Civil War Timeline / Chronology for May 1862

May 1, 1862	Infantry under Benjamin Butler [US] begin entering the city of New Orleans	Louisiana
	Battle of New Orleans
	Benjamin Butler
May 5, 1862	Battle of Williamsburg Major General James Longstreet [CS] nearly defeats Major General "Fighting Joe" Hooker [US] during a rear-guard action.	Virginia
	Peninsula Campaign
	James Longstreet
	Lafayette McLaws
	George McClellan
	Battle of Williamsburg
	William Farrar Smith
	Winfield Scott Hancock
	Jubal Anderson Early
	Joseph Hooker
	Samuel Garland
	Samuel Heintzelman
May 7, 1862	Battle of West Point Battle of Eltham's Landing General William B. Franklin [US] skirmishes with General John Bell Hood [CS]	Virginia
	John Bell Hood
	William B. Franklin
	Peninsula Campaign
May 8, 1862	Battle of McDowell Stonewall Jackson defeats Robert Milroy in the Shenandoah Valley	Virginia
	Stonewall Jackson
May 9, 1862	General David Hunter [US] frees the slaves in South Carolina, Georgia and Florida
	The Emancipation of Slaves
May 9, 1862	Confederates withdraw from Norfolk, destroying the base as they leave	Virginia
	Benjamin Huger
	Peninsula Campaign
May 10, 1862	Federal mortar boats, shelling Fort Pillow, are attacked by a makeshift Confederate fleet. The U. S. responds in force, with ironclads. Although the 8 Confederate boats manage to sink 2 ironclads (the Cincinnati and Mound City) the battle of Plum Run Bend or Plum Point ended when the Rebels withdrew to Fort Pillow	Tennessee
May 10, 1862	Confederates destroy Naval Base at Pensacola	Florida
May 11, 1862	Confederate soldiers scuttle the C.S.S. Virginia near Norfolk	Virginia
May 15, 1862	Battle of Drewry's Bluff Battle of Proctor Creek
	Peninsula Campaign
May 15, 1862	Benjamin Butler issues Order Number 28, directing his troops to treat any woman who insults them as they would a woman "plying her advocation (a prostitute)." It was this order that led to his title, the Beast of New Orleans	Louisiana
	Benjamin Butler
May 19, 1862	Lincoln rescinds David Hunter's emancipation of the slaves in his department and uses the opportunity to call for a gradual emancipation
	Abraham Lincoln
	The Emancipation of Slaves
May 20, 1862	Lincoln signs the Homestead Act, giving citizens 21 years or older the right to buy 160 acres of land in the West
	Abraham Lincoln
May 23, 1862	Battle of Front Royal	Virginia
	Stonewall Jackson
May 25, 1862	Battle of Winchester, Stonewall Jackson [CS] defeats Nathaniel Banks [US]	Virginia
	Stonewall Jackson
	Nathaniel Banks
May 25, 1862	Halleck arrives outside of Corinth. It has taken him 26 days to march 20 miles, virtually unopposed	Mississippi
	Henry Halleck
May 27, 1862	Battle of Hanover Court House	Virginia
	George McClellan
	Peninsula Campaign
	Gouverneur K. Warren
	Fitz-John Porter
May 30, 1862	Confederates evacuate Corinth	Mississippi
	P. G. T. Beauregard
	Army of Mississippi
May 31, 1862 June 1, 1862	Battle of Seven Pines [US] Battle of Fair Oaks [CS]	Virginia
	Joseph E. Johnston
	George McClellan
	Peninsula Campaign
	Battle of Fair Oaks - Seven Pines
	James Longstreet
	Edwin Vose Sumner
	John B. Gordon
	Oliver O. Howard
	Daniel Harvey Hill
	Benjamin Huger
	John Sedgwick
	Samuel Garland
	Darius Couch
May 31, 1862	Joseph E. Johnston severly wounded during the Battle of Fair Oaks	Virginia
	Joseph E. Johnston