Timeline of Gettysburg Address
November 6, 1860: Abraham Lincoln is elected sixteenth president of the United States.
December 17, 1860: The first Secession Convention meets in Columbia, South Carolina. February 8-9, 1861: The Confederate States of America are formed from the seven states that have seceded. March 4, 1861: Abraham Lincoln is inaugurated as the sixteenth president of the United States in Washington, DC. April 12, 1861: Southern forces fire upon Fort Sumter, South Carolina. The Civil War has formally begun. July 21, 1861: The Battle of Bull Run (or First Manassas), is fought near Manassas, Virginia. The Union Army under General Irwin McDowell is able to drives back Confederate forces under General Pierre Gustav Toutant Beauregard at first, but the arrival of troops under General Joseph E. Johnston reverses the situation. February 22, 1862: Jefferson Davis is inaugurated as President of the Confederate States of America. August 30-31, 1862: The Battle of Second Bull Run (or Second Manassas) is fought on the same ground where one year before; the Union army is defeated severely. September 17, 1862: The Battle of Antietam (or Sharpsburg), Maryland is the bloodiest single day of the Civil War. The result of the battle ends General Lee's first invasion of the North. President Lincoln introduce the Emancipation Proclamation, an executive order that frees every slave in the Confederate States. May 1-4, 1863: The Battle of Chancellorsville, Virginia. Although it is General Lee's greatest victory, the mortal wounding of "Stonewall" Jackson, who dies on May 10, also occurs. July 1-3, 1863: The Battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The bloodiest battle of the Civil War ruins Robert E. Lee's chances for a successful invasion of the North. July 4, 1863: Vicksburg, Mississippi, surrenders to the Union Army under Grant. At Gettysburg, Lee begins his retreat to Virginia. The Mississippi River is now controlled by the Union. November 19, 1863: Dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery at Gettysburg. President Abraham Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address. November 27 - December 3, 1863: Siege of Knoxville, Tennessee. Confederate troops under General James Longstreet lay siege to the city of Knoxville held by Union forces under General Ambrose Burnside. December 8, 1863: Lincoln Issues his Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction, which would pardon those who participated in the "existing rebellion" if they take an oath to the Union. June 8, 1864: Abraham Lincoln is nominated for a second term as president. November 8, 1864: Abraham Lincoln is reelected president of the United States. March 25, 1865: Attack on Fort Stedman, Petersburg, Virginia. Known as "Lee's last offensive", Confederate troops under General John B. Gordon attack and briefly capture the Union fort. By the end of the day, the Confederates have been thrown out. April 9, 1865: Battle of Appomattox Court House and Surrender, Appomattox Court House, Virginia. After an early morning attempt to break through Union forces blocking the route west to Danville, Virginia, Lee seeks an audience with General Grant to discuss terms. That afternoon, Lee signs the document of surrender. April 14, 1865: President Abraham Lincoln is assassinated by actor John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theater in Washington, DC. |
|