DK - The American Civil War

TIMELINE 1861

JULY 4
In a special session of
Congress, President
Lincoln speaks of the
indivisibility of the
Union and calls for
400,000 volunteers to
defeat “domestic foes.”

SEPTEMBER 3

Further Confederate

forces are sent into

Kentucky. The state has

tried to remain neutral

in the war, but this

move effectively ends

the attempt.

OCTOBER 9

Confederate troops

make an unsuccessful

attack on Union

positions on Santa

Rosa Island, Pensacola

Bay, Florida.

OCTOBER 1

President Davis

discusses Southern

offensive from Virginia.

OCTOBER 4

The South makes

treaties with some

Indian tribes. Some

warriors subsequently

fight as Confederates.

DECEMBER 3

President Lincoln

makes his State of the

Union address to

Congress. His central

message is that “the

Union must be

preserved.”

AUGUST 2

Congress passes a tax

and tariff bill to finance

the Union war effort. It

includes provision for a

national income tax,

though this is not put

into effect.

NOVEMBER 7

Battle of Belmont,

Missouri, results in

Union victory.

NOVEMBER 7

Union gains Port Royal,

South Carolina.

NOVEMBER 8

The Trent Affair. Two

Confederate diplomats

are arrested on board

the British ship Trent,

raising tensions

between the Union

and Britain.

NOVEMBER 1

George McClellan

becomes Union

general-in-chief.

NOVEMBER 6

Elections are held in

the South. Confederate

President Davis and

Vice President

Alexander Stephens

confirmed in office.

JULY 5
Confederate troops
win a minor victory
at Carthage, in
southwest Missouri.

JULY 13
A Union victory at
Carrick’s Ford, Virginia,
concludes a series
of Union successes.

AUGUST 10

Battle of Wilson’s

Creek, Missouri. Union

forces retreat after a

hard-fought encounter.

AUGUST 28

Having overcome

Confederate

fortifications, Union

forces establish a

blockade base in

the Hatteras Inlet,

North Carolina.

AUGUST 30

Union commander in

Missouri Major General

John Frémont issues

an unauthorized

proclamation

emancipating slaves

belonging to

secessionists.

SEPTEMBER 6

Union troops under

Brigadier General

Ulysses S. Grant occupy

Paducah, Kentucky.

SEPTEMBER 16

Gunboats clash on

the Cumberland River

in Kentucky. USS

Conestoga takes two

enemy vessels.

SEPTEMBER 20

Lexington, Missouri,

falls to Confederate

forces after a

brief siege.

DECEMBER 26

Lincoln’s administration

agrees to release the

Confederate envoys

arrested on the Trent

and offer a partial

apology to Britain. This

ends the threatened

confrontation between

Britain and the Union.

JULY 21
The First Battle of Bull
Run (Manassas). Union
forces are defeated
and retreat in disorder.

JULY 26
Confederate troops
force Union soldiers to
abandon Fort Fillmore,
New Mexico.

OCTOBER 21

Union forces are

defeated at Ball’s Bluff,

near Leesburg, Virginia.

OCTOBER 24

President Lincoln

relieves General

Frémont of his

command in Missouri

because of political

difficulties he has

caused and his lack of

military success.

DECEMBER 26

Pro-Union Creek

Indians retreat toward

Kansas after being

defeated in clashes

with Confederates in

the Indian Territory.

JULY AUGUST SEPTEMBER OCTOBER NOVEMBER DECEMBER

“My countrymen, one and all, think calmly and well ...

In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow countrymen,

and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war.”

ABRAHAM LINCOLN, INAUGURAL ADDRESS, MARCH 4, 1861

Confederate flag

The First Battle of

Bull Run

The Trent Affair

Major General George

B. McClellan’s pistol

Call for Union volunteers Alexander Stephens