Historical Events
- May 1 Battle of Chancellorsville, Virginia, 29,000 injured or died
- May 1 Battle of Port Gibson, Mississippi
- May 1 Confederate "National Flag" replaces "Stars & Bars"
- May 1 Confederate congress passes resolution to kill black soldiers
- May 1 Hospital for the Ruptured and Crippled first opens its doors in New York City, oldest orthopaedic hospital in the United States
- May 2 South defeats North in Battle of Chancellorsville, Virginia
Stonewall Jackson Wounded
May 2 Stonewall Jackson attacking Chancellorsville is wounded by his own men
- May 3 Battle of Salem Church, Virginia
- May 3 The Second Battle of Fredericksburg occurs in Virginia, part of the Chancellorsville Campaign of the American Civil War
- May 4 U.S. Civil War: Battle of Chancellorsville, action at Salem Church; Union Army withdraws
- May 5 Irish boxer Joe Coburn KOs American Mike McCoole in the 67th round in his first defense of Heavyweight C'ship of America in Charlestown, Maryland
- May 8 Confederación Granadina becomes Estados Unidos de Colombia
- May 12 Battle of Raymond, Mississippi
- May 14 American Civil War: The Battle of Jackson, Mississippi takes place
Salon des Refusés
May 15 Salon des Refusés opens in Paris, exhibition of works rejected by official Salon, features Paul Cézanne, Camille Pissarro, Henri Fantin-Latour, James Whistler, and Édouard Manet
Siege of Vicksburg
May 18 US General Ulysses S. Grant begins siege on Vicksburg, Mississippi; after 47 days of battle siege, Confederate Lt. General John C. Pemberton’s troops surrender [1]
- May 19 Siege of Vicksburg, investment of city complete
- May 21 Siege of Port Hudson, Louisiana, begins
- May 22 War Department establishes Bureau of Colored Troops
- May 23 Organization of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Battle Creek, Michigan
- May 27 US Civil War: Confederate gunboat CSS Chattahoochee steam boiler explosion kills 19 crew members on the Apalachicola River, near Blountstown, Florida
- May 27 US Civil War: Siege of Port Hudson in Louisiana by Union forces begins; lasts 48 days, longest American military siege
- May 28 1st black regiment (54 Mass) leaves Boston to fight in US Civil War
Famous Birthdays
- May 5 Frederik August Stoett, Dutch linguist (Dutch Proverbs), born in Leeuwarden, Netherlands (d. 1936)
- May 12 Charles Bordes, French composer, born in La Roche-Corbon, France (d. 1909)
- May 14 John Charles Fields, Canadian mathematician and founder of the Fields Medal, born in Hamilton, Ontario (d. 1932)
- May 18 William Heinemann, English publisher (Heinnemann), born in Surbiton, England (d. 1920)
- May 24 George Grey Barnard, American sculptor, born in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania (d. 1938)
Bob Fitzsimmons (1863-1917)
May 26 English boxer (first 3-division world champion; Middleweight 1981-96, Light Heavyweight 1903, Heavyweight 1897-99), born in Helston, England
- May 27 Arthur Mold, English cricket fast bowler (England 3 Tests; 1,673 1st class wickets), born in Middleton Cheney, Northamptonshire (d. 1921)
- May 27 Charles Wright, English cricket wicketkeeper (3 Tests, 1 x 50; Cambridge Uni CC, Nottinghamshire CCC), born in Harewood, Yorkshire, England (d. 1936)
- May 28 Georg Adler, Polish state economist, born in Poznań, Poland (d. 1908)
- May 31 Francis Younghusband, British journalist and explorer (1904 British expedition to Tibet), born in Murree, British India (d. 1942)
Famous Deaths
- May 1 Edward D. Tracy, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), dies in battle at 29
- May 3 Elisha Franklin Paxton [Bull Paxton], American general (Confederate Army), dies leading Stoneville Brigade at the Battle of Chancellorsville at 35
- May 7 Amiel Weeks Whipple, US Union gen-major, dies of injuries at 46
Stonewall Jackson (1824-1863)
May 10 Confederate general during the American Civil War, dies of pneumonia at 39
- May 14 Emile Prudent, French pianist and composer, dies at 46
- May 16 Lloyd Tilghman, Confederate brigadier general, dies in battle at 47
- May 27 Edward Payson Chapin, American lawyer and Union Army Colonel (posthumously elevated to Brigadier General), dies of injuries from the Siege of Port Hudson, Louisiana at 31
- May 28 Edmund Kirby Jr, American Brigadier General (Union Army), dies of injuries at 23
