1862
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'''1862''' was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar).
Events
January-March
January 1 - United Kingdom|Britain annexes Lagos island in modern-day Nigeria
January 10 - End of term for John Gately Downey, 7th List of Governors of California| Governor of California. He is succeeded by Amasa Leland Stanford.
January 30 - The first American ironclad warship, the ''USS Monitor'' is launched.
February 1 - Julia Ward Howe's "Battle Hymn of the Republic" is published for the first time (''Atlantic Monthly'').
February 6 - American Civil War: Ulysses S. Grant gives the United States its first victory of the war, by capturing Fort Henry, Tennessee, known as the Battle of Fort Henry.
February 15 - American Civil War: General Ulysses S. Grant attacks Fort Donelson, Tennessee and captures it the next day.
February 22 - American Civil War: Jefferson Davis officially inaugurated in Richmond, Virginia, to a six-year term as president of the Confederate States of America.
March 8 - American Civil War: The iron-clad CSS Virginia|CSS ''Virginia'' (formerly USS ''Merrimack'') is launched at Hampton Roads, Virginia.
March 9 - American Civil War: First battle between two ironclad warships USS Monitor|USS ''Monitor'' v CSS Virginia|CSS ''Virginia''
March 13 American Civil War: The US federal government forbids all Union army officers from returning fugitive slaves, thus effectively annulling the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 and setting the stage for the Emancipation Proclamation.
March 28 - American Civil War: Battle of Glorieta Pass - In New Mexico Union forces succeed in stopping the Confederate States of America|Confederate invasion of New Mexico territory. The battle began on March 26.
April-May
April 5 - American Civil War: Battle of Yorktown (1862)|Battle of Yorktown - The battle begins when Union forces under General George McClellan close in on the Confederate capital Richmond, Virginia.
April 6 - American Civil War: In Tennessee, the Battle of Shiloh begins.
April 7 - American Civil War: Battle of Shiloh - United States|Union Army under General Ulysses S. Grant defeats the Confederate States of America|Confederates near Shiloh, Tennessee.
May 2 - The California State Normal School (now "San Jose State") is created by an Act of the California Legislature.
May 5 - Battle of Puebla, Mexico|Mexican General Ignacio Zaragoza defeats the France|French Army; commemorated as the Cinco de Mayo.
May 11 - American Civil War: The ironclad CSS Virginia|CSS ''Virginia'' is scuttled in the James River (Virginia)|James River northwest of Norfolk, Virginia.
May 15 - U.S. President Abraham Lincoln signs a bill into law creating the United States Bureau of Agriculture (later renamed United States Department of Agriculture|USDA).
May 20 - U.S. President Abraham Lincoln signs the Homestead Act into law.
June-July
June 1 - American Civil War: Battle of Fair Oaks ends - Both sides claim victory.
June 4 - American Civil War: Confederate States of America|Confederate troops evacuate Fort Pillow on the Mississippi River, leaving the way clear for United States|Union troops to take Memphis, Tennessee.
June 6 - American Civil War: Battle of Memphis - United States|Union forces capture Memphis, Tennessee from the Confederate States of America|Confederates
June 8 - American Civil War: Battle of Cross Keys - Confederate States of America|Confederate forces under General Thomas J. Jackson|Stonewall Jackson save the Army of Northern Virginia from a United States|Union assault on the James Peninsula led by General George McClellan.
July 1 - Marriage of Princess Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine|Princess Alice, second daughter of Victoria of the United Kingdom|Queen Victoria to Ludwig IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine|Prince Ludwig of Hesse and by Rhine.
July 1 - United States president Abraham Lincoln signs into law the Pacific Railway Acts authorizing construction of the First Transcontinental Railroad.
July 1 - Russian State Library is founded
July 2 - U.S. President Abraham Lincoln signs the Morrill Land Grant Act into law, creating land-grant colleges to teach agricultural and mechanical sciences across the United States.
July 16 - American Civil War: David G. Farragut becomes the first United States Navy rear admiral.
July 19 - American Civil War: Morgan's Raid - At Buffington Island in Ohio, Confederate States of America|Confederate General John Hunt Morgan's raid into the north is mostly thwarted when a large group of his men are captured while trying to escape across the Ohio River.
July 23 - American Civil War: Henry W. Halleck takes command of the United States|Union Army.
August
August 2 - American Civil War: Skirmish at Taberville, MO -United States|Union forces force Confederate States of America|Confederate troops to march south, near Taberville, Missouri
August 5 - American Civil War: Battle of Baton Rouge - Along the Mississippi River near Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Confederate States of America|Confederate troops drive United States|Union forces back into the city.
August 6 - American Civil War: The Confederate States of America|Confederate ironclad CSS Arkansas|CSS ''Arkansas'' is scuttled on the Mississippi River after suffering damage in a battle with the USS Essex (1856)|USS ''Essex'' near Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
August 9 - American Civil War: Battle of Cedar Mountain - At Cedar Mountain, Virginia, Confederate States of America|Confederate General Thomas J. Jackson|Stonewall Jackson narrowly defeats United States|Union forces under General John Pope (military officer)|John Pope.
August 17 - Indian Wars: Lakota (Sioux) uprising begins in Minnesota as desperate Lakota attack white settlements along the Minnesota River. They will be overwhelmed by the US military six weeks later.
August 19 - Indian Wars: During an uprising in Minnesota, Lakota warriors decide not to attack heavily-defended Fort Ridgely and instead turn to the settlement of New Ulm, killing white settlers along the way.
August 21 - The Vienna Wiener Stadtpark|Stadtpark opens its gates.
August 28-August 30 - American Civil War: Second Battle of Bull Run
September-October
September 1 - American Civil War: Battle of Chantilly - Confederate States of America|Confederate General Robert E. Lee leads his forces in an attack on retreating United States| Union troops in Chantilly, Virginia, driving them away.
September 2 - American Civil War: President Abraham Lincoln reluctantly restores United States|Union General George McClellan to full command after General John Pope (military officer)|John Pope's disastrous defeat at the Battle of Second Bull Run.
September 5 - American Civil War: In the Confederate States of America|Confederacy's first invasion of the North, General Robert E. Lee leads 55,000 men of the Army of Northern Virginia across the Potomac River at White's Ford near Leesburg, Virginia into Maryland.
September 12 - American Civil War: Confederate States of America|Confederate capture a Union (American Civil War)|Union garrison in the Battle of Harpers Ferry.
September 17 - Union (American Civil War)|Union forces defeat Confederate States of America|Confederate troops at the Battle of Antietam, in the bloodiest day in the American Civil War (with over 20,000 casualties).
September 19 - American Civil War: Battle of Iuka - Union troops under General William Rosecrans defeat a Confederate States of America|Confederate force commanded by General Sterling Price at Iuka, Mississippi
September 22 - Otto von Bismarck becomes prime minister of Prussia.
September 22 – Emancipation Proclamation
September 29 - Bismarck's "Blood and Iron" speech
October 8 - American Civil War: Battle of Perryville - United States|Union forces under General Don Carlos Buell halt the Confederate States of America| Confederate invasion of Kentucky by defeating troops led by General Braxton Bragg at Perryville, Kentucky.
October 11 - American Civil War: In the aftermath of the Battle of Antietam, Confederate States of America|Confederate General J.E.B. Stuart and his men loot Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, during a raid into the north.
October 25 - In New Granada, rebels troops of southern states defeat the government troops
November-December
November 5 - American Civil War: Abraham Lincoln removes George McClellan as commander of the Union Army.
November 5 - Indian Wars: In Minnesota, more than 300 Santee Sioux are found guilty of rape and murder of white settlers and are sentenced to hang.
November 14 - American Civil War: United States|Union President Abraham Lincoln approves General Ambrose Burnside's plan to capture the Confederate States of America|Confederate capital at Richmond, Virginia (this led to a dramatic Union defeat at the Battle of Fredericksburg on December 13).
November 28 - American Civil War: Battle of Cane Hill - Union Army|Union troops led by General John Blunt push back Confederate Army|Confederate forces commanded by General John Marmaduke into northwestern Arkansas' Boston Mountains.
December 2 - First US Navy hospital ships enter service
December 18 - General Order No. 11 is issued by General Ulysses S. Grant.
December 26 – William D. Duly hangs 38 Dakota Sioux in Minnesota
December 26-December 29 - American Civil War: Battle of Chickasaw Bayou.
December 30 - The USS Monitor|USS ''Monitor'' sinks off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina
December 31 - American Civil War: Abraham Lincoln signs an act that admits West Virginia to the Union (thus dividing Virginia in two); meanwhile, the Battle of Stones River is fought near Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
Undated
Richard Jordan Gatling patents the Gatling gun.
The United States passes the Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act
A smallpox epidemic in California.
Bureau of Internal Revenue, forefunner of Internal Revenue Service|IRS, founded
Francisco Solano López becomes Paraguayan dictator
Donald McIntyre builds a property in northwest Queensland, which will later become the town of Julia Creek, Queensland|Julia Creek.
Ongoing Events
The American Civil War (1861-1865)
Births
January 15 - Loie Fuller, American dancer (d. 1928)
January 24 - Edith Wharton, American writer (d. 1937)
January 29 - Frederick Delius, English composer (d. 1934)
February 4 - George Ernest Morrison, Australian adventurer and journalist (d. 1920)
March 8 - George Frederick Phillips, Canadian-born military hero (d. 1904)
March 12 - Jane Delano, American founder of the American Red Cross Nursing Service (d. 1919)
March 17 - Silvio Gesell, economist (d. 1930)
March 28 - Aristide Briand, French politician, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1932)
April 2 - Nicholas M. Butler, American president of Columbia University, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1947)
April 26 - Edmund Charles Tarbell, American artist (d. 1938)
May 15 - Arthur Schnitzler, Austrian dramatist and narrator (d. 1931)
June 5 - Allvar Gullstrand, Swedish ophthalmologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1930)
June 7 - Philipp Lenard, Austrian physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics|Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1947)
June 21 - Damrong Rajanubhab, Thai prince and historian (d. 1943)
June 27 - May Irwin, Canadian actress and singer (d. 1938)
July 2 - William Henry Bragg, English physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1942)
July 14 - Gustav Klimt, Austrian artist (d. 1918)
August 21 - Emilio Salgari, Italian writer (d. 1911)
August 22 - Claude Debussy, French composer (d. 1918)
August 29 - Andrew Fisher, fifth Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1928)
August 29 - Maurice Maeterlinck, Belgian writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1949)
September 11 - O. Henry, American writer (d. 1910)
September 25 - Billy Hughes, seventh Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1952)
October 3 - Johnny Briggs, English cricketer (d. 1902)
October 19 - Auguste Lumière, French inventor (d. 1954)
November 14 - George Washington Vanderbilt, American businessman (d. 1914)
November 15 - Gerhart Hauptmann, German writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1946)
November 16 - Charles Turner (cricketer)|Charles Turner, Australian cricketer (d. 1944)
Billy Sunday American baseball player, evangelist, prohibitionist, (d. 1935)
December 8 - Georges Feydeau, French playwright (d. 1921)
William E. Johnson, American leader of Anti-Saloon League (d. 1950)
Deaths
January 10 - Samuel Colt, American firearms inventor (b. 1814)
January 18 - John Tyler, 10th President of the United States (b. 1790)
February 7 - Prosper Meniere, French scientist (b. 1799)
April 10 - W.H.L. Wallace, American Civil War general (b. 1821)
May 6 - Henry David Thoreau, American author and philosopher (b. 1817)
July 24 - Martin Van Buren, eighth President of the United States (b. 1782)
August 10 - Shusaku Honinbo, Japanese Go player (b. 1829)
November 13 - Ludwig Uhland, German poet (b. 1787)
December 18 - Barbara Fritchie, U.S. patriot in Civil War (b. 1766)
John Bird Sumner, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1780)
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