| •1861 | Fort Sumter attacked |
| Slaves declared “contraband” |
| U.S. Sanitary Commission established |
| Battle of Bull Run (Manassas) |
| Confiscation Act passed |
| •1862 | Battle of Shiloh |
| Conscription act signed in South |
| Battle of Antietam |
| •1863 | Emancipation Proclamation signed |
| Enrollment Act passed in North |
| New York City draft riots |
| Battle of Gettysburg |
| Siege of Vicksburg |
| •1864 | Atlanta falls |
| Sand Creek Massacre |
| Sherman's “March to the Sea” |
| •1865 | More than 200,000 African Americans serve in the Union army and navy |
| Field Order Number 15 |
| Thirteenth Amendment passed |
| Lee surrenders to Grant |
| Lincoln assassinated |