrive in Charlotte, North Carolina. Hearing of the assassination of Lincoln, General Wade Hampton (CSA) writes to Davis, suggesting the Confederacy continue the struggle from west of the Mississippi.
19 General John Pope (USA) writes to General Edmund Kirby Smith (CSA), suggesting a surrender of all Confederate troops west of the Mississippi.
21 President Lincoln's body is placed aboard a special train bound for Springfield, Illinois.
22 Booth and Herold are finally able to cross the Potomac in small fishing boat.
24 With troop under the direction of Secretary of War Stanton hunting them, Booth and Herold arrive at Port Conway, Virginia.
24 General Grant arrives in Raleigh to inform General Sherman that his surrender terms are unacceptable; the truce with General Johnston will expire in 48 hours.
25 Generals Sherman and Johnston meet again to discuss new terms.
26 Having traced Booth and Herold to Richard Garrett's farm south of the Rappahannock River in Virginia, their pursuers demand their surrender. Surrounded, Herold comes out of Garrett's barn, but Booth refuses. The soldiers set fire to the barn; a shot is heard, and Booth is wounded (whether self-inflicted or not, the wound is mortal). Dragged from the barn, he dies soon after. After an autopsy in Washington, he is buried at Arsenal Penitentiary.
26 In North Carolina, General Joseph E. Johnston surrenders his army to General William T. Sherman at Durham Station; the only difference between his terms and those offered Lee is that transport will be supplied to those who cannot get home otherwise.
27 On the Mississippi, the steamboat Sultana, loaded with returning Union POWs, catches fire after a boiler explodes; more than 1200 die.
28 More than 50,000 people view Lincoln's body at Cleveland, Ohio.
29 Jefferson Davis and the remainder of his entourage reach Yorksville, South Carolina.
30 General Edward Canby (USA) and General Richard Taylor (CSA) meet near Mobile, Alabama and discuss the surrender of all Confederate troops in Alabama and Mississippi.

May
1 Jefferson Davis reaches Cokesbury, South Carolina, hoping to get to Florida and then, by boat, to Texas.
2 $100,000 is offered for the capture of Jefferson Davis.
2 Jefferson Davis reaches Abbeville, South Carolina.
3 Judah Benjamin, Secretary of State of the Confederacy, separates from the Davis party; he will later escape to Britain.
3 The train bearing Abraham Lincoln reaches Springfield, Illinois.
4 Abraham Lincoln is buried in Springfield, Illinois.
4 General Richard Taylor (CSA) surrenders the troops under his command to troops under General Canby (USA). Nearly 43,000 troops are paroled in the Department of Alabama and Mississippi, while nearly 18,000 under General Kirby Smith (CSA) are paroled in the Trans-Mississippi; some expatriated themselves to Mexico.
5 Connecticut ratifies the 13th Amendment.
6 Secretary of War Stanton appoints nine Army officers, including General Lew Wallace (author of Ben Hur), as commissioners in the trial of the Lincoln conspirators.
9 Jefferson Davis meets up with his wife at Dublin, Georgia.
9 General Nathan Bedford Forrest (CSA) disbands his troops.
10 Jefferson Davis is captured by the 4th Michigan Cavalry (USA) near Irwinville, Georgia.
10 General Samuel Jones (CSA) surrenders his command at Tallahassee, Florida.
10 William Clarke Quantrill (CSA), the infamous guerrilla, is mortally wounded near Taylorsville, Kentucky.
11 General M. Jeff Thompson (CSA) surrenders the remnants of his command at Chalk Bluffs, Arkansas.
11 The CSS Stonewall sails into the harbor at Havana, Cuba.
11 US forces at Brazos Santiago in Texas capture and burn a nearby Confederate camp, though General J.E. Slaughter, CSA, drove back the attack. Jefferson Davis thought it "the last armed conflict of the War".
12 At the Palmito Ranch in Texas, capture and then relinquish the position.
13 At the Palmito Ranch in Texas, the last official battle of the War. Private John J. Williams of the 34th Indiana Volunteer Infantry was the last man killed at the Battle at Palmito Ranch, and probably the last official combat casualty of the war.
13 The Confederate governors of Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana meet with General Kirby Smith (CSA) to advise him to surrender. Others, including Jo Shelby, threaten to arrest him unless he continues the fight.
17 General Philip Sheridan is appointed commander of the Trans-Mississippi.
19 The CSS Stonewall surrenders to Federal officials in Havana harbor.
22 Jefferson Davis arrives at Fort Monroe, Virginia.
23 In Washington, the Grand Review of the Army of the Potomac. Flags are at full mast for the first time in four years.
24 In Washington, the Grand Review of General Sherman's army of the West.
24 Skirmishing near Rocheport, Missouri.
25 In Mobile, Alabama, nearly twenty tons of captured black powder explodes near the docks, causing some 300 casualties.
26 General Simon Bolivar Buckner (CSA) meets with General Peter Osterhaus (USA) to discuss the surrender of all Confederate forces west of the Mississippi upon similar terms to those offered at Appomattox.
27 President Johnson orders the release of all but a few Confederate prisoners.
29 President Johnson issues an amnesty proclamation (with few exceptions) for "all who have participated in the rebellion".

June
2 In Shreveport, Louisiana, General Kirby Smith surrenders his Trans-Mississippi Department.
2 Jo Shelby (CSA) and members of his Iron Brigade refuse to surrender and cross the border into Mexico.
19 Two months after General Lee surrendered at Appomattox (but four days before Confederate General Stand Watie signed cease-fire accords at Fort Towson), Union General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas in command of 2,000 Union troops. Later that day, from a balcony of Galveston's famed Ashton Villa (at that time Union HQ) General Granger read General Order #3 to the assembled citizens:

"The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere."

Officially known as 'Emancipation Day' or 'Freedom Day', this Texas State Holiday is more commonly known as 'Juneteenth', from combining the words 'June' and 'Nineteenth', and has been celebrated since 1866, becoming an official State holiday in 1980.
23 In Doaksville, Oklahoma, General Stand Watie surrenders his Cherokee brigade.
30 All eight Lincoln conspirators are found guilty; four to be imprisoned at Dry Tortuga (where Michael O'Laughlin dies of yellow fever) and four to be hanged at the Old Penitentiary in Washington, including Mary Surratt.

July
1 All Southern seaports (except four in Texas) are opened for trade, excepting contraband of war, per President Johnson.

August
General Jo Shelby (CSA) leads about 1000 of his men to Mexico City and offers their services as a 'foreign legion' to Emperor Maximilian; the offer is declined. They are offered a large tract of land near Vera Cruz, and many settle there.
The CSS Shenandoah, sailing south from the Bering Sea toward San Francisco, is informed of the end of the war.

September
1 President Johnson permits the trading of war contraband with the formerly Confederate states.

October
President Johnson paroles former Confederate vice-president Alexander Stephens and four other imprisoned Confederate leaders.

November
6 In Liverpool, England, after sailing half-way around the world, Captain James I. Waddell, CSN, surrenders the CSS Shenandoah to British authorities.
In Georgia, Captain Henry Wirz (CSA), formerly the commander of Andersonville Prison, is hanged.

December
Having been approved by 27 states, the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, abolishing slavery, is enacted.