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| 1861–62 |
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| NAVAL OPERATIONS. To make the blockade of the southern coasts effective and to prevent privateering, a joint naval and military expedition was sent out in Aug. 1861 to take key positions on the coast. | 1 |
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| 1862, March 8 |
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| The Confederate frigate Merrimac, made over as an ironclad, appeared in Hampton Roads and sank the Cumberland. | 2 |
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| March 9 |
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| The federal ironclad Monitor (with revolving gun turret) engaged the Merrimac and finally forced it to withdraw. Epoch-making development in naval warfare. | 3 |
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| March 14 |
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| The capture of New Bern, N.C., gave the federal forces a base from which to threaten Richmond, and obliged the Confederates to keep an army near the capital. | 4 |
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| April 24–25 |
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| A federal force (27 ships and 15,000 troops), under command of Flag Officer (later Adm.) David G. Farragut and Gen. Benjamin F. Butler, ran the forts below New Orleans and bombarded the city. After the landing of troops, the city was taken (May 1). | 5 |
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| April |
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| Congress abolished slavery in the District of Columbia. | 6 |
| The Homestead Act (1862) played a prominent part in the settlement of the West and the removal of Native Americans from land east and west of the Mississippi River. It gave to heads of families or individuals age 21 or older title to 160 acres of public land contingent upon 5 years of residence and improvement. | 7 |
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| July |
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| The first comprehensive internal revenue act was born of the war. Congress passed the Second Confiscation Act, which declared “forever free” all captured and fugitive slaves of the rebels. This bill also authorized the president to use African Americans in the military. | 8 |
| The Union and Central Pacific Railways were chartered by Congress and given a large grant of land. They formed the first transcontinental railway (completed on May 10, 1869). One result of the new system of transportation was the often violent clashes between Native Americans and white settlers. | 9 |
| The Morrill Act (1862), providing for grants of land to states in order to aid the establishment of agricultural colleges, opened up more Native American areas for white settlement. In the same year, Sioux Indians of Minnesota were defeated by Gen. Henry Sibley at Wood Lake. | 10 |
| THE PENINSULA CAMPAIGN. After long delay, McClellan decided to advance on Richmond, not overland through territory cut by many rivers, but by water to the mouth of the James River. The advance began in April. The Confederates, under Johnston and Robert E. Lee (1807–70; Confederate commander in chief after June 1, 1862) were greatly outnumbered and fell back. They were saved in part by McClellan's vacillation and by the operations of Col. T. J. (“Stonewall”) Jackson (1824–63), who managed to draw a considerable federal force into the Shenandoah Valley and ultimately succeeded in joining Lee with substantial reinforcements. Heavy fighting around Richmond resulted in the withdrawal of the federal forces from the peninsula. | 11 |
| Campaign in Maryland. In the autumn of 1862 Lee began to push on toward Washington. Federal forces were defeated in the Second Battle of Bull Run (Aug. 30). The Confederates crossed the Potomac (Sept. 4) and invaded Maryland. | 12 |
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| Sept. 17 |
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| THE BATTLE OF ANTIETAM was indecisive, but Lee began to fall back into Virginia. McClellan, as usual, did not take advantage of his opportunities, did little to pursue him, and did not cross the Potomac until Oct. 26. Sept. 17 proved to be the single most bloody day in American military history. Total deaths, either during the battle or as a result of it, reached 7,800, with another 15,500 wounded. | 13 |
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| Sept. 22 |
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| The president issued a preliminary emancipation proclamation, declaring that all slaves in states or parts of states still in rebellion on Jan. 1, 1863, should be free, starting on that date. Though Lincoln decided to free the slaves that summer, he waited for a Union victory before announcing the decision so that the new policy would be taken as a sign of strength rather than one of weakness. The formal Emancipation Proclamation was issued on Jan. 1, 1863. | 14 |
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| Nov. 7 |
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| Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside (1824–81) was appointed to succeed McClellan. He pushed the advance in Virginia, but was badly defeated by Lee in the Battle of Fredericksburg (Dec. 13). On Jan. 25, 1863, he was succeeded by Gen. Joseph Hooker (1814–79). | 15 |
| CAMPAIGNS IN THE WEST. In western Kentucky and Tennessee there was active campaigning throughout the year 1862. Brig. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant (1822–85), serving under Gen. Henry W. Halleck in command of the federal troops, on Feb. 6 forced the surrender of Fort Henry on the Tennessee River, and on Feb. 16 he secured the surrender of Fort Donelson on the Cumberland. | 16 |
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| April 6–7 |
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| Battle of Shiloh. The Confederates, under Gen. Albert S. Johnston, attacked Grant's lines at Pittsburg Landing. After an initial success the Confederates were driven back. The federal forces commanded the Mississippi as far south as Vicksburg. More than 20,000 soldiers were killed or wounded, making this the bloodiest battle thus far in the war. Also in April the Confederate Congress introduced the draft. Some Southerners felt the measure was contrary to the South's notion of state's rights. The law allowed men to hire a substitute to fight for them, and it exempted from service men who had 20 or more slaves. Widespread opposition to the draft grew. At the same time many planters volunteered their slaves for service without wages, whereas others hired them out to military officials. | 17 |
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