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

Wednesday 11:

American Civil War: Battle of Yellow Tavern – Confederate General JEB Stuart is mortally wounded at Yellow Tavern, Virginia.

Friday 13:

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

Sunday 15:

American Civil War: Battle of New Market, Virginia – Students from the Virginia Military Institute fight alongside the Confederate Army to force Union General Franz Sigel out of the Shenandoah Valley.

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

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.

Friday 10:

American Civil War: Battle of Brice's Crossroads – Confederate troops under Nathan Bedford Forrest defeat a much larger Union force led by General Samuel D. Sturgis in Mississippi.

Tuesday 21:

Maori Wars: The Tauranga Campaign ends.

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.

Wednesday 20:

Near Atlanta, Georgia, Confederate forces led by General John Bell Hood unsuccessfully attack Union troops under General William T. Sherman.

Sunday 24:

Confederate General Jubal Early defeats Union troops led by General George Crook in an effort to keep Yankees out of the Shenandoah Valley.

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.

August 1864

Friday 05:

At Mobile Bay near Mobile, Alabama, Admiral David Farragut leads a Union flotilla through Confederate defenses and seals one of the last major Southern ports.

Wednesday 17:

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

Thursday 18:

Union forces try to cut a vital Confederate supply-line into Petersburg, Virginia, by attacking the Weldon Railroad.

Monday 22:

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

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.

Friday 07:

American Civil War: Capture of the C.S.S. "Florida" — Union Warship captures the U.S.S. "Wachusett" — Confederate raider ship while in port in Bahia, Brazil.

Sunday 09:

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

Sunday 23:

Union forces under General Samuel R. Curtis defeat Confederate troops led by General Stirling Price at Westport, near Kansas City.

Sunday 30:

Helena, Montana is founded after four prospectors discover gold at "Last Chance Gulch."

November 1864

Friday 04:

Confederate troops bombard a Union supply base and destroy millions of dollars in material.

Tuesday 08:

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

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