Timeline - 1863

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March 1863 - Lincoln signs the North's first Draft Bill, for men age 20 to 45. Exemptions are numerous.

















May 1863 - Audaciously splitting his forces before a far larger army, Lee wins a major victory at Chancellorsville. Confederate hero Jackson dies, accidentally shot by his own soldiers.








June 1863 - West Virginia enters the Union as the 35th state.







July 1863 - Draft Riots leave over 100 dead in New York City.

July 1, 1863 - The turning point in the war, the Battle of Gettysburg began as the Confederate soldiers drove the Union troops out of Gettysburg. It ended three days later with the defeat of Pickett's charge and then the Confederate army.

July 4, 1863 - The Mississippi now belongs entirely to the Union with the fall of Vicksburg. The Confederacy is divided in half.

August 1863 - Bombardment by Union ironclads and land batteries reduced the wallsof Fort Sumter, South Carolina to rubble.







September 1863 - Confederate victory at Chickamauga, Ga., leads to a seige of Union-held Chattanooga, Tenn. The Union army emerges victorious.


















November 19, 1863 - Gettysburg military cemetary is dedicated by Lincoln.








December 3, 1863 - Southern forces abandon Knoxville. The Union now controls almost all of Tennessee.