Editing 1862 (section)

== Events ==
[[File:Map of American Civil War in 1862.svg|thumb|200px|right|[[American Civil War]] in 1862]]
=== January ===
[[File:H59543.jpg|thumb|200px|right| [[January 30]]: {{USS|Monitor}}.]]
* [[January 1]] &ndash; The United Kingdom annexes [[Lagos]] Island, in modern-day [[Nigeria]].
* [[January 6]] &ndash; [[Second French intervention in Mexico|French intervention in Mexico]]: [[Second French Empire|French]], Spanish and British forces arrive in [[Veracruz]], Mexico.
* [[January 16]] &ndash; [[Hartley Colliery disaster]] in north-east England: 204 men are trapped and die underground when the only shaft becomes blocked.
* [[January 30]] &ndash; [[American Civil War]]: The first U.S. [[ironclad warship]], {{USS|Monitor}}, is launched in [[Brooklyn]].
* [[January 31]] &ndash; [[Alvan Graham Clark]] makes the first observation of [[Sirius]] B, a [[white dwarf]] star, through an eighteen-inch telescope at [[Northwestern University]] in Illinois.
[[File:Battle of Fort Henry 1862.jpg|thumb|200px|right| [[February 6]]: [[Battle of Fort Henry]].]]

=== February ===
* [[February 1]] &ndash; American Civil War: [[Julia Ward Howe]]'s  "[[Battle Hymn of the Republic]]" is published for the first time in the ''[[Atlantic Monthly]]''.
* [[February 2]] &ndash; The [[Dun Mountain Railway|first railway]] is opened in [[New Zealand]], by the Dun Mountain Copper Mining Company.

*[[American Civil War]]: 
** [[February 6]] &ndash; General [[Ulysses S. Grant]] gives the [[Union Army]] its first victory of the war, by capturing [[Fort Henry, Tennessee]].
** [[February 11]]&ndash;[[February 16|16]] &ndash; [[Battle of Fort Donelson]] &ndash; General Ulysses S. Grant attacks [[Fort Donelson]], [[Tennessee]], capturing it on the last day.
** [[February 21]] &ndash; [[Battle of Valverde]] &ndash; Confederate forces defeat Union troops near [[Fort Craig]] in [[New Mexico Territory]]: 
** [[February 22]] &ndash; [[Jefferson Davis]] is officially inaugurated in [[Richmond, Virginia]], to a six-year term as [[President of the Confederate States of America|president of the Confederate States]].

=== March ===
* [[March 6]] &ndash; An ammunition warehouse explosion in [[Ciudad Serdán|San Andres Chalchicomula]], [[Mexico]], kills between 1,400 and 2,280 during the [[Second French intervention in Mexico]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Miguel Galindo y Galindo|title=Catástrofe de Chalchicomula|url=http://cdigital.dgb.uanl.mx/la/1080018007/1080018007_12.pdf|date=21 October 2019|publisher=Secretaria de Fomento|pages=233–237|access-date=21 October 2019|archive-date=5 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305193552/http://cdigital.dgb.uanl.mx/la/1080018007/1080018007_12.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>
*[[American Civil War]]: 
** [[March 7]] &ndash; [[Battle of Pea Ridge]] &ndash; The Confederates are shut out of [[Missouri]].
** [[March 8]] &ndash; Ironclad {{ship|CSS|Virginia}} (formerly USS ''Merrimack'') is launched at [[Hampton Roads]], [[Virginia]]; the [[Battle of Hampton Roads]] starts the same day.
* [[March 13]]
** [[American Civil War]]: The U.S. federal government forbids all Union army officers from returning fugitive slaves, thus effectively annulling the [[Fugitive Slave Act of 1850]] and setting the stage for the [[Emancipation Proclamation]].
** A [[smallpox]] [[epidemic]] in [[San Francisco]] spreads to [[British Columbia]].<ref>{{cite web|title=The Spirit of Pestilence|url=http://web.uvic.ca/vv/student/smallpox/overview/|publisher=[[University of Victoria]]|date=2002-03-30|access-date=2015-08-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151002023934/http://web.uvic.ca/vv/student/smallpox/overview/|archive-date=October 2, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>
*[[March 17]] &ndash; The first [[Rail transport in Finland|railway line]] in [[Finland]], between the cities of [[Helsinki]] and [[Hämeenlinna]], is officially opened.<ref>Neil Kent: ''Helsinki: A Cultural History'', p. 18. Interlink Books, 2014. {{ISBN|978-1566565448}}.</ref>
* [[March 26]]&ndash;[[March 28|28]] &ndash; [[American Civil War]]: [[Battle of Glorieta Pass]] &ndash; In [[New Mexico]], Union forces succeed in stopping the [[Confederate States Army|Confederate]] invasion of [[New Mexico Territory]].
* [[March 31]] &ndash; [[Victor Hugo]]'s epic French historical novel ''[[Les Misérables]]'' begins publication in Brussels.

=== April ===
* [[April 1]] &ndash; [[Second French intervention in Mexico]]: The Spanish and the British ended their alliance with France.
*[[American Civil War]]: 
** [[April 5]] &ndash; [[Battle of Yorktown (1862)|Battle of Yorktown]] &ndash; The battle begins when [[Union Army]] forces under General [[George B. McClellan]] close in on the [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] capital of [[Richmond, Virginia]].
** [[April 6]]&ndash;[[April 7|7]]&ndash; [[Battle of Shiloh]] &ndash; The [[Union Army]], under General [[Ulysses S. Grant]], defeats the Confederates near [[Shiloh National Military Park|Shiloh, Tennessee]].
** [[April 12]] &ndash; [[Great Locomotive Chase]] (Andrews' Raid) &ndash; [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] volunteers steal Confederate steam railroad locomotive ''[[The General (locomotive)|The General]]'' (which will still exist in the 21st century) in an attempt to sabotage the rail network.* [[April 13]] &ndash; The government of [[Vietnam]] is forced to cede the territories of [[Biên Hòa Province|Biên Hòa]], [[Gia Định Province|Gia Định]] and [[Định Tường Province|Định Tường]] to France.
* [[April 22]] &ndash; Global financial group [[UBS]] is founded in [[Switzerland]] as the [[Bank in Winterthur]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Our history|publisher=UBS|url=https://www.ubs.com/global/en/our-firm/our-history.html|access-date=2020-12-07}}</ref>
*[[American Civil War]]: 
** [[April 25]] &ndash; [[Capture of New Orleans]] &ndash; Forces under Union Admiral [[David Farragut]] occupy the Confederate city of [[New Orleans]], securing access to the [[Mississippi River]].
** [[April 26]] &ndash; [[Siege of Fort Macon]] &ndash; The besieged [[Confederate States Army|Confederate]] garrison at [[Fort Macon]], [[North Carolina]] surrenders.

=== May ===
* [[May 1]]&ndash;[[November 1]] &ndash; The [[1862 International Exhibition]] is held at [[South Kensington]] in London; it is particularly noteworthy for an exhibit from Japan, influential in the development of [[Anglo-Japanese style]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Halen|first=Widar|title=Christopher Dresser|publisher=Phaidon|year=1990|isbn=0-7148-2952-8|page=34}}</ref>
* [[May 2]] &ndash; The [[California State Normal School]] (later [[San Jose State University]]) is created by an Act of the California legislature.
* [[May 5]] &ndash; [[Second French intervention in Mexico]]: [[Battle of Puebla]] &ndash; Mexican General [[Ignacio Zaragoza]] defeats the French Army; commemorated each year as ''[[Cinco de Mayo]]'' (Spanish for ''Fifth of May'').
* [[May 11]] &ndash; [[American Civil War]]: Ironclad {{ship|CSS|Virginia}} is scuttled in the [[James River]] northwest of [[Norfolk, Virginia]].
* [[May 15]] &ndash; U.S. President [[Abraham Lincoln]] signs a bill into law creating the U.S. Bureau of Agriculture (later renamed [[U.S. Department of Agriculture]]).
* [[May 20]] &ndash; U.S. President [[Abraham Lincoln]] signs the [[Homestead Act of 1862|Homestead Act]] into law.
* [[May 24]] &ndash; [[Westminster Bridge]] is opened across the Thames in London. This new iron bridge, designed by [[Thomas Page (engineer)|Thomas Page]], replaces the previous stone one.

=== June ===
*[[American Civil War]]: 
** [[June 1]] &ndash; [[Battle of Fair Oaks]] &ndash; Both sides claim victory.
** [[June 4]] &ndash; [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] troops evacuate [[Fort Pillow, Tennessee|Fort Pillow]] on the [[Mississippi River]], leaving the way clear for Union Army troops to capture [[Memphis, Tennessee]].
* [[June 5]] &ndash; [[Treaty of Saigon (1862)|Treaty of Saigon]]: Emperor [[Tự Đức]] of the [[Nguyễn dynasty]] in [[Vietnam]] cedes [[Saigon]], [[Côn Sơn Island]] and three southern provinces of what is to become known as [[French Cochinchina]] ([[Biên Hòa province|Biên Hòa]], [[Gia Định province|Gia Định]] and [[Định Tường province|Định Tường]]) to become part of the [[French colonial empire]]. Guerilla leader [[Trương Định]] refuses to recognize the treaty.
*[[American Civil War]]: 
** [[June 6]] &ndash; [[First Battle of Memphis]] &ndash; Union Army troops capture [[Memphis, Tennessee]], from the [[Confederate States of America|Confederate States]].
** [[June 8]] &ndash; [[Battle of Cross Keys]] &ndash; Confederate troops under General [[Stonewall Jackson]] save the [[Army of Northern Virginia]] from a Union Army attack on the James Peninsula that is led by General [[George B. McClellan]].
* [[June 12]] &ndash; John Winter Robinson, the [[Secretary of State of Kansas]], is convicted and removed from office as the result of a [[bond (finance)|bond]] scandal, becoming the first state executive official to be [[impeachment in the United States|impeached]] and removed from office in American history.
* [[June 26]] &ndash; [[American Civil War]]: [[Battle of Mechanicsville]] &ndash; Confederate General [[Robert E. Lee]] defeats the troops of General [[George B. McClellan]] in the first of the [[Seven Days Battles]].

=== July ===
* [[July 1]]
** The Bureau of Internal Revenue, the forerunner of the [[Internal Revenue Service]], is established in the United States.
** [[Princess Alice of the United Kingdom|Princess Alice]], the second daughter of [[Queen Victoria]], marries [[Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse|Prince Ludwig of Hesse and by Rhine]].
** U.S. President [[Abraham Lincoln]] signs into law the [[Pacific Railroad Acts]], authorizing construction of the [[First Transcontinental Railroad]].<ref>[http://www.cprr.org/Museum/Pacific_Railroad_Acts.html "An Act to aid in the construction of a railroad and telegraph line from the Missouri river to the Pacific ocean, and to secure to the government the use of the same for postal, military, and other purposes] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160527113235/http://www.cprr.org/Museum/Pacific_Railroad_Acts.html |date=May 27, 2016 }} 12 Stat. 489, July 1, 1862</ref>
** The [[Russian State Library]] is founded, as The Library of the Moscow Public Museum.
* [[July 2]] &ndash; U.S. President [[Abraham Lincoln]] signs the [[Morrill Land-Grant Act]] into law, creating a system of [[land-grant college]]s, to teach agricultural and mechanical sciences across the United States.
* [[July 4]] &ndash; Charles Dodgson (better known as [[Lewis Carroll]]) extemporises the story that becomes ''[[Alice's Adventures in Wonderland]]'', for ten-year-old [[Alice Liddell]] and her sisters, on a rowboat trip on [[The Isis]] from [[Oxford]] to [[Godstow]].
[[File:Diagram of the Federal Government and American Union edit.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Diagram of US Federal Government and American Union. Published: 1862, July 15.]]
*[[American Civil War]]: 
* [[July 16]] &ndash; [[American Civil War]]: [[David Farragut]] becomes the first [[rear admiral]] in the [[U.S. Navy]].
* [[July 18]] &ndash; [[Dent Blanche]], one of the highest summits in the Alps, is first ascended.
* [[July 23]] &ndash; [[American Civil War]]: [[Henry Halleck]] takes command of the [[Union Army]].

=== August ===
*[[American Civil War]]: 
** [[August 5]] &ndash; [[Battle of Baton Rouge (1862)|Battle of Baton Rouge]] &ndash; Along the [[Mississippi River]] near [[Baton Rouge, Louisiana]], Confederate troops drive Union forces back into the city.
** [[August 6]] &ndash; Confederate ironclad {{ship|CSS|Arkansas}} is scuttled on the [[Mississippi River]] after suffering damage in a battle with {{USS|Essex|1856|6}}, near [[Baton Rouge, Louisiana]].
** [[August 9]] &ndash; [[Battle of Cedar Mountain]] &ndash; Confederate General [[Stonewall Jackson]] narrowly defeats Union forces under General [[John Pope (general)|John Pope]] at Cedar Mountain, Virginia.
* [[August 14]] &ndash; U.S. President [[Abraham Lincoln]] meets with a group of prominent African-Americans, the first time an American President has done so. He suggests that Black people should migrate to Africa or to Central America, but this advice is rejected.
* [[August 17]] &ndash; The [[Dakota War of 1862]] begins in [[Minnesota]], as Dakota Sioux attack white settlements along the [[Minnesota River]]. They are overwhelmed by the U.S. Army six weeks later.
* [[August 19]] 
** [[Dakota War of 1862]]: During an uprising in [[Minnesota]], Dakota warriors decide not to attack heavily defended [[Fort Ridgely]] and instead turn to the settlement of [[New Ulm, Minnesota|New Ulm]], killing white settlers along the way.
** [[Horace Greeley]] publishes an editorial, "The Prayer of Twenty Millions", in the ''New York Tribune'', in which he urges U.S. President [[Abraham Lincoln]] to make abolition of slavery an official aim of the Union war effort.
* [[August 21]] &ndash; The [[Stadtpark, Vienna|Vienna Stadtpark]] opens its gates.
*[[American Civil War]]: 
** [[August 28]]&ndash;[[August 30|30]] &ndash; [[Second Battle of Bull Run]] &ndash; Confederate forces inflict a crushing defeat on Union General John Pope.
** [[August 29]]&ndash;[[August 30|30]] &ndash; [[Battle of Richmond]], Kentucky &ndash; Confederate forces, led by General [[Edmund Kirby Smith]], inflict a crushing defeat on Union General [[William "Bull" Nelson]].

=== September ===
*[[American Civil War]]: 
** [[September 1]] &ndash; [[Battle of Chantilly]] &ndash; Confederate General [[Robert E. Lee]] leads his forces in an attack on retreating Union troops in [[Chantilly, Virginia]], driving them away.
** [[September 2]] &ndash; U.S. President [[Abraham Lincoln]] restores Union General [[George B. McClellan]] to full command, after General John Pope's disastrous defeat at the [[Second Battle of Bull Run]].
** [[September 5]] &ndash; In the Confederacy's first invasion of the North, General [[Robert E. Lee]] leads 55,000 men of the [[Army of Northern Virginia]] across the [[Potomac River]] at [[White's Ford]] near [[Leesburg, Virginia]], into [[Maryland]].
* [[September 10]] &ndash; [[Francisco Solano López]] is appointed second [[President of Paraguay]].
*[[American Civil War]]: 
* [[September 17]] &ndash; [[American Civil War]]:
** [[Battle of Antietam]]: Union forces strategically defeat Confederate troops at [[Sharpsburg, Maryland]], in the bloodiest day in U.S. history, with over 22,000 casualties.
** The [[Allegheny Arsenal]] explosion results in the single largest civilian disaster during the war, with 78 workers – mostly young women – being killed.
* [[September 19]] &ndash; [[Battle of Iuka]] &ndash; Union troops under Major General [[William Rosecrans]] defeat a Confederate force commanded by Major General [[Sterling Price]] at [[Iuka, Mississippi]].
* [[September 22]]
** [[Otto von Bismarck]] becomes [[Minister President of Prussia]], following refusal by the country's [[Landtag]] to accept the military budget.
** [[American Civil War]]: The preliminary announcement of the [[Emancipation Proclamation]] is made by U.S. President [[Abraham Lincoln]]: From January 1, 1863, slaves in the Confederate States will be considered free.
*[[September 26]] &ndash; [[Johann II, Prince of Liechtenstein]] signs into law the [[1862 Constitution of Liechtenstein]].
* [[September 29]] &ndash; New Prussian prime minister [[Otto von Bismarck]] delivers his ''[[Blood and Iron (speech)|Blood and Iron (Blut und Eisen)]]'' speech to the Prussian Landtag.

=== October ===
* [[October 8]] &ndash; [[American Civil War]]: [[Battle of Perryville]] &ndash; [[Union Army]] forces under General [[Don Carlos Buell]] halt the [[Confederate States Army|Confederate]] invasion of [[Kentucky]] by defeating troops led by General [[Braxton Bragg]] at [[Perryville, Kentucky]].
* [[October 9]] &ndash; The [[Transvaal Civil War]] breaks out, following [[Stephanus Schoeman]]'s unconstitutional ousting of the acting [[State President of the South African Republic|President of the Executive Council of the South African Republic]].<ref>''Stormvoël van die Noorde'' by O JO Ferreira; ''Jan Viljoen – 'n Transvaalse Wesgrenspionier'' (unpublished MA dissertation); documents and notes from the Jack Seale collection.</ref>
* [[October 11]] &ndash; [[American Civil War]]: In the aftermath of the [[Battle of Antietam]], [[Confederate States Army|Confederate]] General [[J. E. B. Stuart]] and his men loot [[Chambersburg, Pennsylvania]], during a [[Chambersburg Raid|raid into the North]].
* [[October 23]] &ndash; [[Otto of Greece|Otto]] is deposed as [[King of Greece]].
* [[October 24]] &ndash; [[Ramón Castilla]] loses the Presidency of [[Peru]] for a second time.
* [[October 25]] &ndash; In the [[Granadine Confederation]] (modern-day [[Colombia]]), rebel troops of the southern states defeat government forces.

=== November ===
* [[November 4]] &ndash; [[Richard Jordan Gatling]] patents the [[Gatling gun]] in the United States.
* [[November 5]]
** [[American Civil War]]: President [[Abraham Lincoln]] removes [[George B. McClellan]] as commander of the [[Union Army]].
** [[American Indian Wars]]: In [[Minnesota]], more than 300 Santee [[Sioux]] are found guilty of [[rape]] and murder of white settlers, and are sentenced to hang.
*[[American Civil War]]: 
** [[November 14]] &ndash; President [[Abraham Lincoln]] approves the plan by General [[Ambrose Burnside]] to capture the [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] [[capital city]] of [[Richmond, Virginia]]. This plan leads to a disastrous Union defeat at the [[Battle of Fredericksburg]] on [[December 13]].
** [[November 28]]
* [[American Civil War]]: [[Battle of Cane Hill]] &ndash; [[Union Army]] troops, led by General John Blunt, push back [[Confederate States Army|Confederate troops]], commanded by General [[John Marmaduke]], into the northwestern [[Boston Mountains]] of [[Arkansas]].
* [[November 28]] &ndash;
** [[Notts County F.C.]] is founded in [[Nottingham]], England, making it (by the 21st century) the world's oldest professional [[Association football]] team.

=== December ===
[[File:Battle of Fredericksburg, Dec 13, 1862.png|thumb|[[December 13]]: [[Battle of Fredericksburg]].|alt=]]
* [[December 1]] &ndash; In his [[State of the Union address]], President [[Abraham Lincoln]] reaffirms the necessity of ending slavery, as he ordered ten weeks earlier in his [[Emancipation Proclamation]].
* [[December 2]] &ndash; The first [[United States Navy]] [[hospital ship]]s enter service.
*[[American Civil War]]: 
** [[December 12]] &ndash; [[Yazoo Pass Expedition]] &ndash; Union [[ironclad]] [[gunboat]] {{USS|Cairo}} is sunk by a remotely-detonated "torpedo" ([[naval mine]]) while clearing mines from the [[Yazoo River]], the first armored ship sunk by mine.
** [[December 13]] &ndash; [[Battle of Fredericksburg]] &ndash; The [[Union Army]] suffers massive casualties and abandons its attempts to capture the Confederate [[capital city]] of [[Richmond, Virginia]].
** [[December 17]] &ndash; ''[[General Order No. 11 (1862)|General Order No. 11]]'', which expels all Jews from his military district, is issued by General [[Ulysses S. Grant]]. This order is rescinded just a few weeks later.
** [[December 26]]&ndash;[[December 29|29]] &ndash; [[Battle of Chickasaw Bayou]] &ndash; Another victory for the [[Confederate States Army|Confederate Army]], outnumbered two to one, results in six times as many Union casualties, defeating several assaults commanded by Union general [[William T. Sherman]].
** [[December 30]] &ndash; {{USS|Monitor}} sinks in a storm in the Atlantic, off [[Cape Hatteras, North Carolina]].
** [[December 31]] &ndash; [[American Civil War]]:
*** U.S. President [[Abraham Lincoln]] signs an act that admits [[West Virginia]] to the Union, thus dividing [[Virginia]] into two.
*** The [[Battle of Stones River]] opens near [[Murfreesboro, Tennessee]].
[[File:USS Monitor - H58758.jpg|thumb|180px|right| [[December 30|Dec. 30]]: ''[[USS Monitor|Monitor]]'' sinks.]]
* [[December]] &ndash; Peruvian slave raiders land on [[Easter Island]], beginning a decade of the [[Easter Island#Destruction of society and population|destruction of the society and population]] on the island.

=== Date unknown ===
* Anglo-Indian teacher [[Anna Leonowens]] accepts an offer made by the Siamese consul in Singapore, [[Tan Kim Ching]], to teach the wives and children of [[Mongkut]], the King of Siam.
* Donald McIntyre builds a settlement in northwest [[Queensland]] (Australia) which becomes the town of [[Julia Creek, Queensland|Julia Creek]] (named after his niece).
* Iwai Fumisuke Shoten (岩井文助商店), predecessor of [[Japan]]ese [[Conglomerate (company)|conglomerate]] [[Sojitz]], is founded in [[Osaka]].{{citation needed|date=May 2020}}
* Japanese [[construction]] company Satō Kōgyō is founded in [[Toyama (city)|Toyama]] as Satō-gumi.