Abraham Lincoln is elected president Illinois Senator Abraham Lincoln is elected president with 180 out of 303 electoral votes and just 40 percent of the popular vote. He becomes the first Republican president.

South Carolina secedes from the Union South Carolina is the first southern state to secede from the Union, followed within two months by Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas.

Confederate States are established Jefferson Davis, a former U.S. Army officer, is elected president of the newly formed Confederate States of America. By late May, the Confederacy will include 11 states and have a population of 9 million (including 4 million slaves), while the Union will have 21 states and a population of more than 20 million.

War begins at Fort Sumter Confederate troops under Gen. Pierre Beauregard fire the first shots of the Civil War, bombarding Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina with cannon shells.

First Battle of Bull Run In the war’s first major battle, Confederate Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson defeats the Union Army at Bull Run, 25 miles southwest of Washington. Union Gen. Irwin McDowell orders his men to retreat to Washington.

First duel between ironclad ships The U.S.S. Monitor and C.S.S. Merrimac fight a historic Naval battle—the first between two ironclad ships—making wooden ships obsolete. The duel ends in a draw.

Union ships capture New Orleans Union ships commanded by David Farragut travel up the Mississippi River and capture New Orleans, the South’s greatest seaport. Farragut, who would later utter the famous words “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!” during the August 1864 Battle of Mobile Bay, would go on to become the U.S. Navy’s first admiral.

Lee commands Confederate Army Gen. Robert E. Lee, a graduate of West Point, assumes command of the Confederate Army, which he renames the Army of Northern Virginia. Lincoln had offered him command of the Union Army in April 1861, but Lee declined to take up arms against his native Virginia.

Battle of Antietam Union Gen. George McClellan stops the northern advance of Lee’s armies at Antietam, Maryland, forcing Lee to retreat to Virginia. An estimated 26,000 men are killed or wounded in the bloodiest single day of the war.

Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation Lincoln issues a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, freeing all slaves in Confederate territory. He will release the final proclamation on New Year’s Day 1863, calling on black men to enlist in the Union Army and transforming the war into a moral crusade to abolish slavery.

U.S. Congress enacts a draft The U.S. Congress passes a law requiring all male citizens between the ages of 20 and 45 to join the Union Army, unless they are able to pay $300 or provide a substitute. This loophole evokes protests from poor northerners, who claim that their blood is as precious as a rich man’s.

Battle of Gettysburg The war’s deadliest battle begins on July 1 at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. During three days of intense fighting, Union troops repel Lee’s second advance into northern territory, turning the tide of the war.

Siege of Vicksburg ends One day after Lee’s defeat at Gettysburg, Confederate troops surrender Vicksburg, Mississippi—their last stronghold on the Mississippi River—to Union Gen. Ulysses Grant after a six-week siege.

Gettysburg Address In a two-minute speech, President Lincoln dedicates the battlefield at Gettysburg as a National Cemetery. He invites listeners to honor the sacrifice of the Union’s fallen heroes by working to ensure “that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

Grant commands U.S. Army Lincoln appoints Ulysses Grant as general-in-chief of the U.S. Army. During the first three years of the war, Lincoln had fired a string of commanders including Irvin McDowell, George McClellan, Henry Halleck, Ambrose Burnside, Joseph Hooker and George Meade. For four months in 1862, an exasperated Lincoln had even served as his own general-in-chief.

Union troops occupy Atlanta After a four-month campaign, Union Gen. William Sherman captures Atlanta. The victory boosts Union morale and helps Lincoln’s bid for re-election. After burning much of Atlanta, Sherman will march to the sea, arriving in Savannah on December 21.

Thirteenth Amendment abolishes slavery The U.S. Congress passes the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and submits it to the states for ratification. Slavery will be officially abolished when the amendment is ratified on 6 December 1865.

Lincoln’s second inauguration In his second inaugural speech, Lincoln looks ahead to the healing and reconstruction process. “With malice toward none; with charity for all...let us strive on to finish the work we are in...to do all which may achieve and cherish a just, and a lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations,” he says.

Lee surrenders to Grant at Appomattox The war effectively ends when Gen. Lee surrenders to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at a court house in Appomattox, Virginia. Six days earlier, Union troops had marched into Richmond, the Confederate Capital, and raised the Stars and Stripes over the Confederate White House.