Faced with the Union’s enormous human potential, the Confederate Congress made a momentous, unavoidable decision: for the first time in American history, it voted for compulsory conscription. All free men between the ages of 18 and 45 were drafted into the Confederate army. On February 17, 1864, the age was raised from 17 to 50. To no avail.

Thomas Alva Edison, at age 15, arrived in Detroit by train like every morning. He found a crowd gathered around the newsstand: a few days earlier, the Battle of Shiloh in the American Civil War had taken place on the Tennessee River. It was, up until that point, the largest battle of the war and in the history of the United States. Thomas sensed his opportunity: he used the telegraph to notify the stations down the train that copies of the Detroit Free Press were arriving. He then bought several hundred, borrowing on faith. At the first station, he already sold 35 copies, whereas he usually sold between six and eight.

The Union gunboat Carondolet manages to pass unscathed past Island 10 on the Mississippi and arrives at New Madrid, already occupied by the Federals. Two days later, the island falls to General Pope, who takes 6,976 Confederate prisoners, including three generals, and 123 cannons. Meanwhile, Federal intelligence officer James Andrews, with a handful of disguised men, seizes a locomotive and speeds into Confederate territory toward Chattanooga, Tennessee. The attempt fails, and Andrews is executed as a spy.

Battle of Pittsburg Landing, on Tennessee’s southern border with Mississippi. The Confederate Army of Mississippi and the Union Army of Tennessee, numbering 45,000 men, led by Johnston, confronted each other, while the Union Army of Tennessee, numbering the same number, led by Grant, took the strategic initiative. The first to attack in force was actually Union General Sherman, familiar with Southern impetus and courage. Other sections of the Union front, however, quickly fell. Grant, who was elsewhere at the time of the attack, rushed to the front just in time to boost morale and the outcome of the battle. The Confederates took Shiloh Hill, and the Unionists retreated to the heights the Confederates had dubbed the “Hornets’ Nest.” Repeated Confederate attacks over several hours served no purpose other than to leave hundreds dead, including Johnston himself. Sherman was wounded twice. The Confederate attack was ultimately stopped: 1,723 dead, 8,313 wounded, 959 prisoners in the Confederate camp, 1,754 dead, 8,408 wounded, and 2,285 prisoners in the Federal camp. In total, 50% of the soldiers involved fell dead, wounded, or taken prisoner. At Solferino, fought three years earlier and considered one of the most terrible in history, the figure was 10%.

Glorieta Pass, New Mexico. In the narrow Apache Canyon, the advance of General Sibley’s Confederate troops, after occupying Albunquerque and Santa Fe, is stopped by Union troops. (This is the historical background to “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.”)

Lord Paget, Secretary of the British Admiralty, in his report to Parliament in London after the battleship clash off Norfolk, argues that suddenly the Royal Navy no longer has 149 battleships ready for battle, but only two: HMS Warrior and HMS Ironside, which in reality are also oak vessels, covered with steel armor. Paget maintains that from now on no more wooden warships will be built. The foresight and insight are admirable, even if belated compared to the Americans.

The frigate Minnesota is the sole survivor of the Union fleet off Norfolk, beached far from the battlefield. The CSS Virginia prepares to finish her off, but out of nowhere appears the USS Monitor, a Union Navy experiment, the brainchild of CS Bushnell and the Swedish-born, New York-adopted captain, John Ericsson. The Monitor happens to be nearby almost by chance. Union Captain Worden, upon spotting his Confederate rival, orders a full-steam attack. The battle, with point-blank, zero-elevation cannon fire, becomes extremely fierce, but their respective armor holds. The Virginia even manages to ram the Monitor after four hours of fighting, but in doing so, takes direct cannon fire from literally meters away. After several more hours of intense engagement, the battle ends with no results: both battleships retreat. But a revolution had taken place: battleships with revolving turrets would dominate the seas for over a century.

The Union Navy takes control of Roanoke Island in eastern Virginia.

The Confederate flag was changed to the famous red flag with the blue St. Andrew’s Cross and the 13 stars of the founding states of the Confederacy (including Missouri and Kentucky despite their immediate loss).

First Battle of Bull Run in Virginia (known in the South as the Battle of Manassas and the first battle of the American Civil War): 30,000 Confederates defeat 32,000 Union troops

5:30 AM. The dull rumble of a large 30-pound Parrot cannon announces the beginning of the First Battle of Bull Run (Manassas), Virginia. The Southern forces are also involved in the “Louisiana Tigers” battalion, under the command of Garibaldi’s Major Wheat. After hours of fighting, the Northerners are gaining the upper hand. The Southerners retreat en masse when General Thomas Jonathan Jackson, a somewhat John Brown of the South, arrives on Henry House Hill. The taciturn “Stonewall” Jackson is a former professor of physics (natural philosophy) at the Virginia Military Institute, possessing incredible physical and moral courage and an indomitable will. Everyone retreats, except Jackson’s battalion. It is there on the hill that Confederate General Bee sees him and states that “he stood there like a bastion of stone,” hence his nickname. The Confederates take courage and return to the attack. By 4:40 PM, the battle was over in favor of the Confederates, who had 387 killed and 1,582 wounded, compared to 481 killed and 1,011 wounded for the Union, who retreated toward Washington. The battle was described as enormous by the newspapers, but it was nothing compared to the tragedy of the following years.

The Seven Days’ Battle ends with another massacre: General Lee repeatedly sends his men into assaults against well-defended Union positions. The carnage is lethal: over 6,000 casualties. Once again, the destructive force of rifled weapons prevails over the courage of the infantry. Throughout the battle, the Confederates lose 20% of their soldiers.

Seven Days’ Battle, Virginia. With strategic skill, Lee manages to marshal several forces, including Stonewall Jackson’s troops, on Mechanicsville, near Richmond, via armored trains. Two successive Confederate charges are repelled with immense losses. General Hill observes: “It’s magnificent, but it’s not war.” Further attacks follow, and finally, late that night, it’s the turn of General Hood’s Texans, who force the bluecoats back. It’s a narrow victory for the graycoats. The Northerners have lost 4,001 killed and 2,836 wounded, but the Southern losses are enormous: 8,751 men and several officers, including Roberdeau Wheat, the hero of Bull Run and a fighter with Garibaldi’s Thousand on the Volturno.

Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, dies. His full name is Camillo Paolo Filippo Giulio Benso, Count of Cavour, Cellarengo, and Isolabella, known simply as Count of Cavour or Cavour. He was an Italian statesman and patriot.

Confederate President Jefferson Davis appoints General Robert Lee commander of the Army of Northern Virginia. He will establish it as one of the most extraordinary and glorious units in military history.

General Stonewall Jackson breaks through the Union lines at Front Royal, in the Shenandoah Valley. This allows him to move north of Washington, D.C. This prompts a call for volunteers from the Union to defend the federal capital, while, on the other side, the Confederate capital is also threatened by the Unionists.

North Carolina declares secession from the Union

Missouri, a non-partisan border state, actually torn between Unionists and Confederates, passes to the Federals through a coup that establishes a provisional Union government in St. Louis.

West Virginia declares secession within the secession. The mountainous regions of the Old Dominion, avowedly pro-Union, vote to secede from Virginia and rejoin the Union. The split will be sealed by the battles of Philippi (June 3), Rich Mountain (July 11), and Carrick’s Ford (July 13).

Union General Butler, taking advantage of a hurricane, occupies the city of Baltimore. Confederate sympathizers cross the river into Virginia and form Maryland units within the Confederate Army.

The U.S. Navy begins a naval blockade of the main Confederate ports to strangle the South economically and militarily. The blockade will last, with varying degrees of success (it was leaking…), throughout the conflict. By the end of the war, thanks to the war effort, the Union navy will have 671 warships or auxiliary vessels: one of the largest in the world.

Tennessee declares secession from the Union

President Lincoln besieges major Confederate ports, effectively blocking cotton exports to Europe.

The 6th Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment departs Boston by train for Washington, D.C., to protect the capital. At the Baltimore, Maryland stop, officially unaligned but with Confederate sympathies, the train is met with jeers and insults as it walks from one station to the next. The first stones begin to fly. Soldiers open fire. There are four dead, 20 wounded, and about ten civilians.

Union General Scott offers Robert Lee command of the Army of the Potomac, but he replies that he cannot draw his sword against his homeland, Virginia, and that, if it were invaded, he would defend it. And so it shall be.

The Italian Parliament in Turin holds three heated sessions in which the military party wins overwhelmingly, allying itself for once with Cavour. A conservative line then passes, seeing threats in anything that seems new.

Virginia declares its secession from the Union. It is the most important state in the United States. At least until now.

The Confederate capital is moved to Richmond, Virginia.

Secretary of War Seward proposed to President Lincoln that he intervene in Mexico, where Britain and France had already intervened, so that, faced with a common enemy and war effort, the country would also be reconciled. The proposal was rejected by Lincoln, who understood that the problem had come to a head and had to be resolved one way or another.

Victor Emmanuel II, with a solemn speech revised by Cavour, inaugurates in Turin the new Parliament, composed of representatives of all the Italian states and territories annexed to the Kingdom of Sardinia, to examine the government’s plan for national unity. The sovereign supervises the debate to ensure democratic manifestations are rejected, and rejects the title “King of the Italians” with the initial (Vittorio Emanuele I).

Messina. The first Savoy soldiers appear beneath the castle, still held by the Bourbons.

Gaeta. After the explosion of another gunpowder warehouse, Cialdini secures the surrender. Columns of skeletal Bourbon soldiers, often suffering from typhus, emerge from the castle. A few hours later, many citizens flock to visit the spartan casemate where their two former rulers spent their last three months in dignity, overwhelmed by a collapse greater than themselves.

Gaeta. Francis II asks Cialdini to negotiate the surrender. He agrees, but knowing he has the situation under control, he does not suspend the bombardment.

The Confederate States of America Convention elects former Senator Jefferson Davis of Mississippi as provisional president.

Seven Southern states adopt a provisional constitution, proclaiming themselves the Confederate States of America, with their provisional capital in Montgomery, Alabama. President Buchanan protests but takes no formal action, except attempting to break the siege of Fort Sumter using the Star of the West, which is driven back by anti-ship fire from South Carolina. However, the states of Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania begin purchasing weapons and training their own armed militias.

In two days, the provisional Constitution of the Confederate States of America (CSA) is prepared with the provisional capital in Montgomery.

Gaeta. Savoy cannons hit two gunpowder magazines. The explosions sent large cannons flying into the sea, tearing holes in the walls.

Texas declares secession from the Union

Italy. Elections are held for the first unified parliament. Of nearly 26 million inhabitants, the new government grants the right to vote to only 419,938 people (about 1.8%), although only 239,583 actually vote; in the end, valid votes are reduced to 170,567, of which over 70,000 are civil servants. Eighty-five princes, dukes, and marquises, 28 officials, and 72 lawyers, doctors, and engineers are elected.

Louisiana declares secession from the Union

Georgia declares secession from the Union

Alabama declares secession from the Union

Florida declares secession from the Union

The US Navy steamship Star of the West arrives off the coast of Charleston, the secessionist republic of South Carolina, and approaches Fort Sumter, which is besieged by Southerners, who do not hesitate to open fire on the ship. This marks the beginning of the American Civil War. When it came to naming this terrible and crucial conflict, Abraham Lincoln and most Northerners initially referred to it as a civil war or an insurrection, but quickly adopted the term “rebellion,” which emphasized the goal of preserving the Union and stigmatized secession. Frederick Douglass and others later proposed the “war of abolition” or the “slaveholders’ rebellion,” but few Northerners adopted these terms. After Appomattox, Northerners continued to use “Rebellion.” White Southerners protested; they preferred “Civil War,” “War Between the States,” and other names. By 1890, “Civil War” became the most common name, and between 1905 and 1911, Congress effectively made it the official name. The United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) campaigned unsuccessfully to replace it with “War Between the States.” In the twentieth century, linguistic studies showed that “Civil War” was the most commonly used name. The “Civil War” promoted reconciliation, downplayed the role of slavery, and allowed both sides to adhere to their interpretations of the conflict, but this contributed to obscuring the war’s meaning.

Mississippi declares its secession from the Union and also gives itself a flag: the Bonnie Blue Flag, blue with a single white star.

Gaeta. The allied French navy leaves Gaeta and is promptly replaced by the hostile Savoyard fleet. The besieged Bourbon royals are doomed.

Louis Pasteur demonstrated that bacteria could be killed by heat without losing the flavor of food; the process was named after him: pasteurization.

Two years after the publication of Darwin’s Origin, the first fossil bird was discovered: the Archaeopteryx (ancient wing) from the Solnhofen limestone deposits in Bavaria and preserved at the Natural History Museum in London.

The first specimen of Archaeopteryx, a 147-million-year-old dinosaur, has been discovered, with the skeleton, tail and teeth of a carnivorous saurian, and the feathers and brain of a bird

A bitter civil war in Mexico ends with the victory of the liberal forces led by Benito Juarez who nationalizes ecclesiastical assets.

Ludwigshafen, on the Rhine, Germany. BASF (Badische Anilin und Soda Fabrik) is founded, the first major German chemical company, which, among other things, will specialize in the production of synthetic indigo. The second, Hoechst, will be founded the following year, 1862, and will also specialize in the production of synthetic indigo, but especially aniline red (a magenta color, also known as fuchsin). Aniline red will also be produced by the third major German chemical company: Bayer, founded in 1861, best known for aspirin. By the end of the 19th century, Germany had over 90% of the world market for synthetic dyes,2 giving it a near-monopoly on research and development that led to several other very important spin-offs in sectors such as medicines, fertilizers, explosives, poison gases, plastics, synthetic and artificial fabrics, and synthetic petroleum. After the First World War, the most important German chemical companies merged into a gigantic conglomerate: IG Farben (Interessengemeinschaft Farbenindustrie Aktiengesellschaft). After the Second World War, IG Farben split again into BASF, Hoechst, and Bayer.

Bolivia. Charles Ledger, an Australian cinchona trader, persuades an Indian to sell him cinchona tree seeds (which contain a high content of quinine, an antimalarial substance). Great Britain is uninterested in purchasing them, as past experience has shown that the plant does not grow in England. The Dutch, however, purchase them: half a kilo for $20. The species will become known as Chinchona ledgeriana. The Dutch plant the seeds in Java, Indonesia (Dutch East Indies). By 1930, more than 90% of the world’s quinine production will come from Java. Quinine was a strategically important substance at the time, as it was used by civilians as well as the military, and also considering that much of the world was affected by malaria at the time, including Great Britain and Scandinavia, and therefore not just tropical countries. During World War II, the Japanese conquest of Java caused considerable concern among the Allies, who needed quinine for their troops in the field. An American mission from the Smithsonian Institution procured tons of it in Peru, but found no trace of the Chinchona ledgeriana species, the most productive of all.

Tsar Alexander of Russia abolishes serfdom

Italy has 25 million people