| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| March 9 | At Hampton Roads, Virginia, occurs a battle between the Monitor and Merrimac, two ironclad ships. The battle ended inconclusively, although the Merrimac was captured by the Confederates. |
| April 6-7 | Battle of Shiloh takes place at Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee. There are a staggering amount of casualties, and after two days of fighting, the Confederates are forced to withdraw by the Union army. |
| April 7 | Union land and naval forces capture Island Number Ten, a Confederate fortress on the Mississippi. The Union now controls the Mississippi all the way down to Memphis. |
| April 10 | Slavery is abolished in Washington, D.C. |
| April 16 | The first draft in American history is initiated when President Davis of the Confederacy signs the Conscription Act. |
| May 20 | President Lincoln signs the Homestead Act, which guaranteed 160 acres of land to anyone who will settle and improve it for five years. |
| August 28-30 | Second Bull Run (Second Manassas). Once again, the Union Army is defeated by the Confederates at this spot, located just a few miles south of Washington, D.C. |
| September 17 | The Battle of Antietam in Maryland. The combined casualties were 23,110 dead, wounded, or missing, in the bloodiest single day of the Civil War, and for that matter, of any war in American history. This battle forced General Robert E. Lee of the Confederacy to abandon a general invasion of the North. |
| September 27 | The First Regiment Louisiana Native Guards is formed, composed of free blacks from New Orleans, the first officially recognozed black regiment. |
| December 13 | Battle of Fredericksburg, Virginia. The Confederate army routes the Union army, leaving the Union army with large casualties. |