1. The American Civil War A timeline outlining the events of the Civil War.

2. The South secedes from the Union ~January 1861~ ~ Abraham Lincoln is elected as president of the United States of America ~ South Carolina was the first states to secede from the Union ~ South Carolina was then followed by six more southern states: Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas ~ Four more states seceded: Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee and North Carolina ~ These eleven states eventually formed into the Confederate States of America

3. The South creates its own government ~February 1861~ In Montgomery, Alabama, the seven seceding states held a conference, and created a Confederate Constitution The document was similar to the United States Constitution, but with greater stress on the autonomy of each state Jefferson Davis was named the president of the confederacy, until elections could be held

4. Attack on Fort Sumter ~April 1861~ Fort Sumter was one of the few Union forts left in the south after the south seceded President Lincoln had been notified that the troops holding the fort were running low on supplies Lincoln devised a plan that would have the Confederates fire the first shot, and he thought that that would inspire the states that had not seceded the join the Union At 4:30am on April 12 th, the Confederates started the bombardment on fort Sumter that started the Civil War The troops surrendered on April 14 th, then they returned home to the Union in the North, and were greeted as heroes

5. The Battle of Shiloh ~April 1862~ On April 6 th the Confederate army attacked Union forces at Shiloh, Tennessee The Union forces were under the command of General Ulysses s. Grant After the first day, the Union troops were almost defeated, but during the night, reinforcements came, and the next day, the Union counterattacked By mid afternoon, the Confederate army could not fight back against the Union army, and they retreated 13,000 out of the 63,000 Union solders that fought died 11,000 out of the 40,000 Confederate solders died

6. The Seven Days Battles ~June 1862~ The Seven Days Battles took place from June 26- July 1 The battles fought during the seven years were: Mechanicsville (June 26- 72), Gaines’s Mill (June 27), Savage’s Station (June 29), Frayser’s Farm (June 30), and Malvern Hill (July 1) These battles were fought as part of the Peninsula Campaign. The Union suffered about 16,000 casualties The Confederates suffered about 20,000 casualties Despite their victory, many Confederates were stunned by the casualties they had suffered through the Peninsula Campaign (overall 90,000)

7. The Emancipation Proclamation ~January 1863~ The Emancipation Proclamation was a proclamation written by Abraham Lincoln that freed all of the slaves in the states that rebelled against the Union The proclamation first affected only those slaves that had already escaped to the Union side But once the Union army advanced, tens of thousands of slaves were liberated each day About 4 million slaves were liberated by the summer of 1865 due to the Emancipation Proclamation

8. The Battle of Gettysburg ~July 1863~ Fought from July 1- July 3, it was fought around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, as part of the Gettysburg Campaign, and on also the bloodiest battle of the Civil War There were between 46,000 to 51,000 American casualties in the three days of battle George g. Meade was the Commander of the Union Army Robert E. Lee was the Commander of the Confederate army This war had significantly ended the Confederates hopes of recognition from foreign governments The victor of this battle was the Union army

9. The Battle of Cold Harbor ~June 1864~ was the last battle of Union Lt. Gen Ulysses S. Grant’s 1864 Overland Campaign during the Civil War It was one of the bloodiest battles in American history Thousands of Union soldiers were slaughtered in a frontal assault the Confederate troops under the command of General Robert E. Lee The battle was fought in over the same ground as the Battle of Gaines’ Mills (Seven Days Battles), in central Virginia Casualties for the Union army were about 13,000 Casualties for the Confederate army were about 2,500 The Confederate army were the victors of this battle

10. The Fall of the Confederacy ~January 1865~ On January 15, 1865, after two days of relentless assault by the Union army, the Confederates surrendered Fort Fisher The Confederates had built Fort Fisher in a location near the mouth of North Carolina’s Cape Fear River, which ensured that port Wilmington remained open The fort had become a supply line for Robert E Lee’s army Starving soldiers started leaving Lee’s forces Confederate President Jefferson Davis said that he would use slaves as a means of augmenting the shrinking army, but the measure was never put into act

11. The Confederates Army Surrenders ~April 1865~ On April 9, 1865, General Robert E. Lee surrendered the confederate army of northern Virginia to General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse This happened after four years of Civil War, approximately 630,000 deaths, and over 1 million casualties The surrender of the army allowed the Federal Government to bring increased pressure in other parts of the south It would also result in the surrender of the remaining Confederate armies later on

12. The assassination of Abraham Lincoln ~April 1865~ On April 14, Abraham Lincoln was attending a play in Ford’s Theatre, when he was shot by John Wilkes Booth Lincoln died the next day John Wilkes Booth was an actor, and Confederate spy He had earlier planed to kidnap the President, but later decided to assassinate him instead After the assassination, Booth escaped to Virginia, but was later killed by a Union soldier Nine others were involved in the assassination, four were hanged, another four imprisoned, and one was acquitted