1863

Centuries: 18th century - 19th century - 20th century

Decades: 1810s 1820s 1830s 1840s 1850s - 1860s - 1870s 1880s 1890s 1900s 1910s

Years: 1858 1859 1860 1861 1862 - 1863 - 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868

Events

January 1 - Abraham Lincoln delivers the Emancipation Proclamation during the second year of the American Civil War.
January 1 - The first claim under the Homestead Act is made for a farm in Nebraska
January 11 - American Civil War: Battle of Arkansas Post - General John McClernand and Admiral David Porter capture the Arkansas River for the Union.
January 10 - The first section of the London Underground Railway opens (Paddington to Farringdon Street).
February 10 - The world-famous midgets General Tom Thumb and Lavinia Warren get married in New York City.
February 10 - Alanson Crane patents the fire extinguisher.
February 24 - Arizona is organized as a United States territory.
February 26 - President of the United States Abraham Lincoln signs the National Currency Act into law.
March 3 - Idaho is organized as a United States territory.
March 10 - Marriage of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales to Princess Alexandra of Denmark
March 30 - Prince Wilhelm Georg of Denmark is chosen as King George I of Greece.
May 2 - May 4 - General Robert E. Lee defeats Union forces at the Battle of Chancellorsville
May 18 - American Civil War: The Siege of Vicksburg begins (ends July 4).
May 21 - American Civil War: Siege of Port Hudson - Union forces begin to lay siege to the Confederate-controlled Port Hudson, Louisiana.
May 28 - American Civil War: The 54th Massachusetts, the first African American regiment, leaves Boston, Massachusetts to fight for the Union.
May 31 - First running of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe horse race
June 20 - West Virginia is admitted as the 35th U.S. state.
July 2 - July 3 - Union forces turn back a Confederate invasion at the Battle of Gettysburg
July 4 - American Civil War: Battle of Vicksburg - Ulysses S. Grant and the Union army capture the Confederate city Vicksburg, Mississippi after the town surrendered. The siege lasted 47 days.
July 13 - American Civil War: In New York City, draft opponents begin three days of rioting which will be later regarded as the worst in United States history.
July 18 - American Civil War: The first formal African American military unit, the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, unsuccessfully assaults Confederate-held Fort Wagner but their valiant fighting still proves the worth of African American soldiers during the war.
July 26 - American Civil War: Morgan's Raid ends - At Salineville, Ohio, Confederate cavalry leader John Hunt Morgan and 360 of his volunteers are captured by Union forces.
July 30 - Indian Wars: Chief Pocatello of the Shoshone tribe signs the Treaty of Box Elder, promising to stop harassing the emigrant trails in southern Idaho and northern Utah.
August 8 - American Civil War: Following his defeat in the Battle of Gettysburg, General Robert E. Lee sends a letter of resignation to Confederate President Jefferson Davis (Davis will refuse the request upon receipt).
August 17 - American Civil War: In Charleston, South Carolina, Union batteries and ships bombard Confederate-held Fort Sumter. Bombardment will not end until December 31, 1863.
September 6 - American Civil War: Confederates evacuate Battery Wagner and Morris Island in South Carolina.
September 8 - American Civil War: Second Battle of Sabine Pass - On the Texas-Louisiana border at the mouth of the Sabine River, a small Confederate force thwarts a Union invasion of Texas.
October 14 - American Civil War: Battle of Bristol Station - Confederate General Robert E. Lee forces fail to drive the Union army out of Virginia.
October 15 - American Civil War: The first successful submarine, the CSS Hunley sinks during a test, killing Horace Lawson Hunley (its inventor) and a crew of seven.
October 26 to October 29, the Resolutions of the Geneva International Conference are signed
October 29 - Sixteen countries meeting in Geneva agree to form the International Red Cross.
October 29 - American Civil War: Battle of Wauhatchie - Forces under Union General Ulysses S. Grant ward-off a Confederate attack led by General James Longstreet. Union forces thus open a supply line into Chattanooga, Tennessee.
November 16 - American Civil War: Battle of Campbell Station - Near Knoxville, Tennessee, Confederate troops led by General James Longstreet unsuccessfully attack Union forces under General Ambrose Burnside.
November 17 - American Civil War: Siege of Knoxville begins - Confederate forces led by General James Longstreet place Knoxville, Tennessee under siege (the two week long seige and one failed attack was unsuccessful).
November 19 - American Civil War: Union President Abraham Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address at the military cemetery dedication ceremony in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
November 23 - American Civil War: Battle of Chattanooga begins - Union forces led by General Ulysses S. Grant reinforce troops at Chattanooga, Tennessee and counter-attack Confederate troops.
November 24 - American Civil War: Battle of Lookout Mountain - Near Chattanooga, Tennessee, Union forces under General Ulysses S. Grant capture Lookout Mountain and begin to break the Confederate siege of the city led by General Braxton Bragg.
November 25 - American Civil War: Battle of Missionary Ridge - At Missionary Ridge in Tennessee, Union forces led by General Ulysses S. Grant break the Siege of Chattanooga by routing Confederate troops under General Braxton Bragg.
November 26 - American Civil War: Mine Run - Union forces under General George Meade position against troops led by Confederate General Robert E. Lee (Meade's forces could not find any weaknesses in the Confederate lines and give-up trying after five days).
November 27 - American Civil War: Confederate cavalry leader John Hunt Morgan and several of his men escape the Ohio state prison and return safely to the South.
Thomas Nast draws the modern Santa Claus for Harper's Weekly, although Santa existed previously.
Construction begins on the First Transcontinental Railroad in Sacramento, California

Year in topic

1863 in literature

Births

January 15 - Wilhelm Marx, German politician, chancellor of the Weimar Republic († 1946)
January 17 - David Lloyd George, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom († 1945)
March 12 - Gabriele D'Annunzio, poet († 1938)
March 25 - Simon Flexner, pathologist who isolated 1899 a common strain (Shigella dysenteriae) of dysentery bacillus († 1946)
March 27 - Sir Henry Royce, automobile pioneer († 1933)
May 24 - George Grey Barnard, American sculptor († 1938)
July 1 - William Stairs, Victorian explorer († 1892)
January 12 - Swami Vivekananda († 1902)

Deaths

May 10 - Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, Confederate Army general
August 13 - Eugene Delacroix, painter
September 17 - Alfred de Vigny, author