1861    American Civil War: In Montgomery, Alabama, delegates from six break-away U.S. states meet and form the Confederate States of America.

1861    American Civil War: Jefferson Davis is elected the Provisional President of the Confederate States of America by the Confederate convention at Montgomery, Alabama.

1861    In Montgomery, Alabama, Jefferson Davis is inaugurated as the provisional President of the Confederate States of America.

1861    First national flag of the Confederate States of America (the "Stars and Bars") is adopted.

1861    Edward Clark becomes Governor of Texas, replacing Sam Houston, who was evicted from the office for refusing to take an oath of loyalty to the Confederacy.

1861    American Civil War: The war begins with Confederate forces firing on Fort Sumter, in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina.

1861    American Civil War: Richmond, Virginia is declared the new capital of the Confederate States of America.

1861    American Civil War: Richmond, Virginia is named the capital of the Confederate States of America.

1861    American Civil War: Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom issues a "proclamation of neutrality" which recognizes the breakaway states as having belligerent rights.

1861    American Civil War: The state of Kentucky proclaims its neutrality, which will last until September 3 when Confederate forces enter the state.

1861    American Civil War: Battle of Philippi (also called the Philippi Races) – Union forces rout Confederate troops in Barbour County, Virginia, now West Virginia, in first land battle of the War.

1861    American Civil War: Confederate General Leonidas Polk invades neutral Kentucky, prompting the state legislature to ask for Union assistance.

1861    American Civil War: Jefferson Davis is elected president of the Confederate States of America.

1861    American Civil War: Battle of Belmont: In Belmont, Missouri, Union forces led by General Ulysses S. Grant overrun a Confederate camp but are forced to retreat when Confederate reinforcements arrive.

1861    American Civil War: The "Trent Affair" – The USS San Jacinto stops the United Kingdom mail ship Trent and arrests two Confederate envoys, sparking a diplomatic crisis between the UK and US.

1861    American Civil War: Confederate President Jefferson Davis appoints Judah Benjamin secretary of war.

1861    American Civil War: the Confederate States of America accept a rival state government's pronouncement that declares Kentucky to be the 13th state of the Confederacy.

1861    American Civil War: The ''Trent Affair'': Confederate diplomatic envoys James M. Mason and John Slidell are freed by the United States government, thus heading off a possible war between the United States and Britain.

1862    American Civil War: Union forces defeat Confederate troops at Pea Ridge in northwestern Arkansas.

1862    American Civil War: The Battle of Shiloh begins – in Tennessee, forces under Union General Ulysses S. Grant meet Confederate troops led by General Albert Sidney Johnston.

1862    American Civil War: Battle of Shiloh ends – the Union Army under General Ulysses S. Grant defeats the Confederates near Shiloh, Tennessee.

1862    American Civil War: A flotilla commanded by Union Admiral David Farragut passes two Confederate forts on the Mississippi River on its way to capture New Orleans, Louisiana.

1862    American Civil War: Forces under Union Admiral David Farragut capture the Confederate city of New Orleans, Louisiana.

1862    American Civil War: Confederate troops evacuate Fort Pillow on the Mississippi River, leaving the way clear for Union troops to take Memphis, Tennessee.

1862    American Civil War: the Confederate ironclad {{Ship|CSS|Arkansas}} is scuttled on the Mississippi River after suffering damage in a battle with {{USS|Essex|1856|6}} near Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

1862    American Civil War - Battle of Richmond: Confederates under Edmund Kirby Smith rout Union forces under General Horatio Wright.

1862    American Civil War: Confederate forces capture Harpers Ferry, Virginia.

1862    American Civil War: In the aftermath of the Battle of Antietam, Confederate General J.E.B. Stuart and his men loot Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, during a raid into the north.

1862    American Civil War: President Abraham Lincoln approves General Ambrose Burnside's plan to capture the Confederate capital at Richmond, Virginia, leading to the Battle of Fredericksburg.

1862    American Civil War: At the Battle of Fredericksburg, Confederate General Robert E. Lee defeats the Union Major General Ambrose E. Burnside.

1863    American Civil War: The Emancipation Proclamation takes effect in Confederate territory.

1863    The {{SS|Georgiana}}, said to have been the most powerful Confederate cruiser, is destroyed on her maiden voyage with a cargo of munitions, medicines and merchandise then valued at over $1,000,000.

1863    Richmond Bread Riot: Food shortages incite hundreds of angry women to riot in Richmond, Virginia and demand that the Confederate government release emergency supplies.

1863    American Civil War: Confederate General Stonewall Jackson dies eight days after he is accidentally shot by his own troops.

1863    American Civil War: Battle of Raymond: two divisions of James B. McPherson's XVII Corps (ACW) turn the left wing of Confederate General John C. Pemberton's defensive line on Fourteen Mile Creek, opening up the interior of Mississippi to the Union Army during the Vicksburg Campaign.

1863    American Civil War: First Assault on the Confederate works at the Siege of Port Hudson.

1863    American Civil War: Morgan's Raid ends – At Salineville, Ohio, Confederate cavalry leader John Hunt Morgan and 360 of his volunteers are captured by Union forces.

1863    American Civil War: following his defeat in the Battle of Gettysburg, General Robert E. Lee sends a letter of resignation to Confederate President Jefferson Davis (which is refused upon receipt).

1863    American Civil War: In Charleston, South Carolina, Union batteries and ships bombard Confederate-held Fort Sumter.

1863    Lawrence, Kansas is destroyed by Confederate guerrillas Quantrill's Raiders in the Lawrence Massacre.

1863    American Civil War: Confederates evacuate Battery Wagner and Morris Island in South Carolina.

1863    American Civil War: Battle of Campbell's Station near Knoxville, Tennessee. Confederate troops unsuccessfully attack Union forces.

1863    American Civil War: Siege of Knoxville begins – Confederate forces led by General James Longstreet place Knoxville, Tennessee under siege.

1863    American Civil War: Battle of Chattanooga begins – Union forces led by General Ulysses S. Grant reinforce troops at Chattanooga, Tennessee and counter-attack Confederate troops.

1863    American Civil War: Confederate cavalry leader John Hunt Morgan and several of his men escape the Ohio Penitentiary and return safely to the South.

1863    American Civil War: Confederate cavalry leader John Hunt Morgan and several of his men escape the Ohio Penitentiary and return safely to the South.

1864    American Civil War: The first Northern prisoners arrive at the Confederate prison at Andersonville, Georgia.

1864    American Civil War: The Battle of Plymouth begins – Confederate forces attack Plymouth, North Carolina.

1864    American Civil War: Battle of Piedmont: Union forces under General David Hunter defeat a Confederate army at Piedmont, Virginia, taking nearly 1,000 prisoners.

1864    American Civil War: Battle of Brice's Crossroads. Confederate troops under Nathan Bedford Forrest defeat a much larger Union force led by General Samuel D. Sturgis in Mississippi.

1864    American Civil War: Battle of Fort Stevens; Confederate forces attempt to invade Washington, D.C..

1864    American Civil War: Confederate spy Belle Boyd is arrested by Union troops and detained at the Old Capitol Prison in Washington, D.C..

1864    The Union Navy captures Fort Morgan, Alabama, thus breaking Confederate dominance of all ports on the Gulf of Mexico.

1864    American Civil War: Union forces enter Atlanta, Georgia a day after the Confederate defenders flee the city.

1864    American Civil War: The Battle of Glasgow is fought, resulting in the surrender of Glasgow, Missouri, and its Union garrison, to the Confederacy.

1864    American Civil War: Second Battle of Fair Oaks ends – Union forces under General Ulysses S. Grant withdraw from Fair Oaks, Virginia, after failing to breach the Confederate defenses around Richmond, Virginia.

1864    American Civil War: Sherman's March to the Sea: Confederate General John Bell Hood invades Tennessee in an unsuccessful attempt to draw Union General William T. Sherman from Georgia.

1865    American Civil War: Columbia, South Carolina, is burned as Confederate forces flee from advancing Union forces.

1865    American Civil War: The Confederate States of America agree to the use of African American troops.

1865    American Civil War: The Congress of the Confederate States of America adjourns for the last time.

1865    American Civil War: In Virginia, Confederate forces temporarily capture Fort Stedman from the Union.

1865    American Civil War: Union forces capture Richmond, Virginia, the capital of the Confederate States of America.

1865    American Civil War: A day after Union forces capture Richmond, Virginia, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln visits the Confederate capital.

1865    American Civil War: A day after his surrender to Union forces, Confederate General Robert E. Lee addresses his troops for the last time.

1865    American Civil War: Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston surrenders his army to General William Tecumseh Sherman at the Bennett Place near Durham, North Carolina.

1865    American Civil War: Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith, commander of the Confederate Trans-Mississippi division, is the last general of the Confederate Army to surrender, at Galveston, Texas.

1865    American Civil War: at Fort Towson in the Oklahoma Territory, Confederate, Brigadier General Stand Watie surrenders the last significant rebel army.

1865    Several U.S. Civil War Confederate veterans form the Ku Klux Klan.

1870    After all of the Southern States are formally readmitted to the United States, the Confederate States of America ceases to exist.

1870    Reconstruction era of the United States: Georgia becomes the last of the former Confederate states to be readmitted to the Union.

1872    Reconstruction: U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant signs the Amnesty Act of 1872 into law restoring full civil rights to all but about 500 Confederate sympathizers.

1913    Confederate veterans at the Great Reunion of 1913 reenact Pickett's Charge; upon reaching the high-water mark of the Confederacy they are met by the outstretched hands of friendship from Union survivors.

1965    The wreck of the {{SS|Georgiana}}, valued at over $50,000,000 and said to have been the most powerful Confederate cruiser, is discovered by then teenage diver and pioneer underwater archaeologist E. Lee Spence, exactly 102 years after its destruction.

2000    Confederate submarine ''H.L. Hunley'' is raised to the surface after 136 years on the ocean floor and 30 years after its discovery by undersea explorer E. Lee Spence and 5 years after being filmed by a dive team funded by novelist Clive Cussler.