1860
APR 23 - Democratic Presidential nominating convention meets at Charleston, South Carolina
MAY 3 - Democrats adjourn without a Presidential ticket after the Deep South withdraws over the slavery plank in the platform
MAY 9 - Constitutional Union party nominates John Bell and Edward Everett at Baltimore, Maryland
MAY 16 - Republicans convene at Chicago to nominate a Presidential ticket
MAY 18 - Republicans nominate Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin
JUN 18 - Democrats reconvene at Baltimore
JUN 22 - Anti-Douglas delegates again withdraw from the convention
JUN 23 - Regular Democrats nominate Stephen A. Douglas and Herschel V. Johnson. Anti-Douglas Democrats choose John C. Breckinridge and Joseph Lane
NOV 6 - Lincoln is elected President
NOV 9 - South Carolina calls a secession convention
NOV 10 - South Carolina's James Chesnut, a moderate, resigns from the Senate, to be followed by his colleague, James H. Hammond
NOV 15 - Major Robert Anderson is sent to take command of the Charleston defenses
NOV 23 - Anderson asks for reinforcements at Charleston
NOV 28 - Anderson calls again for reinforcements
DEC 1 - Anderson renews his plea for reinforcements
DEC 4 - In his annual message to Congress, President James Buchanan declares that secession is unconstitutional but denies that the Federal government has power to force states to remain in the Union
DEC 8 - Secretary of the Treasury Howell Cobb of Georgia resigns, believing secession is imperative
DEC 9 - Buchanan agrees not to reinforce the Charleston forts without notifying South Carolina congressmen
DEC 14 - Secretary of State Lewis Cass of Michigan resigns because of Buchanan's failure to reinforce Anderson at Fort Sumter
DEC 18 - Senator John J. Crittenden of Kentucky proposes six amendments to the Constitution, protecting slavery
DEC 20 - South Carolina secedes from the Union. The Senate forms the Committee of Thirteen to seek compromise
DEC 22 - Lincoln's opposition to the key Crittenden proposal protecting slavery in the territories is made public
DEC 24 - The Senate Committee of Thirteen rejects the Crittenden Compromise
DEC 26 - Anderson withdraws all the Federal forces in Charleston Harbor from Fort Moultrie to stronger Fort Sumter
DEC 29 - Secretary of War John Floyd of Virginia resigns
DEC 31 - The Committee of Thirteen reports its failure to reach a compromise. Buchanan orders reinforcements for Anderson.
1861
JAN 5 - The Star of the West sails from New York with men and supplies for Fort Sumter
JAN 8 - Secretary of the Interior Jacob Thompson of Mississippi resigns
JAN 9 - South Carolina gunfire prevents the Star of the West from entering Charleston Harbor. Mississippi secedes from the Union
JAN 10 - Florida secedes from the Union
JAN 11 - Alabama secedes from the Union. Secretary of the Treasury Philip F. Thomas of Maryland resigns, completing the Southern withdrawal from Buchanan's cabinet
JAN 19 - Georgia secedes from the Union. Virginia proposes a national peace conference
JAN 21 - Five more Southerners, including Jefferson Davis of Mississippi, resign from the Senate
JAN 26 - Louisiana secedes from the Union
JAN 29 - Kansas is admitted to the Union as the thirty-fourth state
FEB 1 - Texas secedes from the Union
FEB 4 - Virginia's peace conference, boycotted by the Deep South, opens in Washington. Virginia elects a pro-Union majority to its secession convention
FEB 8 - The constitution for a provisional Confederate government is adopted at Montgomery
FEB 9 - Jefferson Davis and Alexander H. Stephens are elected provisional Confederate President and Vice-President
FEB 11 - Lincoln leaves Springfield for Washington
FEB 13 - The electoral college confirms Lincoln's election
FEB 15 - The Montgomery convention, acting as the provisional Confederate Congress, passes a resolution to take Fort Sumter and Fort Pickens, Florida, by force if necessary
FEB 18 - Jefferson Davis is inaugurated at Montgomery as provisional President of the Confederacy
FEB 23 - Lincoln arrives in Washington after a secret overnight trip from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
MAR 1 - The U.S. Congress refuses to consider Virginia's peace conference proposals
MAR 2 - The U.S. Congress passes the Morrill Tariff Act, a high protective tariff, opposed by the South
MAR 4 - Abraham Lincoln is inaugurated. Anderson reports shortage of food may force the evacuation of Fort Sumter
MAR 5 - Lincoln's cabinet is announced: State - William H. Seward; Treasury - Salmon P. Chase; Navy - Gideon Welles; War - Simon Cameron; Interior - Caleb B. Smith; Attorney General - Edward Bates; Postmaster General - Montgomery Blair
MAR 6 - The Confederate cabinet is completed: State - Robert Toombs; War - Leroy P. Walker; Navy - Stephen R. Mallory; Treasury - Christopher G. Memminger; Attorney General - Judah P. Benjamin; Postmaster General - John H. Reagan. The Confederacy calls for 100,000 volunteers.
MAR 11 - The Confederacy adopts a permanent Constitution
MAR 15 - Montgomery Blair, alone among Lincoln's cabinet members, advises the reinforcement of Anderson at Fort Sumter
MAR 29 - Lincoln's cabinet takes a stronger stand on holding Federal forts in the South
APR 4 - Lincoln orders a relief expedition to Fort Sumter
APR 8 - The relief expedition sails from New York
APR 12 - Confederates open fire on Fort Sumter
APR 13 - Fort Sumter surrenders
APR 15 - Lincoln calls for 75,000 volunteers
APR 17 - The Virginia convention votes an ordinance of secession
APR 18 - Robert E. Lee is offered command of the Federal armies. The Union garrison abandons Harpers Ferry
APR 19 - The 6th Massachusetts Regiment clashes with a Baltimore mob. Lincoln proclaims a blockade of Confederate ports from South Carolina to Texas
APR 20 - Lee resigns from the U.S. Army. Confederates seize the abandoned Union navy yard at Norfolk, Virginia
APR 27 - The ports of North Carolina and Virginia are included in the blockade
MAY 3 - Lincoln calls for 42,034 three-year volunteers and enlarges the regular army and navy
MAY 6 - Arkansas secedes from the Union
MAY 7 - Tennessee, in effect, secedes from the Union by forming an alliance with the Confederacy
MAY 10 - Captain Nathaniel Lyon secures Federal control of St. Louis after rioting
MAY 12 - Troops of Brigadier General Benjamin F. Butler restore full Federal control in Baltimore
MAY 13 - Queen Victoria proclaims British neutrality, recognizing the Confederacy as a belligerent
MAY 16 - The Confederate Congress authorizes the recruiting of 400,000 men
MAY 20 - North Carolina secedes from the Union. Kentucky proclaims its neutrality.
MAY 21 - The Confederate Congress votes to move the capital to Richmond
MAY 23 - Virginia votes overwhelmingly to join the Confederacy
MAY 24 - 10,000 Federal troops enter Virginia and occupy Alexandria
MAY 28 - Brigadier General Irvin McDowell is appointed Union commander of the Department of Northeastern Virginia
MAY 29 - Federal troops occupy Newport News, Virginia
JUN 3 - Stephen A. Douglas dies at Chicago. Major General George B. McClellan's army, invading western Virginia, routs Confederates at Philippi
JUN 10 - Federal troops are forced to withdraw after the Battle of Big Bethel, Virginia. Napoleon III proclaims French neutrality
JUN 11 - Western Virginia counties refuse to secede and set up a state government, recognized by Washington as the loyal Virginia government
JUL 4 - A special session of the U.S. Congress convenes
JUL 11 - McClellan wins the Battle of Rich Mountain in western Virginia
JUL 16 - McDowell's Union army advances upon Manassas Junction, Virginia
JUL 20 - Major General Joseph E. Johnston's Rebel troops from the Shenandoah Valley join Brigadier General P. G. T. Beauregard at Manassas Junction. The Confederate Congress convenes at Richmond
JUL 21 - The First Battle of Bull Run (First Manassas) ends in a rout of McDowell's Union forces. Major General John C. Fremont assumes command of Union forces in the West, at St. Louis. R. M. T. Hunter replaces Robert Toombs as the Confederate Secretary of State
JUL 25 - The U.S. Congress passes the Crittenden Resolution, declaring the object of the war to be the preservation of the Union
JUL 27 - McClellan replaces McDowell as commander of Federal troops in the Washington area
AUG 6 - The U.S. Congress passes a Confiscation Act, providing for the seizure of property, including slaves, used for insurrectionary purposes
AUG 10 - Brig. Gen. Nathaniel Lyon is killed and his army is defeated by Confederates at Wilson's Creek, Missouri
AUG 14 - Fremont places St. Louis under martial law
AUG 28 - Brigadier General Ulysses S. Grant is given command of Federal troops in southeastern Missouri and southern Illinois
AUG 29 - Butler leads a successful Federal amphibious attack upon Hatteras Inlet, North Carolina
AUG 30 - Fremont proclaims martial law in Missouri and orders the confiscation of property and slaves of Missourians aiding the Confederacy
SEP 4 - Confederate Major General Leonidas Polk seizes Columbus, Kentucky, ending the state's neutrality
SEP 6 - Union troops under Grant take Paducah, Kentucky
SEP 10 - General Albert Sidney Johnston is given command of the Confederate armies in the West
SEP 11 - Lincoln orders Fremont to modify his Missouri slave and property confiscation proclamation to conform to the Confiscation Act
SEP 17 - Judah P. Benjamin succeeds Leroy P. Walker as the Confederate Secretary of War, and Thomas Bragg replaced Benjamin as Attorney General
SEP 20 - Rebels under Sterling Price capture the Union garrison at Lexington, Missouri
OCT 8 - Brigadier General William T. Sherman assumes command of the Federal army in central and eastern Kentucky, replacing Robert Anderson
OCT 21 - Federal troops are defeated at Ball's Bluff, Virginia
NOV 1 - Winfield Scott resigns as Federal general in chief, to be replaced by McClellan
NOV 2 - Fremont is relieved of the Western command
NOV 6 - Davis and Stephens are elected to full six-year terms as Confederate President and Vice-President
NOV 7 - Grant suffers a tactical defeat at Belmont, Missouri. Flag Officer Samuel F. Du Pont's Federal forces take Port Royal, South Carolina
NOV 8 - Captain Charles Wilkes seizes the Confederate envoys James M. Mason and John Slidell, aboard the British mail steamer Trent
NOV 9 - Brigadier General Don Carlos Buell replaces Sherman
NOV 19 - Major General Henry W. Halleck replaces Fremont in command of the Union forces in Missouri
NOV 30 - The British government demands the release of Mason and Slidell and an apology for their seizure
DEC 20 - The Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War is organized, consisting of U.S. Senators Benjamin Wade (chairman), Zachariah Chandler, and Andrew Johnson; and Representatives D. W. Gooch, G. W. Julian, John Covode, and Moses F. Odell
DEC 27 - Seward announces the release of Mason and Slidell and acknowledges Wilkes' error in seizing them
1862
JAN 11 - Simon Cameron resigns as U.S. Secretary of War, to be replaced by Edwin M. Stanton
JAN 19 - Brigadier General George Thomas defeats the Confederates at Mill Springs, securing Union control of eastern Kentucky
FEB 6 - Grant and Flag Officer Andrew Foote lead a successful joint army-navy attack upon Fort Henry on the Tennessee River
FEB 7 - A. S. Johnston orders a Confederate retreat from southwestern Kentucky
FEB 8 - A Federal expedition under Brigadier General Ambrose E. Burnside takes Roanoke Island, North Carolina
FEB 13 - Grant invests Fort Donelson on the Cumberland River
FEB 16 - 15,000 Confederates are captured as Brigadier General Simon B. Buckner unconditionally surrenders Fort Donelson to Grant
FEB 22 - Jefferson Davis is inaugurated as permanent President of the Confederate government
FEB 25 - Confederates abandon Nashville, Tennessee
MAR 2 - Polk abandons the Rebels' Mississippi River stronghold at Columbus, Kentucky
MAR 3 - Lincoln appoints Andrew Johnson military governor of Tennessee
MAR 6 - Lincoln proposes to Congress the gradual, compensated emancipation of border-state slaves. The Monitor, the first Federal ironclad, leaves New York
MAR 7 - The raised Federal warship Merrimac, converted to the Confederate ironclad Virginia at Norfolk, is prepared for a trial run in Hampton Roads, Virginia
MAR 8 - Confederates lose the two-day Battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas, ensuring Union control of Missouri. The Merrimac enters Hampton Roads, destroying or damaging three U.S. warships
MAR 9 - The Merrimac and the Monitor meet in an indecisive battle at Hampton Roads
MAR 11 - Halleck is given command of all Federal forces in the West. McClellan is removed as Federal general in chief but retains command of the Army of the Potomac
MAR 12 - A Union naval force occupies Jacksonville, Florida
MAR 14 - Southern forces abandon New Madrid, Missouri, opening the way for a Union attack on Island No. 10 in the Mississippi River. Burnside takes New Bern, North Carolina
MAR 17 - McClellan begins to transport the Army of the Potomac to Fort Monroe, preparatory to the Peninsular Campaign against Richmond. Grant assumes command of the Federal army at Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee. Davis completes the reorganization of the Confederate cabinet, with Judah P. Benjamin succeeding R. M. T. Hunter as Secretary of State, George W. Randolph taking Benjamin's place as Secretary of War, and Thomas H. Watts replacing Thomas Bragg as Attorney General
MAR 23 - Major General Thomas J. (Stonewall) Jackson is defeated at Kernstown, Virginia, by Federal Brigadier General James Shields in the first battle of the Shenandoah Valley campaign
MAR 28 - The Confederate invasion of New Mexico is halted at the Battle of Glorieta
MAR 29 - A. S. Johnston reassembles Confederate Western forces at Corinth, Mississippi
APR 4 - McClellan's union army on the Peninsula starts its advance on Richmond
APR 5 - McClellan besieges the Confederate defenses at Yorktown, Virginia
APR 6 - Confederates maul Grant's army in a surprise attack at Shiloh, Tennessee (Pittsburg Landing); A. S. Johnston is killed, and Beauregard takes command of the Rebel army
APR 7 - Buell's reinforcement of Grant at Shiloh turns the battle in the Federals' favor, forcing Beauregard to retreat to Corinth, Mississippi
APR 8 - Over 5,000 Confederates on Island No. 10 surrender to Major General John Pope, opening more of the Mississippi River
APR 11 - Fort Pulaski is taken by Federal troops to insure the blockage of Savannah, Georgia
APR 12 - "The Great Locomotive Chase" ends in northern Georgia; Federal raider James J. Andrews and seven of his men are hanged as spies
APR 16 - The Confederate Congress votes conscription of able-bodied men between 18 and 35; subsequent acts provide exemptions for owners of twenty or more slaves, and by the hiring of substitute or payment of $500. Lincoln signs a bill abolishing slavery in the District of Columbia.
APR 25 - Flag Officer David G. Farragut captures New Orleans after successfully passing Forts Jackson and St. Philip, which surrender three days later
APR 29 - Halleck, taking over Grant's army, begins to advance on Beauregard's army at Corinth
MAY 1 - Butler occupies New Orleans and begins his controversial administration of the city
MAY 4 - The siege of Yorktown, Virginia ends as Confederates under General Joseph E. Johnston retreat
MAY 5 - Major General James Longstreet fights a successful rear-guard action against McClellan at Williamsburg
MAY 8