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U.S. Civil War 1861-1865

1865 - Surrender

April 9, 1865 - General Robert E. Lee, commander of all Confederate armed forces, surrenders at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia. Lee had fought brilliantly at Antietam, Chancellorsville, Fredericksburg and Gettysburg. Now the military strategist who once refused President Lincoln's offer to lead the Union troops must admit defeat. Lee surrenders to General Ulysses S. Grant, who commands the Union army. More than 600,000 people have died in the Civil War.

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1861 - Sumter

April 12, 1861 - U.S. army troops are stationed at Fort Sumter, South Carolina, an island at the entrance to Charleston Harbor. From across the water, Confederate soldiers open fire with mortar shells on the fort. The Civil War has begun! For the next four years, the war will turn America's countrymen, neighbors and families bitterly against each other.

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1865 - A Nation in Mourning

April 14, 1865The Civil War is over. President Abraham Lincoln is attending Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C. with his wife when actor John Wilkes Booth appears in the president's private theater box. Booth, a supporter of slavery, despises the president. He shoots and kills Lincoln, then jumps to the stage and flees. Booth will be found hiding in Virginia 12 days later and be shot. As Americans mourn the loss of Lincoln, they are uneasy. They wonder what will happen next.

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1861 - Change of Command

April 20, 1861 - North Carolina Governor John Ellis sends Col. John Y. Boyce and his troops to Charlotte. They command Green Caldwell to turn over control of the Mint. Officials strike out the words of the U.S. from all their documents. No longer will the Mint make coins for the United States. It will soon belong to the new Confederate States of America.Governor John Ellis

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1863 - Death of Stonewall

May 2, 1863 - Confederate General Thomas J. Jackson dies after being mortally wounded at the battle of Chancellorsville, Virginia. Thousands of men on both sides have been killed. The leader who stood with his men in battle like a stone wall has been accidentally shot by Confederate soldiers from North Carolina. His widow, Anna Morrison Jackson will eventually settle in Charlotte, North Carolina and raise their daughter, Julia.

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1865 - End of the Confederacy

April 17, 1865 - The Confederate government collapses. President Jefferson Davis and other officials flee Richmond, Virginia. The fighting ends in North Carolina. At Bennett House near Durham, Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston surrenders to Union General William T. Sherman. The two military leaders sit down and discuss how to heal the torn nation.

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1865 - Mrs. Jackson in Charlotte

Now that the Civil War has ended, refugees find their way back home. Mary Anna Morrison Jackson takes up residence in a spacious house shaded by oak trees on Charlotte's West Trade Street. Mrs. Jackson is a war widow. Her husband, Confederate General Thomas A. Stonewall Jackson, died from wounds he suffered at the battle of Chancellorsville, Virginia.Mrs. Stonewall Jackson's home

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1861 - North Carolina Joins the Confederacy

May 20, 1861 Six weeks ago, the battle of Fort Sumter marked the beginning of the Civil War. Today, North Carolina secedes from the U.S. and joins the Confederacy, becoming the 10th of 11 states to do so. This date is special for another reason. It marks the 76th anniversary of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence, which proclaimed Mecklenburg's independence at the time of the Revolutionary War.

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1863 - Gettysburg

July 1, 1863 - The Battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania marks the turning point of the Civil War. The Confederates, led by General Robert E. Lee, try to invade the North. They are thwarted by the Union army in the three-day battle that will leave more than 40,000 men on both sides dead, wounded, captured or missing in action. Lee retreats into Virginia.

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1865 - Davis' Telegram

April 18, 1865 - In the closing days of the Civil War, Confederate President Jefferson Davis stops in Charlotte. He spends two weeks in the Queen City. Davis holds several meetings with his advisors, or cabinet. As Davis is giving a speech from the porch of businessman Lewis Bates' home, the Confederate president is interrupted by a messenger. The telegram says that Abraham Lincoln has been assassinated.Jefferson Davis in CharlottePlaque on S. Tryon St.

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