Historical Events in 1863

Events 1 - 200 of 258

Jan 1 1st homestead under the Homestead Act claimed, near Beatrice, Nebraska
Jan 1 Battle of Galveston, Texas-Confederates recapture the city

Lincoln Issues Emancipation Proclamation

Jan 1 Emancipation Proclamation issued by Abraham Lincoln to free slaves in US confederate states

The first and last page of the Emancipation Proclamation signed by President Abraham Lincoln

Jan 2 Battle of Murfreesboro (Stone's River) ends
Jan 4 Four wheeled roller skates patented by James Plimpton in New York
Jan 4 The New Apostolic Church is established in Germany
Jan 8 American Civil War: Second Battle of Springfield
Jan 9 -Jan 11th] Battle of Arkansas Post, AR (Ft Hindman)
Jan 10 1st underground railway opens in London
Jan 10 General McClernand's Union troops surround Fort Hindman, Arkansas
Jan 10 January uprising begins in Poland
Jan 11 Naval engagement near Galveston between CSS Alabama and USS Hatteras
Jan 11 Union forces capture Arkansas Post, or Ft Hindman, Arkansas
Jan 12 Confederate President Davis delivers his "State of Confederacy" address
Jan 13 Chenille yarn making machine patented by William Canter in NYC
Jan 14 Battle between gunboats at Bayou Teche, Louisiana
Jan 15 1st US newspaper printed on wood-pulp paper, Boston Morning Journal
Jan 16 -Aug 23rd) Cruise of CSS Florida
Jan 17 Civil War skirmish near Newtown, Virginia
Jan 19 General Mieroslawski appointed dictator of Poland
Jan 21 City of Dublin leases part of Cattle Market for 100,000 years
Jan 22 January Uprising begins in Poland, prompted a rebellion against conscription into the Russian army
Jan 22 The January Uprising, an insurrection in Russia's Kingdom of Poland aimed at restoration of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth begins; carries on for 1-1/2 years, but fails
Jan 22 Union General Burnside's "Mud March"
Jan 25 General Joseph Hooker replaces Burnside as head of Army of Potomac
Jan 26 American Civil War: Massachusetts Governor receives permission from Secretary of War to raise a militia organization for men of African descent (54th Massachusetts Regiment)
Jan 29 Bear River Massacre: American soldiers slaughter hundreds of Native Americans at the confluence of the Bear River and Beaver Creek in present day Idaho
Jan 31 1st black Civil War regiment, South Carolina Volunteers, mustered into US army

Mark Twain

Feb 3 Samuel Clemens first uses the pen name Mark Twain in a Virginia City newspaper, the "Territorial Enterprise"

Feb 7 HMS Orpheus sinks off the coast of Auckland, New Zealand, killing 189
Feb 10 1st US fire extinguisher patent granted to Alanson Crane of Virginia
Feb 24 Arizona Territory created
Feb 24 Forrest's raid on Brentwood, Tennessee
Feb 25 Congress creates national banking system, comptroller of currency

National Currency Act

Feb 26 Abraham Lincoln signs National Currency Act, establishes single national US currency

Feb 28 Confederate raider "Nashville" sinks near Fort McAllister, Georgia
Mar 3 1st US wartime military conscription bill enacted
Mar 3 Abraham Lincoln approves charter for National Academy of Sciences
Mar 3 Congress authorizes a US mint at Carson City, Nevada; coins identified with mint mark 'CC'
Mar 3 Federal ironclad ships bombard Fort McAllister, Georgia
Mar 3 Free city delivery replaces zone postage; 449 letter carriers hired
Mar 3 Gold certificates (currency) authorized by US Congress
Mar 3 Idaho Territory incorporated from parts of area split from Dakota, Nebraska, and Washington territories; now consists of states of Idaho. Montana, and most of Wyoming

Union Pacific Railroad Track

Mar 3 US Congress authorizes track width of 4'8½" for Union Pacific Railroad

Financier and Railroad Promoter Doc Durant

Mar 4 Battle of Thompson's Station, Tennessee
Mar 4 Territory of Idaho established
Mar 11 25th Grand National: George Stevens wins his 2nd GN aboard 4/1 Emblem; winning mare's full sister Emblematic wins the following year
Mar 17 Battle of Kelly's Ford, Virginia with 211 causalities
Mar 19 Confederate cruiser SS Georgiana destroyed on her maiden voyage with a cargo of munitions, and medicines then valued over $1,000,000. Wreck discovered exactly 102 years later by teenage diver and pioneer underwater archaeologist E. Lee Spence.
Mar 21 Naval Engagement at Havana, Cuba: USS Henrick Hudson vs Confederate blockade runner Wild Pigeon

1st Army Medals of Honor

Mar 25 1st US Army Medal of Honor awarded to six army soldiers by US Secretary of War Edwin Stanton in Washington

Mar 25 Skirmish at Brentwood, Tennessee
Mar 26 Voters in West Virginia approve gradual emancipation of slaves

Day of Fasting and Prayer

Mar 27 American Confederate President Jefferson Davis calls for a day of fasting & prayer

President of the Confederate States of America Jefferson Davis

Mar 30 Danish prince Wilhelm Georg of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glucksburg chosen as king George of Greece
Mar 31 Battle of Grand Gulf, Mississippi and Dinwiddie Court House, Virginia
Apr 1 1st wartime conscription law in US goes into effect
Apr 2 Bread revolt in Richmond, Virginia
Apr 7 Battle of Charleston, South Carolina failed Federal fleet attack on Fort Sumter
Apr 10 Confederate General Earl Van Dorn attacks at Franklin, Tennessee
Apr 11 Battle of Suffolk, Virginia (Norfleet House)
Apr 12 -14] Gunboat battle at Bayou Teche, Louisiana
Apr 13 Battle of Irish Bend, Louisiana (Fort Bisland)
Apr 13 Society for the Relief of the Ruptured and Crippled is incorporated in the State of New York
Apr 14 American inventor William Bullock patents continuous-roll printing press
Apr 17 Grierson's raid begins as Colonel Grierson and 1700 horse troopers set off from La Grange, Tennessee
Apr 19 Union troops and fleet occupy For Huger, Virginia
Apr 21 Bahá'u'lláh, founder of the Bahá'í Faith, enters the garden of Rivden near Baghdad. He makes his declaration as a Messenger of God during the 12 days he spends there.
Apr 24 Skirmish at Okolona and Birmingham, Mississippi (Grierson's Raid)
Apr 27 Battle of Streight's raid: Tuscumbia to Cedar Bluff, AL
Apr 29 Battle of Grand Gulf, Mississippi: Union navy ironclad warships attack Confederate fortifications

Battle of Snyder's Bluff

Apr 30 -5/1] Battle of Snyder's Bluff, Virginia (part of the Vicksburg Campaign of the American Civil War): General Sherman beaten by Confederate forces

Battle of Chancellorsville

Apr 30 Battle of Chancellorsville, Virginia: In a major victory General Robert E. Lee's troops defeat larger Army of the Potomac under Major General Joseph Hooker, Stonewall Jackson is fatally wounded

Apr 30 Mexican forces attacked the French Foreign Legion in Hacienda Camarón, Mexico.
May 1 Battle of Chancellorsville, Virginia, 29,000 injured or died
May 1 Battle of Port Gibson, Mississippi
May 1 Confederate "National Flag" replaces "Stars & Bars"
May 1 Confederate congress passes resolution to kill black soldiers
May 1 Hospital for the Ruptured and Crippled first opens its doors in New York City, oldest orthopaedic hospital in the United States
May 2 South defeats North in Battle of Chancellorsville, Virginia

Stonewall Jackson Wounded

May 2 Stonewall Jackson attacking Chancellorsville is wounded by his own men

May 3 Battle of Salem Church, Virginia
May 3 The Second Battle of Fredericksburg occurs in Virginia, part of the Chancellorsville Campaign of the American Civil War
May 4 U.S. Civil War: Battle of Chancellorsville, action at Salem Church; Union Army withdraws
May 5 Irish boxer Joe Coburn KOs American Mike McCoole in the 67th round in his first defense of Heavyweight C'ship of America in Charlestown, Maryland
May 8 Confederación Granadina becomes Estados Unidos de Colombia
May 12 Battle of Raymond, Mississippi
May 14 American Civil War: The Battle of Jackson, Mississippi takes place

Salon des Refusés

May 15 Salon des Refusés opens in Paris, exhibition of works rejected by official Salon, features Paul Cézanne, Camille Pissarro, Henri Fantin-Latour, James Whistler, and Édouard Manet

May 16 Battle of Champion's Hill, Mississippi - bloodiest action of Vicksburg Campaign
May 17 Battle of Big Black River Bridge, Mississippi
May 17 Rosalía de Castro publishes Cantares Gallegos, her first book in the Galician language

Siege of Vicksburg

May 18 US General Ulysses S. Grant begins siege on Vicksburg, Mississippi; after 47 days of battle siege, Confederate Lt. General John C. Pemberton’s troops surrender [1]

Union General and US President Ulysses S. Grant

May 19 Siege of Vicksburg, investment of city complete
May 21 Siege of Port Hudson, Louisiana, begins
May 22 War Department establishes Bureau of Colored Troops
May 23 Organization of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Battle Creek, Michigan
May 27 US Civil War: Confederate gunboat CSS Chattahoochee steam boiler explosion kills 19 crew members on the Apalachicola River, near Blountstown, Florida
May 27 US Civil War: Siege of Port Hudson in Louisiana by Union forces begins; lasts 48 days, longest American military siege
May 28 1st black regiment (54 Mass) leaves Boston to fight in US Civil War

Tubman Frees Slaves

Jun 2 Harriet Tubman leads Union guerrillas into Maryland, freeing slaves

Jun 5 Battle of Franklin's Crossing, Virginia (Deep Run)
Jun 5 CSS Alabama captures "Talisman" in the Mid Atlantic
Jun 6 Battle of Milliken's Bend, Louisiana and Williamsport, Maryland
Jun 7 Battle of Milliken's Bend, Lousisiana, Jefferson Davis' home burnt
Jun 7 Mexico City captured by French troops
Jun 9 Battle of Brandy Station, Virginia (Fleetwood, Beverly Ford)

Battle of Brice's Crossroads

Jun 10 Battle of Brice's Crossroads, Mississippi; 3,500 troops led by Confederate Nathan Bedford Forrest defeats a Federal force of 8000

Confederate General and KKK Grand Wizard Nathan Bedford Forrest

Jun 13 Samuel Butler publishes 1st part of "Erewhon" in Christchurch, New Zealand
Jun 13 Second Battle of Winchester, Virginia
Jun 13 Skirmish at Berryville, Virginia
Jun 14 Battle of 2nd Winchester, Virginia; Confederate force defeats Union army garrison and captures Winchester
Jun 15 Second Battle at Winchester Virginia, ends in Federal defeat; 1350 casualties
Jun 17 Battle at Middleburg, Virginia - 1st Rhode Island Cavalry routed trying to take the town
Jun 17 Battle of Aldie, Confederates fail to drive back Union in Virginia
Jun 17 Naval Engagement at Warsaw Sound GA-USS Weehawken vs CSS Atlanta
Jun 17 Travelers Insurance Co of Hartford chartered (1st accident insurer)
Jun 18 After long neglect, Confederates hurriedly fortify Vicksburg
Jun 19 Battle at Middleburg, Virginia, with 100+ casualties
Jun 20 1st bank chartered in US (National Bank of Davenport Iowa)
Jun 20 Skirmish at Greencastle, Pennsylvania
Jun 20 West Virginia admitted as 35th US state of the Union
Jun 21 Battle at Upperville, Virginia, Union forces hold off Confederate advance, 389 causalities
Jun 23 Tullahoma campaign, Tennessee
Jun 24 Planning an invasion of Pennsylvania, Lee's army crosses Potomac
Jun 25 US General George Meade replaces General Hooker to be more aggressive
Jun 27 Skirmish at Fairfax Courthouse, Virginia
Jun 28 American Civil War: Second Battle of Donaldsonville, Louisiana - Union forces successfully repel Confederate attack on Fort Butler, on the Mississippi River
Jun 29 Battle at Westminster or Corbitt's Charge, Maryland: small unit of Delaware cavalry charge Confederate cavalry numbering nearly 6,000, crucially delaying their arrival at Gettysburg
Jun 29 Confederate General Robert Lee orders his forces to concentrate near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

Custer Appointed General

Jun 29 George Armstrong Custer, aged 23, appointed Union Brigadier General

Jun 29 Very 1st First National Bank opens in Davenport, Iowa
Jun 30 Battles in Hanover, Pennsylvania: 80 casualties
Jun 30 Dutch colony Suriname counts population of 33,000 slaves
Jun 30 Skirmish at Sporting Hill, Pennsylvania

Battle of Gettysburg

Jul 1 Battle of Gettysburg begins in Pennsylvania, Union forces halt Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia

Jul 1 Free city delivery of mail begins in 49 US cities; postage 3 cents per oz
Jul 1 Slavery abolished in Dutch territories including Sint Maarten, Suriname and the Dutch Antilles, (now marked as Keti Koti Day in Suriname and the Netherlands)
Jul 2 2nd day of the Battle of Gettysburg (US Civil War)
Jul 2 R Morgan's: Burksville, Kentucky to Salineville, Ohio [->JUL 26]
Jul 3 Battle of Gettysburg, largest battle ever fought on the American continent, ends in a major victory for the Union during the US Civil War
Jul 4 Boise, Idaho, founded (now capital of Idaho)
Jul 4 Failed Confederate assault on Helena Arkansas (640 casualties)
Jul 4 General Lee's army withdraws from Gettysburg
Jul 4 Skirmish at Smithburg, Tennessee
Jul 4 Vicksburg, Mississippi surrenders to Union forces
Jul 5 Battle of Jackson, Mississippi and Battle of Birdsong Ferry, Mississippi
Jul 6 Battle of Williamsport, Maryland [-Jul 07]
Jul 6 Northern Territory passes from New South Wales to South Australia
Jul 7 Orders barring Jews from serving under US General Ulysses S. Grant are revoked

Event of Interest

Jul 9 Confederate General John Hunt Morgan begins "Morgan's Raid", his cavalry aid into Indiana by leading 2,100 men across the Ohio river

Jul 9 US Union troops enter Port Hudson, Louisiana, gaining control of the Mississippi River
Jul 10 Battle of Charleston, South Carolina (Morris Island) [->SEP 06]
Jul 10 Battle of Jackson, Mississippi - captured by federals [->JUL 16]
Jul 11 Battle at Green River, Kentucky (Morgan's Ohio Raid)
Jul 11 Japanese battle cruiser shoots at Dutch warship Medusa, kills 4
Jul 11 US military holds 1st draft lottery in New York City; exemptions are offered at cost of $300, a fee only the wealthy could afford
Jul 12 In New Zealand, British forces invade the Waikato, home of the Māori King Movement, beginning a new phase of the New Zealand Wars between the colonial government and allied Māori tribes on one side and Māori on the other
Jul 13 Battle of Bayou La Fourche, Louisiana
Jul 13 Battle of Tupelo, Mississippi (Harrisburg) [->JUL 15]
Jul 13 New York City Draft Riot: Anti-draft protests turn violent, over 100 killed, including lynching of Blacks, 2,000 injured and 50 buildings burned; riots last for 3 days
Jul 13 Rebellion at Morgan's, Ohio [->JUL 26]
Jul 14 Battle of Falling Waters, Maryland (Beaver Creek)
Jul 14 Jews of Holstein Germany granted equality
Jul 15 President Davis orders service duty for confederate army
Jul 16 Utrecht-Swells railway opens
Jul 17 Battle of Honey Springs - largest battle in Indian Territory
Jul 17 Māori forces are defeated by British troops at Koheroa, Waikato, in the New Zealand Wars between Maori tribes and British colonials
Jul 18 Battle of Fort Wagner, South Carolina - Second assault
Jul 19 Battle of Buffington's Island (St George Creek), Ohio
Jul 23 Alexandra Park opens in North London, England
Jul 24 Battle at Battle Mountain, Virginia
Jul 25 Skirmish at Barbee's Crossroads, Virginia
Jul 26 Battle of Salineville: Confederate cavalry leader John Hunt Morgan and 364 troops surrender to Union forces after a 17-day unauthorized raid through Indiana and Ohio
Jul 30 Indian Wars: Chief Pocatello of the Shoshone tribe signs the Treaty of Box Elder, promising to stop harassing the emigrant trails in southern Idaho and northern Utah
Jul 30 President Abraham Lincoln issues "eye-for-eye" order to shoot a rebel prisoner for every black prisoner shot
Aug 1 Battle of Little Rock, Arkansas; start of Chattanooga campaign
Aug 1 Cavalry action near Brandy Station-End of Gettysburg Campaign
Aug 3 Governor Seymour asks President Lincoln to suspend draft in New York
Aug 8 American Civil War: Tennessee's "military" Governor Andrew Johnson frees his personal slaves. Celebrated as a holiday by Tennessee African Americans (early 20th century)
Aug 9 Skirmish at Calfkiller Creek, Tennessee - Union troops attack Confederate scouts
Aug 11 Cambodia becomes French protectorate
Aug 12 1st cargo of lumber leaves Burrard Inlet (Vancouver, BC)
Aug 15 Confederate submarine "CSS H.L. Hunley" arrives in Charleston on railroad cars from Mobile, Alabama, where it was built [1]
Aug 15 The Anglo-Satsuma War begins between the Satsuma Domain of Japan and the United Kingdom (Traditional Japanese date: July 2, 1863).
Aug 16 Chickamauga campaign of the US Civil War begins in Georgia
Aug 17 Federal batteries & ships attacked Fort Sumter in South Carolina

Lawrence Massacre

Aug 21 Lawrence Massacre [Quantrill's raid]: 450 Confederate guerrillas led by William Quantrill with William T. Anderson and Frank James attack the Unionist town of Lawrence, Kansas, killing more than 150 unarmed men and boys

Confederate Guerrilla Leader William T. Anderson

Aug 26 Battle of Rocky Gap, West Virginia (White Sulphur Springs): Colonel George S. Patton's Confederate forces defeat Union brigade advance
Sep 1 6th Ohio Cavalry ambush at Barbees Crossroads Virginia
Sep 1 Federal troops reconquer Fort Smith Arkansas
Sep 1 Rail & ferry connection between San Francisco & Oakland inaugurated
Sep 5 Bread revolt in Mobile, Alabama
Sep 6 -7] After 59 day siege Confederate troops vacate Fort Wagner SC (1700 casualties)
Sep 7 US Federal naval expedition arrives off Sabine Pass (Gulf of Mexico) blockading the Texas coast
Sep 8 -10] Federal troops reconquer the Cumperland Gap, Tennessee
Sep 8 Battle of Sabine Pass Texas: 47 Texas volunteers repel Federal forces
Sep 8 Battle of Telford's Depot, Tennessee
Sep 9 Battle of Cumberland Gap, Tennessee
Sep 16 Robert College of Istanbul, Turkey, the first American educational institution outside the United States, is founded by Christopher Robert, an American philanthropist.