May 24—McDowell’s advance suspended
May 25—Jackson routs the Federals at Winchester
May 30—Federals occupy Corinth, Mississippi
May 31—June 1—Battle of Fair Oaks or Seven Pines on the Peninsula
June 6—Stanton resumes recruiting
June 8–9—Jackson defeats the Federals at Cross Keys and Port Republic, and escapes from the Valley
June 20—Slavery prohibited in the territories by act of Congress
June 26—Pope placed in command of the Army of Virginia
June 26—July 2—Battles of the Seven Days culminate in the retreat of the Army of the Potomac to the James River
July 11—Halleck made commander-in-chief
July 14—Pope joins his command
July 17—Congress passes act authorizing a draft of State militia, and empowering the President to accept Negroes for military and naval duty
—Congress passes second Confiscation Act
—Congress adjourns
July 22—Halleck arrives in Washington
Aug. 3—Halleck orders McClellan to withdraw the Army of the Potomac from the Peninsula
Aug. 9—Federals defeated at Slaughter (Cedar) Mountain, Virginia
Aug. 14–16—McClellan’s army withdraws from Harrison’s Landing
Aug. 28–30—Battles of Gainesville and Groveton precede Second Bull Run, in which the Federals, under Pope, are routed
Sept. 1—Battle of Chantilly, Virginia
Sept. 2—Pope relieved, and McClellan placed in command of all troops around Washington
Sept. 4–5—Confederates cross the Potomac and invade Maryland
Sept. 14—Battle of South Mountain, Maryland
Sept. 15—Harper’s Ferry surrenders to Confederates
Sept. 17—Battle of Antietam or Sharpsburg, Maryland
Sept. 18–19—Confederates retire across the Potomac
Sept. 22—President issues preliminary proclamation of emancipation of slaves of rebels, to take place January 1, 1863
Sept. 24—President suspends the writ of habeas corpus for all persons arrested by military authority
Oct. 8—Battle of Perryville, Kentucky
—Galveston, Texas, captured by Federals
Oct. 10–12—Confederates raid Pennsylvania
Oct. 26—Nov. 1—McClellan crosses the Potomac into Virginia
Nov. 2—Lee begins to interpose his army between the Federals and Richmond
Nov. 5—McClellan relieved of command of the Army of the Potomac, and replaced by Burnside
Dec. 1—Third session of 37th Congress assembles
Dec. 11–12—Army of the Potomac crosses the Rappahannock to attack Lee’s forces, strongly fortified at Fredericksburg
Dec. 13—Army of the Potomac defeated at Fredericksburg
Dec. 31—West Virginia admitted as the thirty-fifth State of the Union
—Battle of Murfreesboro’ or Stone River begins
1863
Jan. 1—Emancipation Proclamation
—Confederate forces retake Galveston, Texas
Jan. 1–3—Battle of Murfreesboro'
Jan. 3—Failure of expedition against Vicksburg, Mississippi
Jan. 20—Burnside begins his “mud-march”
Jan. 25—Resignation of Burnside accepted, and Hooker appointed to command the Army of the Potomac
Mar. 3—Congress passes the Enrollment Act
Mar. 4—Congress adjourns
Apr. 7—Federals attack Fort Sumter without success
May 2–4—Army of the Potomac defeated at Chancellorsville
May 22—Grant fails to take Vicksburg by storm and determines on a siege
June 3—Lee’s army begins movement to invade the North
June 15–26—Confederate troops cross the Potomac
July 1–3—Army of the Potomac victorious at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
July 4—Fall of Vicksburg
July 8—Fall of Port Hudson, Louisiana —Federals begin siege of Charleston, South Carolina
July 13—Lee’s army retreats into Virginia
July 18—Federals repulsed at Fort Wagner outside Charleston
Aug. 17–24—Fort Sumter heavily bombarded
Sept. 2—Knoxville, Tennessee, occupied by Union forces
Sept. 7–8—Federals take Fort Wagner
Sept. 15—President suspends writ of habeas corpus throughout the Union
Sept. 19–20—Federals defeated at Chickamauga, Tennessee
Nov. 23–25—Federal victory at Chattanooga, Tennessee
Nov. 26—First national observance of Thanksgiving
Dec. 7—First session of 38th Congress assembles
Dec. 8—Presidential proclamation of amnesty to Confederates who return to their allegiance
1864
Feb. 20—Federal expedition defeated at Olustee, Florida
Mar. 9—Grant made lieutenant-general
Mar. 12—Grant made commander-in-chief
Apr. 8—Federal defeat at Sabine Cross Roads, Louisiana, forecasts the failure of the Red River expedition
Apr. 12—Confederates capture Fort Pillow, Tennessee, and massacre the Negro garrison
May 4—Army of the Potomac crosses the Rapidan —Western armies advance into Georgia
May 5–12—Battles of the Virginia Wilderness
May 9–July 17—Almost daily battles in Georgia in Sherman’s slow advance toward Atlanta
May 15—Federals defeated at New Market in the Shenandoah Valley
May 16—Butler suspends his advance on Richmond and bottles up the Army of the James in entrenchments at Bermuda Hundred
May 31—Frémont nominated for President by a convention of Republican bolters
June 3—Battle of Cold Harbor, Virginia
June 7—National Union convention renominates Lincoln for President, selecting Andrew Johnson of Tennessee for Vice-President
June 12–16—Army of the Potomac moves south of the James
June 16–18—Federals assault Petersburg, Virginia, without success, and Grant determines on a siege
June 19—U.S. Steamer Kearsage sinks Confederate cruiser Alabama off the coast of France
June 28—Congress repeals the Fugitive Slave Law
July 2–3—Early leads Confederate forces down Shenandoah Valley
July 4—Lincoln pockets the drastic congressional reconstruction bill
—Congress adjourns
July 9—Battle of the Monocacy in Maryland delays Early’s advance
July 11—Early’s army arrives before the Washington fortifications
—Three brigades of the Sixth Corps reach the capital
July 12—Three more brigades of the Sixth Corps reach Washington
— Battle of Fort Stevens
—Early’s forces begin to retire
July 13—Early escapes across the upper Potomac into Virginia
July 20–28—Battles before Atlanta
July 30—Explosion of Federal mine at Petersburg
—Confederates burn Chambersburg, Pennsylvania
Aug. 5—Federal victory in Mobile Bay
Aug. 29—Democratic convention nominates McClellan and Pendleton for President and Vice-President
Sept. 1–2—Fall of Atlanta
Sept. 19–22—Sheridan defeats Early at Winchester and Fisher’s Hill
Sept. 22—Frémont withdraws from the Presidential contest
Oct. 19—Battle of Cedar Creek ends in decisive victory by Sheridan over Early
Oct. 31—Nevada admitted as the thirty-sixth State of the Union
Nov. 8—Lincoln re-elected President
Nov. 15—Sherman begins his march to the sea
Dec. 5—Second session of 38th Congress assembles
Dec. 10—Sherman’s army arrives before Savannah
Dec. 15–16—Confederates routed at Nashville, Tennessee
Dec. 21—Fall of Savannah
1865
Jan. 15—Fort Fisher,
North Carolina, captured by Federals
Jan. 31—Passage of Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, abolishing slavery
Feb. 1—Sherman starts north on the campaign of the Carolinas
Feb. 3—Peace conference held at Hampton Roads
Feb. 17—Surrender of Columbia, South Carolina
Feb. 18—Charleston, South Carolina, abandoned
Feb. 22—Wilmington, North Carolina, captured
Mar. 3—Freedmen’s Bureau established by Congress to care for Negroes
—Congress adjourns
Mar. 4—Lincoln’s second inauguration
Mar. 21–23—Troops from Wilmington and Fort Fisher join Sherman’s army at
Goldsboro, North Carolina
Mar. 26—Sheridan joins Grant before Petersburg
Mar. 29—Apr. 2—Grant’s grand assault on Petersburg
Apr. 2—Fall of Petersburg
Apr. 3—Fall of Richmond
Apr. 9—Lee surrenders to Grant at Appomattox Court-House
Apr. 11—Mobile, Alabama, evacuated
Apr. 12—Capture of Montgomery, Alabama
Apr. 14—Booth shoots President Lincoln at Ford’s Theatre
— Lewis Paine attacks and seriously wounds Secretary Seward and his son, Frederick
Apr. 15—Death of President Lincoln —Andrew Johnson inaugurated as President
Apr. 19—Funeral services of President Lincoln
Apr. 21—Lincoln’s funeral train leaves Washington
—Sherman’s peace agreement with J. E. Johnston rejected by the Government
Apr. 26—Booth found and shot near Port Royal, Virginia —J. E. Johnston’s surrender concluded
May 10—Jefferson Davis taken prisoner in Georgia
May 10–June 30—Trial of the Lincoln conspirators
May 22—Mrs. Lincoln leaves Washington for Chicago
May 23–24—Grand Review of the Union armies at Washington
Some Biographical Notes
SUPPLEMENTING THE MATERIAL IN THE TEXT
ADAMS, HENRY 1838–1918 Grandson of Presidents, and heir to a formidable tradition of family importance, young Henry spent seven years in London as private secretary to his father, Charles Francis Adams, who was minister to England. He taught history at Harvard for a time, but, after moving to Washington in 1876, he devoted himself to study and writing. A novel, Democracy, was descriptive of postwar life in the capital. His most serious work was a scholarly nine-volume History of the United States during the Jefferson and Madison administrations. In 1885, he and his friend, John Hay, built adjoining houses on H Street, across from St. John’s Church. The Adams house was immediately darkened by the suicide of his wife, the former Marian Hooper of Boston, who poisoned herself by drinking potassium cyanide, which she had used in the preparation of photographic plates. After the completion of his major historical work, Adams spent much time in travel with his friend, John LaFarge. The Education of Henry Adams and Mont-Saint-Michel and Chartres were both issued in privately printed editions before their publication.
ALCOTT, LOUISA MAY 1832–1888 The daughter of the eccentric New England philosopher, Bronson Alcott, she grew to womanhood in Concord, Mass., in an atmosphere of transcendentalism, communistic experimentation, poverty, cheerfulness and abolitionism. Her letters from the Union Hospital in Georgetown were published in 1863, and the following year her novel, Moods, appeared. Her reputation was made with the publication of the first volume of Little Women in 1868. It was followed by a long series of stories for girls which brought her sufficient means to establish her father in comfort at Concord. She exhausted herself by overwork, and survived Bronson Alcott by only two days.
ANDERSON, ROBERT 1805–1871 Born Kentucky; West Point, '25; veteran of Indian wars and the Mexican War. A major of artillery, pro-slavery in sympathy, he assumed command of the forts in Charleston harbor in November, 1860, when the secession crisis was acute in South Carolina. He was appointed brigadier in the regular Army after the fall of Fort Sumter, and later assigned to command the Union forces in his war-divided native State. The strain of conflicting loyalties proved too much for Anderson’s health. He saw no active service after the autumn of 1861. In April, 1865, he emerged from retirement to participate in the ceremonies at Fort Sumter by raising the same flag which four years earlier he had lowered in defeat.
BAKER, LA FAYETTE CURRY 1826–1868 Acrimonious disputes over the distribution of the reward for Booth’s capture ended in the detective chief’s receiving only $3,750. He was promoted brigadier-general, but early in 1866 he was retired from the service, and left the War Department. Baker had been denounced in the press for his over-zealous activities, especially for his spying on President Johnson, who had ordered him out of the White House. In 1867, the publication of his book, History of the United States Secret Service, made public for the first time the existence of Booth’s suppressed diary. Called before the House Judiciary Committee, Baker insinuated that the diary had been mutilated by Stanton. The detective was a witness against President Johnson in the impeachment investigation.
BANKS, NATHANIEL PRENTISS 1816–1894 A native of Massachusetts, Banks started out as a bobbin boy in a cotton factory, studied law and entered politics. He was Speaker of the House in 1856, and Republican governor of Massachusetts in 1858. Hastily made a major-general, Banks was not a skillful soldier, though he was brave and energetic. In November, 1862, he sailed with a strong force to New Orleans, where he succeeded Butler in command. He attempted in the spring of 1863 to storm Port Hudson on the Mississippi, laid siege to it, and received its surrender after the fall of Vicksburg. The next spring he made an expedition, supported by a fleet of gunboats, up the Red River for the purpose of gaining control of western Louisiana, but was defeated at Sabine Cross Roads. The expedition was undertaken on Halleck’s orders, but Banks was censured for its failure, was relieved of command, and resigned his commission. He later served a number of terms in Congress, and was United States marshal for Massachusetts.
BARNES, JOSEPH K. 1817–1883 Born Philadelphia; University of Pennsylvania medical school, '38; assistant army surgeon, 1840; brigade medical officer in Mexican War. In May, 1862, he was assigned to duty in Washington; promoted medical inspector, with the rank of colonel in 1863, and in September of that year was made acting Surgeon General. Barnes became Surgeon General with the rank of brigadier in August, 1864, and was brevetted major-general in 1865. He succeeded in bringing the military hospitals, as well as the transportation of the wounded, under the control of medical officers. His friendly relation with Secretary Stanton fostered the establishment of the army medical museum and library, and the compilation of the medical and surgical history of the war. He dressed Seward’s wounds on the night of April 14, 1865, and was in attendance at Lincoln’s deathbed. He also attended President Garfield after he was shot by an assassin.
BARTON, CLARA 1821–1912 In 1864, she was appointed superintendent of nurses of the Army of the James. After the war, she directed a bureau of records at Washington to aid in the search for missing Union soldiers, identifying thousands of graves at the prison at Andersonville, Georgia. Her eloquence attracted crowds to her lectures on her war experiences. While on a visit to Switzerland in 1869, Miss Barton became interested in the International Committee of the Red Cross, and, on the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War, assisted in organizing military hospitals, and superintended relief work in Strasburg and Paris. In 1873, Miss Barton returned home and after four years’ endeavor succeeded in establishing the American Red Cross. She became the first president of the organization, representing the United States at many international conferences in Europe. She visited Turkey after the Armenian massacres in 1896, carried supplies to Cuba in 1898, and at the age of seventy-nine worked for six weeks among the flood sufferers at Galveston, Texas. Temperamental differences with her fellow-workers in the Red Cross and Miss Barton’s inefficient methods of accounting, which shook pubic confidence in the organization, led to her resignation i
n 1904. She founded a rival society, The National First Aid of America.
BEAUREGARD, PIERRE GUSTAVE TOUTANT 1818–1893 Born Louisiana; West Point, '38; participated in all the battles of the Mexican War, being twice wounded and brevetted major. Beauregard was briefly superintendent at West Point in 1861, resigning on the secession of Louisiana. After the surrender of Sumter, he was ordered from Charleston to Virginia, and for his services at Manassas was made one of five full generals of the Confederacy. In 1862, he was sent to the West, and took command at Shiloh upon the death of the Confederate leader, A. S. Johnston. Beauregard fell back on Corinth, Mississippi, which he was finally compelled to evacuate. Later in the year, he was again assigned to Charleston, and defended it against prolonged attacks from military and naval forces. In the spring of 1864, Beauregard defeated the Army of the James under Butler, and held Petersburg until Lee’s arrival. In the autumn, he served in the West, and later was second in command to J. E. Johnston in the campaign of the Carolinas. After the war, he was railroad president, adjutant-general of Louisiana, manager of the Louisiana lottery and superintendent of public works in New Orleans.
BINGHAM, JOHN A. 1815–1900 From 1855 until 1873, with the exception of the Thirty-eighth Congress, he served as representative from Ohio. Failing of re-election in 1863, he was appointed judge advocate by President Lincoln, and later solicitor of the court of claims. As special judge advocate in the trial of the Lincoln conspirators, he was conspicuous for his severity toward defense counsel, and vociferously proclaimed the guilt of Jefferson Davis in his summary of the evidence. On his return to Congress, Bingham took a leading part in the radical reconstruction measures, and was one of the managers of President Johnson’s impeachment trial. He was appointed minister to Japan in 1873, and held the post for twelve years.
BLAIR, FRANCIS PRESTON, JR. 1821–1875 He was a leading backer of Frémont for the Missouri command, but soon turned against him, and in the ensuing quarrel was arrested and put in prison. He was made a brigadier-general in 1862, and fought well in the Vicksburg campaign and in other engagements in the West. He was promoted major-general, and proved to be one of the most successful officers who entered the Union army from civil life. Sherman with-held the highest confidence from him as from Logan, regarding both as able military leaders, but primarily interested in politics. Blair resumed his seat in the House in 1864 to lend support to the administration, but his factious belligerence proved embarrassing, and he returned to his command. He opposed the reconstruction policies of Congress, which twice refused to confirm appointments for which he was nominated by Johnson. In 1868, he was candidate for Vice-President on the Democratic ticket, and later was chosen senator from Missouri. His brother, Montgomery (1813–1883), also acted with the Democratic party after the war.
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