| July 5, 1861 |
The first Confederate prisoners arrive at Camp Chase |
| July 21, 1861 |
The First Battle of Bull Run results in the capture of 1,050 Union prisoners |
| August 28, 1861 |
The War Department releases all Federal paroled prisoners from service |
| October 21, 1861 |
Colonel William Hoffman is appointed commissary general of prisons and prisoners by War Department Special Order 284 |
| February 16, 1862 |
Fort Donelson, Tennessee, surrenders to Ulysses S. Grant, including 15,000 prisoners |
| February 21, 1862 |
The first Confederate prisoners arrive at Camp Douglas |
| February 22, 1862 |
The first Confederate prisoners arrive at Camp Morton |
| February 24, 1862 |
Camp Douglas has over 7,000 prisoners and only one surgeon |
| February 27, 1862 |
John H. Winder is appointed provost-marshal of Richmond, putting him in charge of nearly all Confederate prisoner of war camps |
| March 26, 1862 |
The first Union prisoners arrive at Libby |
| April 6-7, 1862 |
The Battle of Shiloh includes the capture of more than 3,000 prisoners |
| April 16, 1862 |
The Confederate Congress authorizes conscription |
| April 25, 1862 |
The city of New Orleans surrenders to Union forces |
| June 16, 1862 |
Hoffman orders all Confederate officer prisoners sent to Johnson’s Island |
| July 11, 1862 |
Confederate prisons in Richmond hold more than 8,000 Federal prisoners |
| July 22, 1862 |
Dix-Hill Cartel is signed, establishing guidelines for prisoner exchange |
| August 3, 1862 |
The first exchange of prisoners under the Dix-Hill Cartel occurs at Aiken’s Landing on the James River, freeing a total of more than 6,000 prisoners |
| August 26, 1862 |
Captain Henry Wirz assumes command of the POW camps in Richmond |
| November 10, 1862 |
Hoffman orders camp commanders to withhold rations for the purpose of creating prison funds for prisoners’ welfare |
| December 23, 1862 |
Confederate President Jefferson Davis announces that captured African American troops will be punished for servile insurrection |
| January 1, 1863 |
he Emancipation Proclamation goes into effect, authorizing the enlistment of African-American troops |
| February 28, 1863 |
Camp Douglas returns show 387 of 3,884 prisoners died in the month of February, most due to a smallpox outbreak |
| May 2-4, 1863 |
The Battle of Chancellorsville results in the capture of 6,000 Federal and 2,000 Confederate prisoners |
| July 1-3, 1863 |
During the Battle of Gettysburg, each side captures more than 5,000 prisoners |
| July 4, 1863 |
Vicksburg surrenders, including 29,500 Confederate prisoners |
| December 3, 1863 |
The first Confederate prisoners arrive at Rock Island |
| February 9, 1864 |
109 Union prisoners escape from Libby Prison, 59 reach Union lines |
| February 25, 1864 |
The first Union prisoners arrive at Andersonville |
| March 14, 1864 |
Union prisoner John Ransom arrives at Andersonville |
| March 27, 1864 |
Captain Henry Wirz is assigned to command at Andersonville |
| April 12, 1864 |
Confederate troops under General Nathan Bedford Forrest massacre hundreds of African-American troops attempting to surrender at Fort Pillow, Tennessee |
| April 17, 1864 |
General Ulysses S. Grant unilaterally halts prisoner exchanges until the Confederacy releases enough prisoners to equal earlier Federal releases and ts all POWs equally, regardless of skin color |
| May 8, 1864 |
Of the 12,954 POWs received at Andersonville, 728 have died thus far |
| May 10, 1864 |
Hoffman authorizes a pay rate of $.10 for ten hours’ work by Confederate POWs |
| June 1, 1864 |
Confederate POW rations are reduced in Federal camps |
| July 6, 1864 |
The first Confederate prisoners arrive at Elmira |
| July 11, 1864 |
The Union prisoner gang known as the Raiders are hanged by their fellow inmates at Andersonville |
| August 9, 1864 |
Andersonville returns show 33,006 prisoners, the highest total at the prison |
| August 31, 1864 |
Wirz reports that 2,993 prisoners died in August at Andersonville |
| September 13, 1864 |
The first Union prisoners arrive at Camp Lawton |
| November 21, 1864 |
John H. Winder becomes Commissary General of Confederate prisons |
| January 21, 1865 |
Bowing to political pressure, Grant reinstitutes limited exchanges |
| February 7, 1865 |
John H. Winder dies of a heart attack |
| April 9, 1865 |
General Robert E. Lee surrenders the Army of Northern Virginia, with less than 8,000 effectives on-hand |
| April 14, 1865 |
President Abraham Lincoln is shot by John Wilkes Booth, and dies the next day |
| April 27, 1865 |
The Sultana sinks in the Mississippi River, resulting in the death of more than 1,500 Union prisoners of war |
| May 5, 1865 |
Colonel George Gibbs abandons his post as commander of Andersonville |
| August 14, 1865 |
Clara Barton participates in the dedication of the Andersonville National Cemetery |
| August 25, 1865 |
The war crimes trial of Henry Wirz begins |
| July 11, 1865 |
The last Confederate prisoners leave Elmira |
| November 10, 1865 |
Captain Henry Wirz is hanged for war crimes |
| September 20, 1889 |
The Libby Prison Museum opens in Chicago, Illinois |
| February 3, 1899 |
The New Jersey Monument is dedicated in the Andersonville National Cemetery |
| June 7, 1902 |
A monument to Confederate prisoners is dedicated at Camp Chase |
| November 26, 1908 |
The Indiana Monument is dedicated in the Andersonville National Cemetery |
| May 12, 1909 |
The Henry Wirz Monument is dedicated in the town of Andersonville, Georgia |
| April 29, 1914 |
The New York Monument is dedicated in the Andersonville National Cemetery |
| November 8, 1985 |
President Ronald Reagan signs legislation creating the Prisoner of War Medal |
| April 9, 1998 |
The National Prisoner of War Museum is dedicated at the Andersonville National Historic Site |