Modern Era
Siege of Vicksburg (1863): Grant Wins the Mississippi River
Union victory; Pemberton surrendered about 29,500 men on 4 July 1863, and with the fall of Port Hudson five days later the Union controlled the whole Mississippi River.
Region
Americas
Modern Era
Gettysburg Address (1863): Lincoln's 272 Words That Endured
Lincoln's two-minute dedication speech redefined the Civil War as a struggle for equality and democratic government and became one of the most celebrated speeches in history.
Modern Era
Battle of Gettysburg (1863): Turning Point of the Civil War
Union victory; Lee's Army of Northern Virginia was repulsed with heavy losses and retreated to Virginia, ending its second invasion of the North.
Modern Era
Emancipation Proclamation (1863): Lincoln's Order to Free Slaves
Declared about 3.5 million enslaved people in Confederate-held areas free, made emancipation a Union war aim and opened the Union army to Black soldiers, paving the way for the Thirteenth Amendment.
Modern Era
First Transcontinental Railroad (1863-1869): The Golden Spike
The Central Pacific and Union Pacific lines met at Promontory Summit on 10 May 1869, creating a continuous rail link from the Atlantic to the Pacific coast.
Modern Era
Sand Creek Massacre (1864): Attack on the Cheyenne and Arapaho
Colorado volunteer troops destroyed a peaceful Cheyenne and Arapaho camp; federal inquiries condemned the attack, but no one was punished.
Modern Era
Andersonville Prison (1864-1865): The Civil War's Deadliest Camp
Nearly 13,000 Union prisoners died; commandant Henry Wirz was convicted of war crimes and hanged in November 1865.
Modern Era
Paraguayan War (1864-1870): The War of the Triple Alliance
Allied victory; Paraguay was occupied, lost territory to Brazil and Argentina and suffered a catastrophic loss of population.
Modern Era
Sherman's March to the Sea (1864): From Atlanta to Savannah
Union success; Sherman's army crossed Georgia almost unopposed, destroyed railways and supplies and captured Savannah on 21 December 1864.
Modern Era
Thirteenth Amendment (1865): The Abolition of Slavery in the US
Slavery and involuntary servitude were abolished throughout the United States, except as punishment for a crime, freeing the last enslaved people in states such as Kentucky and Delaware.
Modern Era
Surrender at Appomattox (1865): Lee Meets Grant to End the War
Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia; about 28,000 Confederate soldiers were paroled and allowed to go home, and the remaining Confederate forces surrendered over the following weeks.
Modern Era
Reconstruction Era (1865-1877): Rebuilding the United States
Slavery was abolished and the 14th and 15th Amendments wrote birthright citizenship, equal protection and Black male suffrage into the Constitution, but white Southern resistance and Northern retreat ended federal intervention in 1877.