What Happened in 1862 — Events, Births & Deaths

Hartley Colliery disaster: Two hundred and four men and boys killed in a mining disaster, prompting a change in UK law which henceforth required all collieries to have at least two independent means of escape.

American Civil War: Battle of Mill Springs: The Confederacy suffers its first significant defeat in the conflict.

American Civil War: The first American ironclad warship, the USS Monitor is launched.

Moldavia and Wallachia formally unite to create the Romanian United Principalities.

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.

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.

American Civil War: Confederates commanded by Brig. Gen. John B. Floyd attack General Ulysses S. Grant's Union forces besieging Fort Donelson in Tennessee. Unable to break the fort's encirclement, the Confederates surrender the following day.

American Civil War: General Ulysses S. Grant captures Fort Donelson, Tennessee.

American Civil War: Battle of Valverde is fought near Fort Craig in New Mexico Territory.

American Civil War: 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.

American Civil War: USS Monitor and CSS Virginia (rebuilt from the engines and lower hull of the USS Merrimack) fight to a draw in the Battle of Hampton Roads, the first battle between two ironclad warships.

Paddle steamer Brother Jonathan docks in Fort Victoria (now Victoria, British Columbia), carrying smallpox-infected passengers from San Francisco. The ensuing epidemic killed an estimated two-thirds of First Nations in the province of British Columbia.

The Act Prohibiting the Return of Slaves is passed by the United States Congress, effectively annulling the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 and setting the stage for the Emancipation Proclamation.

The first railway line of Finland between cities of Helsinki and Hämeenlinna, called Päärata, is officially opened.

American Civil War: In the Battle of Glorieta Pass, Union forces stop the Confederate invasion of the New Mexico Territory. The battle began on March 26.

American Civil War: The Battle of Yorktown begins.

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

American Civil War: Battle at Lee's Mills in Virginia.

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

Louis Pasteur and Claude Bernard complete the experiment disproving the theory of spontaneous generation.

American Civil War: Forces under U.S. Admiral David Farragut demand the surrender of the Confederate city of New Orleans, Louisiana.

American Civil War: The Capture of New Orleans by Union forces under David Farragut.

American Civil War: The Siege of Corinth begins as Union forces under General Henry Halleck move to engage Confederate forces led by General P. G. T. Beauregard.

Cinco de Mayo: Troops led by Ignacio Zaragoza halt a French invasion in the Battle of Puebla in Mexico.

American Civil War: Union Army troops occupy Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Southern slave Robert Smalls steals the steamboat Planter, spirits it through Confederate lines and hands it to the United States Navy, who quickly commission it as the gunboat USS Planter and appoint Smalls as captain, thus making him the first black man to command a United States ship.

U.S. President Abraham Lincoln signs the Homestead Act into law, opening eighty-four million acres (340,000 km2) of public land to settlers.

American Civil War: The First Battle of Memphis, a naval engagement fought on the Mississippi River, results in the capture of Memphis, Tennessee by Union forces from the Confederates.

The United States and the United Kingdom agree in the Lyons–Seward Treaty to suppress the African slave trade.

American Civil War: A Confederate victory by forces under General Stonewall Jackson at the Battle of Cross Keys, along with the Battle of Port Republic the next day, prevents Union forces from reinforcing General George B. McClellan in his Peninsula campaign.

American Civil War: Stonewall Jackson concludes his successful Shenandoah Valley Campaign with a victory in the Battle of Port Republic.

President Abraham Lincoln signs the Territorial Slavery Act of 1862, which prohibits slavery in all current and future United States territories.

Barbu Catargiu, the Prime Minister of Romania, is assassinated.

The Medal of Honor is authorized by the United States Congress.

American Civil War: The CSS Arkansas, the most effective ironclad on the Mississippi River, battles with Union Navy ships commanded by Admiral David Farragut, severely damaging three ships and sustaining heavy damage herself.

American Civil War: David Farragut is promoted to rear admiral, becoming the first officer in United States Navy to hold an admiral rank.

First ascent of Dent Blanche, one of the highest summits in the Alps.

American Civil War: The Confederate ironclad CSS Arkansas is scuttled on the Mississippi River after suffering catastrophic engine failure near Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

American Civil War: Battle of Cedar Mountain: At Cedar Mountain, Virginia, Confederate General Stonewall Jackson narrowly defeats Union forces under General John Pope.

Dakota War: 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.

The Stadtpark, the first public park in Vienna, opens to the public.

American Civil War: Battle of Richmond: Confederates under Edmund Kirby Smith rout Union forces under General William "Bull" Nelson.

American Civil War: Confederate forces under General Stonewall Jackson inflict heavy casualties in the Battle of Chantilly during the Union withdrawal from the Northern Virginia campaign.

American Civil War: The Maryland campaign begins as Confederate General Robert E. Lee leads the Army of Northern Virginia into Maryland, starting his first invasion of the North.

American Civil War: Union soldiers find a copy of Robert E. Lee's battle plans in a field outside Frederick, Maryland. It is the prelude to the Battle of Antietam.

American Civil War: The Battle of South Mountain, part of the Maryland Campaign, is fought.

American Civil War: Confederate forces capture Harpers Ferry, Virginia.

American Civil War: Union troops under William Rosecrans defeat a Confederate force commanded by Sterling Price.

A preliminary version of the Emancipation Proclamation is released by Abraham Lincoln.

American Civil War: The two-day Second Battle of Corinth begins as Confederate forces under General Earl Van Dorn attack Union defenses led by General William Rosecrans around Corinth, Mississippi.

American Civil War: The two-day Second Battle of Corinth ends in a Union victory, with General William Rosecrans protecting the critical rail junction of Corinth, Mississippi from Confederate forces under General Earl Van Dorn.

American Civil War: The Confederate invasion of Kentucky is halted at the Battle of Perryville.

American Civil War: Confederate troops conduct a raid on Chambersburg, Pennsylvania.

American Civil War: Abraham Lincoln removes George B. McClellan as commander of the Army of the Potomac.

American Civil War: In the Battle of Cane Hill, Union troops under General James G. Blunt defeat General John Marmaduke's Confederates.

American Civil War: USS Cairo sinks on the Yazoo River.

American Civil War: At the Battle of Fredericksburg, Confederate General Robert E. Lee repulses attacks by Union Major General Ambrose Burnside on Marye's Heights, inflicting heavy casualties.

American Civil War: The Battle of Fredericksburg ends in a Union defeat as General Ambrose Burnside withdraws the Army of the Potomac across the Rappahannock River.

American Civil War: The Battle of Chickasaw Bayou begins as Union General William T. Sherman starts landing his troops in an attempt to advance on Vicksburg, Mississippi.

Dakota War of 1862: The largest mass-hanging in U.S. history takes place in Mankato, Minnesota, where 38 Native American prisoners are hanged.

American Civil War: The Battle of Chickasaw Bayou ends in a Union defeat as forces under General William T. Sherman are repulsed with heavy losses by Confederate troops under General John C. Pemberton.