DK - The American Civil War

COLLAPSE OF THE CONFEDERACY 1865

JANUARY 15

Union forces under

General Alfred H. Terry

storm Fort Fisher on

the North Carolina

coast, cutting off the

Confederate-held

port of Wilmington

from the sea.

FEBRUARY 5–6

The rival forces

entrenched outside

Petersburg fight

an inconclusive

engagement at

Hatcher’s Run to the

south of the city.

FEBRUARY 17

Sherman’s troops take

Columbia, capital of

South Carolina. That

night, much of the city

goes up in flames.

In North Carolina,

Confederate forces

evacuate the port

of Charleston.

FEBRUARY 27

General Philip H.

Sheridan’s Army of the

Shenandoah moves

out of winter quarters,

under instruction from

Union commander-in-

chief Ulysses S. Grant

to head east.

FEBRUARY 3

President Lincoln

and Secretary of

War Edwin M. Stanton

meet Confederate

commissioners aboard

the steamboat River

Queen for abortive

peace talks.

FEBRUARY 6

President Jefferson

Davis names Robert

E. Lee general-in-chief

of all Confederate

armed forces.

FEBRUARY 23

At Lee’s insistence,

General Joseph E.

Johnston takes

command of the

Confederate forces

facing Sherman’s Union

army in the Carolinas.

MARCH 2

In the Shenandoah

Valley, Sheridan

defeats Jubal Early’s

Confederate force at

Waynesboro.

MARCH 4

Lincoln begins his

second term as

U.S. president.

JANUARY 19

Northern troops under

General William T.

Sherman move north

out of Savannah,

Georgia, launching

the Union invasion

of South Carolina.

MARCH 7

At the Second Battle of

Kinston, Confederate

forces under General

Braxton Bragg fail to

halt the progress of

Union troops advancing

from Wilmington to

join Sherman.

MARCH 13

In a last-ditch

attempt to

counter

manpower

shortages, the

Confederate

Congress authorizes

the conscription of

black troops.

JANUARY 31

Congress passes

the Thirteenth

Amendment to

the Constitution,

abolishing slavery

in U.S. territory.

MARCH 16

Confederate forces

led by William J.

Hardee vainly try to

delay the left wing of

the Union advance in

North Carolina at

Averasboro.

MARCH 22

A Union cavalry force

under General James

H. Wilson launches a

raid southward through

Alabama, intended to

destroy Confederate

resistance in the state.

MARCH 25

A Confederate assault

on Fort Stedman in the

Union lines outside

Petersburg initially

succeeds, but is soon

beaten back at a heavy

cost in men.

MARCH 19–21

General Joseph E.

Johnston’s Confederate

army makes a final,

unsuccessful attempt

to halt Sherman’s

advance through North

Carolina at the Battle

of Bentonville.

MARCH 23

Sherman’s Union army,

driving northward through

North Carolina, succeeds

in rendezvousing at

Goldsboro with

Schofield’s force,

marching inland

from Wilmington.

MARCH 28

Grant and Sherman

meet with President

Lincoln and Admiral

David D. Porter on the

River Queen to discuss

Union strategy for

ending the war.

MARCH 29

General Grant

launches the final

operation of the

Petersburg campaign,

designed to prevent

a Confederate

breakout to the

southwest of the city.

JANUARY FEBRUARY MARCH

Detail from the Thirteenth

Amendment

Lincoln’s gold mounted,

engraved Henry rifle

Sherman’s sword

The Thirteenth Amendment ■ Lincoln’s second term as president ■ Battle of

Bentonville ■ Siege of Petersburg ■ Fall of Richmond ■ Surrender at Appomattox

Court House ■ Assassination of Lincoln ■ Last battle at Palmito Ranch

TIMELINE 1865

FEBRUARY 22

A Union force under

General John M.

Schofield occupies

Wilmington,

North Carolina.

Storming Fort Fisher

Robert E. Lee