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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.

May
Chronology