May 1
1862- Butler occupies New Orleans and begins his controversial administration of
the city.
1863- Grant defeats the Confederates at Port Gibson, Miss.
May 2
1863- Jackson routes Hooker's exposed right flank at Chancellorsville; Jackson is
accidentally shot by his own men.
- Grierson reaches Union lines at Baton Rouge, La.
May 3
1860- Democrats adjourn without Presidential ticket after the Deep South withdraws
over slavery plank in the platform.
1861- Lincoln calls for 42,034 three-year volunteers and enlarges the regular army
and navy.
1863- Stuart replaces Jackson; he and Lee push Hooker back toward the
Rappahannock River.
- Maj. Gen. John Sedgwick moves to Hookers aid after breaking through the
Confederate line at Fredericksburg.
May 4
1862- The siege of Yorktown, Va., ends as Confederates under General Joseph E.
Johnston retreat.
1863- Lee attacks Sedgwick at Salem Church and drives him back to
Fredericksburg.
- Longstreet lifts his siege of Suffolk, Va.
1864- Grant crosses the Rapidan River to attack Lee.
1865- Richard Taylor surrenders to E.R.S Canby, ending Confederate resistance
east of the Mississippi.
May 5
1862- Maj. Gen. Longstreet fights a successful rearguard action against McClellan
at Williamsburg.
1864- The armies of Lee and Grant collide in the Wilderness; fighting is indecisive.
- Butler's Union Army of the James leaves Fort Monroe to attack Petersburg
and Richmond.
May 6
1861- Arkansas secedes from the Union.
1863- Hooker retreats across the Rappahannock after his defeat at Chancellorsville.
1864- Longstreet's arrival halts Grant's offensive in the Wilderness; Rebel
counterattacks push in both Union flanks; in the fighting Longstreet is
wounded by his own men.
- Sherman opens his Atlanta Campaign against Johnston's Army of
Tennessee.
May 7
1861- Tennessee, in effect, secedes from the Union by forming an alliance with the
Confederacy.
1864- Grant, resuming his offensive despite the Wilderness defeat, races Lee for
Spotsylvania Court House.
May 8
1862- Stonewall Jackson defeats Brig. Gen. Robert H. Milroy at McDowell, Va., as
part of his Shenandoah Valley Campaign to keep reinforcements from joining
McClellan.
1864- Lee wins the race to Spotsylvania and repels Grant's advance units.
May 9
1860- Constitutional Union party nominates John Bell and Edward Everett at
Baltimore, Md.
1862- McClellan's advance on Richmond forces Confederates to abandon Norfolk.
1864- The Army of Northern Virginia entrenches at Spotsylvania; Union Maj. Gen.
John Sedgwick is killed by a sharpshooter.
- Maj. Gen. Philip H. Sheridan launches a heavy Union calvary raid on
Richmond.
- Sherman's first attempt to flank Johnston at Dalton, Ga., fails.
May 10
1861- Capt. Nathaniel Lyon secures Federal control of St. Louis after rioting.
1862- Pensacola, Fla., is occupied by the Federals.
1863- Stonewall Jackson dies.
1864- Grant's attack on Lee's Spotsylvania lines are repulsed.
- Butler withdraws to Bermuda Hundred after an abortive sortie toward
Petersburg, Va.
1865- Jefferson Davis is taken prisoner by Union calvary at Irwinsville, Ga.
May 11
1862- The Merrimac is burned to prevent its capture.
1864- Rebel calvary halts Sheridan's Richmond raid at Yellow Tavern; Jeb Stuart is
mortally wounded.
May 12
1861- Troops of Brig. Gen. Benjamin F. Butler restore full Federal control over
Baltimore.
1862- Federal troops occupy Baton Rouge, La.
1863- Grant defeats the Confederates at Raymond, Miss.
1864- After a day-long fight at the "Bloody Angle," Lee mends the break in his
Spotsylvania lines.
- Butler attacks the Richmond defenses at Drewry's Bluff on the James River.
May 13
1861- Queen Victoria proclaims British neutrality, recognizing Confederate as a
belligerent.
1863- Joseph E. Johnston assumes command of the Confederate troops in
Jackson, Miss.
1864- Johnston withdraws from Dalton to Resaca, Ga.
- Porter's flotilla safely passes the rapids at Alexandria, and Banks continues
his withdrawal from the Red River Campaign.
1865- The last fighting of the war takes place at Palmitto Ranch, near Brownsville,
Texas.
May 14
1863- Grant towards Vicksburg after driving Johnston out of Jackson, Miss.
May 15
1862- Butler issues his "Woman Order" at New Orleans to halt unladylike insults to
Federal soldiers.
1864- Sherman resumes his flanking movement, forcing Johnston to abandon
Resaca.
- Maj. Gen. John C. Breckinridge defeats Maj. Gen. Franz Sigel at New
Market, Va., halting the Union Shenandoah Valley Campaign.
May 16
1860- Republicans convene at Chicago to nominate a Presidential ticket.
1861- The Confederate Congress authorizes the recruiting of 400,000 men.
1863- Grant defeats Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton at the Battle of Champion's Hill as
he continues his advance on Vicksburg.
1864- Beauregard drives Butler from Drewry's Bluff back into the Bermuda Hundred
defense.
May 17
1863- Grant routs Pemberton's rear guard at the Battle of the Big Black River.
1864- Grant continues his effort to flank Lee at Spotsylvania.
May 18
1860- Republicans nominate Abraham Lincoln and Hanibal Hamlin.
1863- Pemberton withdraws into Vicksburg defenses.
May 19
1863- Grant's assault on Vicksburg is repulsed.
1864- The Rebel attack under Ewell at Spotsylvania fails.
- Johnston is flanked out of his Cassville, Ga. Defense line.
May 20
1861- Kentucky proclaims its neutrality.
- North Carolina secedes from the Union.
1862- The US Congress passes the Homestead Act.
1864- Grant leaves his Spotsylvania lines in an attempt to flank Lee.
May 21
1861- The Confederate Congress votes to move the capital to Richmond.
May 22
1863- Grant opens the siege of Vicksburg after a second frontal assault on the city
fails.
May 23
1861- Virginia votes overwhelmingly to join the Confederacy.
1862- Jackson drives the Federals from Front Royal, Va.
1865- A two-day Grand Review of the Federal armies up Washington's Pennsylvania
Avenue begins.
May 24
1861- 10,000 Federal troops enter Virginia and occupy Alexandria.
1864- Grant finds Lee's new defensive position at the North Anna River too strong.
- Sherman advances toward Dallas, Ga., after flanking Johnston from his
Allatoona Pass defenses.
- Sheridan rejoins Grant.
May 25
1862- Jackson routs Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks at Winchester, Va.
- Halleck arrives at Corinth, Miss., after a 26-day, twenty-mile advance.
1864- A four-day fight between Johnston and Sherman opens at New Hope Church,
Ga.
May 26
1865- Kirby Smith surrenders Confederate troops west of the Mississippi to Canby,
ending the Civil War.
May 27
1863- Banks besieges Confederate-held Port Hudson, La.
May 28
1861- Brig. Gen. Irvin McDowell is appointed Union commander of the Department
of Northeastern Virginia.
1864- Grant and Lee begin a four-day skirmish along Totopotomoy Creek, Va.
May 29
1861- Federal troops occupy Newport News, Va.
May 30
1862- Beauregard evacuates Corinth.
May 31
1862- Joseph E. Johnston is severely wounded at the inclusive Battle of Fair Oaks
(Seven Pines) on the Peninsula.
1864- Dissident Republicans at Cleveland nominate John C. Frémont for President
and John Cochrane for Vice President.
