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1860 | |
| November 6 | Lincoln elected president. |
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1861 | |
| March 4 | Lincoln inaugurated. |
| April 12 | Firing on Fort Sumter, S.C., initiated the Civil War. |
| July 21 | First Battle of Bull Run. |
1862 | |
| June-September | Second Bull Run campaign. |
| July 13 | Lincoln read initial draft of the Emancipation Proclamation to Secretaries Seward and Welles. |
| July 22 | Lincoln discussed Draft of the Emancipation Proclamation at a cabinet meeting. |
| September | Antietam campaign. |
| September 22 | Cabinet discussion of Emancipation. First printing of preliminary version of Emancipation Proclamation. |
1863 | |
| January 1 | Lincoln signed the Final Draft of the Emancipation Proclamation. |
| April-May | Chancellorsville campaign. |
| June-July | Gettysburg campaign. |
| November 19 | The Gettysburg Address. |
1864 | |
| April 4 | Lincoln explained his choices related to emancipation. |
| May-December | The march toward Richmond. |
| May 5-7 | Grant's Wilderness campaign. |
| May 7-20 | Battle of Spotsylvania. |
| June '64-May '65 | Petersburg campaign. |
| September 1 | Fall of Atlanta. |
| November 8 | Lincoln re-elected. |
1865 | |
| April 9 | General Lee surrendered. |
| April 14 | Lincoln assassinated (further details in Lincoln assassination timeline). |
John Sellers, Library of Congress Manuscript Division Historian.
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