1860 - March 6, delivers an impassioned political speech on slavery in New Haven, Connecticut. Also in March, the 'Lincoln-Douglas Debates' published. November 6, 1860- Abraham Lincoln is elected as 16th U.S. president and the first Republican. Receives 180 of 303 possible electoral votes and 40 percent of the popular vote. Dec 20, 1860 - South Carolina secedes from the Union. Followed within two months by Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas. Feb 11, 1861- Lincoln gives a brief farewell to friends and supporters at Springfield and leaves by train for Washington. Receives a warning during the trip about a possible assassination attempt. March 4, 1861- Inauguration ceremonies in Washington. President Lincoln delivers his first inaugural address. April 12, 1861 - At 4:30 a.m. Confederates open fire on Fort Sumter in Charleston. The Civil War begins. April 17, 1861 - Virginia secedes from the Union. Followed within five weeks by North Carolina, Tennessee and Arkansas, thus forming an eleven state Confederacy. April 19, 1861- The president issues a Proclamation of Blockade against Southern ports. April 27, 1861 - The president authorizes the suspension of the Writ of Habeas Corpus. June 3, 1861 - Political rival Stephen A. Douglas dies unexpectedly of acute rheumatism. July 21, 1861 - The Union suffers a defeat at Bull Run in northern Virginia. Union troops fall back to Washington. The president realizes the war will be long. July 27, 1861 - Appoints George B. McClellan as commander of the Department of the Potomac. Aug 6, 1861 - Signed a law freeing slaves being used by the Confederates in their war effort. Sept 11, 1861 - Revokes Gen. John C. Frémont's unauthorized military proclamation of emancipation in Missouri. Oct 24, 1861 - Relieves Gen. Frémont of his command and replaces him with Gen. David Hunter. Nov 1, 1861 - Appoints McClellan as commander of the Union army after the resignation of Winfield Scott. Jan 27, 1862- President Lincoln issues General War Order No. 1 calling for a Union advance to begin Feb 22. Feb 20, 1862 - The president's son Willie dies at age 12. The President’s wife is emotionally devastated and never fully recovers. March 11, 1862 - President Lincoln relieves McClellan as general-in-chief and takes direct command of the Union armies. April 6, 1862 - Confederate surprise attack on Gen. Ulysses S. Grant’s troops at Shiloh on the Tennessee River results in a bitter struggle with 13,000 Union killed and wounded and 10,000 Confederates. The president is then pressured to relieve Grant but resists. April 9, 1862- Writes message to McClellan urging him to attack. April 16, 1862 - Signs an Act abolishing slavery in the District of Columbia. May 20, 1862 - Approves the Federal Homestead Law giving 160 acres of publicly owned land to anyone who will claim and then work the property for 5 years. Thousands then cross the Mississippi to tame the 'Wild West.' June 19, 1862 - Approves a Law prohibiting slavery in the territories. Aug 29/30, 1862 - Union defeat at the second Battle of Bull Run in northern Virginia. The Union Army retreats to Washington. The president then relieves Union commander Gen. John Pope. Sept 17, 1862 - General Robert E. Lee and the Confederate armies are stopped at Antietam in Maryland by McClellan and numerically superior Union forces. By nightfall, 26,000 men are dead, wounded or missing - the bloodiest day in U.S. military history. Sept 22, 1862 - The president issues a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation freeing the slaves. Nov 5, 1862 - The president names Ambrose E. Burnside as commander of the Army of the Potomac, replacing McClellan. Dec 13, 1862 - Army of the Potomac suffers costly defeat at Fredericksburg in Virginia with a loss of 12,653 men. Confederate losses are 5,309. Dec 22, 1862- The president writes a brief message to the Army of the Potomac. Dec 31, 1862 - The president signs a bill admitting West Virginia to the Union. Jan 1, 1863- President Lincoln issues the final Emancipation Proclamation freeing all slaves in territories held by Confederates. Jan 25, 1863 - The president appoints Joseph (Fighting Joe) Hooker as commander of the Army of the Potomac, replacing Burnside. Jan 29, 1863 - Gen. Grant is placed in command of the Army of the West, with orders to capture Vicksburg. Feb 25, 1863 - Signs a Bill creating a national banking system. March 3, 1863 - Signs an Act introducing military conscription. May 1-4, 1863 - A Union defeat at the Battle of Chancellorsville in Virginia. Confederate Gen. Stonewall Jackson is mortally wounded. Hooker retreats. Union losses are 17,000 killed, wounded and missing. The Confederates, 13, 000. June 28, 1863 - The president appoints George G. Meade as commander of the Army of the Potomac, replacing Hooker. July 3, 1863- Confederate defeat at the Battle of Gettysburg. July 4, 1863 - Vicksburg, the last Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi, is captured by the Gen. Grant and the Army of the West. July 13, 1863 - Writes a message to Grant. July 14, 1863 - Writes an undelivered letter to Meade complaining about his failure to capture Lee. July 30, 1863 - Issues an Order of Retaliation. Aug 10, 1863 - The president meets with abolitionist Federick Douglass who pushes for full equality for Union 'Negro troops.' Sept 19/20, 1863 - Union defeat at Chickamauga in Georgia leaves Chattanooga in Tennessee under Confederate siege. The president appoints Gen. Grant to command all operations in the western theater. Nov 19, 1863 - President Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address at a ceremony dedicating the battlefield as a national cemetery. Dec 8, 1863 - The president issues a Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction for restoration of the Union. March 12, 1864 - President Lincoln appoints Grant as general-in-chief of all the Federal armies. William T. Sherman succeeds Grant as commander in the West. June 3, 1864 - A costly mistake by Grant results in 7,000 Union casualties in twenty minutes during an offensive against entrenched Rebels at Cold Harbor, Virginia. June 8, 1864 - Abraham Lincoln is nominated for president by a coalition of Republicans and War Democrats. July 18, 1864 - Issues a call for 500,000 Volunteers for military service. Aug 31, 1864 - Makes a speech to the 148th Ohio Regiment. Sept 2, 1864 - Atlanta is captured by Sherman’s army. Later, the president on advice from Grant approves Sherman's march to the sea. Oct 19, 1864 - A decisive Union victory by Gen. Philip H. Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley. Nov 8, 1864 - Abraham Lincoln is re-elected president, defeating Democrat George B. McClellan. Lincoln gets 212 of 233 electoral votes and 55 percent of the popular vote. Dec 20, 1864 - Sherman reaches Savannah in Georgia leaving behind a path of destruction 60 miles wide all the way from Atlanta. March 4, 1865- Inauguration ceremonies in Washington. President Lincoln delivers his Second Inaugural Address. March 17, 1865 - A kidnap plot by John Wilkes Booth fails when Lincoln fails to arrive as expected at the Soldiers' Home. April 9, 1865 - Gen. Robert E. Lee surrenders his Confederate army to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at the village of Appomattox Court House in Virginia. April 11, 1865- President Lincoln makes his last speech, which focuses on the problems of reconstruction. The United States flag 'Stars and Stripes' is raised over Fort Sumter. April 14, 1865 - Lincoln and his wife Mary see the play "Our American Cousin" at Ford's Theater. About 10:13 p.m., during the third act of the play, John Wilkes Booth shoots the president in the head. Doctors attend to the president in the theater then move him to a house across the street. He never regains consciousness. April 15, 1865 - President Abraham Lincoln dies at 7:22 in the morning. April 26, 1865 - John Wilkes Booth is shot and killed in a tobacco barn in Virginia. May 4, 1865 - Abraham Lincoln is laid to rest in Oak Ridge Cemetery, outside Springfield, Illinois. Dec 6, 1865- The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, passed by Congress on January 31, 1865, is finally ratified. Slavery is abolished.
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