1864
| File:Decade.png ( 1860s: ) 1864 link | |
|---|---|
 Union general Sherman destroys a large part of Georgia, following a "scorched earth" policy. | |
| In year 1864, the Southern states' effort to break out of the United States is collapsing. In South America, the even bloodier War of the Triple Alliance tries to break Paraguay, while Prussia schemes to unify Germany. |
Events
January–March
- February 1 – Danish-Prussian War (Second Schleswig War): 57,000 Austrian and Prussian troops cross the Eider River into Denmark.
- March 9 – American Civil War: Abraham Lincoln appoints Ulysses S. Grant commander in chief of all Union armies.
April–June
- May 4 – Société Générale, a major financial group in France, is founded.[1]
- May 21 – The Russian Empire begins the Ethnic cleansing of Circassians. More than 1.5 million Circassians are driven from their homeland to the Ottoman Empire, ending the Russo-Circassian War.
- June 18 – The Decree of Extended Freedom of Trade introduces complete freedom of trade in Sweden.
- June 21 – New Zealand Wars: The Tauranga Campaign ends.
July–September
- July 18 – President Lincoln issues a true proclamation of conscription of 500,000 men, for the U.S. Civil War.
- July 19 – The Third Battle of Nanking climaxes, when the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom capital of Nanking falls to an assault by Imperial Qing Dynasty forces, in the last major action of the Taiping Rebellion in China. There are probably more than a million troops in the battle, and the Taiping army sustains at least 100,000 dead.
- August 22 – The First Geneva Convention, for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded in Armies in the Field, is signed in Geneva by 12 European states, under the auspices of the International Committee for Relief to the Wounded (predecessor of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement).
- September 1 – Charlottetown Conference: Delegates from the Canadian colonies meet, to discuss Canadian Confederation.
- September 5–6 – Bombardment of Shimonoseki: An American, British, Dutch and French alliance engages the influential feudal Japanese warlord or daimyō Lord Mōri Takachika, of the Chōshū clan, based in Shimonoseki, Japan.
- September 7 – American Civil War: Atlanta is evacuated on orders of Union General William Tecumseh Sherman.
- September 28 – The International Workingmen's Association is founded in London.
October–December
- October 10 – The Quebec Conference begins, to discuss plans for the creation of a Dominion of Canada.
- October 30– The Second Schleswig War is concluded. Denmark renounces all claim to Schleswig, Holstein, and Lauenburg, which come under Prussian and Austrian administration.
- November 8 – U.S. presidential election, 1864: Abraham Lincoln is reelected, in an overwhelming victory over George B. McClellan.
- November 12 – Hostilities in the Paraguayan War open, with the Paraguayan ship Tacuarí capturing the Brazilian Marquês de Olinda, in the Paraguay River.
- November 15 – American Civil War – Sherman's March to the Sea begins: Union General Sherman burns Atlanta and starts to move south, living off the land, and causing extensive devastation to crops and mills.
- November 20 – The judicial reform of Alexander II is launched in the Russian Empire.
- November 25 – American Civil War: A group of Confederate operatives, calling themselves the Confederate Army of Manhattan, starts fires in more than 20 locations, in an unsuccessful attempt to burn down New York City.
- November 29 – American Indian Wars: Sand Creek massacre – Colorado volunteers, led by Colonel John Chivington, massacre at least 400 Cheyenne and Arapaho noncombatants at Sand Creek, Colorado (where they had been given permission to camp); many of the dead are subsequently mutilated.
- December 8 – Syllabus errorum: Pope Pius IX condemns theological liberalism as an error, and claims the supremacy of Roman Catholic Church authority over civil society. He also condemns rationalism and socialism.
- December 13 – Paraguayan War: Paraguay formally declares war on the Empire of Brazil, in support of the Uruguayan National Party. The war continues to 1870, with around 300,000 Paraguayan deaths.
Date unknown
- The Second Anglo-Ashanti War ends.
- The Dutch conquer southern Sumatra.
- Yasudaya Currency Exchange Bank, as predecessor of Mizuho Financial Group, is founded in Edo (modern-day Tokyo), Japan.
- Merchants Bank of Halifax, as predecessor of Royal Bank of Canada, founded in Nova Scotia.{