Chronological History of the American Civil War

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Preface

Although the Great American Civil War was fought over 150 years ago, this four year war represented the worst period of time in our nation’s history. This daily chronological history provides you with a detailed history of local, regional and national events as they actually occurred from 1861-1865. We should never forget the costs of such a war to our country. This was the most tragic war that we Americans have ever been asked to fight. It was a war against itself, the North against the South, state against state, and brother against brother. Hopefully, we can learn from history not to repeat our mistakes. Using diary notes, word articles, history books, and some web sites, I try to present the events of this war from a West Tennessee perspective but representing the viewpoints of both the North and the South during this period of time. Being from rural West Tennessee, I had three of my four great, great, grandfathers fight in this war. Two fought for the South and one fought for the North. I try to imagine at times, how hard it was for these men to carry this terrible fight on day after day, year after year in the heat of the summers and cold of the winters, never knowing if you will be the next to die. New generations should all learn more about the Great American Civil War and never should we ever forget the sacrifice both sides made in trying to prove which side was right. Right or wrong, this war cost more American lives than World War I, World War II, and Vietnam all together. In all, more than over 625,000 Americans gave their lives for a cause that all thought was right. Right or wrong, these men died just the same defending that right. Most died off the field of battle from disease and other causes, but this figure was still about 2% of the population of 1860. That is an average of 599 per day for the duration of the war. Most were under the age of 35. The young men of our nation were dying at a rate much too fast. I honor them and the ones that lived through it, regardless of which side they were on. Ken Savage