November 6, 1860: Abraham Lincoln elected president
December 20, 1860: South Carolina secedes from the Union
January 10-February 9, 1861: Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas secede from the Union
February 8, 1861: Confederate Constitution adopted
February 9, 1861: Jefferson Davis elected provisional president of the Confederate States of America; Alexander Stephens is selected as vice president
February 18, 1861: Jefferson Davis inaugurated as president of the Confederacy
March 4, 1861: Lincoln is inaugurated as president of the United States
April 12, 1861: Fort Sumter is fired upon and surrenders April 13. The Civil War begins.
May 6, 1861: Arkansas and Tennessee secede from the Union; Confederacy recognizes a state of war with the United States
May 20-23, 1861: North Carolina and Virginia secede from the Union
July 21, 1861: First battle of Bull Run or Manassas
March 9, 1862: Battle of the USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia opens era of modern naval warfare.
March 23, 1962: Confederate General Stonewall Jackson begins Valley Campaign with a loss at Kernstown, Virginia
April 6-7, 1862: The Battle of Shiloh, Tennessee
April 16, 1862: Confederacy passes Conscription Act
May 31, 1862: Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston wounded at battle of Seven Pines; replaced by Robert E. Lee.
June 8-9, 1862: Jackson completes Valley Campaign with victories at Cross Keys and Port Republic
June 25-July 1, 1862: Seven Days battles outside of Richmond, Virginia; Lee versus McClellan. The Union army is forced to retreat
August 29, 1862: Battle of Second Bull Run, or Manassas, Virginia; Lee defeats Union General Pope
September 17, 1862: Battle of Antietam or Sharpsburg in Maryland ends Confederate invasion of the North
September 22, 1862: Lincoln releases Emancipation Proclamation
October 8, 1862: Battle of Perryville ends Confederate invasion of Kentucky
December 13, 1862: Battle of Fredericksburg, Virginia; Union forces are defeated
December 31, 1862-January 2, 1863: Battle of Murfreesboro, Tennessee; Confederate General Bragg versus Union General Rosecrans; Union victory
March 3, 1863: Lincoln signs Draft Law
May 2-3, 1863: Battle of Chancellorsville, Virginia; Lee's greatest victory; Stonewall Jackson wounded and dies May 10, 1863
July 1-3, 1863: The Battle of Gettysburg; Lee's second invasion of the North fails
July 4, 1863: Confederates at Vicksburg surrender to General Grant
July 13, 1863: Draft riots in New York City
September 19-20, 1863: Battle of Chicamauga, Tennessee; Confederate army under Bragg lays siege to Chattanooga
November 19, 1863: Lincoln's Gettysburg Address
November 23-25, 1863: Battle of Chattanooga; Grant wins over Bragg
February 17, 1864: Confederate submarine CSS Hunley sinks USS Housatonic in water off Charleston, South Carolina. First time a submarine sinks a warship
March 9, 1964: Grant becomes General-in-Chief of the U.S. Armies
May 5-6, 1864: Battle of the Wilderness; Lee versus Grant
June 15-16, 1864: Grant attacks Petersburg, Virginia; begins siege after Lee's army arrives to defeat the strategically important city
July 20-22, 1864: Johnston relieved of command; battles for Atlanta; Confederate General John B. Hood versus Sherman
September 2, 1864: Sherman captures Atlanta for the Union
October 19, 1864: General Philip Sheridan defeats General Jubal Early's Confederate forces at Cedar Creek, ending Confederate control of the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia
November 8, 1864: Lincoln reelected president of the United States
November 16, 1864: Union General Sherman begins the March to the Sea
November 21, 1864: Confederate General Hood begins his invasion of Tennessee
December 15-16, 1864: Union General Thomas wrecks General Hood's army at Nashville, Tennessee
January 19, 1865: Sherman's army begins advance into South Carolina
February 6, 1865: Robert E. Lee named commander of all Confederate armies
February 17, 1865: Union forces capture Columbia and Charleston, South Carolina
March 13, 1865: Confederacy approves enlistment of slaves in return for freedom
March 19-21, 1865: Battle of Bentonville, North Carolina; Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston slows down General Sherman's army
April 1, 1865: Battle of Five Forks; Grant breaks Lee's Petersburg defenses and forces the Confederates to abandon Petersburg and retreat westward
April 3, 1865: Union troops occupy Richmond and Petersburg
April 9, 1865: Lee surrenders the Army of northern Virginia to General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia
April 14, 1865: President Lincoln is assassinated in Washington, D.C. by John Wilkes Booth
April 26, 1865: Joseph E. Johnston surrenders his army to General Sherman near Durham Station, North Carolina
May 10, 1865: Jefferson Davis is captured; President Andrew Johnson declares that the South has ceased armed resistance
May 26, 1865: Confederate forces in Trans-Mississippi Theater surrender; formally accomplished by Confederate General Kirby Smith on June 2, 1865