President Lincoln formally issued his Emancipation Proclamation, which freed slaves in Confederate-controlled areas of the South. Although the Proclamation freed few slaves initially, it laid the framework for the Thirteenth Amendment, which would end all slavery in the United States.
May 27
The Confederate gunboat Chattahoochee exploded on the Apalachicola River, killing 16 sailors and wounding several others. The Chattahoochee helped guard the Apalachicola River basin, protecting that region from Union attack.
July 1–3
The Battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania was fought. Florida soldiers were heavily engaged in this Confederate defeat.
December 2–15
Union warships destroyed a large number of Confederate saltworks at Lake Ocala and West Bay. These saltworks, consisting primarily of large kettles for the boiling of seawater, were vital to the Confederacy. Salt was a precious commodity used in preserving food.
