1861
January 1861 -- The South Secedes.

When Abraham Lincoln, a known opponent of slavery, was elected president, the South Carolina legislature perceived a
threat. Calling a state convention, the delegates voted to remove the state of South Carolina from the union known as the
United States of America. The secession of South Carolina was followed by the secession of six more states -- Mississippi,
Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas -- and the threat of secession by four more -- Virginia, Arkansas,
Tennessee, and North Carolina. These eleven states eventually formed the Confederate States of America.

February 1861 -- The South Creates a Government.

At a convention in Montgomery, Alabama, the seven seceding states created the Confederate Constitution, a document
similar to the United States Constitution, but with greater stress on the autonomy of each state. Jefferson Davis was named
provisional president of the Confederacy until elections could be held.

February 1861 -- The South Seizes Federal Forts.

When President Buchanan -- Lincoln's predecessor -- refused to surrender southern federal forts to the seceding states,
southern state troops seized them. At Fort Sumter, South Carolina troops repulsed a supply ship trying to reach federal forces
based in the fort. The ship was forced to return to New York, its supplies undelivered.

March 1861 -- Lincoln's Inauguration.

At Lincoln's inauguration on March 4, the new president said he had no plans to end slavery in those states where it already
existed, but he also said he would not accept secession. He hoped to resolve the national crisis without warfare.

April 1861 -- Attack on Fort Sumter.

When President Lincoln planned to send supplies to Fort Sumter, he alerted the state in advance, in an attempt to avoid
hostilities. South Carolina, however, feared a trick; the commander of the fort, Robert Anderson, was asked to surrender
immediately. Anderson offered to surrender, but only after he had exhausted his supplies. His offer was rejected, and on April
12, the Civil War began with shots fired on the fort. Fort Sumter eventually was surrendered to South Carolina.

April 1861 -- Four More States Join the Confederacy.

The attack on Fort Sumter prompted four more states to join the Confederacy. With Virginia's secession, Richmond was
named the Confederate capitol.

June 1861 -- West Virginia Is Born.

Residents of the western counties of Virginia did not wish to secede along with the rest of the state. This section of Virginia
was admitted into the Union as the state of West Virginia on June 20, 1863.

June 1861 -- Four Slave States Stay in the Union.

Despite their acceptance of slavery, Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, and Missouri did not join the Confederacy. Although
divided in their loyalties, a combination of political maneuvering and Union military pressure kept these states from seceding.

                              July 1861 -- First Battle of Bull Run.

                              Public demand pushed General-in-Chief Winfield Scott to advance on the South
                              before adequately training his untried troops. Scott ordered General Irvin McDowell
                              to advance on Confederate troops stationed at Manassas Junction, Virginia.
                              McDowell attacked on July 21, and was initially successful, but the introduction of
                              Confederate reinforcements resulted in a Southern victory and a chaotic retreat
                              toward Washington by federal troops.

                              None of the included photographs of First Bull Run were made at the time of battle
                             (July 21); the photographers had to wait until the Confederate Army evacuated
                              Centreville and Manassas in March 1862. Their views of various landmarks of the
                              previous summer are arranged according to the direction of the federal advance, a
                              long flanking movement by Sudley's Ford.

                              July 1861 -- General McDowell Is Replaced.

Suddenly aware of the threat of a protracted war and the army's need for organization and training, Lincoln replaced
McDowell with General George B. McClellan.

July 1861 -- A Blockade of the South.

To blockade the coast of the Confederacy effectively, the federal navy had to be improved. By July, the effort at improvement
had made a difference and an effective blockade had begun. The South responded by building small, fast ships that could
outmaneuver Union vessels.

     Port Royal, South Carolina -- 1861-1862

On November 7, 1861, Captain Samuel F. Dupont's warships silenced Confederate guns in Fort Walker and Fort
Beauregard. This victory enabled General Thomas W. Sherman's troops to occupy first Port Royal and then all the famous
Sea Islands of South Carolina, where Timothy H. O'Sullivan recorded them making themselves at home.

1862
January 1862 -- Abraham Lincoln Takes Action.

On January 27, President Lincoln issued a war order authorizing the Union to launch a unified aggressive action against the
Confederacy. General McClellan ignored the order.

March 1862 -- McClellan Loses Command.

On March 8, President Lincoln -- impatient with General McClellan's inactivity -- issued an order reorganizing the Army of
Virginia and relieving McClellan of supreme command. McClellan was given command of the Army of the Potomac, and
ordered to attack Richmond. This marked the beginning of the Peninsular Campaign.

     Battle of the "Monitor" and the "Merrimac" -- March 1862

In an attempt to reduce the North's great naval advantage, Confederate engineers
converted a scuttled Union frigate, the U.S.S. Merrimac, into an iron-sided vessel
rechristened the C.S.S. Virginia. On March 9, in the first naval engagement between
ironclad ships, the Monitor fought the Virginia to a draw, but not before the Virginia had
sunk two wooden Union warships off Norfolk, Virginia.

April 1862 -- The Battle of Shiloh.

On April 6, Confederate forces attacked Union forces under General Ulysses S. Grant at
Shiloh, Tennessee. By the end of the day, the federal troops were almost defeated. Yet,
during the night, reinforcements arrived, and by the next morning the Union commanded
the field. When Confederate forces retreated, the exhausted federal forces did not follow.
Casualties were heavy -- 13,000 out of 63,000 Union soldiers died, and 11,000 of 40,000 Confederate troops were killed.

     Fort Pulaski, Georgia -- April 1862

General Quincy A. Gillmore battered Fort Pulaski, the imposing masonry structure near the mouth of the Savannah River, into
submission in less than two days, (April 10-11, 1862). His work was promptly recorded by the indefatigable Timothy H.
O'Sullivan.

April 1862 -- New Orleans.

Flag Officer David Farragut led an assault up the Mississippi River. By April 25, he was in command of New Orleans.

April 1862 -- The Peninsular Campaign.

In April, General McClellan's troops left northern Virginia to begin the Peninsular Campaign. By May 4, they occupied
Yorktown, Virginia. At Williamsburg, Confederate forces prevented McClellan from meeting the main part of the
Confederate army, and McClellan halted his troops, awaiting reinforcements.

     The Peninsular Campaign -- May-August 1862

These photographs depict McClellan's advance from Yorktown to Fair Oaks, only five miles from Richmond, and, beginning
with No. 85, his retreat to Harrison's Landing on the James. Some of the sites of the Seven Days' Battles (June 25-July 1)
were photographed only after the fall of Richmond three years later.

May 1862 -- "Stonewall" Jackson Defeats Union Forces.

Confederate General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson, commanding forces in the Shenandoah Valley, attacked Union forces in
late March, forcing them to retreat across the Potomac. As a result, Union troops were rushed to protect Washington, D.C.

June 1862 -- The Battle of Seven Pines (Fair Oaks).

On May 31, the Confederate army attacked federal forces at Seven Pines, almost defeating them; last-minute reinforcements
saved the Union from a serious defeat. Confederate commander Joseph E. Johnston was severely wounded, and command of
the Army of Northern Virginia fell to Robert E. Lee. (See The Peninsular Campaign -- May-August 1862)

July 1862 -- The Seven Days' Battles.

Between June 26 and July 2, Union and Confederate forces fought a series of battles: Mechanicsville (June 26-27), Gaines's
Mill (June 27), Savage's Station (June 29), Frayser's Farm (June 30), and Malvern Hill (July 1). On July 2, the Confederates
withdrew to Richmond, ending the Peninsular Campaign. (See The Peninsular Campaign -- May-August 1862)

July 1862 -- A New Commander of the Union Army.

On July 11, Major-General Henry Halleck was named general-in-chief of the Union army.

August 1862 -- Pope's Campaign.

Union General John Pope suffered defeated at the Second Battle of Bull Run on August 29-30. General Fitz-John Porter was
held responsible for the defeat because he had failed to commit his troops to battle quickly enough; he was forced out of the
army by 1863.

     Pope's Campaign -- July-August 1862

These photographs depict Pope's Campaign, spanning July to August 1862. The first two photographs reflect McDowell
shielding Washington during the Peninsular Campaign; thereafter the movement, like Pope's, is retrograde, from Cedar
Mountain near the Rapidan River back to Bull Run again, in general along the line of the Orange and Alexandria Railroad.

September 1862 -- Harper's Ferry.

Union General McClellan defeated Confederate General Lee at South Mountain and Crampton's Gap in September, but did
not move quickly enough to save Harper's Ferry, which fell to Confederate General Jackson on September 15, along with a
great number of men and a large body of supplies.

September 1862 -- Antietam.

On September 17, Confederate forces under General Lee were caught by General McClellan near Sharpsburg, Maryland.
This battle proved to be the bloodiest day of the war; 2,108 Union soldiers were killed and 9,549 wounded -- 2,700
Confederates were killed and 9,029 wounded. The battle had no clear winner, but because General Lee withdrew to Virginia,
McClellan was considered the victor. The battle convinced the British and French -- who were contemplating official
recognition of the Confederacy -- to reserve action, and gave Lincoln the opportunity to announce his Preliminary
Emancipation Proclamation (September 22), which would free all slaves in areas rebelling against the United States, effective
January 1, 1863.

     Antietam -- September-October 1862

The Army of the Potomac remained in possession of the field, and the photographers were able to work over it thoroughly
immediately after the battle of September 17. One can witness President Lincoln's visit to McClellan's headquarters, and
follow the army across the Potomac at Berlin (present day Brunswick, Maryland) and into re-occupied Harper's Ferry.

December 1862 -- The Battle of Fredericksburg.

General McClellan's slow movements, combined with General Lee's escape, and continued raiding by Confederate cavalry,
dismayed many in the North. On November 7, Lincoln replaced McClellan with Major-General Ambrose E. Burnside.
Burnside's forces were defeated in a series of attacks against entrenched Confederate forces at Fredericksburg, Virginia, and
Burnside was replaced with General Joseph Hooker.

1863
January 1863 -- Emancipation Proclamation.

In an effort to placate the slave-holding border states, Lincoln resisted the demands of radical Republicans for complete
abolition. Yet some Union generals, such as General B. F. Butler, declared slaves escaping to their lines "contraband of war,"
not to be returned to their masters. Other generals decreed that the slaves of men rebelling against the Union were to be
considered free. Congress, too, had been moving toward abolition. In 1861, Congress had passed an act stating that all
slaves employed against the Union were to be considered free. In 1862, another act stated that all slaves of men who
supported the Confederacy were to be considered free. Lincoln, aware of the public's growing support of abolition, issued the
Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, declaring that all slaves in areas still in rebellion were, in the eyes of the
federal government, free.

March 1863 -- The First Conscription Act.

Because of recruiting difficulties, an act was passed making all men between the ages of 20 and 45 liable to be called for
military service. Service could be avoided by paying a fee or finding a substitute. The act was seen as unfair to the poor, and
riots in working-class sections of New York City broke out in protest. A similar conscription act in the South provoked a
similar reaction.

May 1863 -- The Battle of Chancellorsville.

On April 27, Union General Hooker crossed the Rappahannock River to attack General Lee's forces. Lee split his army,
attacking a surprised Union army in three places and almost completely defeating them. Hooker withdrew across the
Rappahannock River, giving the South a victory, but it was the Confederates' most costly victory in terms of casualties.

May 1863 -- The Vicksburg Campaign.

Union General Grant won several victories around Vicksburg, Mississippi, the fortified city considered essential to the Union's
plans to regain control of the Mississippi River. On May 22, Grant began a siege of the city. After six weeks, Confederate
General John Pemberton surrendered, giving up the city and 30,000 men. The capture of Port Hudson, Louisiana, shortly
thereafter placed the entire Mississippi River in Union hands. The Confederacy was split in two.

     Through the Fall of Vicksburg -- July 1863

These photographs include three which William R. Pywell took in February 1864, referring back to Grant's brilliant campaign
of the previous summer.

June-July 1863 -- The Gettysburg Campaign.

Confederate General Lee decided to take the war to the enemy. On June 13, he defeated
Union forces at Winchester, Virginia, and continued north to Pennsylvania. General
Hooker, who had been planning to attack Richmond, was instead forced to follow Lee.
Hooker, never comfortable with his commander, General Halleck, resigned on June 28,
and General George Meade replaced him as commander of the Army of the Potomac.

On July 1, a chance encounter between Union and Confederate forces began the Battle of
Gettysburg. In the fighting that followed, Meade had greater numbers and better defensive
positions. He won the battle, but failed to follow Lee as he retreated back to Virginia.
Militarily, the Battle of Gettysburg was the high-water mark of the Confederacy; it is also
significant because it ended Confederate hopes of formal recognition by foreign
governments. On November 19, President Lincoln dedicated a portion of the Gettysburg
battlefield as a national cemetery, and delivered his memorable "Gettysburg Address."

Photographs of the battleground began immediately after the battle of July 1-3. This group of photographs also includes a
scene of Hooker's troops in Virginia on route to Gettysburg.

September 1863 -- The Battle of Chickamauga.

On September 19, Union and Confederate forces met on the Tennessee-Georgia border, near Chickamauga Creek. After the
battle, Union forces retreated to Chattanooga, and the Confederacy maintained control of the battlefield.

     Meade in Virginia -- August-November 1863

After the Battle of Gettysburg, General Meade engaged in some cautious and inconclusive operations, but the heavy activity
of the photographers was confined to the intervals between them -- at Bealeton, southwest of Warrenton, in August, and at
Culpeper, before the Mine Run Campaign.

November 1863 -- The Battle of Chattanooga.

On November 23-25, Union forces pushed Confederate troops away from Chattanooga. The victory set the stage for
General Sherman's Atlanta Campaign.

     Chattanooga -- September-November 1863

After Rosecrans's debacle at Chickamauga, September 19-20, 1863, Confederate General Braxton Bragg's army occupied
the mountains that ring the vital railroad center of Chattanooga. Grant, brought in to save the situation, steadily built up
offensive strength, and on November 23- 25 burst the blockade in a series of brilliantly executed attacks. The photographs,
probably all taken the following year when Chattanooga was the base for Sherman's Atlanta campaign, include scenes on
Lookout Mountain, stormed by Hooker on November 24.

     The Siege of Knoxville -- November-December 1863

The difficult strategic situation of the federal armies after Chickamauga enabled Bragg to detach a force under Longstreet to
drive Burnside out of eastern Tennessee. Burnside sought refuge in Knoxville, which he successfully defended from
Confederate assaults. These views, taken after Longstreet's withdrawal on December 3, include one of Strawberry Plains, on
his line of retreat. Here we have part of an army record: Barnard was photographer of the Chief Engineer's Office, Military
Division of the Mississippi, and his views were transmitted with the report of the chief engineer of Burnside's army, April 11,
1864.

1864
January - April 1864 -- Winter Quarters at Brandy Station

All was quiet beyond the Rappahannock, but there was a rich harvest for the photographers. Some photographs date from
December 1863.

May 1864 -- Grant's Wilderness Campaign.

General Grant, promoted to commander of the Union armies, planned to engage Lee's forces in Virginia until they were
destroyed. North and South met and fought in an inconclusive three-day battle in the Wilderness. Lee inflicted more casualties
on the Union forces than his own army incurred, but unlike Grant, he had no replacements.

     Grant's Wilderness Campaign -- May-June, 1864

Photographer Timothy H. O'Sullivan followed the federal army and documented the actual course of operations as had not
been possible since the middle of McClellan's Peninsular Campaign.

May 1864 -- The Battle of Spotsylvania.

General Grant continued to attack Lee. At Spotsylvania Court House, he fought for five days, vowing to fight all summer if
necessary. (See Grant's Wilderness Campaign)

June 1864 -- The Battle of Cold Harbor.

Grant again attacked Confederate forces at Cold Harbor, losing over 7,000 men in twenty minutes. Although Lee suffered
fewer casualties, his army never recovered from Grant's continual attacks. This was Lee's last clear victory of the war. (See
Grant's Wilderness Campaign)

June 1864 -- The Siege of Petersburg.

     The Army of the James, June 1864-April 1865

Grant hoped to take Petersburg, below Richmond, and then approach the Confederate capital from the south. The attempt
failed, resulting in a ten month siege and the loss of thousands of lives on both sides.

General Benjamin F. Butler's command was in the vacinity of Petersburg as early as May 11, missing its opportunity to
capture this vital railroad center; but the photographs are all from the later days when Butler was holding a fortified line on
both sides of the James and extending nothward as far as the Market or River Road running into Richmond. The photographs
follow Butler's lines from south to north, and then, after the evacuation of Richmond, record the Confederate defenses on the
James.

     The Siege of Petersburg -- 1864

The Petersburg Campaign gave the photographers full opportunity to build a superb
corpus of documentation, completed when they were able to enter the town and its
defenses in the first days of April. Grant won by steadily extending his lines westward, but
the photographers do not seem to have ventured very far from City Point. The last three
photographs place Timothy H. O'Sullivan with the army at Appomattox Court House,
where Lee surrendered the remnants of his valiant force.

July 1864 -- Confederate Troops Approach Washington, D.C.

Confederate General Jubal Early led his forces into Maryland to relieve the pressure on
Lee's army. Early got within five miles of Washington, D.C., but on July 13, he was driven back to Virginia.

August 1864 -- General William T. Sherman's Atlanta Campaign.

Union General Sherman departed Chattanooga, and was soon met by Confederate General Joseph Johnston. Skillful strategy
enabled Johnston to hold off Sherman's force -- almost twice the size of Johnston's. However, Johnston's tactics caused his
superiors to replace him with General John Bell Hood, who was soon defeated. Hood surrendered Atlanta, Georgia, on
September 1; Sherman occupied the city the next day. The fall of Atlanta greatly boosted Northern morale.

November 1864 -- General William T. Sherman's March to the Sea.

General Sherman continued his march through Georgia to the sea. In the course of the march, he cut himself off from his
source of supplies, planning for his troops to live off the land. His men cut a path 300 miles in length and 60 miles wide as they
passed through Georgia, destroying factories, bridges, railroads, and public buildings.

     Sherman in Atlanta -- September-November, 1864

After three and a half months of incessant maneuvering and much hard fighting, Sherman forced Hood to abandon Atlanta, the
munitions center of the Confederacy. Sherman remained there, resting his war-worn men and accumulating supplies, for nearly
two-and-a-half months. During the occupation, George N. Barnard, official photographer of the Chief Engineer's Office,
made the best documentary record of the war in the West. Much of what he photographed was destroyed in the fire that
spread from the military facilities blown up upon Sherman's departure.

November 1864 -- Abraham Lincoln Is Re-Elected.

The Republican party nominated President Abraham Lincoln as its presidential candidate, and Andrew Johnson for
vice-president. The Democratic party chose General George B. McClellan for president, and George Pendleton for
vice-president. At one point, widespread war-weariness in the North made a victory for Lincoln seem doubtful. In addition,
Lincoln's veto of the Wade-Davis Bill -- requiring the majority of the electorate in each Confederate state to swear past and
future loyalty to the Union before the state could officially be restored -- lost him the support of Radical Republicans who
thought Lincoln too lenient. However, Sherman's victory in Atlanta boosted Lincoln's popularity and helped him win
re-election by a wide margin.

November - December 1864

     Fort Monroe and Hampton, Virginia -- 1864

Its own intrinsic strength and the ease with which it could be supplied and reinforced by sea kept the largest American fort in
federal hands throughout the war. Fort Monroe was the starting point for McClellan's Peninsular Campaign in 1862 and for
Butler's advance to Petersburg in 1864. The photographs depict only uneventful garrison life toward the end of 1864.

     Sherman at the Sea -- December 1864

After marching through Georgia for a month, Sherman stormed Fort McAllister on December 13, 1864, and captured
Savannah itself eight days later. These seven views show the former stronghold and its dismantling preparatory to Sherman's
further movement northward. This operation was ordered on December 24, and General William B. Hazen [2d Division, 15th
Corps] and Major Thomas W. Osborn, chief of artillery, completed the task by December 29, storing the guns at Fort
Pulaski.

     Hood before Nashville -- December 1864

Continuing his policy of taking the offensive at any cost, General John B. Hood brought his reduced army before the defenses
of Nashville, where it was repulsed by General George H. Thomas on December 15-16, in the most complete victory of the
war. If the dates borne by the first two items are correct, the photographs were taken in the course of battle.

1865
January 1865 -- Fort Fisher, North Carolina

After Admiral David D. Porter's squadron of warships had subjected Fort Fisher to a terrific bombardment, General Alfred
H. Terry's troops took it by storm on January 15, and Wilmington, North Carolina, the last resort of the blockade-runners,
was sealed off. Timothy H. O'Sullivan promptly recorded the strength of the works and the effects of the bombardment.

January 1865 -- The Fall of the Confederacy.

Transportation problems and successful blockades caused severe shortages of food and supplies in the South. Starving
soldiers began to desert Lee's forces, and although President Jefferson Davis approved the arming of slaves as a means of
augmenting the shrinking army, the measure was never put into effect.

February 1865 -- Sherman Marches through North and South Carolina.

Union General Sherman moved from Georgia through South Carolina, destroying almost everything in his path.

February 1865 -- A Chance for Reconciliation Is Lost.

Confederate President Jefferson Davis agreed to send delegates to a peace conference with President Lincoln and Secretary
of State William Seward, but insisted on Lincoln's recognition of the South's independence as a prerequisite. Lincoln refused,
and the conference never occurred.

April 1865 -- Fallen Richmond.

On March 25, General Lee attacked General Grant's forces near Petersburg, but was
defeated -- attacking and losing again on April 1. On April 2, Lee evacuated Richmond,
the Confederate capital, and headed west to join with other forces.

     Fallen Richmond -- April-June, 1865

Alexander Gardner and probably other photographers made a splendid record of the
Confederate capital, desolate after the evacuation of April 2 and the fire which raged
along the waterfront but fortunately had stopped short of Thomas Jefferson's capitol. The
photographs are arranged in a kind of guided tour of the city, first along the James from
Rocketts westward to the Tredegar Iron Works, inland to the capitol and its environs, and
on to the residence of President Jefferson Davis. Present-day street numbers have been
provided where possible.

     The Defenses of Washington -- 1865

The Lincoln administration was determined to make the capital safe from attack by ringing the city with a chain of forts
manned by substantial garrisons of artillerists and other troops. The sequence of photographs starts with the forts on the
Virginia shore (in alphabetical order, since hardly anyone today would be familiar with their locations, mostly long since
submerged by city or suburbs), follows with defenses north of the Potomac (in the same order), and ends with a number of
garrisons or local military units.

April 1865 -- Surrender at Appomattox Courthouse.

General Lee's troops were soon surrounded, and on April 7, Grant called upon Lee to surrender. On April 9, the two
commanders met at Appomattox Courthouse, and agreed on the terms of surrender. Lee's men were sent home on parole --
soldiers with their horses, and officers with their side arms. All other equipment was surrendered.

April 1865 -- The Assassination of President Lincoln.

On April 14, as President Lincoln was watching a performance of "Our American Cousin" at Ford's Theater in Washington,
D.C., he was shot by John Wilkes Booth, an actor from Maryland obsessed with avenging the Confederate defeat. Lincoln
died the next morning. Booth escaped to Virginia. Eleven days later, cornered in a burning barn, Booth was fatally shot by a
Union soldier. Nine other people were involved in the assassination; four were hanged, four imprisoned, and one acquitted.

     The Assassination of President Lincoln -- April-July 1865

Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton's fanatical insistence on secrecy was relaxed sufficiently to allow this remarkable
documentary series to be made at Ford's Theater, the Navy Yard, and the Arsenal. Why the photographer chose Howard's
Stable instead of Pumphrey's or Naylor's must remain unexplained.

April-May 1865 -- Final Surrenders among Remaining Confederate Troops.

Remaining Confederate troops were defeated between the end of April and the end of May. Jefferson Davis was captured in
Georgia on May 10.

     The Grand Review of the Army -- 1865

The Army of the Potomac paraded on May 23, and the Army of Georgia on May 24. Unfortunately most of the photographs,
thought to have been taken by Brady himself, fail to distinguish either the unit or the day.

August - November 1865

     The Execution of Captain Henry Wirz -- November 1865

The notorious superintendent of the Confederate prison at Andersonville, Georgia, was tried by a military commission
presided over by General Lew Wallace from August 23 to October 24, 1865, and was hanged in the yard of the Old Capitol
Prison on November 10.
 

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