Oct. 1: Gen. Early moves his army to Mount Sidney.

Confederate raiders under Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest skirmished in Alabama and captured blockhouses in Tennessee.

Price's operations in Missouri extend to Union, Franklin and Lake Springs.

Confederate spy Rose O'Neal Greenhow drowns when weighed down with $2,000 in gold off North Carolina.

Oct. 2: Cavalry skirmishes at Bridgewater and Mount Crawford.

Army of the Tennessee under Gen. John Bell Hood moves north and disrupts the Western & Atlantic Railroad, which Federals use to supply Sherman in Atlanta.

Federal expedition aimed at salt-mining operations is repulsed at Saltville.

Price reaches Washington, Mo., which is 50 miles from St. Louis.

Oct. 3: Confederate Partisan leader John H. McNeill mortally wounded just south of Mount Jackson .

Union Lt. John Meigs killed by Confederate scouts near Dayton. In retaliation, Sheridan orders Dayton and every house within 3 miles of town to be burned. Union Lt. Col. Thomas Wildes asks Sheridan to reconsider order.

Sheridan offers a wagon and a team to families who want to go north.

Oct. 4: Sheridan rescinds burn order for Dayton but leaves order for burning area around the town in place.

Fifth New York Cavalry detailed to carry out Sheridan's burn order.

Federals hold off Confederates at Allatoona, Ga., as Sherman pursues Hood.

Oct. 5: Wagons carrying Shenandoah Valley families begin to roll north from Harrisonburg.

Oct. 6: General campaign of destruction known as “The Burning” begins.

Confederate cavalry under Gen. Thomas Rosser attack two regiments of horsemen commanded by Gen. George Armstrong Custer but is repulsed at Brock's Gap.

Federals withdraw north, while continuing burning of Valley. Early cautiously follows.

Richmond Enquirer publishes article favoring enlistment of blacks into the Confederate army.

Oct. 7: Hood's Confederates move toward Alabama.

Oct. 8: Cavalry skirmishes in the Luray Valley and at Tom's Brook.

Oct. 9: “The Burning” ends.

Federal cavalry attacks and routs Confederate horsemen at battle of Tom's Brook, which is also known as the Woodstock Races.

Confederate agents blow up a Union transport at City Point. Grant is showered by debris but uninjured.

Price's Confederates move past Jefferson City in Missouri and skirmish at Boonville, Russellville and California.

Oct. 10: Federals go into camp on the north bank of Cedar Creek and astride the Valley Pike (today's U.S. 11) near Middletown.

Oct. 11: Elections in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana show Republican and Lincoln supporters stronger than expected.

Confederates attack Federal recruiting office for blacks near Ft. Donelson, Tenn. but are driven off.

Oct. 12: Union VI Corps released from Shenandoah Valley to Grant at Richmond and Petersburg but the corps is recalled when it reaches Blue Ridge Mountains.

Troops under Sherman and Hood skirmish in northern Georgia.

Oct. 13: Early closes in on Fisher's Hill.

Maryland voters adopt new state constitution that abolishes slavery.

Confederate raiders under Mosby seize $173,000, largely from two Federal army paymasters, west of Harpers Ferry.

Oct. 14: Union VI Corps reaches Cedar Creek encampment.

Price makes plea for people to join him to redeem Missouri.

Oct. 15: Gen. Braxton Bragg detached from Richmond duties to command Confederate forces at Wilmington, N.C.

Oct. 16: Sheridan departs for conference in Washington, D.C.

Oct. 17: Confederate Gen. John B. Gordon's Division skirmishes with Federals at Hupp's Hill.

Price approaches Lexington, Mo.

Gen. James Longstreet returns to command of First Corps in the Army of Northern Virginia after recovering from wounds suffered during battle of the Wilderness in May.

Oct. 18: Confederate generals climb Massanutten Mountain to plot attack on Federals camped at Cedar Creek. Confederate columns begin march toward federal camps at Cedar Creek.

Oct. 19: Sheridan defeats Early at battle of Cedar Creek.

Confederates based in Canada raid St. Albans, Vt., and take $200,000.

C.S.S. Shenandoah officially received by the Confederate government.

Oct. 20: President Lincoln issues a proclamation setting aside the last Thursday in November “as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to the Almighty God the beneficent Creator and Ruler of the Universe.”

Oct. 21: Sherman halts his pursuit of Hood's army.

Oct. 22: Hood marches across northern Alabama.

Oct. 23: Union forces defeat Price at Westport, Mo.

Oct. 25: Pursuing Union forces defeat Price again at the Marais des Cygnes and Mine Creek, Kan.

Oct. 27: Confederate ironclad Albemarle sunk in North Carolina.

Oct. 28: Sherman decides to return to Atlanta and let the army at Nashville deal with Hood's army.

Oct. 31: Nevada becomes 36 th state by proclamation of Lincoln.

Sources for Timeline: “The Burning: Sheridan's Devastation of the Shenandoah Valley,” by John Heatwole, “Battle of Belle Grove or Cedar Creek, A Self-Guided Tour,” by Joseph W.A. Whitehorne, and “The Civil War, Day by Day,” by E.B. Long with Barbara Long.