bert E Lee routed and over 50,000 dead or wounded. The Union victory was under General Meade
1/7/1863, The Battle of Gettysburg began. It ended on 3/7/1863 with a Unionist victory, although both sides lost heavily (Unionists, 23,000; Confederates, 25,000). With his defeat at Gettysburg, General Lee retreated having lost any hopes of foreign support for his cause.
20/6/1863. West Virginia became the 35th State to join the Union.
6/5/1863, Lee (Confederate) defeated Hooker (Unionist) at the Battle of Chancellorsville.
3/5/1863, Despite a Confederate victory, their best General, Stonewall Jackson, was seriously injured. This day his arm was amputated; on 10/5/1863 he died of pneumonia.
3/3/1863. President Lincoln signed the Conscription Act, compelling US citizens to report for duty in the Civil War or pay US$300. This would bolster the army and top up the war coffers.
13/12/1862, At the Battle of Fredericksburg in the American Civil War, Lee’s Confederate forces defeated Major General Burnside’s soldiers, who were attempting to capture the town of Fredericksburg, despite being heavily outnumbered.
22/9/1862, In a deliberate attempt to cause social disruption in the Confederacy, President Lincoln proclaimed the freedom of slaves in the South from 1/1/1863.
17/9/1862, Battle of Antietam, in the American Civil War. Although technically a Confederate victory, both sides suffered major casualties and the Union cause gained enough credibility to issue their Emancipation Proclamation. In particular Lee’s Confederate forces could not now invade the North and had to retreat back into Virginia.
30/8/1862, At the second Battle of Bull Run, Virginia,Union forces under Pope were defeated by Confederate forces under Lee, helped by Jackson.
1/7/1862, Battle of Malvern Mill; Unionist victory.
27/6/1862, Battle of Gaine’s Mill; Confederate victory.
26/6/1862, Battle of Mechanicsville; Unionist victory.
9/6/1862, Battle of Port Republic; Confederate victory.
8/6/1862, Battle of Cross Keys; Confederate victory.
31/5/1862, In the US Civil War, Federal troops withdrew from the area between the James and York Rivers, after suffering heavy losses.
25/5/1862, Battle of Winchester; Confederate victory.
8/5/1862, Battle of McDowell; Confederate victory.
1/5/1862, Union forces occupied New Orleans.
15/4/1862. Nashville, Tennessee, became the first Confederate capital to fall to Union forces.
7/4/1862, In the American Civil War, the Federal Army under Grant defeated the Confederates under General Joseph Johnson, on the second day of the Battle of Shiloh, near the Tennessee River.
6/4/1862, The Battle of Shiloh began.
23/3/1862, Unionists defeated the Confederates at the Battle of Kernstown.
9/3/1862, The first battle between iron-clad ships took place in the American Civil War. Merrymack was forced to retreat by the Union ship Monitor. This blocked Confederate access to New York, and gave the Unionists command of the sea. The Monitor was the first ship to be fitted with a revolving gun turret allowing her to fire at any target regardless of direction and after 1862 all combat ships were fitted with this turret.
4/3/1862, Confederate forces under Henry Sibley took Santa Fe.
25/2/1862, ‘Greenbacks’, American banknotes, were first issued during the Civil War by Abraham Lincoln.
8/11/1861, The Unionist warship San Jacinto removed Confederate Commissioners from the British mailship Trent.
7/11/1861. Union forces won a major victory over the Confederates at Port Royal, South Carolina.
24/10/1861, The Pony Express Mail Service in America, running from St Joseph in Missouri to Sacramento in California, ended after operating for just over 18 months. The Transcontinental telegraph line across the USA was completed.
2/10/1861, At the Battle of Bulls Bluff, on the Potomac River, the Unionists were defeated.
20/9/1861 The Battle of Lexington.
19/8/1861 The passport system was introduced in the USA.
16/8/1861. President Lincoln barred all commerce with the Confederacy.
21/7/1861. The first thrust by Unionist forces towards the Confederate capital at Richmond was r