The Life and Writings of Abraham Lincoln (31 page)

1861
JANUARY
9. Mississippi secedes.

        
JANUARY
10. Florida secedes.

        
JANUARY
11. Alabama secedes.

        
JANUARY
19. Georgia secedes.

        
JANUARY
26. Louisiana secedes.

        
JANUARY
30–31. Lincoln goes to Coles County to visit his stepmother, Sarah Bush Lincoln, who is living near Charleston, Ill.

        
FEBRUARY
1. Texas secedes.

1861
FEBRUARY
4. Delegates from the first six of these states meet at Montgomery, Alabama, to form the Confederate Government.

        
FEBRUARY
11. Lincoln leaves Springfield for what is to be the last time. He addresses his friends and fellow citizens at the railroad station just before his train pulls out. He goes on toward Washington, stopping at Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Columbus, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Buffalo, Albany, New York, Trenton, Philadelphia and Harrisburg.

        
FEBRUARY
18. Jefferson Davis is inaugurated President of the Confederate States of America.

        
FEBRUARY
21. At Philadelphia Lincoln is warned that he will be assassinated in Baltimore. He leaves Harrisburg secretly on the night of
FEBRUARY
22 and arrives safely in Washington the next morning.

        
MARCH
4. At noon, Abraham Lincoln is inaugurated President of the United States.

        
MARCH
15. Lincoln asks advice from his Cabinet on Fort Sumter. Only two of the Cabinet members are in favor of making an attempt to hold the fort.

        
APRIL
1. Secretary of State Seward sends the President a memorandum entitled “Some Thoughts For The President’s Consideration,” in which Seward puts forth his own views on what should be done.

        
APRIL
6. Lincoln orders a relief expedition to sail to Fort Sumter.

        
APRIL
12. The Confederates fire on Sumter.

        
APRIL
14. Sumter surrenders.

        
APRIL
15. Lincoln issues a proclamation calling for 75,-000 volunteers and convening Congress in special session on
JULY
4.

        
APRIL
17. Virginia secedes.

        
APRIL
18. The arsenal at Harper’s Ferry is burned to prevent it from falling into Confederate hands.

1861
APRIL
19. Men from the Sixth Massachusetts Regiment are attacked as they pass through Baltimore on their way to Washington. Lincoln issues a proclamation of naval blockade.

        
APRIL
20. The Gosport Navy Yard is burned.

        
APRIL
22. Washington is completely isolated from the North.

        
APRIL
25. Troops finally get through and come to the relief of Washington.

        
MAY
6. Arkansas secedes.

        
MAY
21. North Carolina secedes.

        
MAY
24. Troops advance into Virginia from Washington and take possession of Alexandria and Arlington Heights. Colonel E. E. Ellsworth is killed during the occupation of Alexandria.

        
JUNE
3. Stephen A. Douglas dies in Chicago.

        
JUNE
8. Tennessee votes in favor of secession.

        
JUNE
16. Western Virginia declares its independence from the rest of the state and decides to stay with the Union.

        
JUNE
17. A convention is held in Eastern Tennessee to hold that part of the state in the Union.

        
JULY
4. Congress meets in special session.

        
JULY
16. McDowell starts out from Arlington to meet the Rebel forces at Manassas.

        
JULY
21. The Battle of Bull Run. The Union forces are defeated and retreat toward Washington. Lincoln immediately draws up a memorandum of military policy; he also summons George Brinton McClellan to Washington and puts him in charge of organizing a large Federal army.

        
AUGUST
6. The special session of Congress adjourns.

        
AUGUST
30. Frémont, in command of the Department of the West, issues a proclamation emancipating the
slaves of all those in his territory who have taken arms against the United States.

1861
SEPTEMBER
2. Lincoln urges Frémont to modify his proclamation.

        
SEPTEMBER
11. Frémont having refused to do so, Lincoln issues an official order for the modification.

        
OCTOBER
31. General Winfield Scott resigns as head of the army.

        
NOVEMBER
1. McClellan is appointed General in Chief.

        
NOVEMBER
2. Lincoln removes Frémont from the command of the West.

        
NOVEMBER
8. Mason and Slidell are taken in mid-ocean from the British steamer,
Trent
, and brought to the United States.

        
NOVEMBER
27. The
Trent
reaches England, and the British Government issues an ultimatum to the United States.

        
DECEMBER
3. Congress meets in regular session, and Lincoln delivers his first annual message.

        
DECEMBER
25. The Cabinet meets to discuss the
Trent
affair.

1862
JANUARY
1. Mason and Slidell are delivered to a British gunboat in Provincetown Harbor.

        
JANUARY
13. Cameron resigns as Secretary of War; Stanton is appointed in his place.

        
JANUARY
27. Lincoln issues his General War Order Number One which commands the army and navy to advance toward the insurgents on
FEBRUARY
22.

        
FEBRUARY
6. Fort Henry, on the Tennessee River, is captured by Federal forces.

        
FEBRUARY
16. Fort Donelson, on the Cumberland River in Tennessee, is also captured. This, with the capture of Fort Henry, is the first victory for the North.

        
FEBRUARY
20. Lincoln’s son, William Wallace, dies in the White House.

1862
FEBRUARY
22. McClellan has succeeded in persuading Lincoln not to have his armies advance on this day as previously ordered.

        
MARCH
6. Lincoln submits to Congress a proposal to free the slaves gradually and to compensate their owners for loss of property.

        
MARCH
8. The ironclad
Merrimac
(renamed the
Virginia
) does great damage to the Federal fleet lying in Hampton Roads.

        
MARCH
9. The
Monitor
goes into action against the
Merrimac
and puts her out of commission.

        
MARCH
11. McClellan occupies Manassas only to find that the Confederates have already evacuated it. McClellan is relieved of his general command, and Halleck is put in charge of the Department of the Mississippi.

        
APRIL.
McClellan’s Peninsular campaign gets under way.

        
APRIL
6. The Battle of Shiloh is fought in the western theater of war.

        
APRIL
7. Island No. 10 is captured by Federal forces in this same campaign.

        
APRIL
25. After several days of firing on the Mississippi River forts, Farragut runs his fleet past them and captures New Orleans.

        
MAY
9. General Hunter, in command of the Department of the South, issues a proclamation emancipating the slaves in Georgia, Florida and South Carolina. Lincoln countermands his order on may 19.

        
MAY
31. McClellan, who has proceeded up the Peninsula until he is within a few miles of Richmond, is attacked at Fair Oaks in a battle which lasts for two days.

        
JUNE.
McClellan’s army lies almost within sight of Richmond for the first three weeks of this month.

1862
JUNE
25. The beginning of the Seven Days Battle before Richmond in which McClellan’s army is repulsed.

        
JULY
8. Lincoln visits McClellan at Harrison’s Landing.

        
JULY
11. Lincoln, on his return to Washington, appoints General Henry W. Halleck to the command of all the Federal armies.

        
JULY
13. Lincoln reveals to Welles and Seward that he regards emancipation of the slaves as a military necessity.

        
JULY
22. He presents to his Cabinet the draft of his Proclamation of Emancipation. Acting on Seward’s suggestion, he decides to wait for a Northern victory before making the Proclamation public.

        
AUGUST
29–30. The Second Battle of Bull Run is fought—and lost—under the command of General Pope.

        
SEPTEMBER
17. The bloody battle of Antietam, Maryland is won by a Federal army under McClellan’s command. Lincoln takes this as a signal of victory and, on
SEPTEMBER
22, reads the final wording of the Proclamation of Emancipation to his Cabinet. He then releases it to the press.

        
OCTOBER
1. Lincoln leaves Washington to visit McClellan at Antietam.

        
OCTOBER
26. McClellan, after much urging, starts out after Lee’s army, but is too late to prevent it from reaching central Virginia again.

        
NOVEMBER
5. Lincoln issues an order finally relieving McClellan from his command and appointing General Burnside in his place.

        
DECEMBER
1. Lincoln delivers his annual message to Congress.

        
DECEMBER
13. The Battle of Fredericksburg, Virginia, is lost by Burnside.

        
DECEMBER
18. Seward and Chase offer to resign from the Cabinet because of attacks made on them by
Republican Senators over the disaster at Fredericksburg.

1863
JANUARY
25. General Joseph Hooker is given command of the Army of the Potomac, replacing Burnside.

        
APRIL
1. A bread riot takes place in Richmond.

        
MAY
2–4. Hooker loses the Battle of Chancellorsville. Shortly after this battle, Lee’s army heads north to invade Pennsylvania.

        
JUNE
28. Hooker is removed and replaced with General George G. Meade.

        
JULY
1–3. The Battle of Gettysburg. After the failure of Pickett’s charge, on the third day, Lee retreats toward the Shenandoah Valley.

        
JULY
4. Vicksburg, on the Mississippi River, is captured by Grant.

        
JULY
13–16. Draft riots take place in New York during which hundreds of people are killed or wounded, and several million dollars’ worth of property is destroyed.

        
AUGUST
and
SEPTEMBER.
The Federal fleet makes an unsuccessful attempt to capture Charleston harbor.

        
SEPTEMBER
19-20. The Battle of Chickamauga, Georgia.

        
NOVEMBER
19. Lincoln delivers his celebrated address at the National Cemetery at Gettysburg.

        
NOVEMBER
23-25. Battle of Chattanooga and Missionary Ridge.

        
DECEMBER
8. Lincoln issues a Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction and delivers his annual message to Congress.

1864
MARCH
10. Lincoln puts Ulysses S. Grant in command of all the Union armies. Grant consults with Sherman for a concerted plan of action against the Confederate forces.

        
MAY
4. The Army of the Potomac, under Grant’s command, crosses the Rapidan and moves toward Richmond.

1864
MAY
5-6. Lee attacks Grant in the Battle of the Wilderness, and Grant sustains heavy losses. Sherman sets out toward Atlanta.

        
MAY
10-12. Grant presses on and is again attacked by Lee at Spottsylvania Court House.

        
MAY
31. Battle of Cold Harbor, Virginia, which continues until
JUNE
3. Grant is unable to take Richmond and has lost 55,000 men in less than a month. The Radical Democracy holds its national convention in Cleveland and nominates John C. Frémont for President.

        
JUNE
7. The National Union Convention meets at Baltimore and on
JUNE
8 nominates Abraham Lincoln for President.

        
JUNE
12. Grant withdraws from Cold Harbor and proceeds south toward Petersburg.

        
JUNE
19. The
Kearsarge
sinks the Confederate raider
Alabama
off the coast of Cherbourg, France.

        
JUNE
30. Salmon P. Chase, Secretary of the Treasury, resigns.

        
JULY
11-12. Jubal Early raids Washington.

        
JULY.
Two peace moves take place simultaneously—Greeley’s with three Confederate commissioners at Niagara Falls, and Jacques and Gilmore’s mission to Richmond.

        
JULY
30. A huge mine is exploded under the Confederate redoubts at Petersburg, but the Union forces are unsuccessful in the action that follows.

        
AUGUST
5. Farragut captures Mobile.
The Wade-Davis manifesto attacking the President is printed in
The New York Tribune.

        
AUGUST
23. Lincoln asks his Cabinet to endorse, sight unseen, a secret memorandum which he does not show to them until November 11.