Notable Historical Events - 1863
1863 Historical Events
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
Jan 1 |
1st homestead under the Homestead Act claimed, near Beatrice, Nebr |
Jan 1 |
Battle of Galveston, Texas-Confederates recapture the city |
Jan 1 |
Emancipation Proclamation issued by Lincoln to free slaves in confederate states |
Jan 1 |
Franz Schubert's "Missa Solemnis," premieres in Leipzig |
Jan 2 |
Battle of Murfreesboro (Stone's River) ends |
Jan 4 |
4 wheeled roller skates patented by James Plimpton of NY |
Jan 8 |
American Civil War: Second Battle of Springfield |
Jan 9 |
-Jan 11th] Battle of Arkansas Post, AR (Ft Hindman) |
Jan 10 |
1st underground railway opens in London |
Jan 10 |
General McClernand's Union troops surround Fort Hindman Ark |
Jan 10 |
January-uprising begins in Poland |
Jan 11 |
Naval engagement near Galveston between CSS Alabama & USS Hatteras |
Jan 11 |
Union forces capture Arkansas Post, or Ft Hindman, Arkansas |
Jan 12 |
President Davis delivers his "State of Confederacy" address |
Jan 13 |
Chenille manufacturing machine patented by William Canter, NYC |
Jan 13 |
Thomas Crapper pioneers one-piece pedestal flushing toilet |
Jan 14 |
Battle between gunboats at Bayou Teche Louisiana |
Jan 15 |
1st US newspaper printed on wood-pulp paper, Boston Morning Journal |
Jan 16 |
-Aug 23rd) Cruise of CSS Florida |
Jan 17 |
Civil War skirmish near Newtown, Virginia |
Jan 19 |
General Mieroslawski appointed dictator of Poland |
Jan 21 |
City of Dublin leases part of Cattle Market for 100,000 years |
Jan 22 |
Union General Burnside's "Mud March" |
Jan 25 |
Battle of Kinston, NC |
Jan 25 |
General Joseph Hooker replaces Burnside as head of Army of Potomac |
Jan 26 |
American Civil War: Massachusetts Governor receives permission from Secretary of War to raise a militia organization for men of African descent (54th Massachusetts Regiment) |
Jan 29 |
Battle at Bear River, Washington: US army vs indians |
Jan 31 |
1st black Civil War regiment, SC Volunteers, mustered into US army |
Feb 2 |
Samuel Clemens becomes Mark Twain for 1st time |
Feb 7 |
HMS Orpheus sinks off the coast of Auckland, New Zealand, killing 189. |
Feb 10 |
1st US fire extinguisher patent granted to Alanson Crane, Virginia |
Feb 24 |
Arizona Territory created |
Feb 24 |
Forrest's raid on Brentwood, Tennessee |
Feb 25 |
Congress creates national banking system, comptroller of currency |
Feb 26 |
Lincoln signs National Currency Act |
Feb 28 |
Confederate raider "Nashville" sinks near Fort McAllister Georgia |
Mar 3 |
US Congress authorizes track width of 4'8½" for Union Pacific Railroad |
Mar 3 |
1st US wartime military conscription bill enacted |
Mar 3 |
Abraham Lincoln approves charter for National Academy of Sciences |
Mar 3 |
Congress authorizes a US mint at Carson City, Nevada |
Mar 3 |
Federal ironclad ships bombard Fort McAllister, Georgia |
Mar 3 |
Free city delivery replaces zone postage; 449 letter carriers hired |
Mar 3 |
Gold certificates (currency) authorized by Congress |
Mar 3 |
Idaho Territory forms |
Mar 4 |
Battle of Thompson's Station, TN |
Mar 4 |
Territory of Idaho established |
Mar 17 |
Battle of Kelly's Ford, VA (211 casualities) |
Mar 19 |
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. The wreck was discovered on the same day and month, exactly 102 years later by then teenage diver and pioneer underwater archaeologist E. Lee Spence. |
Mar 20 |
Battle of Pensacola FL -evacuated by Federals |
Mar 21 |
Naval Engagement at Havana Cuba-USS Henrick Hudson vs BR Wild Pigeon |
Mar 25 |
1st Army Medal of Honor awarded |
Mar 25 |
Skirmish at Brentwood Tennessee |
Mar 26 |
Voters in West Virginia approve gradual emancipation of slaves |
Mar 27 |
American Confederate President Jefferson Davis calls for this to be a day of fasting & prayer |
Mar 30 |
Danish prince Wilhelm Georg of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glucksburg chosen as king George of Greece |
Mar 31 |
Battle of Grand Gulf MS & Dinwiddie Court House VA |
Apr 1 |
1st wartime conscription law in US goes into effect |
Apr 2 |
Bread revolt in Richmond, Virginia |
Apr 7 |
Battle of Charleston SC, failed Federal fleet attack on Fort Sumter |
Apr 10 |
Rebel Gen Earl Van Dorn attacks at Franklin, Tenn |
Apr 11 |
Battle of Suffolk, VA (Norfleet House) |
Apr 12 |
-14] Gunboat battle at Bayou Teche Louisiana |
Apr 13 |
Battle of Irish Bend, LA (Ft Bisland) |
Apr 13 |
Hospital for Ruptured & Crippled in NY is 1st orthopedic hospital |
Apr 14 |
William Bullock patents continuous-roll printing press |
Apr 17 |
R Grierson's: La Grange, TN to Baton Rouge, LA |
Apr 19 |
Union troops/fleet occupy For Huger, Virginia |
Apr 21 |
Bahá'u'lláh, founder of the Bahá'í Faith, enters gardens of Rivden, near Baghdad. Makes the declaration of aha'u'llah during 12 days spent there |
Apr 24 |
Skirmish at Okolona/Birmingham, Mississippi (Grierson's Raid) |
Apr 27 |
Battle of Streight's raid: Tuscumbia to Cedar Bluff, AL |
Apr 29 |
Battle of Chancellorsville, VA (Fredericksburg, Wilderness Tavern) |
Apr 30 |
-5/1] Battle of Snyder's Bluff, Virginia (part of the Vicksburg Campaign of the American Civil War): General Sherman beaten by Confederate forces |
Apr 30 |
Mexican forces attacked the French Foreign Legion in Hacienda Camarón, Mexico. |
May 1 |
Battle of Chancellorsville, VA (29,000 injured or died) |
May 1 |
Battle of Port Gibson, Mississippi |
May 1 |
Confederate "National Flag" replaces "Stars & Bars" |
May 1 |
Confederate congress passed resolution to kill black soldiers |
May 2 |
South defeats North in Battle of Chancellorsville, Va |
May 2 |
Stonewall Jackson attacks Chancellorsville, wounded by his own men |
May 3 |
Battle of Fredricksburg, VA (Marye's Heights) |
May 3 |
Battle of Salem Church, VA |
May 4 |
Battle of Chancellorsville-action at Salem Church |
May 4 |
End of Chancellorsville - Beaten Union army withdraws |
May 5 |
Battle of Tupelo, MS |
May 5 |
Joe Coburn KOs Mike McCoole for US boxing title in 63rd round |
May 8 |
Confederación Granadina becomes Estados Unidos de Colombia |
May 12 |
Battle of Raymond, Miss |
May 14 |
American Civil War: The Battle of Jackson, MS takes place. |
May 16 |
Battle of Champion's Hill, MS-bloodiest action of Vicksburg Campaign |
May 17 |
Battle of Big Black River Bridge, MS |
May 17 |
Rosalía de Castro publishes Cantares Gallegos, her first book in the Galician language. |
May 18 |
Siege of Vicksburg, MS |
May 19 |
Siege of Vicksburg, investment of city complete |
May 21 |
Siege of Port Hudson, Louisiana, begins |
May 22 |
General Ulysses S. Grant begins siege on Vicksburg |
May 22 |
War Dept establishes Bureau of Colored Troops |
May 23 |
Organization of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Battle Creek, Michigan. |
May 27 |
CSS Chattahoochie explodes on Chattahoochie River GA, 18 die |
May 27 |
Siege of Port Hudson LA |
May 28 |
1st black regiment (54 Mass) leaves Boston to fight in Civil War |
Jun 2 |
Harriet Tubman leads Union guerrillas into Maryland, freeing slaves |
Jun 5 |
Battle of Franklin's Crossing, VA (Deep Run) |
Jun 5 |
CSS "Alabama" captures "Tailsman" in Mid Atlantic |
Jun 6 |
Battle of Milliken's Bend, LA & Williamsport, MD |
Jun 7 |
Battle of Milliken's Bend, LA-Jefferson Davis' home burnt |
Jun 7 |
Mexico City captured by French troops |
Jun 9 |
Battle of Brandy Station, VA (Fleetwood, Beverly Ford) |
Jun 10 |
Battle of Brice's Crossroads, Miss; Nathan Bedford Forrest w/3500 defeats 8000 Feds |
Jun 13 |
Battle of Winchester VA |
Jun 13 |
Samuel Butler publishes 1st part of "Erewhon", Christchurch, NZ |
Jun 13 |
Skirmish at Berryville Virginia |
Jun 14 |
Battle of 2nd Winchester, Virginia |
Jun 15 |
2nd battle at Winchester Va, ends in Federal defeat; 1350 casualities |
Jun 17 |
Battle at Middleburg, Virginia |
Jun 17 |
Battle of Aldie, Confederates fail to drive back Union in Virginia |
Jun 17 |
Naval Engagement at Warsaw Sound GA-USS Weehawken vs CSS Atlanta |
Jun 17 |
Travelers Insurance Co of Hartford chartered (1st accident insurer) |
Jun 18 |
After long neglect, Confederates hurriedly fortify Vicksburg |
Jun 19 |
Battle at Middleburg Virginia (100+ casualties) |
Jun 20 |
1st bank chartered in US (National Bank of Davenport Iowa) |
Jun 20 |
Skirmish at Greencastle Pennsylvania |
Jun 20 |
West Virginia admitted as 35th US state |
Jun 21 |
Battle at Upperville Virginia, 389 casualities |
Jun 23 |
Tullahoma campaign, TN |
Jun 24 |
Planning an invasion of Pennsylvania, Lee's army crosses Potomac |
Jun 25 |
US General George Meade replaces General Hooker to be more aggressive |
Jun 27 |
Skirmish at Fairfax Courthouse, Virginia |
Jun 29 |
Battle at Westminster Maryland: Federal assault |
Jun 29 |
George Armstrong Custer, aged 23 appointed Union Brigadier General |
Jun 29 |
Lee orders his forces to concentrate near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania |
Jun 29 |
Very 1st First National Bank opens in Davenport, Iowa |
Jun 30 |
Battles in Hanover, Pennsylvania: 80 casualties |
Jun 30 |
Dutch colony Suriname counts population of 33,000 slaves |
Jun 30 |
Skirmish at Sporting Hill Pennsylvania |
Jul 1 |
-2] Battle at Baltimore: Crump's Crossroads Virginia |
Jul 1 |
Battle of Gettysburg, Pa; Lee's northward advance halted |
Jul 1 |
Free city delivery of mail begins in 49 US cities; postage 3 cents per oz |
Jul 1 |
Slavery abolished in Suriname & Dutch Antilles |
Jul 2 |
Battle of Gettysburg (2nd day) |
Jul 2 |
R Morgan's: Burksville, KY to Salineville, OH [->JUL 26] |
Jul 3 |
Battle of Donaldsonville, LA |
Jul 3 |
Battle of Gettysburg, Pa, the largest battle ever fought on the American continent, ends in a major victory for the Union. |
Jul 4 |
Boise, Idaho founded (now capital of Idaho) |
Jul 4 |
Failed Confederate assault on Helena Arkansas (640 casualties) |
Jul 4 |
General Lee's army withdraws from Gettysburg |
Jul 4 |
Skirmish at Smithburg, TN |
Jul 4 |
Vicksburg, Mississippi surrenders to Union forces |
Jul 5 |
Battle of Jackson, MS & Battle of Birdsong Ferry, MS |
Jul 6 |
Battle of Williamsport, MD [-Jul 07] |
Jul 6 |
Northern Territory passes from New South Wales to South Australia |
Jul 7 |
1st military draft by US (exemptions cost $100) |
Jul 7 |
Orders barring Jews from serving under US General Ulysses S. Grant are revoked |
Jul 9 |
R Morgan's: Indiana [->JUL 13] |
Jul 9 |
Union troops enter Port Hudson |
Jul 10 |
Battle of Charleston, SC (Morris Island) [->SEP 06] |
Jul 10 |
Battle of Jackson, MS - captured by federals [->JUL 16] US1000 CS1339 |
Jul 11 |
Battle at Green River, Ky (Morgan's Ohio Raid) |
Jul 11 |
Japanese battle cruiser shoots at Dutch warship Medusa, kills 4 |
Jul 12 |
In New Zealand, British forces invade Waikato, home of the Maori King Movement, beginning a new phase of the wars between Maori and Colonial British |
Jul 13 |
Anti-draft mobs lynch blacks in NYC; about 1,000 die |
Jul 13 |
Battle of Bayou La Fourche, LA |
Jul 13 |
Battle of Tupelo, MS (Harrisburg) [->JUL 15] US648 CS700 |
Jul 13 |
Rebellion at Morgan's, Ohio [->JUL 26] |
Jul 14 |
Battle of Falling Waters, MD (Beaver Creek) |
Jul 14 |
Jews of Holstein Germany granted equality |
Jul 15 |
Pres Davis orders service duty for confederate army |
Jul 16 |
Utrecht-Swells railway opens |
Jul 17 |
Battle of Honey Springs - largest battle in Indian Territory |
Jul 17 |
Māori forces are defeated by British troops at Koheroa, Waikato, in the New Zealand Wars between Maori tribes and British colonials |
Jul 18 |
Battle of Fort Wagner, SC - Second assault US1500 CS174 |
Jul 19 |
Battle of Buffington's Island (St George Creek), Ohio |
Jul 23 |
Alexandra Park opens in North London |
Jul 24 |
Battle at Battle Mountain, Virginia |
Jul 25 |
Skirmish at Barbee's Crossroads, Virginia |
Jul 26 |
Battle of Salineville OH, John Hunt Morgan & 364 troops surrender |
Jul 30 |
President Lincoln issues "eye-for-eye" order to shoot a rebel prisoner for every black prisoner shot |
Jul 30 |
Indian Wars: Chief Pocatello of the Shoshone tribe signs the Treaty of Box Elder, promising to stop harassing the emigrant trails in southern Idaho and northern Utah. |
Aug 1 |
Battle of Little Rock, Arkansas; start of Chattanooga campaign |
Aug 1 |
Cavalry action near Brandy Station-End of Gettysburg Campaign |
Aug 3 |
Governor Seymour asks Lincoln to suspend draft in NY |
Aug 3 |
Saratoga Racetrack (NY) opens |
Aug 8 |
American Civil War: Tennessee's "military" Governor Andrew Johnson frees his personal slaves. Celebrated as a holiday by Tennessee African Americans (early 20th century) |
Aug 11 |
Cambodia becomes French protectorate |
Aug 12 |
1st cargo of lumber leaves Burrard Inlet (Vancouver, BC) |
Aug 15 |
Submarine "HL Hunley" arrives in Charleston on railroad cars |
Aug 15 |
The Anglo-Satsuma War begins between the Satsuma Domain of Japan and the United Kingdom (Traditional Japanese date: July 2, 1863). |
Aug 16 |
Chickamauga campaign GA |
Aug 17 |
Federal batteries & ships attacked Fort Sumter in SC |
Aug 17 |
Skirmish at Calfkiller Creek (Sparta), Tennessee |
Aug 21 |
Raid at Lawrence KS by William Quantrill |
Aug 26 |
Battle of Rocky Gap, WV (White Sulphur Springs) |
Sep 1 |
6th Ohio Cavalry ambush at Barbees Crossroads Virginia |
Sep 1 |
Federal troops reconquer Fort Smith Arkansas |
Sep 1 |
Rail & ferry connection between San Francisco & Oakland inaugurated |
Sep 5 |
Bread revolt in Mobile, Alabama |
Sep 6 |
-7] After 59 day siege Confederate troops vacate Fort Wagner SC (1700 casualties) |
Sep 7 |
Federal naval expedition arrives off Sabine Pass |
Sep 8 |
-10] Federal troops reconquer the Cumperland Gap, Tennessee |
Sep 8 |
Battle of Sabine Pass TX: 47 Texas volunteers repel Federal forces |
Sep 8 |
Battle of Telford's Depot TN |
Sep 9 |
Battle of Cumberland Gap, TN |
Sep 10 |
George Bizet's opera "Les Pêcheurs de Perles," premieres in Paris |
Sep 16 |
Robert College of Istanbul-Turkey, the first American educational institution outside the United States, is founded by Christopher Robert, an American philanthropist. |
Sep 17 |
Pope Pius IX encyclical On persecution in New Grenada |
Sep 19 |
Battle of Chickamauga GA (near Chattanooga) begins; Union retreat |
Sep 20 |
Battle of Shepardstown VA |
Sep 20 |
Civil War Battle of Chickamauga, near Chattanooga Tenn, ends |
Sep 21 |
Union forces retreat to Chattanooga after defeat at Chickamauga |
Sep 23 |
Confederate siege of Chattanooga begins |
Sep 27 |
Jo Shelby's cavalry in action at Moffat's Station, Arkansas |
Sep 29 |
Opera "Pescatori di Perle" is produced (Paris) |
Oct 1 |
5 Russian warships welcomed in NYC |
Oct 1 |
Dutch Breda-Tilburg railway opens |
Oct 3 |
Lincoln designates last Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day |
Oct 5 |
Confederate sub David damages Union ship Ironsides |
Oct 6 |
Battle at Baxter Springs, Kansas |
Oct 6 |
Dr Charles H Sheppard opens 1st public bath, in Brooklyn |
Oct 9 |
Battle of Brady Station, VA (Culpeper Court House, Bristoe Station) |
Oct 10 |
Skirmish at Blue Springs, Tennessee (166 casualties) |
Oct 11 |
Skirmish at Rheatown/Henderson's Mill, Tennessee |
Oct 13 |
Skirmish at Blountsville, Tennessee (50 casualties) |
Oct 14 |
Battle at Bristoe Station, Virginia (about 2000 casualties) |
Oct 14 |
Skirmish at Catlett's Station, Virginia (Bristoe Campaign) |
Oct 15 |
Cliff House opens in SF (1st of many on site) |
Oct 16 |
Grant is given command of Union forces in West |
Oct 18 |
Battle of Charlestown, WV |
Oct 19 |
Battle of Buckland Mills, VA |
Oct 26 |
International conference begins in Geneva aimed at improving medical conditions on battlefields - beginning of the Red Cross |
Oct 26 |
Football Association forms in England, standardizing soccer, splitting with rugby |
Oct 27 |
Dutch railway to Harlingen opens |
Oct 28 |
Battle at Wauhatchie, Georgia: 865 killed or injured |
Oct 29 |
International Committee of Red Cross forms as result Geneva held conference (Nobel 1917, 1944, 1963) |
Oct 31 |
The Maori Wars resumed as British forces in New Zealand led by General Duncan Cameron began their Invasion of the Waikato. |
Nov 1 |
-8] Averell's Raid (on)to Lewisburg, West Virginia |
Nov 1 |
Fortifications built on Angel Island (SF Bay) by troops |
Nov 3 |
Battle of Grand Coteau in Southwestern Louisiana in the American Civil War |
Nov 6 |
Battle of Rogersville TN |
Nov 7 |
Battle of Rappahannock Station & Kelly's Ford, VA |
Nov 14 |
Nathan Bedford Forrest is assigned to command of West Tennessee |
Nov 14 |
Skirmish at Danville, Mississippi |
Nov 16 |
Battle of Campbell's Station TN, 492 casualities |
Nov 17 |
-Dec 4th) Battle of Knoxville, TN |
Nov 17 |
Lincoln begins 1st draft of his Gettysburg Address |
Nov 19 |
US President Lincoln delivers his Gettysburg address beginning; "Four score & seven years ago..." |
Nov 23 |
Battle of Chattanooga & Orchard Knob, TN begins |
Nov 23 |
Patent granted for a process of making color photographs |
Nov 24 |
Battle of Chattanooga, Columbia & Lookout Mt begins in Tennessee |
Nov 25 |
Battle of Missionary Ridge, Tennessee |
Nov 26 |
-Dec 2] Mine Run campaign, VA |
Nov 27 |
-29] Battle at Fort Esperanza Texas |
Nov 27 |
Battle of Payne's Farm, VA |
Nov 29 |
Battle of Ft Sanders, TN (Ft Loudon), 8-900 casualities |
Nov 30 |
Confederate troops vacate Fort Esperanza, Texas |
Dec 3 |
longstreet abandons his siege at Knoxville, TN |
Dec 4 |
Storm flood ravages Netherlands coastal provinces |
Dec 8 |
2,500 reported killed as result of fire at Jesuit Church of La Compana Santiago Chile |
Dec 8 |
Abraham Lincoln's Amnesty Proclamation and plan for Reconstruction of South |
Dec 14 |
Battle of Bean's Station-Confederacy repulses Union in Tennessee |
Dec 15 |
Skirmish at Bean's Station, Tennessee (Knoxville Campaign) |
Dec 15 |
Romania is using for the first time a mountain railway (from Anina to Oravita). |
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