Robert E. Lee’s Confederate Army of Northern Virginia begins withdrawing into Virginia as President Abraham Lincoln laments a missed opportunity.

Exploring the most important 55 months in American history
Robert E. Lee’s Confederate Army of Northern Virginia begins withdrawing into Virginia as President Abraham Lincoln laments a missed opportunity.
Federal occupation forces complete the parole process at Vicksburg, establish medical relief, and regulate slave relations as news of the city’s capture reaches Washington.
Rear-Admiral Samuel F. Du Pont angrily refutes claims that he should not have retreated in the recent naval battle in Charleston Harbor.
Federal ironclad warships attack the Confederate forts guarding Charleston Harbor in what becomes the largest naval attack of the war.
News of the Emancipation Proclamation spreads throughout the country and does not quite get the reception that Abraham Lincoln had hoped for.
Abraham Lincoln approves a contract to deport slaves to Central America as pressure increases for him to order emancipation.