Events from the year 1865 in the United States. [edit] Events [edit] January–March [edit] April–June - April 1 – American Civil War – Battle of Five Forks: In Petersburg, Virginia, Confederate General Robert E. Lee begins his final offensive.
- April 2 – American Civil War: Confederate President Jefferson Davis and most of his Cabinet flee the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia, which is taken by Union troops the next day.
- April 9 – American Civil War: General Robert E. Lee surrenders to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, effectively ending the American Civil War.
- April 14 – U. S. President Abraham Lincoln is shot at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. by John Wilkes Booth.
- April 14 – U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward and his family are attacked in his home by Lewis Powell.
- April 15 – Vice President Andrew Johnson becomes the 17th President of the United States, upon the death of President Abraham Lincoln.
- April 18 – Confederate President Jefferson Davis and his entire cabinet arrive in Charlotte with a contingent of 1,000 soldiers.
- April 26 – Union cavalry corner John Wilkes Booth in a barn, and cavalryman Boston Corbett shoots the assassin dead.
- April 26 – American Civil War: General Joseph Johnston surrenders his army to Major General William Tecumseh Sherman at Durham Station, North Carolina.
- April 27 – The steamboat Sultana, carrying 2,300 passengers, explodes and sinks in the Mississippi River, killing 1,700, most of whom were Union survivors of the Andersonville Prison.
- April 27 – Governor of New York Reuben Fenton signs a bill formally creating Cornell University in the U.S.
- May 4 – American Civil War: Lieutenant General Richard Taylor, commanding all Confederate forces in Alabama, Mississippi, and eastern Louisiana, surrenders his forces to Union General E.R.S. Canby at Citronelle, Alabama, effectively ending all Confederate resistance east of the Mississippi.
- May 5 – In North Bend, Ohio (a suburb of Cincinnati), the first train robbery in the United States takes place.
- May 5 – Jefferson Davis meets with his Confederate Cabinet (14 officials) for the last time, in Washington, Georgia, and the Confederate Government is officially dissolved.
- May 10 – American Civil War: Jefferson Davis is captured by Union troops near Irwinville, Georgia.
- May 13 – American Civil War – Battle of Palmito Ranch: In far south Texas, more than a month after Confederate General Lee's surrender, the last land battle of the civil war ends with a Confederate victory.
- May 23 – Union troops parade down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC to celebrate the end of the American Civil War.
- May 25 – Mobile magazine explosion: 300 are killed in Mobile, Alabama when an ordnance depot explodes.
- June 2 – American Civil War: Confederate forces west of the Mississippi under General Edmund Kirby Smith surrender at Galveston, Texas, becoming the last to do so.
- June 19 – American Civil War: Union Major General Gordon Granger lands at Galveston, Texas and informs the people of Texas of the Emancipation Proclamation. (an event now celebrated each year as Juneteenth).
- June 23 – American Civil War: At Fort Towson in Oklahoma Territory, Confederate General Stand Watie, a Cherokee Indian, surrenders the last significant Rebel army.
[edit] July–September - July 5 – The U.S. Secret Service is founded.
- July 7 – Following Abraham Lincoln's assassination on April 14, the 4 conspirators condemned to death during the trial are hanged, including David Herold, George Atzerodt, Lewis Payne and Mary Surratt. Her son, John Surratt, escapes execution by fleeing to Canada, and ultimately to Egypt.
- July 21 – In the market square of Springfield, Missouri, Wild Bill Hickok shoots Dave Tutt dead in what is regarded as the first true western showdown.
- July 30 – The steamer Brother Jonathan sinks off the California coast, killing 225.
[edit] October–December [edit] Undated [edit] Ongoing events [edit] External links |
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