Timeline of events leading to the American Civil War Timeline of events leading to the American Civil War This timeline of events leading up to the American Civil War describes and links to narrative articles and references about many of the events and issues which historians recognize as origins and causes of the Civil War. The pre-Civil War events can be roughly divided into a period encompassing the long-term build-up over many decades and a period encompassing the five-month build-up to war immediately after the election of Abraham Lincoln as President in the Election of 1860, which culminated in the Fall of Fort Sumter (April 1861). Since the early
Richmond in the American Civil War a poker game. Robbie Robertson / The Band wrote 'The night they drove old Dixie down'. One lyric refers to, '...by May the 10th (1865) Richmond had fell, it was a time I remember oh so well'. On May 10, 1865, Confederate President Jefferson Davis, fleeing Richmond and having dissolved the Confederate government, was captured by Union forces in Irwinville, Georgia. Richmond in the American Civil War Richmond, Virginia, served as the capital of the Confederate States of America for almost the whole of the American Civil War. It was a vital source of weapons and supplies for the war