1864 - What happened in 1864 ?

January 1864

Thursday 21:

The Tauranga Campaign starts during the Maori Wars.

February 1864

Saturday 20:

Battle of Olustee

Saturday 27:

American Civil War: The first Northern prisoners arrive at the Confederate prison at Andersonville, Georgia.

Monday 29:

Plans to free 15,000 Union soldiers being held near Richmond, Virginia are thwarted.

March 1864

Thursday 10:

American Civil War: The Red River Campaign begins as Union troops reach Alexandria, Louisiana.

Friday 11:

The Great Sheffield Flood: The largest man-made disaster ever to befall England kills over 250 people in Sheffield.

April 1864

Friday 08:

Union General Nathaniel Banks' Red River Campaign is thwarted by Confederate General Richard Taylor's forces at Mansfield, Louisiana.

Tuesday 12:

American Civil War: Fort Pillow massacre: Confederate forces under General Nathan Bedford Forrest kill most of the African American soldiers who had surrendered at Fort Pillow, Tennessee

Sunday 17:

American Civil War: Battle of Plymouth begins – Confederate forces attack Plymouth, North Carolina.

Friday 22:

The U.S. Congress passes the Coinage Act which mandates that the inscription "In God We Trust" be placed on all coins minted as United States currency.

Monday 25:

American Civil War: Battle of Mark's Mills – Confederate forces seize a Union wagon supply train on its way to Camden, Arkansas forcing Union General Frederick Steele to withdraw his troops to Little Rock, Arkansas.

May 1864

Friday 13:

American Civil War: Battle of Resaca – the battle begins with Union General Sherman fighting toward Atlanta.

Thursday 19:

American Civil War: Battle of Spotsylvania Court House ends.

Thursday 26:

Montana is organized as a United States territory.

Sunday 29:

Emperor Maximilian of Mexico arrives in Mexico for the first time.

Tuesday 31:

American Civil War: The Battle of Cold Harbor begins.

June 1864

Friday 03:

Union forces attack Confederate troops at Cold Harbor, Virginia.

Sunday 05:

American Civil War: Battle of Piedmont: Union forces under General David Hunter defeat a Confederate army at Piedmont, Virginia, taking nearly 1,000 prisoners.

Sunday 12:

American Civil War: Battle of Cold Harbor – General Ulysses S. Grant pulls his troops from their positions at Cold Harbor, Virginia and moves south.

Monday 27:

Battle of Kennesaw Mountain in the American Civil War.

Thursday 30:

U.S. President Abraham Lincoln grants Yosemite Valley to California for "public use, resort and recreation."

July 1864

Monday 11:

Confederate forces attempt an invasion of Washington, D.C.

Friday 22:

Outside of Atlanta, Georgia, Confederate General John Bell Hood leads an unsuccessful attack on Union troops under General William T. Sherman on Bald Hill.

Thursday 28:

Confederate troops make a third unsuccessful attempt to drive Union forces from Atlanta, Georgia.

Friday 29:

American Civil War: Confederate spy Belle Boyd is arrested by Union troops and detained at the Old Capitol Prison in Washington, DC.

Saturday 30:

Union forces attempt to break Confederate lines by exploding a large bomb under their trenches.

August 1864

Monday 01:

The Elgin Watch Company is founded in Elgin, Illinois

Wednesday 17:

American Civil War: Confederate forces defeated Union troops at the Battle of Gainesville.

Monday 22:

Twelve nations sign the First Geneva Convention. The Red Cross is formed.

Tuesday 23:

The Union Navy captures Fort Morgan, Alabama, thus breaking Confederate dominance of all ports on the Gulf of Mexico

Wednesday 31:

American Civil War: Union forces led by General William T. Sherman launch an assault on Atlanta, Georgia.

September 1864

Thursday 01:

American Civil War: Confederate General John Bell Hood evacuates Atlanta, Georgia after a four-month siege by General Sherman.

Friday 02:

American Civil War: Union forces enter Atlanta, Georgia a day after the Confederate defenders flee the city.

Wednesday 07:

American Civil War: Atlanta, Georgia, is evacuated on orders of Union General William Tecumseh Sherman.

Thursday 29:

American Civil War: The Battle of Chaffin's Farm is fought.

October 1864

Sunday 02:

Union forces attack Saltville, Virginia, but are defeated by Confederate troops.

Wednesday 05:

The Indian city of Calcutta is almost totally destroyed by a cyclone; 60,000 die.

Sunday 09:

Union cavalrymen in the Shenandoah Valley defeat Confederate forces at Tom's Brook, Virginia.

Wednesday 19:

Confederate raiders launch an attack on Saint Albans, Vermont from Canada.

Monday 31:

Nevada is admitted as the 36th U.S. state.

November 1864

Tuesday 08:

U.S. presidential election, 1864: Abraham Lincoln is reelected in an overwhelming victory over George McClellan.

Tuesday 15:

American Civil War: Union General William Tecumseh Sherman burns Atlanta, Georgia and starts Sherman's March to the Sea.

Tuesday 22:

American Civil War: Sherman's March to the Sea: Confederate General John Bell Hood invades Tennessee in an unsuccessful attempt to draw Union General William T. Sherman from Georgia.

Tuesday 29:

Colorado volunteers led by Colonel John Chivington massacre at least 400 Cheyenne and Arapahoe noncombatants at Sand Creek, Colorado.

Wednesday 30:

The Army of Tennessee led by General John Bell Hood mounts a dramatically unsuccessful frontal assault on Union positions around Franklin, Tennessee (Hood lost six generals and almost a third of his troops).

December 1864

Sunday 04:

At Waynesboro, Georgia, forces under Union General Judson Kilpatrick prevent troops led by Confederate General Joseph Wheeler from interfering with Union General William T. Sherman campaign of destroying a wide swath of the South on his march to the Gulf of Mexico (Union forces did suffer more than three times the casualties as the Confederates, however).

Saturday 10:

William Tecumseh Sherman reaches Savannah, Georgia, ending his "March to the Sea".

Friday 16:

American Civil War: Union troops led by General George Thomas defeat Confederate troops in the Battle of Nashville.

Thursday 22:

Savannah, Georgia falls to General William Tecumseh Sherman