McClellan's Peninsular Campaign fails. Congress Homestead Act, Morrill Land Act, Pacific Railway Act, and Second Confiscation Act. Lee's advance into Maryland turned back at Antietam Creek. 1863 Emancipation Proclamation. West Virginia, formed from fifty western counties of Virginia, admitted to the Union.
French armies occupy Mexico.
Confederate invasion stopped at Gettysburg. U.S. forces take Vicksburg. First conscription act and draft riots in New York City. Lincoln announces his plan for reconstruction. Grant invades Virginia.