Biography american civil war timeline

After the Emancipation Proclamation authorized freed slaves to "be received into the armed service of the United States", former slaves who escaped from plantations or were liberated by the Union Army were recruited into the United States Colored Troops regiments of the Union Army, as were black men who had not been slaves. The US Colored Troops made up 10 percent of the Union death toll—15 percent of Union deaths from disease and less than 3 percent of those killed in battle.

In the last year and a half and from all reported casualties, approximately 20 percent of all African Americans enrolled in the military died during the war. Their mortality rate was significantly higher than white soldiers. While the figures ofarmy deaths for the Union andfor the Confederacy remained commonly cited, they are incomplete. In addition to many Confederate records being missing, partly as a result of Confederate widows not reporting deaths due to being ineligible for benefits, both armies only counted troops who died during their service and not the tens of thousands who died of wounds or diseases after being discharged.

This often happened only days or weeks later. Francis Amasa Walkersuperintendent of the census, used census and surgeon general data to estimate a minimum ofUnion military deaths andConfederate military deaths, a total ofsoldiers. While Walker's estimates were originally dismissed because of the census's undercounting, it was later found that the census was only off by 6.

Losses were far higher than during the war with Mexico, which saw roughly 13, American deaths, including fewer than two thousand killed in battle, between and One reason for the high number of battle deaths in the civil war was the continued use of tactics similar to those of the Napoleonic Warssuch as charging. This led to the adoption of trench warfare, a style of fighting that defined much of World War I.

Deaths among former slaves has proven hard to estimate, due to the lack of reliable census data, though they were known to be considerable, as former slaves were set free or escaped in massive numbers in areas where the Union army did not have sufficient shelter, doctors, or food for them. Professor Jim Downs states that tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of slaves died during the war from disease, starvation, or exposure, and that if these deaths are counted in the war's total, the death toll would exceed 1 million.

It is estimated that during the war, of the equines killed, including horses, mules, donkeys and even confiscated children's poniesover 32, of them belonged to the Union and 45, the Confederacy. However, other estimates place the total at 1, It is estimated that Confederate flags were captured during the war by the Union. The flags were sent to the War Department in Washington.

Biography american civil war timeline

Abolishing slavery was not a Union war goal from the outset, but quickly became one. To Northerners, the motivation was primarily to preserve the Union, not to abolish slavery. The Republicans' counterargument that slavery was the mainstay of the enemy steadily gained support, with the Democrats losing decisively in the elections in the Northern state of Ohio, when they tried to resurrect anti-black sentiment.

The Emancipation Proclamation legally freed the slaves in states "in rebellion," but, as a practical matter, slavery for the 3. The last Confederate slaves were freed on June 19,celebrated as the modern holiday of Juneteenth. Slaves in the border states and those in some biography american civil war timeline Confederate territory occupied before the Emancipation Proclamation were freed by state action or on December 6, by the Thirteenth Amendment.

Aboutvolunteered, further enhancing the numerical advantage the Union armies enjoyed over the Confederates, who did not dare emulate the equivalent manpower source for fear of undermining the legitimacy of slavery. During the war, sentiment concerning slaves, enslavement, and emancipation in the United States was divided. Lincoln's fears of making slavery a war issue were based on a harsh reality: abolition did not enjoy wide support in the west, the territories, and the border states.

Lincoln warned the border states that a more radical type of emancipation would happen if his plan of gradual compensated emancipation and voluntary colonization was rejected. When Lincoln told his cabinet about his proposed emancipation proclamation, which would apply to the states still in rebellion on January 1,Seward advised Lincoln to wait for a Union military victory before issuing it, as to do otherwise would seem like "our last shriek on the retreat".

Lincoln laid the groundwork for public support in an open letter published in response to Horace Greeley 's "The Prayer of Twenty Millions"; the letter stated that Lincoln's goal was to save the Union, and that, if he freed the slaves, it would be as a means to that end. Arranging for a reporter to be present, he urged his visitors to agree to the voluntary colonization of black people.

Lincoln's motive for both his letter to Greeley and his statement to the black visitors was apparently to make his forthcoming Emancipation Proclamation more palatable to racist white people. Lincoln issued his preliminary Emancipation Proclamation on September 22, It stated that slaves in all states in rebellion on January 1,would be free.

He issued his final Emancipation Proclamation on January 1,keeping his promise. In his letter to Albert G. Hodges, Lincoln explained his belief that "If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong And yet I have never understood that the Presidency conferred upon me an unrestricted right to act officially upon this judgment and feeling I claim not to have controlled events, but confess plainly that events have controlled me.

Lincoln's moderate approach succeeded in inducing the border states to remain in the Union and War Democrats to support the Union. The border states, which included Kentucky, Missouri, Maryland, Delaware, and Union-controlled regions around New Orleans, Norfolk, Virginiaand elsewhere, were not covered by the Emancipation Proclamation. Nor was Tennessee, which had come under Union control.

It caused much unrest in what were then considered western states, where racist sentiments led to a great fear of abolition. There was some concern that the proclamation would lead to the secession of western states, and its issuance prompted the stationing of Union troops in Illinois in case of rebellion. Since the Emancipation Proclamation was based on the President's war powers, it applied only in territory held by Confederates at the time it was issued.

However, the Proclamation became a symbol of the Union's growing commitment to add emancipation to the Union's definition of liberty. The war devastated the South and posed serious questions of how it would be reintegrated into the Union. The income per person dropped to less than 40 percent of that of the North, and that lasted into the 20th century.

Southern influence in the federal governmentpreviously considerable, was greatly diminished until the second half of the 20th century. From the Union perspective, the goals of Reconstruction were to consolidate victory by reuniting the Union, to guarantee a "republican form of government" for the ex-Confederate states, and to permanently end slavery—and prevent semi-slavery status.

President Johnson, who took office in Apriltook a lenient approach and saw the achievement of the main war goals as realized inwhen each ex-rebel state repudiated secession and ratified the Thirteenth Amendment. Radical Republicans demanded proof that Confederate nationalism was dead and that the slaves were truly free. They overrode Johnson's vetoes of civil rights legislationand the House impeached him, although the Senate did not convict him.

In andthe Republican candidate Grant won the presidency. Inthe "Liberal Republicans" argued that the war goals had been achieved and Reconstruction should end. They chose Horace Greeley to head a presidential ticket in but were decisively defeated. InDemocrats, primarily Southern, took control of Congress and opposed further reconstruction.

The Compromise of closed with a national consensus, except on the part of former slaves, that the war had finally ended. The war had a demonstrable impact on American politics. Many veterans on both sides were elected to political office, including five U. Presidents: Ulysses Grant, Rutherford B. HayesJames A. The war is a central event in American collective memory.

There are innumerable statues, commemorations, books, and archival collections. The memory includes the home front, military affairs, the treatment of soldiers, both living and dead, in the war's aftermath, depictions of the war in literature and art, evaluations of heroes and villains, and considerations of the moral and political lessons of the war.

Historians have paid more attention to the causes of the war than to the war itself. Military history has largely developed outside academia, leading to a proliferation of studies by non-scholars who nevertheless are familiar with the primary sources and pay close attention to battles and campaigns and who write for the general public.

Even the name used for the conflict has been controversial, with many names used for it. During and immediately after the war, Northern historians often used a term like "War of the Rebellion". Writers in rebel states often referred to the "War for Southern Independence". Some Southerners have described it as the "War of Northern Aggression".

The memory of the war in the white South crystallized in the myth of the "Lost Cause": that the Confederate cause was just and heroic. The myth shaped regional identity and race relations for generations. Nolan notes that the Lost Cause was expressly a rationalization, a cover-up to vindicate the name and fame of those in rebellion.

Some claims revolve around the insignificance of slavery as a cause; some appeals highlight cultural differences between North and South; the military conflict by Confederate actors is idealized; in any case, secession was said to be lawful. He also deems the Lost Cause "a caricature of the truth. This caricature wholly misrepresents and distorts the facts of the matter" in every instance.

Beard and Mary R. The Beards downplayed slavery, abolitionism, and issues of morality. Though this interpretation was abandoned by the Beards in the s, and by historians generally by the s, Beardian themes still echo among Lost Cause writers. The United Daughters of the Confederacy UDC is a Southern heritage organization founded in in Nashville, Tennessee, by a group of women whose stated mission was to honor Confederate veterans and preserve their memory.

The organization quickly grew in influence during the late 19th and early 20th centuries and ended up playing a pivotal role in shaping the collective memory of the American Civil War. The UDC focused on erecting Confederate monuments, funding the education of Confederate descendants, and promoting Confederate history through textbooks and public ceremonies.

The group emphasized the valor of Confederate soldiers and the righteousness of the Southern cause, often omitting or downplaying the central role of slavery in the conflict. The UDC became a major proponent of the Lost Cause ideology, a narrative that romanticized the Confederacy as a noble, states'-rights-driven effort rather than a rebellion to preserve slavery.

Through speeches, publications, and curriculum influence, the UDC worked to recast the Confederacy in a sympathetic light, framing the Civil War as a struggle against Northern aggression. This effort contributed to the widespread proliferation of Confederate symbols and a sanitized portrayal of Southern history in public spaces and schools.

Critics argue that the UDC's activities perpetuated racist ideologies by fostering nostalgia for the antebellum South and minimizing the horrors of slavery. In recent years, the role of the UDC and the Lost Cause myth has come under scrutiny amid debates over Confederate monuments and systemic racism in the United States. Many of the monuments and historical markers the UDC sponsored have been reevaluated and removed, sparking ongoing discussions about memory, heritage, and justice.

The first efforts at Civil War battlefield preservation and memorialization came during the war, with the establishment of National Cemeteries at Gettysburg, Mill Springs and Chattanooga. Soldiers began erecting markers on battlefields beginning with the First Battle of Bull Run in The oldest surviving monument is the Hazen Brigade Monument near Murfreesboro in Central Tennesseebuilt in the summer of by soldiers in Union Col.

William B. Hazen's brigade to mark the spot where they buried their dead, following the Battle of Stones River. In the s, the government established five Civil War battlefield parks under the jurisdiction of the War Department, beginning with the creation of the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgiaand the Antietam National Battlefield in Sharpsburg, Maryland, in Inthese five parks and other national monuments were transferred to the National Park Service.

The Civil War has been commemorated in many capacities, ranging from the reenactment of battles to statues and memorial halls erected, films, stamps and coins with Civil War themes being issued, all of which helped to shape public memory. These commemorations occurred in greater numbers on the th and th anniversaries of the war. Technological innovations during the war had a great impact on 19th-century science.

The war was an early example of an " industrial war ", in which technological might is used to achieve military supremacy. The war saw the first appearances of rapid-firing weapons and machine guns such as the Agar gun and Gatling gun. The Civil War is one of the most studied events in American history, and the collection of cultural works around it is enormous.

Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read View source View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Battle of Gettysburg U. United StatesAtlantic Ocean. Abraham Lincoln X Ulysses S. Grant and others Jefferson Davis Robert E. Lee and others Theaters of the American Civil War. Timeline and periods.

Main article: Origins of the American Civil War. Lincoln's election. Main article: United States presidential election. Main article: Ordinance of Secession. Status of the states, Slave states that seceded before April 15, Slave states that seceded after April 15, Border Southern states that permitted slavery but did not secede both KY and MO had dual competing Confederate and Unionist governments.

Union states that banned slavery. Main article: Battle of Fort Sumter. See also: President Lincoln's 75, volunteers. Attitude of the border states. Main article: Border states American Civil War. Union states. Union territories not permitting slavery. Southern Border Union states, permitting slavery. Confederate states. Union territories that permitted biography american civil war timeline claimed by Confederacy at the start of the war, but where slavery was outlawed by the U.

See also: Economic history of the American Civil War. Main article: Southern Unionist. Main article: American Civil War prison camps. Main article: Union blockade. Main article: Blockade runners of the American Civil War. Main article: Diplomacy of the American Civil War. Further information: Eastern theater of the American Civil War. Army of Northern Virginia.

Further information: Western theater of the American Civil War. Army of the Tennessee and Army of the Cumberland. Trans-Mississippi theater. Further information: Lower seaboard theater of the American Civil War. Further information: Pacific coast theater of the American Civil War. Grant's Overland Campaign. Sheridan's Valley Campaign. Sherman's March to the Sea.

The Waterloo of the Confederacy. Main article: Conclusion of the American Civil War. This New York Times front page celebrated Lee's surrender, headlining how Grant let Confederate officers retain their sidearms and "paroled" the Confederate officers and men. The article quotes Grant's terms of surrender. Andersonville National CemeteryGeorgia.

Abolition of slavery during or shortly after the American Revolution. The Northwest Ordinance, Gradual emancipation in New York startingcompleted and New Jersey startingcompleted by Thirteenth Amendment, The Missouri Compromise, Abolition of slavery by Congressional action, Emancipation Proclamation as originally issued, January 1, Subsequent biography american civil war timeline of the Emancipation Proclamation in Abolition of slavery by state action during the Civil War.

Operation of the Emancipation Proclamation in Thirteenth Amendment to the US constitution, December 18, Territory incorporated into the US after the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment. Emancipation Proclamation. Main article: Emancipation Proclamation. Contrabandswho were fugitive slaves, including cooks, laundresses, laborers, teamsters, railroad repair crews, fled to the Union Armybut were not legally freed until the Emancipation Proclamationwhich Lincoln signed on January 1,more than two years before the end of the Civil War.

Inthe Union Army accepted Freedmen ; seen here are black and white teenaged soldiers who volunteered to fight for the Union. Main article: Reconstruction era. Memory and historiography. Monument to the Grand Army of the Republica Union veteran organization. Cherokee Confederates reunion in New Orleans in Main article: Lost Cause of the Confederacy.

Main article: American Civil War battlefield preservation. Technological significance. In works of culture and art. See also: Music of the American Civil War. American Civil War portal. The New York Times. United States Department of War. May 29, Archived from the original on September 15, Retrieved July 29, Robertsonp. On April 26, near Durham, N.

With the surrender of isolated forces in the Trans-Mississippi West on May 4, 11, and 26, the most costly war in American history came to an end. Kirby Smith] surrendered and the war was over. The war was over. Murrayp. In United States v. Anderson76 U. The Supreme Court decided that the "legal end of the American Civil War had been decided by Congress to be August 20, —the date of Andrew Johnson's final proclamation on the conclusion of the Rebellion.

Lincoln's letter to O. Browning, September 22, Wittkep. Kamphoefner and Wolfgang Helbich, eds. When the draft began in the summer ofthey launched a major riot in New York City that was suppressed by the military, as well as much smaller protests in other cities. Archived from the original on January 30, National Park Service. United States War Dept.

Archived from the original on July 25, Regimental losses in the American Civil War. Archived from the original on May 25, Military Casualties: Principal Wars —". History of the United States from the Compromise of Louisiana State University. Archived from the original on July 11, Retrieved October 14, The surviving records only include the number of black patients whom doctors encountered; tens of thousands of other slaves had no contact with army doctors, leaving no records of their deaths.

David September 20, Associated Press. Archived from the original on September 25, Retrieved September 22, As horrific as this new number is, it fails to reflect the mortality of former slaves during the war. If former slaves were included in this figure, the Civil War death toll would likely be over a million casualties Primary Sources".

American Battlefield Trust. Retrieved December 30, August 20, Journal of American History. ISSN OAH Magazine of History. ISSN X. JSTOR Archived from the original on April 7, Retrieved April 7, Confederate leaders themselves made it plain that slavery was the key issue sparking secession. The Atlantic. Archived from the original on October 31, The Declaration of Causes of Seceding States.

Retrieved September 12, — via American Battlefield Trust. Atlas of World History. Oxford University Press. ISBN Archived from the original on September 5, Retrieved October 25, Library of Congress. Retrieved January 22, Archived from the original on June 11, Retrieved November 28, The Avalon Project. Archived from the original on February 20, Archived from the original on October 10, Archived from the original on July 14, Archived from the original on August 11, Archived from the original on December 20, World Digital Library.

May 26 - Surrender of Confederate General E. July July 7 - Conspirators in the assassination of Lincoln are executed November November 10 - War criminal Henry Wirz hanged December December 6 - Georgia becomes the 27th state to ratify the 13th Amendment, abolishing slavery in the United States. December 18 - Secretary of State William Seward announced to the world that the 13th Amendment has been ratified.

Topic s :. Quick Facts. Related Articles. View All Related Resources. Call to Arms. Save 11 Acres — Nearly Untouched — at Gettysburg! You can save this land, land including the same groves of trees that sheltered troops as the fighting raged near Seminary Ridge on the first day of Campaign Details. Donate now. Add to My Battlefields Educators Library.

Related Battles. The Confederate victory shocked the Union and illustrated that the war would be longer and more brutal than anticipated. Battle of Antietam Fought on September 17,the Battle of Antietam was the bloodiest single-day battle in American history. The Union victory gave President Lincoln the confidence to issue the Emancipation Proclamation shortly thereafter, redefining the purpose of the war.

Emancipation Proclamation Issued On January 1,President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring that all slaves in Confederate-held territory were to be set free. This shifted the focus of the American Civil War toward a fight for freedom and human rights. The Union victory ended General Robert E. Lee above resigns his US Army biography american civil war timeline.

Colonel Elmer E. Ellsworth becomes the first officer to die in the Civil War when he is shot by an Alexandria innkeeper. July 4, Lincoln speaks before congress and invokes "the war power. July 5, Battle of Carthage Missouri : Confederate victory. First major land battle of the American Civil War. Confederate troops led by sitting Missouri governor Claiborne F.

Union troops retreat to Washington D. General Thomas Jackson earns nickname "Stonewall. July 27, Lincoln appoints General George B. McClellan to be the Commander of the Department of the Potomac. This prompts McClellan to write to his wife, "I find myself in a new and strange position here: President, cabinet, Gen. Scott, and all deferring to me.

By some strange operation of magic I seem to have become the power of the land. September 11, Lincoln revokes General John C. Fremont's proclamation which emancipated all slaves in Missouri. November 1, Lincoln appoints General George B. November 2, Lincoln relieves General John C. November 8, Confederate officials, James A. England threatens war, but is mollified by the release of the officials in December.

General Grant earns nickname "unconditional surrender. February 20, Lincoln family struck by tragedy when year-old son Willie dies of fever. This after the Virginia had sunk a few wooden Union ships. News of this battle essentially stops production of wooden warships world-wide. AprilConfederate General John B. Magruder uses roughly 12, men to stop General McClellan's advance at Yorktown.

Even though McClellan had roughlymen in his command, Magruder marched his men repeatedly in view of the Union troops and behaved very aggressively. This gave the Union command the impression that they were facing a very large force. McClellan decided to dig in for a siege. This caused him to waste weeks on his march towards Richmond.

AprilBattle of Shiloh Tennessee : Union victory. General Grant prevails despite losing 13, men killed and wounded. April 16, Conscription begins in the Confederacy for men from 18 to April 25, Union Admiral David G. Farragut captures New Orleans, Louisiana. Johnston is seriously injured and is replaced in the field by General Gustavus Woodson Smith.

McClellan puts Richmond under siege. Lee renamed his army the Army of Northern Virginia. McClellan dismisses this news by saying Lee is "likely to be timid and irresolute in action. Lee forces McClellan to retreat from Richmond and to evacuate the peninsula. This ends the Peninsular Campaign. These battles saw the first use of balloons for aerial surveillance during battle.

Lincoln relieves Union General John Pope of his command. Should have been a Union victory, but McClellan failed to use his numerical superiority roughly to destroy Lee's army. McClellan then allows Lee to escape back across the Potomac into Virginia.