January 1 – Abraham Lincoln signs the Emancipation Proclamation during the third year of the American Civil War, making the abolition of slavery in the Confederate states an official war goal. It proclaims the freedom of 3.1 million of the nation's four million slaves and immediately frees 50,000 of them, with the rest freed as Union armies advance. This event marks the start of America's Reconstruction Era.[1]
January Uprising: The Polish peasant army, now led by Zygmunt Sierakowski, achieves its first victory over the Russian army, near Raguva.
April 24 – The Lieber Code signed and issued by President Abraham Lincoln to the Union forces of the United States in the American Civil War constitutes the world's first official comprehensive code of the modern laws of war.
July 9 – American Civil War: The Siege of Port Hudson ends, and the Union controls the entire Mississippi River for the first time.
July 13 – American Civil War: New York City draft riots – In New York City, opponents of conscription begin 3 days of violent rioting, which will be regarded as the worst in the history of the United States with around 120 killed.
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. Their commander, Colonel Robert Shaw, is shot leading the attack, and is buried with his men (450 Union, along with 175 Confederate).
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 refuses the request upon receipt).
Battle of Lawrence – Lawrence, Kansas, is attacked by William Quantrill's raiders, who kill an estimated 200 men and boys. The raid becomes notorious in the North as one of the most vicious atrocities of the Civil War.
American clipper Anglo Saxon (westbound) is captured and burned by ConfederateprivateerFlorida, off the south coast of Ireland.[12]
August 26 – The Swedish-language liberal newspaper Helsingfors Dagblad proposed the blue-and-white cross flag as the flag of Finland.[13]
October 26–29 – The Resolutions of the Geneva International Conference are signed by sixteen countries meeting in Geneva agreeing to form the International Red Cross.
November 17 – American Civil War: Siege of Knoxville – Confederate forces led by General James Longstreet place Knoxville, Tennessee, under siege (the two-week-long siege and an attack are unsuccessful).
November 23 – American Civil War: Battle of Chattanooga III – 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 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 can 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.
December 6 – C.S.A.C. Fides Quadrat Intellectum, the First Reformed student society, is founded at the Theologische Universiteit Kampen (Broederweg), in Kampen, the Netherlands.
^Foner, Eric (2010). The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery. New York: Norton. pp. 239–42. ISBN 978-0-393-06618-0.
^ a bResoconto del C.omitato cantonale di Soccorso intorno ai sussidi raccolti e distribuiti pei danni cagionati dalle nevi nel gennaio 1863. Lugano: Tip. Cantonale. 1864.
^ a b cEverett, Jason M., ed. (2006). "1863". The People's Chronology. Thomson Gale.
^Boissier, Pierre (1985). History of the International Committee of the Red Cross. Volume I: From Solferino to Tsushima. Geneva: Henry Dunant Institute. ISBN 2-88044-012-2.
^Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. 2006. ISBN 0-14-102715-0.
^Smith, Peter (2000). "Ridvan". A concise encyclopedia of the Bahá'í Faith. Oxford: Oneworld Publications. pp. 296–297. ISBN 1-85168-184-1.
^ a bChaffin, Tom (2008). The H. L. Hunley: the Secret Hope of the Confederacy. New York: Hill and Wang. ISBN 978-0-8090-9512-4.
^Remy, Johannes. "The Valuev Circular and Censorship of Ukrainian Publications in the Russian Empire (1863-1876): Intention and Practice". academia.edu. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
^Olavi Junnila (1986). "Autonomian rakentaminen ja kansallisen nousun aika". Suomen historia 5 (in Finnish). Helsinki: Weilin + Göös. p. 151. ISBN 951-35-2494-9.
^"History of Bayer". Bayer. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
^Nolan, Daniel J. (2011). Clippers: the ships that shaped the world. Bray: Malbay Publishing. p. 97. ISBN 978-1-908726-00-1.
^IL: Keltaristilippumme! Suomen lipuksi oli tyrkyllä monenlaisia yritelmiä - katso kuvat (in Finnish)
^CommunicationSolutions/ISI, "Railroad — Western Railroad Company", North Carolina Business History, 2006, accessed 1 Feb 2010
^Cozzens, Peter. The Shipwreck of Their Hopes: The Battles for Chattanooga. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1994. ISBN 0-252-01922-9. Page 100.
^Robert Ignatius Letellier (April 16, 2010). Opéra-Comique: A Sourcebook. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 139. ISBN 978-1-4438-2168-1.
^Marshall, John (1989). The Guinness Railway Book. Enfield: Guinness Books. ISBN 0-8511-2359-7. OCLC 24175552.
^"Pierre, baron de Coubertin | Biography, Olympics, & Facts | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved April 15, 2022.
^"IGNACIO COMONFORT" (in Spanish). Presidency de la Republica de Mexico. Archived from the original on May 30, 2019. Retrieved May 30, 2019.
further reading
Appleton's Annual Cyclopedia...1863 (1864), detailed coverage of events in all countries