Events from the year 1863 in the United States.
Incumbents
Federal government
President: Abraham Lincoln (R-Illinois) Vice President: Hannibal Hamlin (R-Maine) Chief Justice: Roger B. Taney (Maryland) Speaker of the House of Representatives: Galusha A. Grow (R-Pennsylvania) (until March 4), Schuyler Colfax (R-Indiana) (starting December 7) Congress: 37th (until March 4), 38th (starting March 4)
Events
January
January 1
President Lincoln issues the second executive order of the Emancipation Proclamation, specifying ten Confederate states in which slaves were to be freed. The first claim under the Homestead Act is made for a farm in Nebraska. January 3 – The Thomas Nast drawing of the modern Santa Claus appears on the cover of Harper's Weekly, although Santa existed previously. January 8 – Ground is broken in Sacramento, California, on the construction of the First transcontinental railroad in the United States. January 11 – American Civil War – Battle of Arkansas Post: General John McClernand and Admiral David Dixon Porter capture the Arkansas River for the Union. January 29 – In the Bear River Massacre, the U.S. Army attacks a Shoshone encampment in present-day Idaho led by Chief Bear Hunter killing hundreds.
February
February 3 – Samuel Clemens first uses the pen name Mark Twain in a Virginia City newspaper, the Territorial Enterprise. February 10 – The world-famous midgets General Tom Thumb and Lavinia Warren get married in New York City; P. T. Barnum takes an entrance fee. The first fire extinguisher patent is granted to Alanson Crane in Virginia. February 16 – Kansas State Agricultural College is established as the first land grant college newly created under the 1862 Morrill Act. February 24 – Arizona Territory is organized. February 26 – Abraham Lincoln signs the National Banking Act into law.
March
March 3
Idaho Territory is organized by the U.S. Congress. The Enrollment Act is signed, leading to the week-long New York Draft Riots. Third Legal Tender Act is passed. Issue of gold certificates is authorized. President Abraham Lincoln approves charter for the National Academy of Sciences. March 19 – The is destroyed on her maiden voyage while attempting to run the blockade into Charleston, South Carolina. Lost to history, the wreck is discovered March 19, 1965 (exactly 102 years later) by E. Lee Spence. March 31 – The charter of Boston College is approved by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, establishing the college.
April
April 2 – Southern bread riots: In Richmond, Virginia, about 5,000 people, mostly poor women, riot to protest the exorbitant price of bread. April 20 – American Civil War – The Battle of Washington ends inconclusively in Beaufort County, North Carolina.
May
May 1–4 – American Civil War – Battle of Chancellorsville: General Robert E. Lee defeats Union forces with 13,000 Confederate casualties, among them Stonewall Jackson (lost to friendly fire), and 17,500 Union casualties. May 14 – American Civil War – Battle of Jackson (MS): Union General Ulysses S. Grant defeats Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston, opening the way for the siege of Vicksburg. May 18 – American Civil War: The siege of Vicksburg begins (ends Saturday, July 4, when 30,189 Confederate men surrender). May 21 American Civil War: The siege of Port Hudson, Louisiana, by Union forces begins. The General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists is formed in Battle Creek, Michigan. May 28 – American Civil War – The 54th Massachusetts, the first African-American regiment, leaves Boston, Massachusetts to fight for the Union.
June
June 9 – American Civil War – The Battle of Brandy Station, Virginia ends inconclusively. June 14 – American Civil War – Second Battle of Winchester: A Union garrison is defeated by the Army of Northern Virginia in the Shenandoah Valley town of Winchester, Virginia. June 17 – American Civil War – The Battle of Aldie in the Gettysburg Campaign ends inconclusively. June 20 – West Virginia is admitted as the 35th U.S. state (see History of West Virginia).