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The Pony Express was an American express mail service that used relays of horse mounted riders. It operated from April 3, 1860 to October 26, 1861, between Missouri and California. -
On April 23, 1860, Democrats meet in Charleston North Carolina to identify a nominee for the presidential election. -
The Constitutional Union Party held their first convention to identify a nominee for the presidential election on May 9, 1860. -
On May 16, 1860, the Republican party held its second national convention for the presidential election in Chicago, Illinois. -
From June 18 to June 23, the democrats held a second convention for the 1860 presidential election in Baltimore, Maryland. -
Benjamin Henry perfects the Henry rifle, used in considerable numbers by certain Union army units in the American Civil War. -
Abraham Lincoln is elected as the sixteen president of the United States, the first Republican president in the nation who represents a party opposing the spread of slavery in the territories. -
The first Secession Convention meets in Colombia, South Carolina. -
The Crittenden Compromise was an unsuccessful proposal to permanently enshrine slavery in the United States Constitution, and thereby make it unconstitutional for future congresses to end slavery. -
In 1860, the state of South Carolina officially withdraws from the United States of America. -
To prevent the Confederate threat in northern Virginia, earthworks and forts are engineered to surround the City of Washington and to add to protection -
The southern states that seceded create a government at Montgomery, Alabama, and the Confederate States of America are formed. -
Southern forces fire upon Fort Sumter, South Carolina. The Civil War has formally begun. -
President Lincoln issues a public declaration that an insurrection exists and calls for 75,000 militia to stop the rebellion. -
A skirmish near Philippi in western Virginia, is the first clash of Union and Confederate forces in the east. -
Battle of Big Bethel, the first land battle of the war in Virginia. -
The Battle of Bull Run is fought near Manassas, Virginia. -
The Confederate victory at the Battle of Wilson's Creek in Missouri emphasizes the strong southern presence. -
Fort Hatteras at Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, falls to Union naval forces which begins the Union efforts to close southern ports. -
Battle of Ball's Bluff, Virginia turned into a retreat with many soldiers drowning while trying to recross the icy waters of the Potomac River. -
The Union victory weakened the Confederate hold on the state at the Battle of Mill Springs, Kentucky. -
The loss of this southern fort on the Tennessee River opened the door to Union control of the river at the Surrender of Fort Henry, Tennessee. -
A Confederate defeat at the Battle of Roanoke Island resulted in Union occupation of eastern North Carolina -
The Surrender of Fort Donelson, Tennessee left the river in Union hands. Union General Ulysses S. Grant gained his nickname "Unconditional Surrender" here. -
Jefferson Davis is inaugurated as President of the Confederate States of America. -
The Battle of Shiloh was the first major battle in Tennessee. -
The Battle of Seven Pines began near Richmond, Virginia. -
The Seven Days' Battles before Richmond begun. -
The Battle of Second Bull Run was fought on the same ground as the year before and the Union army was defeated
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The Battle of Second Bull Run was fought on the same ground as the year before and the Union army was defeated -
The Battle of Antietam, Maryland was the bloodiest single day of the Civil War.
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The Battle of Antietam, Maryland was the bloodiest single day of the Civil War. -
The Emancipation Proclamation goes into effect and was applauded by many abolitionists. -
The Siege of Chattanooga, Tennessee begun and there were immediate plans to relieve the besieged Union army. -
Conscription, or the drafting of soldiers into military service, begins in the North as it had already begun in the South the year before. -
The Battle of Chancellorsville, Virginia begins. -
Siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi begins. -
The Gettysburg Campaign continues and Southern cavalry fight with Union militia near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. -
The Battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania begins and is the bloodiest battle of the Civil War regarding Robert E. Lee's hopes for a successful invasion of the North. -
Union naval and land forces attack Confederate defenses near Charleston, South Carolina. -
The Battle for Chattanooga begun and Union forces break the Confederate siege of the city in successive attacks. -
On December 8, 1863, Lincoln issues his Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction. -
The first Successful Submarine Attack of the Civil War took place on this day. -
A combined force of army and navy commands begin a campaign on the Red River in Louisiana. -
Beginning of the Atlanta Campaign where General William T. Sherman marched south against the Confederate Army of Tennessee. -
Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, Virginia begins and Lee successfully stalls Grant's drive toward Richmond. -
The relentless and bloody Union attacks fail to dislodge Lee's army at the Battle of Cold Harbor, Virginia. -
Abraham Lincoln is nominated by his party for a second term as president. -
The final southern counterattack against Union troops outside the city of Atlanta fails at the Battle of Jonesborough, Georgia. -
Confederate troops under General Hood evacuate the city of Atlanta and Sherman's army uses the city's defenses the following day. -
General Sherman's Army of Georgia begins the "March to the Sea" -
The Confederate Army under John Bell Hood is defeated and the threat to Tennessee ends. -
The assault and capture of Fort Fisher, North Carolina occurred on January 15, 1865. -
The Confederate defeat initiates General Lee's decision to abandon the Petersburg-Richmond siege lines. -
General Lee abandons both Petersburg and Richmond and moves his army west in hopes of joining Confederate forces. -
The Civil War officially ends. -
General Joseph Johnston signs the surrender document for the Confederate Army of the Tennessee and southern troops -
Confederate President Jefferson Davis is captured near Irwinville, Georgia. -
The final battle of the Civil War occurs at Palmito Ranch, Texas. The battle results in a Confederate victory. -
The Grand Review of the Army of the Potomac in Washington, DC. -
The Grand Review of General Sherman's Army in Washington, DC. -
General Simon Bolivar Buckner enters into terms for surrender of the Army of the Trans-Mississippi. -
The United States Congress authorizes national soldiers' homes. -
The United States Congress rejects presidential veto giving all equal rights. -
President Andrew Johnson ends Civil War in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia -
The Civil Rights Bill passes over President Andrew Johnson's veto. -
The American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is created. -
On May 1, 1866, the American Equal Rights Association forms. -
The US Congress authorizes the nickel 5 cent piece on May 16, 1866. -
The Metric system becomes a legal measurement system in the United States. -
The New Orleans's Democratic government orders police to raid a Republican Party meeting which killed 40 people and injured 150. -
President Andrew Johnson formally declares US Civil War over. -
On March 1, 1867, President Andrew Johnson signed the proclamation declaring Nebraska as a state. -
The United States Congress creates the Department of Education -
The Tenure of Office Act was a United States federal law that restricted the power of the president to remove certain office-holders without the approval of the Senate. -
The Reconstruction Acts outlined the conditions under which the Southern states would be readmitted to the Union. -
The United States Congress approves the building of Lincoln Memorial. -
On March 30, 1867, the United States made an agreement to purchase Alaska from Russia for a price of $7.2 million. -
The Reconstruction of Sound ends on March 31, 1867. -
On June 27, 1867, the doors of the California Stockton Bank opens. -
The United States took formal possession of Midway Atoll in August of 1867 by Captain William Reynolds of the USS Lackawanna. -
Toronto becomes capital of Ontario on September 28, 1867.