| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| April 12 | The Fort Pillow Massacre. This fort, located on the Mississippi River in Tennessee, was captured by Confederate General Nathan B. Forrest. In the aftermath, hundreds of black and fifty-three white soldiers are murdered. |
| May 31 | In Cleveland, General John C. Fremont is nominated for President by those Radical Republicans who oppose President Lincoln. |
| June 1-3 | Battle of Cold Harbor. General Grant assaults General Lee's defenses, with devastating losses on each side. Grant recognizes his mistakes but realizes that he has the superior numbers with which to wear down the Confederate army. |
| June 7 | In Baltimore, President Lincoln is nominated by the Republicans for a second term in office despite his national unpopularity. His new vice-presidential candidate is Andrew Johnson, a southern War Democrat who is expected to widen the ticket's appeal in the border states. |
| June 30 | The Internal Revenue Act is passed by Congress to increase taxes to finance the war. |
| August 5 | Mobile, Alabama is captured by Admiral David Farragut, closing one of the last ports open to Confederate blockade runners. His famous words are: "Damn the torpedos. Full speed ahead" (Davis, 1996, p. 391)! |
| August 29 | In Chicago, General George McClellan is nominated by the Democrats to run for President. President Lincoln will now be running against two generals he had fired during the war. |
| September 2 | William T. Sherman captures and burns Atlanta. Sherman wires President Lincoln: "Atlanta is ours, and fairly won" (Davis, 1996, p. 391). |
| September 17 | Republican candidate John C. Fremont bows out of the race for the Presidency, for he does not wish to split the Republicans and allow General McClellan to win. |
| November 8 | Election Day. President Lincoln wins reelection with a wide margin in the electoral college but by fewer than a half-million votes. |
| November 16 | Sherman begins his infamous March to the Sea, from Atlanta to Savannah on Georgia's Atlantic coast. |
| November 29 | The Sand Creek Massacre. A peaceful Indian camp is attacked by citizens living around Denver in the Colorado territory. Approximately five hundred Arapahoe and Cheyenne men, women, and children are killed. |
| December 22 | Unopposed, William T. Sherman enters Savannah, Georgia |