1862 - What happened in 1862 ?

January 1862

Saturday 18:

The Confederacy suffers its first significant defeat in the American Civil War at the Battle of Mill Springs.

Thursday 30:

The first American ironclad warship, the USS Monitor is launched.

February 1862

Saturday 01:

Julia Ward Howe's Battle Hymn of the Republic is published for the first time (Atlantic Monthly).

Tuesday 04:

Bacardi, one of the world's largest spirits company, was founded as a small distillery in Santiago de Cuba in eastern Cuba.

Thursday 06:

American Civil War: Ulysses S. Grant gives the United States its first victory of the war, by capturing Fort Henry, Tennessee, known as the Battle of Fort Henry.

Saturday 15:

American Civil War: General Ulysses S. Grant attacks Fort Donelson, Tennessee.

Sunday 16:

American Civil War: General Ulysses S. Grant captures Fort Donelson, Tennessee.

March 1862

Friday 07:

Union forces led by General Samuel Curtis defeat Confederate troops under General Earl Van Dorn at Pea Ridge in northwestern Arkansas.

Saturday 08:

American Civil War: The iron-clad CSS Virginia (formerly USS Merrimack) is launched at Hampton Roads, Virginia.

Sunday 09:

In a five-hour battle near Hampton Roads, Virginia the USS Monitor fights the CSS Virginia to a draw.

Thursday 13:

American Civil War:the US federal government forbids all Union army officers from returning fugitive slaves, thus effectively annulling the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 and setting the stage for the Emancipation Proclamation.

Friday 28:

In New Mexico, Union forces succeed in stopping the Confederate invasion of New Mexico territory. The battle began on March 26.

April 1862

Saturday 05:

American Civil War: Battle of Yorktown. The battle begins when Union forces under General George McClellan close in on the Confederate capital Richmond, Virginia.

Thursday 24:

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.

Friday 25:

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

Monday 28:

American Civil War: Admiral David Farragut captures New Orleans, Louisiana.

Tuesday 29:

American Civil War: New Orleans falls to Union forces under Admiral David Farragut.

May 1862

Monday 05:

Cinco de Mayo in Mexico: Troops led by Ignacio Zaragoza halted a French invasion in the Battle of Puebla.

Sunday 11:

American Civil War: The ironclad CSS Virginia is scuttled in the James River northwest of Norfolk, Virginia.

Monday 12:

U.S federal troops occupy Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Tuesday 20:

U.S. President Abraham Lincoln signs the Homestead Act into law.

Saturday 31:

American Civil War: The Battle of Seven Pines.

June 1862

Wednesday 04:

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

Friday 06:

Union forces capture Memphis, Tennessee, from the Confederates.

Saturday 07:

The United States and United Kingdom agree to suppress the slave trade.

Sunday 08:

Confederate forces under General Stonewall Jackson save the Army of Northern Virginia from a Union assault on the James Peninsula led by General George McClellan.

Friday 20:

Barbu Catargiu is assassinated.

July 1862

Tuesday 01:

Russian State Library is founded

Friday 04:

Lewis Carroll tells Alice Liddell a story that would grow into Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequels.

Wednesday 16:

American Civil War: David G. Farragut becomes the first United States Navy rear admiral.

Saturday 19:

At Buffington Island in Ohio, Confederate General John Hunt Morgan's raid into the north is mostly thwarted when a large group of his men are captured while trying to escape across the Ohio River.

Wednesday 23:

American Civil War: Henry W. Halleck takes command of the Union Army.

August 1862

Tuesday 05:

Along the Mississippi River near Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Confederate troops drive Union forces back into the city.

Saturday 09:

At Cedar Mountain, Virginia, Confederate General Stonewall Jackson narrowly defeats Union forces under General John Pope.

Tuesday 19:

Indian Wars: During an uprising in Minnesota, Lakota warriors decide not to attack heavily-defended Fort Ridgely and instead turn to the settlement of New Ulm, killing white settlers along the way.

Thursday 21:

The Vienna Stadtpark opens its gates.

Tuesday 26:

American Civil War: The Second Battle of Bull Run begins.

September 1862

Monday 01:

Confederate forces attack retreating Union troops in Chantilly, Virginia.

Tuesday 02:

American Civil War: President Abraham Lincoln reluctantly restores Union General George McClellan to full command after General John Pope's disastrous defeat at the Battle of Second Bull Run.

Saturday 13:

Union soldiers find Robert E. Lee's battle plans in a field outside Frederick, Maryland.

Wednesday 17:

American Civil War: George McClellan halts the northward drive of Robert E. Lee's Confederate army in the Battle of Antietam.

Monday 22:

Slavery in the United States: A preliminary version of the Emancipation Proclamation is released.

October 1862

Wednesday 08:

Union forces under General Don Carlos Buell halt the Confederate invasion of Kentucky by defeating troops led by General Braxton Bragg at Perryville, Kentucky.

Saturday 11:

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.

November 1862

Wednesday 05:

Indian Wars: In Minnesota, more than 300 Santee Sioux are found guilty of rape and murder of white settlers and are sentenced to hang.

Sunday 09:

American Civil War: Union General Ambrose Burnside assumes command of the Army of the Potomac, after George McClellan was removed.

Friday 14:

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.

Wednesday 26:

Charles Dodgson (better known as Lewis Carroll) sends the handwritten manuscript of Alice's Adventures Underground to 10-year-old Alice Liddell.

Friday 28:

American Civil War: Battle of Cane Hill.

December 1862

Saturday 13:

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

Wednesday 17:

General Ulysses S. Grant issues General Order No. 11, expelling Jews from Tennessee, Mississippi, and Kentucky.

Friday 26:

American Civil War: Start of the Battle of Chickasaw Bayou.

Tuesday 30:

USS Monitor sinks off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina

Wednesday 31:

American Civil War: Abraham Lincoln signs an act that admits West Virginia to the Union (thus dividing Virginia in two); meanwhile, the Battle of Stones River is fought near Murfreesboro, Tennessee.