January 31, 1862

President Lincoln issued General War Order No. 1 authorizing the Union to launch a unified aggressive action against the Confederacy. General McClellan ignored the order.

February 6, 1862

General Ulysses S. Grant captures Fort Henry, Tennessee. Ten days later he accepts the “unconditional and immediate surrender” of Fort Donelson. These victories open up the state of Tennessee for Union advancement. These actions earn Grant the nickname "Unconditional Surrender" Grant.

February 20, 1862

President Lincoln is struck with grief as his beloved eleven-year-old son, Willie, dies from fever, probably caused by polluted drinking water in the White House.

March 8, 1862

President Lincoln, impatient with General McClellan's inactivity, issued an order reorganizing the Army of Virginia and relieving McClellan of supreme command. McClellan was given command of the Army of the Potomac, and ordered to attack Richmond.

March 8-9, 1862

The Confederate Ironclad Merrimac sinks two wooden Union ships then battles the Union Ironclad Monitor to a draw. Naval warfare is thus changed forever, making wooden ships obsolete.

The Peninsular Campaign begins as McClellan's Army of the Potomac advances from Washington down the Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay to the peninsular south of the Confederate Capital of Richmond, Virginia then begins an advance toward Richmond. President Lincoln temporarily relieves McClellan as general-in-chief and takes direct command of the Union Armies.

April 4, 1862

On the peninsula southeast of Richmond, General McClellan leads the Army of the Potomac toward Yorktown, Virginia, beginning the Peninsular Campaign.

April 6-7, 1862

Confederates launch a surprise attack on General Ulysses S. Grant's unprepared troops at Shiloh, Tennessee. By the end of the day, the federal troops were almost defeated. Yet, during the night, reinforcements arrived, and by the next morning the Union commanded the field. When Confederate forces retreated, the exhausted federal forces did not follow. Casualties were heavy -- 13,000 out of 63,000 Union soldiers died, and 11,000 of 40,000 Confederate troops were killed. President Lincoln is then pressured to relieve Grant but resists. "I can't spare this man; he fights," Lincoln says.

April 10-11, 1862

General Quincy A. Gillmore battered Fort Pulaski, the imposing masonry structure near the mouth of the Savannah River, into submission in less than two days.

April 16, 1862

Conscription is adopted in the Confederacy.

April 24-25, 1862

17 Union ships under the command of Flag Officer David Farragut move up the Mississippi River then take New Orleans, the South's greatest seaport. Later in the war, sailing through a Rebel mine field, Farragut utters the famous phrase "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!”

May 8, 1862

Stonewall Jackson’s Shenandoah Valley campaign begins successfully with a victory at the Battle of McDowell in Virginia.

May 31, 1862

In the Battle of Seven Pines, General Joseph E. Johnston's Army attacks McClellan's troops in front of Richmond and nearly defeats them. Last-minute reinforcements saved the Union from a serious defeat. Robert E. Lee takes over command of the Confederate army from the wounded Joseph E. Johnston.

June 25-July 1, 1862

Union and Confederate forces fought a series of battles known as the Seven Days Battles: Mechanicsville (June 26-27), Gaines's Mill (June 27), Savage's Station (June 29), Frayser's Farm (June 30), and Malvern Hill (July 1). Results to both sides were heavy and McClellan then begins a withdrawal back toward Washington. On July 2, the Confederates withdrew to Richmond, ending the Peninsular Campaign.

July 11, 1862

After four months as his own General-in-Chief, President Lincoln hands over the task to General Henry W. "Old Brains" Halleck.

August 20, 1862

Horace Greeley of the New York Tribune publishes The Prayer of Twenty Millions, a plea for Lincoln to liberate slaves in the Union.

August 29-30, 1862

Union General John Pope suffered defeat at the Second Battle of Bull Run in northern Virginia. 75,000 Federals lost to 55,000 Confederates under General Stonewall Jackson and General James Longstree. Once again the Union Army retreats to Washington and President Lincoln then relieves Pope. General Fitz-John Porter was also held responsible for the defeat because he had failed to commit his troops to battle quickly enough. He was forced out of the army by 1863.

September 4-9, 1862

General Robert E. Lee invades the North with 50,000 Confederates and heads for Harpers Ferry, located 50 miles northwest of Washington. The Union Army, 90,000 strong, under the command of McClellan, pursues Lee.

September 15, 1862

Union General McClellan defeated Confederate General Lee at South Mountain and Crampton's Gap in September, but did not move quickly enough to save Harper's Ferry, which fell to Confederate General "Stonewall" Jackson , along with a great number of men and a large body of supplies.

September 17, 1862

Confederate forces under General Lee were caught by General McClellan near Sharpsburg, Maryland. This battle proved to be the bloodiest day of the war; 2,108 Union soldiers were killed and 9,549 wounded -- 2,700 Confederates were killed and 9,029 wounded. The battle had no clear winner, but because General Lee withdrew to Virginia, McClellan was considered the victor. The battle convinced the British and French, who were contemplating official recognition of the Confederacy, to reserve action

September 22, 1862

President Lincoln issues the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, which would free all slaves in areas rebelling against the United States, effective January 1, 1863.

November 7, 1862

President Lincoln replaces McClellan with General Ambrose E. Burnside as the new Commander of the Army of the Potomac. Lincoln had grown impatient with McClellan's slowness to follow up on the success at Antietam, even telling him, "If you don't want to use the army, I should like to borrow it for a while."

December 13, 1862

Army of the Potomac under General Burnside suffers a costly defeat at Fredericksburg in Virginia with a loss of 12,653 men after 14 frontal assaults on well entrenched Rebels on Marye's Heights. "We might as well have tried to take hell," a Union soldier remarks. Confederate losses are 5,309. "It is well that war is so terrible - we should grow too fond of it," states Lee during the fighting.