January 1861 -- The South Secedes
South Carolina secedes from the United States, followed by: Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas
February 1861 -- The South Creates a Government
Southern troops also seized Federal forts which were located in seceded states.
March 1861 -- Lincoln's Inauguration
April 1861 -- Attack on Fort Sumter
After Lincoln insisted on resupplying Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor despite repeated warnings from South Carolina, Southern forces fired the first shots of the war. Arkansas, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Virginia secede from the United States. Richmond, Virginia becomes the capital of the Confederate States of America (CSA).
June 1861 -- West Virginia created
The population of the western counties of Virginia did not wish to secede. They were admitted into the Union as West Virginia June 20, 1863.
July 1861 - Battle of Blackburns Ford
On 16 July, 1862, the 35,000-man Union army under Brigadier General Irvin McDowell marched out of the Washington defenses meet the Confederate army at the railroad junction at Manassas, Virginia. The Confederate army of 22,000 men was under the command of Brigadier General P.G.T. Beauregard and stood guarding the fords of Bull Run. On July 18, McDowell reached Centreville and pushed southwest, attempting to cross at Blackburn's Ford. He was repulsed. The 7th Virginia Regiment participated in this action.
July 1861 - Battle of First Manassas
Resulted in an overwhelming Confederate victory. Confederate General Jackson received the nickname "Stonewall." The 7th Virginia Regiment participated in this action.
July 1861 -- Sea blockade of the South
January 1862 -- War order issued by Lincoln
March 1862 - Battle of Hampton Roads (Battle between the first ironclad warships - CSS Virginia and the USS Monitor)
One day prior to the clash of the ironclads, the CSS Virginia, built on the raised hull of the scuttled USS Merrimack, sailed into Hampton Roads near Norfolk, Virginia and engaged the pride of the Union's wooden navy. As the USS Congress and the USS Cumberland cleared their decks for action, the captain of the Congress, Lt. Joseph Smith declared, "My hearties, you see before you the great southern bugaboo, got up to fright us out of our wits. Stand to your guns and let me assure you that one good broadside from our gallant frigate and she is ours!" After the Congress' broadside bounced off the Virginia's iron sides, the Confederate warship proceeded to annihilate the Congress and her crew. By the end of the Battle of Hampton Roads a day later, the Congress was run aground and burned to the waterline along with many of her crew, the Cumberland was blasted, rammed and sunk with huge loss of life, the USS Minnesota was run aground and barraged into wreckage, two Union ships retreated from the battle without firing a shot, and the Monitor and Virginia were both slightly damaged and withdrew from the battle. This was the worst defeat the U.S. Navy would suffer for 80 years until Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. It was also the end of a code of honor that allowed surrender of a ship after 10% casualties (the Cumberland refused an offer of surrender and took 55% of her crew with her to the bottom). In addition, besides the advent of iron warships, the Union's Monitor was the world's first warship with a rotating weapon's turret.
April 1862 -- The Battle of Shiloh
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.
May 1862 - Battle of Seven Pines
General Joseph Johnston attacked the Federal IV Corps, concentrated around Seven Pines, in an effort to destroy it before it could be reinforced. Though the Federal troops retired, the battle was indecisive. Johnston was wounded twice during the battle, once in the right shoulder by a musket ball and a few minutes later in the chest by a fragment of shell. On June 1 he was replaced as commander of the Confederate forces in Virginia by Gen. Robert E. Lee. The 7th Virginia Regiment participated in this action.
May 1862 - Battle of Yorktown
Major General John B. Magruder and General Johnston held the line at Yorktown to give the Confederacy time to assemble and organize their army. Their delay stalled Union General George McClellan's Peninsula Campaign. General Johnston was seriously wounded twice by artillery and musket. The 7th Virginia Regiment participated in this action and acted as rear guard for Magruder's retreat. The Union utilized battlefield observation balloons in this engagement and the retreating Confederates used the first land mines, taking several Union lives.
May 1862 -- "Stonewall" Jackson Defeats Union Forces
Jackson's renowned Valley Campaign - He first defeated part of John C. Frémont's force at McDowell on May 8, 1862, and then, returning to the Shenandoah, routed Banks at Front Royal and Winchester (May 23-25) and drove him across the Potomac. The Federal administration, fearing that Jackson would now advance on Washington, sent Shields from McDowell's army to join Frémont, advancing from the west, in cutting off Jackson. Stonewall, however, retreated rapidly to the head of the valley and on June 8-9 defeated his pursuers at Cross Keys and Port Republic
June 1862 -- The Battle of Seven Pines (Fair Oaks)
General Lee placed in command of the Confederate troops after General Joseph E. Johnston was wounded. The 7th Virginia Regiment participated in this action.
July 1862 - Seven Days Battles (Mechanicsville, Gaines Mill, Frazier's Farm)
General Lee cut off McClellan's supplies, captured them, and broke the Union's attempt at besieging Richmond, Virginia. The 7th Virginia Regiment participated in this action.
August 1862 - Battle of Second Manassas
Union general Pope was convinced that he had Stonewall Jackson trapped and concentrated the bulk of his army against him. Pope launched a series of assaults against Jackson's position along an unfinished railroad grade which were repulsed with heavy casualties on both sides. Confederate general Longstreet arrived on the field and took position on Jackson's right flank. The next day, Pope renewed his attacks. After massed Confederate artillery devastated a Union assault, Longstreet's wing of 28,000 men counterattacked in the largest, simultaneous mass assault of the war. The Union left flank was crushed and the army driven back to Bull Run. The 7th Virginia Regiment participated in this action.
September 1862 - Siege of Harper's Ferry
Jackson captured over 12,500 Union troops at Harpers Ferry - the largest single capture of Federal forces during the entire war. The Confederates also seized 13,000 arms and 47 pieces of artillery.
September 1862 -- Sharpsburg
Known as the bloodiest battle of the war. Estimates vary but average on 23,000 Americans killed or missing in one day, with another possible 7,000 dying later of their wounds, making this the bloodiest day in American history. The battle, ending more as a draw with both sides back to their original positions, was claimed as a victory by the North, giving Lincoln the opportunity to issue a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation in a political attempt to keep England and France from officially recognizing and supporting the Confederacy. The 7th Virginia Regiment participated in this action. I wish, my dear Minnie, you could have witnessed the transit of the Rebel army through our streets. Their coming was unheralded by any pomp and pageant whatever…I asked myself in amazement, were these dirty, lank, ugly specimens of humanity, with shocks of hair sticking through holes in their hats, and dust thick on their dirty faces, the men first had coped and encountered successfully, and driven back again and again, our splendid legions?" An onlooker in Frederick, Maryland, as the Confederate army marched to Sharpsburg.
December 1862 -- The Battle of Fredericksburg
Embarrassed by General McClellan's repeated defeats, Lincoln replaced him on November 7 with General Ambrose Burnside. Burnside launched a winter campaign against the Confederate capital, Richmond, by way of Fredericksburg, a town on the Rappahannock River. The Union Army of the Potomac, 115,000-strong, faced only a few thousand Confederates. Stalled and delayed on the eastern bank of the river, the Union army waited while General Lee took advantage of the stalled Federal drive to concentrate and entrench his 78,000-man Army of Northern Virginia on the high ground behind Fredericksburg. On December 11 Burnside crossed the river under fire from Confederate snipers concealed in buildings along the city's river front and took and looted the city. The most famous point of the battle came when Burnside launched his second attack from Fredericksburg against the Confederate left on Marye's Heights. Fourteen Federal brigades charged the Confederate line entrenched in the "Sunken Road" behind a stone wall. Not a single Federal soldier reached the Confederate line. Burnside retreated on December 15 after losing 13,000 soldiers. Union morale plummeted and Burnside lost his command. With only 5,000 losses, Confederate morale peaked. The 7th Virginia Regiment participated in this action.
December 1862 - USS Cairo sunk in Mississippi River
The Cairo became the first ship in history to be sunk by an electrically detonated mine.
January 1863 -- Emancipation Proclamation
This declared all slaves in the seceded states as free, but resulted in freeing nobody. This was a political move by Lincoln to prevent Europe from entering the war.
May 1863 -- The Battle of Chancellorsville
This battle, sometimes called "Lee's greatest victory," emerged from the Union loss of the Battle of Fredericksburg. Major General Joseph Hooker replaced Burnside in January and launched the battle. Hooker suffered more than 17,000 casualties or 13% of his army while Lee had 13,000 casualties or 22% of his army. One of the South's greatest losses occurred here with Stonewall Jackson being accidentally shot by a North Carolina company when returning from reconnoitering the enemy. Jackson died a few days later.
May 1863 -- The Vicksburg Campaign
Placed the entire Mississippi River in Union hands, thus splitting the Confederacy in two.
June-July 1863 -- The Gettysburg Campaign "The High Water Mark of the Confederacy."
General Lee took his troops northward in an invasion of the Union and lost to entrenched troops at Gettysburg. "Pickett's Charge" led to agonizing Southern casualties. The 7th Virginia Regiment participated in this action and the 7th VA's own General Kemper was wounded and captured here.
September 1863 -- The Battle of Chickamauga
This battle ended the Cickamauga Campaign and was the most significant Union defeat in the Western Theater. The battle was fought between the Union Army of the Cumberland under Major General William Rosecrans and the Confederate Army of Tennessee under General Braxton Bragg. The battle, in thick forest that rendered artillery useless, was mostly hand-to-hand and very bloody, with many decisions being made by the troops in the fighting due to lack of communication and generalship. Considered a Confederate victory for halting the Union advance, the Battle of Chickamauga was a costly one. It claimed an estimated 34,624 casualties (16,170 for the Union; 18,454 for the Confederates) making it the bloodiest two days in American history.
November 1863 -- The Battle of Chattanooga
Confederate loss with 88 total casualties (US 23; CS 65).
February 1864 - CSS H. L. Hunley versus the USS Housatonic
The Confederate submarine H. L. Hunley became the first sub in the world to sink a surface ship in combat when it slammed a torpedo into the plated hull of the Union's Housatonic. There is mounting evidence that the Hunley was also the first ship of any kind to sink another ship with electronically detonated weaponry. The Hunley was lost with all hands under unknown circumstances while returning to port from the battle.
May 1864 - Bermuda Hundred Campaign (Drewry's Bluff / Fort Darling)
A series of battles with (political appointee) Major General Benjamin Butler commanding the Army of the James threatening Richmond, Virginia in an attempt to attack the city and pull troops from Lee's Army about to face General Grant at Wilderness. Instead, Confederate general P.G.T. Beauregard stopped Benjamin, pushed him back to his Bermuda Hundred line, and held him there with a reduced force while he sent troops to support Lee. The 7th Virginia Regiment participated in this action.
May 1864 -- Grant's Wilderness Campaign
Also called the "Overland Campaign". The Battle of the Wilderness was the opening shots to a campaign lasting until June, culminating in Grant's defeat at Cold Harbor. The latest Union general, Grant led the Army of the Potomac (118,000 men) across the Rapidan River into the Wilderness, a tangled thicket/woodland ten miles west of Fredericksburg. The Army of Northern Virginia (60,000 troops) under General Lee attacked before the Union army was ready. The nature of the terrain made the battle of the Wilderness (May 5-6) a bloody fight. After the repulse of a Union attack on May 6 Lee counterattacked, and the battle became stabilized. Grant then pushed past Lee's right, heading towards….
May 1864 -- The Battle of Spotsylvania
In the battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse (May 8-19), Grant unsuccessfully hammered away at the Confederate lines. The bloodiest fighting of this battle occurred on May 12 when the Union assault on the salient forming the Confederate center (the Bloody Angle) was repulsed after initial success. Then it was on to…
June 1864 -- The Battle of Cold Harbor
This was the last Confederate victory of the War. Union casualties were astonishingly high (7,000) men in a couple of hours) due to Grant's blunder of repeatedly attacking entrenched Confederate forces. The 7th Virginia Regiment participated in this action. In total for this campaign, Grant lost about 60,000 men. Lee's army sustained a proportionately larger loss of 20,000 men. Grant then moved on to…
June 1864 -- The Siege of Petersburg
Petersburg guarded the southern approaches to Richmond and was under siege from June 15, 1864, to Apr. 3, 1865. After failing to destroy Lee's army in the Wilderness Campaign, Grant moved from Cold Harbor besieged the city. Lee, forced to defend Petersburg in order to protect Richmond, entrenched his troops there. The most famous battle took place on July 30, 1864 when Union forces exploded a mine in a tunnel under part of the Confederate works and poured into "The Crater," but were driven out with heavy losses. A general assault on the Petersburg lines finally broke Lee's resistance. Petersburg fell on Apr. 3, 1865. Union forces entered Richmond on the same day, and Lee surrendered the remnants of his army at Appomattox Courthouse one week later. The 7th Virginia Regiment participated in various engagements around the siege.
July 1864 -- Confederate Troops Approach Washington, D.C.
Confederate General Jubal Early invaded Maryland to force Union troops away from Lee to defend the city. He was pushed back to Virginia after coming within 5 miles of Washington, DC.
August 1864 -- General Sherman's Atlanta Campaign Union
General Sherman moved on Atlanta, Georgia and was stopped by Confederate General Joseph Johnston with a Confederate army half the size of the Union army. Ironically Johnston was replaced with General John Bell Hood who was defeated and surrendered Atlanta on September 1.
September 1864 - Sheridan's Pillage of the Shenandoah Valley
Thirteen days of total destruction at the hands of the Union Army under General Phillip Sheridan. They destroyed everything, including livestock, during harvest season to ruin the "Breadbasket of the Confederacy." About 50 homes were burned, including 30 in retaliation for a Union officer being killed in the raids.
November 1864 -- General Sherman's March to the Sea
Sherman's troops pushed 300 miles to the sea while raping, pillaging and plundering everything in a 60-mile wide swath of total destruction. He eventually captured Fort McAllister and Savannah, Georgia.
November 1864 -- Abraham Lincoln Is Re-Elected
February 1865 -- Sherman Marches through North and South Carolina
Another swath of complete destruction by "The Great Arsonist".
February 1865 -- Sherman Marches through North and South Carolina
April 1865 - The Battle of Five Forks
General Robert E. Lee ordered General Pickett and others to hold the vital crossroads of Five Forks at all costs. On April 1 Major General G.K. Warren attacked and overwhelmed the Confederate left flank, taking many prisoners. With the loss of Five Forks threatening Lee's last supply line, the South Side Railroad, he informed Jefferson Davis that Petersburg and Richmond must be evacuated. Union general Winthrop was killed. Well-known Confederate artillery officer "Willie" Pegram was mortally wounded. General Sheridan relieved Major General Warren of command. The 7th Virginia Regiment participated in this action.
April 1865 -- Richmond Falls
April 1865 - The Battle of Sailor's Creek
Retreating Confederate forces fleeing the fall of Richmond were overrun by Union forces with many troops and several generals being captured. The 7th Virginia Regiment participated in this action with most of the remaining regiment captured.
April 9, 1865 -- Lee surrendered to Grant at the Appomattox Courthouse.
Final skirmishing led to the formal surrender of the Confederate army under General Lee to the Union army under General Grant. The 7th Virginia Regiment participated in this action, surrendering 22 men with many destroying their weapons to keep them from Union hands. Some of the men refused to surrender. Company A had two Privates remaining.
"We formed in line, so weak that we could hardly stand, in rags, facing the Yankees. The silence was finally broken by someone in their ranks, and the whole line began to curse and use the most opprobrious language. This continued for some time, when an officer, riding to and fro in the rear of their line, spoke: 'These Confederate soldiers are brave men. If you were half as brave as they are, you'd have conquered them long ago. If I hear another cowardly scoundrel curse these men again, I'll break my sword over his head.' Private I. G. Bradwell of Georgia John B. Gordon's Brigade
April 14, 1865 -- Lincoln was assassinated.
Source: www.civilwar.com
