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| 1863 |
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| Congress approved creation of the National Academy of Sciences to advise the government on science and to promote research. | 1 |
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| Feb. 25 |
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| National Banking Act was passed to create a market for U.S. bonds, to drive out of circulation the notes of banks chartered by the states, to create a powerful financial support for the government, and to provide for the country a uniform circulating medium. State bank notes were driven out of existence by a tax of 10 percent (1865). | 2 |
| The March Conscription Act created an impartial draft lottery for the North, but also allowed individuals to pay $300 in place of serving. The bill caused enormous anger among the poor, who rioted in cities across the country. In New York City, implementation of the draft sparked a three-day riot in which poor whites and immigrant workers attacked the black community and lynched at least a dozen African Americans. In the South, discontent with the government also became apparent in 1863, when the Confederate Congress introduced impressment, allowing the Confederate army to take supplies and animals from farmers while paying a fixed price that was far below market value. | 3 |
| EASTERN CAMPAIGNS. | 4 |
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| May 1–4 |
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| BATTLE OF CHANCELLORSVILLE. The federal forces were defeated by the Confederates (death of Stonewall Jackson). Gen. George G. Meade (1815–72) relieved Hooker as commander of the Army of the Potomac (June 28). Meanwhile Lee had begun the invasion of the North by way of the Shenandoah Valley, establishing himself in southern Pennsylvania. Meade took up his position at Gettysburg. | 5 |
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| June 20 |
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| West Virginia (the loyal part of Virginia) was admitted to the Union as the 35th state. | 6 |
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| July 1–3 |
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| BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG. In three days of heavy fighting, Lee was unable to dislodge the federal forces and was obliged to fall back to the Potomac in the decisive battle of the war. Henceforth the Confederates were obliged to remain on the defensive, and the war became a test of endurance. More soldiers died in this Civil War battle than in any other. More than 50,000 men were killed or wounded. | 7 |
| WESTERN CAMPAIGNS. The operations in the west centered first on the taking of Vicksburg, key to the control of the Mississippi. | 8 |
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| July 4 |
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| VICKSBURG SURRENDERED, starved out after a short siege. On July 8, Port Hudson, farther down the river, surrendered, giving the federal troops command of the entire river and cutting off Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana from the rest of the Confederacy. | 9 |
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| Nov. 23–25 |
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| BATTLE OF CHATTANOOGA (Lookout Mountain, Nov. 24; Missionary Ridge, Nov. 25). Reinforced by troops from Vicksburg under Gen. William T. Sherman (1820–91) and from the Potomac under Hooker, Grant, in command of the armies of the West, fought and drove the Confederates out of Tennessee, opening the road into Georgia. | 10 |
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