Union (American Civil War) Timeline of Events

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Union (American Civil War)

During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the Confederacy...

Timeline of Events

1820

3.6.1820

The Missouri Compromise is signed into law by President James Monroe. The compromise allows Missouri to enter the Union as a slave state, but makes the rest of the northern part of the Louisiana Purchase territory slavery-free.

1861

1.10.1861

American Civil War: Florida secedes from the Union.

4.29.1861

American Civil War: Maryland's House of Delegates votes not to secede from the Union.

5.6.1861

American Civil War: Arkansas secedes from the Union.

5.24.1861

American Civil War: Union troops occupy Alexandria, Virginia.

6.3.1861

American Civil War: Battle of Philippi (also called the Philippi Races) – Union forces rout Confederate troops in Barbour County, Virginia, now West Virginia, in first land battle of the War.

6.8.1861

American Civil War: Tennessee secedes from the Union.

7.25.1861

American Civil War: The United States Congress passes the Crittenden-Johnson Resolution, stating that the war is being fought to preserve the Union and not to end slavery.

8.27.1861

Union forces attack Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.

9.6.1861

American Civil War: Forces under Union General Ulysses S. Grant bloodlessly capture Paducah, Kentucky, which gives the Union control of the mouth of the Tennessee River.

9.6.1861

American Civil War: Forces under Union General Ulysses S. Grant bloodlessly capture Paducah, Kentucky, which gives the Union control of the mouth of the Tennessee River.

1862

3.7.1862

American Civil War: Union forces defeat Confederate troops at Pea Ridge in northwestern Arkansas.

3.13.1862

American Civil War: The U.S. federal government forbids all Union army officers to return fugitive slaves, thus effectively annulling the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 and setting the stage for the Emancipation Proclamation.

4.6.1862

American Civil War: The Battle of Shiloh begins – in Tennessee, forces under Union General Ulysses S. Grant meet Confederate troops led by General Albert Sidney Johnston.

4.24.1862

American Civil War: A flotilla commanded by Union Admiral David Farragut passes two Confederate forts on the Mississippi River on its way to capture New Orleans, Louisiana.

4.25.1862

American Civil War: Forces under Union Admiral David Farragut capture the Confederate city of New Orleans, Louisiana.

6.4.1862

American Civil War: Confederate troops evacuate Fort Pillow on the Mississippi River, leaving the way clear for Union troops to take Memphis, Tennessee.

9.13.1862

American Civil War: Union soldiers find a copy of Robert E. Lee's battle plans in a field outside Frederick, Maryland. It is the prelude to the Battle of Antietam.

1863

5.4.1863

American Civil War: The Battle of Chancellorsville ends with a Union retreat.

5.12.1863

American Civil War: Battle of Raymond: two divisions of James B. McPherson's XVII Corps (ACW) turn the left wing of Confederate General John C. Pemberton's defensive line on Fourteen Mile Creek, opening up the interior of Mississippi to the Union Army during the Vicksburg Campaign.

5.28.1863

American Civil War: The 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, the first African American regiment, leaves Boston, Massachusetts, to fight for the Union.

1864

3.10.1864

American Civil War: The Red River Campaign begins as Union troops reach Alexandria, Louisiana.

6.5.1864

American Civil War: Battle of Piedmont: Union forces under General David Hunter defeat a Confederate army at Piedmont, Virginia, taking nearly 1,000 prisoners.

6.10.1864

American Civil War: Battle of Brice's Crossroads. Confederate troops under Nathan Bedford Forrest defeat a much larger Union force led by General Samuel D. Sturgis in Mississippi.

7.29.1864

American Civil War: Confederate spy Belle Boyd is arrested by Union troops and detained at the Old Capitol Prison in Washington, D.C..

9.7.1864

American Civil War: Atlanta, Georgia, is evacuated on orders of Union General William Tecumseh Sherman.

1865

3.25.1865

American Civil War: In Virginia, Confederate forces temporarily capture Fort Stedman from the Union.

4.3.1865

American Civil War: Union forces capture Richmond, Virginia, the capital of the Confederate States of America.

4.10.1865

American Civil War: A day after his surrender to Union forces, Confederate General Robert E. Lee addresses his troops for the last time.

4.12.1865

American Civil War: Mobile, Alabama, falls to the Union Army.

4.26.1865

Union cavalry troopers corner and shoot dead John Wilkes Booth, assassin of President Lincoln, in Virginia.

4.27.1865

The steamboat ''Sultana'', carrying 2,400 passengers, explodes and sinks in the Mississippi River, killing 1,700, most of whom are Union survivors of the Andersonville and Cahaba Prisons.

5.10.1865

American Civil War: Jefferson Davis is captured by Union troops near Irwinville, Georgia.

1870

2.23.1870

In the United States, post-Civil War military control of Mississippi ends and it is readmitted to the Union.

3.30.1870

Texas is readmitted to the Union following Reconstruction.

7.15.1870

Reconstruction era of the United States: Georgia becomes the last of the former Confederate states to be readmitted to the Union.

1913

7.3.1913

Confederate veterans at the Great Reunion of 1913 reenact Pickett's Charge; upon reaching the high-water mark of the Confederacy they are met by the outstretched hands of friendship from Union survivors.