WHAT ALL HAPPENED FEBRUARY TO APRIL 1862
Find out what all happened February to April 1862

American Civil War: The iron-clad CSS Virginia (formerly USS Merrimack) is launched at Hampton Roads, Virginia. (8. March 1862)

American Civil War: The Battle of Yorktown begins. (5. April 1862)

The First Battle of Kernstown, Virginia, marks the start of Stonewall Jackson's Valley Campaign. Though a Confederate defeat, the engagement distracts Federal efforts to capture Richmond. (23. March 1862)

American Civil War: Battle of Valverde is fought near Fort Craig in New Mexico Territory. (21. February 1862)

American Civil War: forces under the command of Ulysses S. Grant and Andrew H. Foote give the Union its first victory of the war, capturing Fort Henry, Tennessee in the Battle of Fort Henry. (6. February 1862)

American Civil War: The Battle of Shiloh begins – in Tennessee, forces under Union General Ulysses S. Grant meet Confederate troops led by General Albert Sidney Johnston. (6. April 1862)

American Civil War: Battle at Lee's Mills in Virginia. (16. April 1862)

American Civil War: A Union naval flotilla destroys the bulk of the Confederate Mosquito Fleet in the Battle of Elizabeth City on the Pasquotank River in North Carolina. (10. February 1862)

American Civil War: The U.S. federal government forbids all Union army officers from returning fugitive slaves, thus effectively annulling the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 and setting the stage for the Emancipation Proclamation. (13. March 1862)

American Civil War: Battle of Shiloh ends – the Union Army under General Ulysses S. Grant defeats the Confederates near Shiloh, Tennessee. (7. April 1862)

American Civil War: Battle of Glorieta Pass – in New Mexico, Union forces stop the Confederate invasion of New Mexico territory. The battle began on March 26. (28. March 1862)

American Civil War: New Orleans, Louisiana falls to Union forces under Admiral David Farragut. (29. April 1862)

American Civil War: Union forces defeat Confederate troops at the Pea Ridge in northwestern Arkansas. (7. March 1862)

American Civil War: General Ulysses S. Grant captures Fort Donelson, Tennessee. (16. February 1862)

American Civil War: The Andrews Raid (the Great Locomotive Chase) occurs, starting from Big Shanty, Georgia (now Kennesaw). (12. April 1862)

American Civil War: The District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act, a bill ending slavery in the District of Columbia, becomes law. (16. April 1862)

American Civil War: Forces under Union Admiral David Farragut demand the surrender of the Confederate city of New Orleans, Louisiana. (25. April 1862)

Louis Pasteur and Claude Bernard complete the experiment falsifying the theory of spontaneous generation. (20. April 1862)

American Civil War: General Ulysses S. Grant attacks Fort Donelson, Tennessee. (15. February 1862)

Jefferson Davis is officially inaugurated for a six-year term as the President of the Confederate States of America in Richmond, Virginia. He was previously inaugurated as a provisional president on February 18, 1861. (22. February 1862)