1864

Events from the year 1864 in the United States.
==Incumbents==
===Federal Government===
* President: Abraham Lincoln (R-IL)
* Vice President: Hannibal Hamlin (R-ME)
* Chief Justice: Roger B. Taney (MD) (until October 12), Salmon P. Chase (OH) (starting December 15)
* Speaker of the House of Representatives: Schuyler Colfax (R-IN)
* Congress: 38th
==Events==
===January===
* January 1 – Long Walk of the Navajo: Bands of Navajo led by the U.S. Army are relocated from their traditional lands in eastern Arizona Territory and western New Mexico Territory to Fort Sumner in the Pecos River valley. At least 200 died along the 300-mile (480 km) trek that took over 18 days to travel on foot.
* January 13 – Songwriter Stephen Foster ("Oh! Susanna", "Old Folks at Home") dies aged 37 in New York City leaving a scrap of paper reading "Dear friends and gentle hearts". His parlor song "Beautiful Dreamer" is published in March.
* January 17 – American Civil War: Battle of Dandridge.
* January 26 – American Civil War: Battle of Athens.
* January 27 – American Civil War: Battle of Fair Garden.
===February===
* February 1 – Lewiston–Queenston Suspension Bridge on the Niagara River collapses in a gale.
* February 6 – American Civil War: Battle of Morton's Ford begins.
* February 7 – American Civil War: Battle of Morton's Ford ends.
* February 9 – American Civil War: Libby Prison escape – 109 Union soldiers escape from the Confederate prison in Richmond, Virginia, 59 making it back to their home territory.
* February 13 – American Civil War: Battle of Middle Boggy Depot.
* February 14 – American Civil War: Battle of Meridian begins.
* February 17 – American Civil War: The tiny Confederate submarine Hunley torpedoes the USS Housatonic, becoming the first submarine to sink an enemy ship (the sub and her crew of 8 are also lost).
* February 20
** American Civil War: Battle of Meridian ends.
** American Civil War: The Union suffers one of its costliest defeats at the Battle of Olustee near Lake City, Florida.
* February 22
** American Civil War: Battle of Okolona.
** American Civil War: First Battle of Dalton begins.
* February 25 – American Civil War: The first Northern prisoners arrive at the Confederate prison at Andersonville, Georgia (the 500 prisoners had left Richmond, Virginia, 7 days before).
* February 27 – American Civil War: First Battle of Dalton ends.
===March===
* March 2 – American Civil War: Battle of Walkerton.
* March 9 – American Civil War: President Abraham Lincoln appoints Ulysses S. Grant commander in chief of all Union armies.
* March 10 – American Civil War: The Red River Campaign begins as Union troops reach Alexandria, Louisiana.
* March 14 – American Civil War: Battle of Fort De Russy.
* March 25 – American Civil War: Battle of Paducah.
===April===
* April 8 – American Civil War: Battle of Mansfield.
* April 9
** American Civil War: Battle of Pleasant Hill.
** American Civil War: Battle of Prairie D'Ane begins.
* April 12
** American Civil War: Battle of Fort Pillow.
** American Civil War: Battle of Blair's Landing begins.
* April 13
** American Civil War: Battle of Blair's Landing ends.
** American Civil War: Battle of Prairie D'Ane ends.
* April 17 – American Civil War: Battle of Plymouth begins.
* April 18 – American Civil War: Battle of Poison Spring.
* April 20 – American Civil War: Battle of Plymouth ends.
* April 22 – The U.S. Congress passes the Coinage Act of 1864 which mandates that the inscription "In God We Trust" be placed on all coins minted as United States currency.
* April 23 – American Civil War: Battle of Monett's Ferry.
* April 25 – American Civil War: Battle of Marks' Mills.
* April 30 – American Civil War: Battle of Jenkins' Ferry.
===May===
* May 1 – Man and Nature: or, Physical geography as modified by human action by George Perkins Marsh is published. One of the first works to document the effects of human action on the environment and it helped to launch the modern conservation movement.
* May 5
** American Civil War: Battle of Albemarle Sound.
** American Civil War: The Battle of the Wilderness begins in Spotsylvania County, Virginia.
* May 6 – American Civil War: Battle of Port Walthall Junction begins.
* May 7
** American Civil War: The Army of the Potomac, under General Ulysses S. Grant, breaks off from the Battle of the Wilderness and moves southwards.
** American Civil War: Battle of Port Walthall Junction ends.
** American Civil War: Battle of Rocky Face Ridge begins.
* May 8 – American Civil War: Battle of Spotsylvania Court House begins: Some 4,000 die in an inconclusive engagement.
* May 9
** American Civil War: Battle of Swift Creek.
** American Civil War: Battle of Cloyd's Mountain.
* May 10
** American Civil War: Battle of Chester Station.
** American Civil War: Battle of Cove Mountain.
* May 11 – American Civil War: Battle of Yellow Tavern: Confederate General J. E. B. Stuart is mortally wounded at Yellow Tavern, Virginia.
* May 12
** American Civil War: Battle of Spotsylvania Court House: The "Bloody Angle" – thousands of Union and Confederate soldiers die.
** American Civil War: Battle of Proctor's Creek begins.
* May 13
** American Civil War: Battle of Rocky Face Ridge ends.
** American Civil War: Battle of Resaca: The battle begins with Union General Sherman fighting toward Atlanta.
* May 15 – American Civil War: Battle of New Market.
* May 16
** American Civil War: Battle of Proctor's Creek ends.
** American Civil War: Battle of Mansura.
* May 17 – American Civil War: Battle of Adairsville.
* May 18
** Civil War gold hoax: The New York World and the New York Journal of Commerce publish a fake proclamation that President Abraham Lincoln has issued a draft of 400,000 more soldiers.
** American Civil War: Battle of Yellow Bayou.
* May 20 – American Civil War: Battle of Ware Bottom Church: In the Virginia Bermuda Hundred Campaign, 10,000 troops fight in this Confederate victory.
* May 21 – American Civil War: Battle of Spotsylvania Court House ends.
* May 23 – American Civil War: Battle of North Anna begins.
* May 24 – American Civil War: Battle of Wilson's Wharf.
* May 25 – American Civil War: Battle of New Hope Church begins.
* May 26
** Montana Territory is organized out of parts of Washington Territory and Dakota Territory, and is signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln.
** American Civil War: Battle of New Hope Church begins.
** American Civil War: Battle of North Anna ends.
* May 27 – American Civil War: Battle of Pickett's Mill.
* May 28
** American Civil War: Battle of Dallas.
** American Civil War: Battle of Haw's Shop.
** American Civil War: Battle of Totopotomoy Creek begins.
* May 30
** American Civil War: Battle of Totopotomoy Creek ends.
** American Civil War: Battle of Old Church.
* May 31 – American Civil War: Battle of Cold Harbor begins.
===June===
* June 5
** American Civil War: Battle of Piedmont: Union forces under General David Hunter defeat a Confederate army at Piedmont, Augusta County, Virginia, taking nearly 1,000 prisoners.
** American Civil War: Battle of Old River Lake begins.
* June 6 – American Civil War: Battle of Old River Lake ends.
** American Civil War: 
* June 9
** American Civil War: Battle of Marietta begins.
** American Civil War: The First Battle of Petersburg. Union forces under General Grant and troops led by Confederate General Robert E. Lee battle for the last time.
* June 10
** American Civil War: Battle of Noonday Creek near Kennesaw, Georgia.
** 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.
* June 11
** American Civil War: Battle of Cynthiana begins.
** American Civil War: Battle of Trevilian Station begins.
* June 12
** American Civil War: Battle of Cold Harbor ends: General Ulysses S. Grant pulls his troops from their positions at Cold Harbor, Virginia and moves south.
** American Civil War: Battle of Cynthiana ends.
** American Civil War: Battle of Trevilian Station ends.
* June 15
** Arlington National Cemetery is established when 200 acres (0.8 km²) of the grounds of Robert E. Lee's home Arlington House are officially set-aside as a military cemetery by U.S. Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton.
** American Civil War: Second Battle of Petersburg begins.
* June 17 – American Civil War: Battle of Lynchburg begins.
* June 18
** American Civil War: Battle of Lynchburg ends.
** American Civil War: Second Battle of Petersburg ends.
* June 21 – American Civil War: Battle of Jerusalem Plank Road begins.
* June 22 – American Civil War: Battle of Kolb's Farm.
* June 23 – American Civil War: Battle of Jerusalem Plank Road ends.
* June 24 – American Civil War: Battle of Saint Mary's Church.
* June 25 – American Civil War: Battle of Staunton River Bridge.
* June 27 – American Civil War: Battle of Kennesaw Mountain near Kennesaw, Georgia.
* June 28 – American Civil War: Battle of Sappony Church.
* June 29 – American Civil War: First Battle of Ream's Station.
* June 30 – President Abraham Lincoln signs the Yosemite Grant Act, precursor to Yosemite National Park.
===July===
* July 1 – President Abraham Lincoln signs a law that abolishes the commutation fee that could be paid to in lieu of conscription.
* July 9 – American Civil War: Battle of Monocacy.
* July 11 – American Civil War: Battle of Fort Stevens begins.
* July 12 – American Civil War: Battle of Fort Stevens ends.
* July 14 – American Civil War: Battle of Tupelo begins.
* July 15 – American Civil War: Battle of Tupelo ends.
* July 17 – American Civil War: Battle of Cool Spring begins.
* July 18 – American Civil War: Battle of Cool Spring ends.
* July 20
** American Civil War: Battle of Peachtree Creek: Near Atlanta, Georgia, Confederate forces led by General John Bell Hood unsuccessfully attack Union troops under General William T. Sherman.
** American Civil War: Battle of Rutherford's Farm.
* July 22 – American Civil War: Battle of Atlanta: Outside of Atlanta, Georgia, Confederate General Hood leads an unsuccessful attack on Union troops under General Sherman on Bald Hill.
* July 24 – American Civil War: Battle of Kernstown: Confederate General Jubal Early defeats Union troops led by General George Crook in an effort to keep the Yankees out of the Shenandoah Valley.
* July 27 – American Civil War: First Battle of Deep Bottom begins.
* July 28
** American Civil War: Battle of Ezra Church: Confederate troops led by General Hood make a third unsuccessful attempt to drive Union forces under General Sherman from Atlanta, Georgia.
** American Civil War: Battle of Killdeer Mountain begins.
* July 29
** American Civil War: Battle of Killdeer Mountain ends.
** American Civil War: First Battle of Deep Bottom ends.
* July 30 – American Civil War: Battle of the Crater: Union forces attempt to break Confederate lines by exploding a large bomb under their trenches.
===August===
* August 1
** The Elgin Watch Company is founded in Elgin, Illinois.
** American Civil War: Battle of Folck's Mill.
* August 2 – American Civil War: Battle of Mobile Bay begins.
* August 5
** American Civil War: Battle of Mobile Bay: 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.
** American Civil War: Battle of Utoy Creek begins.
* August 7 – American Civil War: Battle of Utoy Creek ends.
* August 14
** American Civil War: Second Battle of Dalton begins.
** American Civil War: Second Battle of Deep Bottom begins.
* August 15 – American Civil War: Second Battle of Dalton ends.
* August 16 – American Civil War: Battle of Guard Hill.
* August 18 – American Civil War: Battle of Globe Tavern begins: Forces under Union General Ulysses S. Grant try to cut a vital Confederate supply-line into Petersburg, Virginia, by attacking the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad, forcing the Confederates to use wagons.
* August 20
** American Civil War: Second Battle of Deep Bottom ends.
** American Civil War: Battle of Lovejoy's Station.
* August 21
** American Civil War: Battle of Globe Tavern ends.
** American Civil War: Second Battle of Memphis.
** American Civil War: Battle of Summit Point.
* August 25
** American Civil War: Second Battle of Ream's Station.
** American Civil War: Battle of Smithfield Crossing begins.
* August 29 – American Civil War: Battle of Smithfield Crossing ends.
* August 31
** American Civil War: Union forces led by General William T. Sherman launch an assault on Atlanta, Georgia.
** American Civil War: Battle of Jonesborough begins.
===September===
* September 1
** American Civil War: Confederate General Hood evacuates Atlanta after a 4-month siege mounted by Union General Sherman.
** American Civil War: Battle of Jonesborough ends.
* September 2 – American Civil War: Union forces under General Sherman enter Atlanta a day after the Confederate defenders fled the city.
* September 3 – American Civil War: Battle of Berryville begins.
* September 4 – American Civil War: Battle of Berryville ends.
* September 8 – American Civil War: Atlanta, Georgia is evacuated on orders of Union General William Tecumseh Sherman.
* September 19 – American Civil War: Battle of Opequon.
* September 21 – American Civil War: Battle of Fisher's Hill begins.
* September 22 – American Civil War: Battle of Fisher's Hill ends.
* September 27 – American Civil War: Battle of Fort Davidson.
* September 29 – American Civil War: Battle of Chaffin's Farm begins.
* September 30
** American Civil War: Battle of Chaffin's Farm ends.
** American Civil War: Battle of Peebles' Farm begins.
===October===
* October 2
** American Civil War: Battle of Peebles' Farm ends.
** American Civil War: Battle of Saltville: Union forces attack Saltville, Virginia but are defeated by Confederate troops.
* October 5 – American Civil War: Battle of Allatoona.
* October 7 – American Civil War: Battle of Darbytown and New Market.
* October 9 – American Civil War: Battle of Tom's Brook: Union cavalrymen in the Shenandoah Valley defeat Confederate forces at Tom's Brook, Virginia.
* October 13 – American Civil War: Battle of Darbytown Road.
* October 15 – American Civil War: Battle of Glasgow, Missouri: Confederate forces take the town.
* October 19
** American Civil War: Battle of Cedar Creek: Union forces under Philip Sheridan defeat a surprise Confederate attack although incurring nearly twice as many casualties, ending the Shenandoah Valley Campaigns of 1864.
** American Civil War: Second Battle of Lexington.
* October 21 – American Civil War: Battle of Little Blue River.
* October 22
** American Civil War: Second Battle of Independence.
** American Civil War: Battle of Byram's Ford begins.
* October 23
** American Civil War: Battle of Byram's Ford ends.
** American Civil War: Battle of Westport
* October 25
** American Civil War: Battle of Mine Creek: the second largest cavalry engagement of the war, two divisions of Major General Sterling Price's Army of Missouri are routed by two Federal brigades under the command of Colonels Frederick Benteen and John Finis Philips.
** American Civil War: Battle of Marais des Cygnes.
** American Civil War: Battle of Marmiton River.
* October 26 – American Civil War: Battle of Decatur begins.
* October 27
** American Civil War: Second Battle of Fair Oaks begins.
** American Civil War: Battle of Boydton Plank Road begins.
* October 28
** American Civil War: Second Battle of Fair Oaks ends: Union forces under General Ulysses S. Grant withdraw from Fair Oaks, Virginia, after failing to breach the Confederate defenses around Richmond, Virginia.
** American Civil War: Battle of Boydton Plank Road ends.
** American Civil War: Second Battle of Newtonia: Union forces defeat the remnants of Price's Missouri Expedition.
* October 29 – American Civil War: Battle of Decatur ends.
* October 30 – Helena, Montana is founded after four prospectors (the so-called Four Georgians) discover gold at Last Chance Gulch; it is their last and agreed final attempt at weeks of trying to find gold in the northern Rockies.
* October 31 – Nevada admitted becomes the 36th U.S. state.
===November===
* November 4 – American Civil War: Battle of Johnsonville begins: At Johnsonville, Tennessee, troops under the command of Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest bombard a Union supply base with artillery and destroy millions of dollars in material.
* November 5 – American Civil War: Battle of Johnsonville ends.
* November 7 – The capital of Idaho Territory is moved from Lewiston to Boise; North Idaho declares the move illegal and proposes secession.
* November 8 – U.S. presidential election, 1864: Abraham Lincoln is reelected in an overwhelming victory over George B. McClellan.
* November 11 – American Civil War: Battle of Bull's Gap begins.
* November 13 – American Civil War: Battle of Bull's Gap ends.
* November 15 – American Civil War: Sherman's March to the Sea begins: Union General Sherman burns Atlanta and starts to move south, causing extensive devastation to crops and mills and living off the land.
* November 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 Sherman from Georgia.
** American Civil War: Battle of Griswoldville.
* November 24 – American Civil War: Battle of Columbia begins.
* November 25 – American Civil War: A group of Confederate operatives calling themselves the Confederate Army of Manhattan starts fires in more than 20 locations in an unsuccessful attempt to burn down New York City.
* November 28 – American Civil War: Battle of Buck Head Creek.
* November 29
** American Civil War: Battle of Columbia ends.
** American Civil War: Battle of Spring Hill.
** Indian Wars: Sand Creek Massacre: Colorado volunteers led by Colonel John Chivington massacre at least 400 Cheyenne and Arapahoe noncombatants at Sand Creek, Colorado (where they had been given permission to camp).
* November 30
** American Civil War: Second Battle of Franklin: The Army of Tennessee led by General Hood mounts a dramatically unsuccessful frontal assault on Union positions around Franklin, Tennessee (Hood loses 6 generals and almost a third of his troops).
** American Civil War: Battle of Honey Hill.
===December===
* December 4 – American Civil War: Sherman's March to the Sea: At Waynesboro, Georgia, forces under Union General Judson Kilpatrick prevent troops led by Confederate General Joseph Wheeler from interfering with Union General Sherman's campaign of destroying a wide swath of the South on his march to Savannah, Georgia (Union forces suffer more than 3 times the casualties as the Confederates, however).
* December 5 – American Civil War: Third Battle of Murfreesboro begins.
* December 7 – American Civil War: Third Battle of Murfreesboro ends.
* December 13 – American Civil War: Second Battle of Fort McAllister.
* December 15 – American Civil War: Battle of Nashville begins: Union forces decisively defeat the Confederate Army of Tennessee.
* December 16 – American Civil War: Battle of Nashville ends.
* December 17 – American Civil War: Battle of Marion begins.
* December 18 – American Civil War: Battle of Marion ends.
* December 20 – American Civil War: Second Battle of Saltville begins.
* December 21
** American Civil War: Sherman's March to the Sea: The campaign ends as Major General William Tecumseh Sherman captures the port of Savannah, Georgia.
** American Civil War: Second Battle of Saltville ends.
* December 23 – American Civil War: First Battle of Fort Fisher begins.
* December 27 – American Civil War: First Battle of Fort Fisher ends.
==Memoriam==
===January to June===
* January 1 – Solon Borland, U.S. Senator from Arkansas from 1848 to 1853 (aged 55; Harris County, TX, CSA)
* January 2 – Lemuel J. Bowden, U.S. Senator from Virginia from 1863 to 1864 (aged 48; Washington, DC, USA)
* January 7 – Caleb Blood Smith, journalist and politician in the Cabinet of Abraham Lincoln from 1862 to 1864 (aged 55; Indianapolis, IN, USA)
* January 13 – Stephen Foster, songwriter (aged 37; New York City, NY, USA)
* January 31 – Hamilton Rowan Gamble, 16th Governor of Missouri from 1861 to 1864 (aged 65; St. Louis, MO, USA)
* February 19 – William Edwin Baldwin, Confederate brigadier general in the Civil War (aged 36; Mobile County, AL, CSA)
* February 25 – Anna Harrison, wife of William Henry Harrison, First Lady of the United States (aged 88; North Bend, OH, USA)
* March 2 – Ulric Dahlgren, colonel in the Union Army during the Civil War (aged 21; Stevensville, VA, CSA)
* April 12 – Thomas Green, brigadier general in the Confederate States Army during the Civil War (aged 49; Red River, LA, CSA)
* March 4 – John James Appleton, diplomat (aged 71; Rennes, France)
* May 5
** Alexander Hays, Union Army general killed in the Battle of the Wilderness (aged 44; VA, CSA)
** Leroy A. Stafford, Confederate brigadier general killed in the Battle of the Wilderness (aged 42; Richmond, VA, CSA)
* May 6 – Henry Livermore Abbott, major in the Union Army killed in the Battle of the Wilderness (aged 22; VA, CSA)
* May 8 – James S. Wadsworth, Union Army general mortally wounded in the Battle of the Wilderness (aged 56; Spotsylvania County, VA, CSA)
* May 9 – John Sedgwick, Union army general killed in the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House (aged 50, Spotsylvania County, VA, CSA)
* May 10
** Thomas G. Stevenson, Union Army general killed in the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House (aged 28; Spotsylvania County, VA, CSA)
** James Clay Rice, Union Army general killed in the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House (aged 35; Spotsylvania County, VA, CSA)
* May 12 – J. E. B. Stuart, United States Army officer who later became a Confederate States Army general during the American Civil War (aged 31; Richmond, VA, CSA)
* May 13 – Junius Daniel, Confederate brigadier general killed in the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House (aged 35; Spotsylvania County, VA, CSA)
* May 19 – Nathaniel Hawthorne, Dark romantic novelist (aged 59; Plymouth, NH, USA)
* June 14- Leonidas Polk, Confederate general is killed in the Battle of Pine mountain (aged 58; Pine Mountain, GA, CSA)
===July to December===
* July 22 – James B. McPherson, Union Army general killed in the Battle of Atlanta (aged 35; Atlanta, GA, CSA)
* August 5 – Griffin A. Stedman, colonel in the Union Army who was mortally wounded in the Battle of Petersburg (aged 26; Petersburg, VA, CSA)
* September 4
** Henry Johnson, U.S. Senator from Louisiana from 1818 to 1824 and from 1844 to 1849 (aged 80; Pointe Coupee Parish, LA, CSA)
** Albert Smith White, U.S. Senator from Indiana from 1839 to 1845 (aged 60; Stockwell, IN, USA)
** John Hunt Morgan, Confederate general in the American Civil War (aged 39; Greenville, TN, CSA)
* September 20 – Charles B. Mitchel, U.S. Senator from Arkansas from 1862 to 1864 (aged 49; Little Rock, AR, CSA)
* October 18 – Roger B. Taney, politician, lawyer and judge (aged 87; Washington, DC, USA)
* November 28 – Jacob Broom, congressman (aged 56; Washington, DC, USA)
* November 30 – States Rights Gist, lawyer, a militia general in South Carolina, and a Confederate Army brigadier general (aged 33; Franklin, TN, CSA)
* December 1 – William L. Dayton, politician (aged 57; Paris, France)
* December 31 – George M. Dallas, 11th Vice President of the United States from 1845 to 1849 (aged 72; Philadelphia, PA, USA)
==External links==
* 1864 in the United States
Category:United States History: Volume 9