Civil War Events and Battles, 1861 – 1865
United States, 1861
By February 1 – First seven states secede from the Union
April 13 – The U.S. garrison at Fort Sumter, SC surrenders
April 15 – President Lincoln calls for volunteers
May 24 – Union troops invade Virginia
July 21 – First Battle of Manassas or Bull Run, VA
October 21 – Battle of Ball’s Bluff or Battle of Harrison’s Island/Battle of
Leesburg, VA
1862
February 22 – Confederate “Permanent” Government organized in
Richmond, VA
March 9 – Battle between ironclads Monitor and Virginia (Merrimac),
Hampton Roads, VA
April 6-7 – Battle of Shiloh, TN
April 24 – Capture of New Orleans, LA
June 6 – Capture of Memphis, TN
August 30 – Second Battle of Manassas or Bull Run, VA
September 16-17 – Battle of Sharpsburg or Antietam, MD
September 22 – President Lincoln announces the Emancipation Proclamation
1863
May 1-4 – Battle of Chancellorsville, VA and death of Stonewall Jackson
July 1-3 – Battle of Gettysburg, PA
July 4 – Surrender of Vicksburg, MS
September 19-20 – Battle of Chickamauga, TN
November 23-25 – Battles of Chattanooga, Lookout Mountain, and
vicinity in TN
Arkansas, 1861
February 12 – The garrison of the US Arsenal in Little Rock abandons the
arsenal and leaves Little Rock
March 4 – First secession convention begins in Little Rock
May 6 – Second secession convention meets in Little Rock and Arkansas
secedes from the United States
August 10 – Arkansas troops participate in Confederate victory at Wilson’s
Creek or Oak Hills, MO
1862
February 16 – First combat in the state – A skirmish between U.S. and C.S.
cavalry at Big Sugar Creek spills into Arkansas
February 17 – Union General Samuel R. Curtis’s Army of the Southwest
invades Arkansas
March 7-8 – Union victory at Pea Ridge in Northwest Arkansas
June 17 – Battle of St. Charles; The “deadliest shot of the Civil War”
incapacitates the U.S.S. Mound City and kills/wounds 149 of the
crew
June 30 – General Thomas Hindman declares martial law
July 12 – Union troops occupy Helena
November 15 – Harris Flanagin is sworn in as Confederate governor
December 7 – Union victory at Prairie Grove in Northwest Arkansas
1863
January 9-11 – Union victory at Arkansas Post
April 8 – Union Army organizes the First Arkansas Volunteer Infantry
(African Descent) comprised of escaped slaves
May 1-2 – Confederate Army retreats into northeast Arkansas at Chalk Bluff
after failed raid into Missouri
July 4 – Battle of Helena
August 27 – Battle of Reed’s Bridge or Bayou Meto when the Union is
turned back temporarily from Little Rock
September 10 – Union captures Little RockCivil War Events and Battles, 1861 -1865
United States, 1864
April 8-9 – Defeat of Federal expedition up Red River at Mansfield and
Pleasant Hill, LA
May 5-7 – Battle of the Wilderness, VA
May 8-18 – Battle of Spottsylvania Court House, VA
June 1-3 – Battle of Cold Harbor, VA
June 27 – Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, GA
September 2 – Capture of Atlanta, GA
November 16 – Beginning of Sherman’s march from Atlanta to the sea
November 30 – Battle of Franklin, TN and death of Confederate Major
General Patrick R. Cleburne
December 15-16 – Battle of Nashville, TN
1865
February 17 – Burning of Columbia, SC
March 18 – Adjournment of the last Confederate Congress
March 19-21 – Battle of Bentonville, NC
April 1 – Battle of Five Forks, VA
April 2 – Capture of Petersburg and Richmond, VA
April 9 – Surrender of Robert E. Lee at Appomattox Court House, VA
April 14 – President Lincoln is assassinated in Washington DC
April 26 – General Jospeh Johnston surrenders at Greensboro, NC
May 10 – Capture of President Jeff Davis at Irwinsville, GA
May 26 – Confederate Army west of the Mississippi River surrenders
Arkansas, 1864
January 8 – Confederate spy David O. Dodd hanged in Little Rock
January 19 – Little Rock convention adopts Unionist constitution that
outlaws slavery and names Isaac Murphy governor
March 23 – Union army leaves Little Rock to participate in invasion of Texas
April 18 – Union troops overwhelmed at Poison Spring; the First Kansas
Colored Infantry Regiment suffers extreme casualties
April 18 – Isaac Murphy inaugurated as governor
April 25 – Union defeat at Mark’s Mill
April 30 – Battle of Jenkins’ Ferry; Union army returns to Little Rock
June 6 – Battle of Ditch Bayou in Southeast Arkansas; last major Civil War
battle fought in Arkansas
September 19 – October 28 – Sterling Price leads most of cavalry in
Arkansas on an expedition to Missouri
1865
January 14 – Union withstands an attack on Dardanelle
January 16 – Confederate attack on steamers at Ivey’s Ford; last
Confederate attempts to challenge Union control of the Arkansas
River
May 11 – General M. Jeff Thompson surrenders Confederate soldiers in
Northeast Arkansas
June 2 – All Confederate forces in the Transmississippi surrender
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