June 5, 1861

Peter Geissel, a recruit in Company A, of the 9th Illinois Infantry, died today. Geissel most likely was the first of Egypt's Soldiers to die in the Civil War.

June 4, 1861

"Persons having slaves at home, whose services can be dispensed with for the next ten or fifteen days, would do a great kindness to the volunteers at Randolph, by sending negro men to that point. The volunteers should be drilled, and the fortifications, on which they have labored so long and faith should be finished by negroes."
- from June 4 Memphis Bulletin

June 3, 1861

Union and Confederate forces clash in the tall hills of western Virginia. This is the first full-scale skirmish between organized forces in the ever-growing conflict between the North and the South.

June 2, 1861

Virginia's Governor John Letcher finally calls the Liberty Hall Volunteers to action on June 2, 1861 and ordered them to proceed to Harper's Ferry, where the Valley forces were mobilizing.

June 1, 1861

Captain John Quincy Marr of the 17th Virginia Infantry was killed by enemy fire at Fairfax Court House. He was the first Confederate officer killed in the Civil War.

May 31, 1861

Joseph Holt, of Kentucky, late Post-Master General, under President Buchanan, wrote a letter to J. F. Speed upon the policy of the General Government, the pending revolution, its objects, its probable results if successful, and the duty of Kentucky in the crisis. It strikes directly at the heart of treason, and gives it no show of quarter. It vindicates the right of the Federal Executive to send troops into or through any State to suppress rebellion, and rebukes unsparingly the neutral position assumed by the half-hearted Unionists of Kentucky. It shows that the crimes and outrages of the rebels are such as no Government could afford to overlook, and that their pretence that they “want to be let alone” is absurd.

May 30, 1861

Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard was today placed in charge of forces along the Alexandria line in the northern part of Virginia.

May 29, 1861

A mass meeting of leading members of the Baptist Church was held at Brooklyn, N. Y., for the purpose of giving formal expression to their feelings, as a religious community in the present crisis, and to record their attachment to the Union, and their determination to uphold the efforts of the Federal Government, in behalf of the Constitution.

May 28, 1861

Confederate Captain Stephen Roberts is killed by Union soldiers in Grafton, western Virginia. He is generally regarded as the first Confederate officer killed in the Civil War.

May 27, 1861

General McDowell takes command in Virginia.

May 26, 1861

Union General George B.McClellan orders Virginia to be invaded.

May 25, 1861

"There is to be no fight—no assault on Pickens. But we are beginning to send troops forward in the right direction—to Virginia. Virginia herself ought to have kept the invader from her soil. Was she reluctant to break the peace? And is it nothing to have her soil polluted by the martial tramp of the Yankees at Alexandria and Arlington Heights? But the wrath of the Southern chivalry will some day burst forth on the ensanguined plain, and then let the presumptuous foemen of the North beware of the fiery ordeal they have invoked. The men I see daily keeping time to the music of revolution are fighting men, men who will conquer or die, and who prefer death to subjugation. But the Yankee has no such motive to fight for, no thought of serious wounds and death. He can go back to his own country; our men have no other country to go to."
- Rebel War Clerk's Diary

May 24, 1861

Colonel Elmer Ellsworth of the 11th New York Fire Zouaves is killed in the Marshall House in Alexander, Virginia after he and his mne removed a Confederate flag. He is generally regarded as the first officer killed while on duty in he American Civil War.

May 23, 1861

Colonel Thomas J. Jackson raids trains passing through Harpers Ferry, capturing a large quantity of coal, which appears to have been intended for Northern steamers blockading Southern ports.

May 22, 1861

Private Thornsbury Bailey Brown was shot and killed at Fetterman Bridge in present-day West Virginia. He is generally regarded as the first Union combat fatality of the Civil War.

May 21, 1861

Confederate Congress votes to move its capital from Montgomery, Alabama to Richmond, Virginia.

May 20, 1861

The state of North Carolina adopts secession resolution.

May 19, 1861

Shots were exchanged between a rebel battery and the U.S. Steamers Freedom and Monticello at Sewell's Point north of Elizabeth River in Virginia.

May 18, 1861

"Governor Brown of Georgia issues a proclamation inhibiting the carrying of arms or accoutrements of any kind purchased by the state, beyond its limits, without his consent."
- from The Boston Herald

May 17, 1861

The Cherokee Nation adopts a proclamation to remain neutral during impending national conflict.

May 16, 1861

"The order to march will soon be sounded along the Potomac, and the "sacred soil"of Virginia will be trodden by contending armies, and perchance drenched in blood. Who shall conquer, or who suffer defeat, whether the loyal soldiers of the Union, or the myrmidons of Jeff Davis shall triumph, will matter little to Virginia. She will garner the horrors of war, while victor and vanquished will alike spoil her of her substance, her honor, and her fame."
- from The New York Times, "The Reward of Treason"

May 15, 1861

A proclamation of neutrality with respect to the Secession rebellion is issued by Queen Victoria, in which all subjects of Great Britain are forbidden to enter the3 service of the contending parties.

May 14, 1861

"An act to define by limits of the port of New Orleans."
- per The Statutes at Large of the Provisional Court of Confederate States of America

May 13, 1861

Benjamin Butler and his men take Baltimore without orders and occupy Relay Station.

May 12, 1861

Union general Benjamin Butler takes control of Federal Hill and threatens to fire on downtown Baltimore if Southern sympathizers protest.

May 11, 1861

Five more companies from Mississippi arrive in Richmond, Virginia.

May 10, 1861

The Confederate Secretary of War gives Robert E. Lee control of Virginia forces.

May 9, 1861

The steamer Maryland arrives at Baltimore with 1,800 Federal troops from Perryville.

May 8, 1861

Richmond, Virginia is named the capital of the Confederacy, replacing Montgomery, Alabama.

May 7, 1861

"If our farmers who remain at home during this war would serve their country, let them sow plentifully! Let every foot of ground receive its seed for the future."
- from the Milwaukee Daily Sentinel

May 6, 1861

Arkansas and Tennessee secede from the Union.

May 5, 1861

Raleigh, North Carolina is alive with soldiers, who have been pouring in....Ten companies have been selected by the Governor to constitute the "First Regiment of North Carolina Volunteers," and an election of field officers has taken place, resulting int he selection of D.H. Hill. O.C. Lee, and J.H. Lane, respectively, to the offices of Colonel, Lieutenant-Colonel, and Major.

May 4, 1861

Lee moves into western Virginia, recognizing the importance of maintaining B&O Line.

May 3, 1861

The Southern Congress approves a bill installing chaplains in the Confederate army.

May 2, 1861

Elmer Ellsworth and the Fire Zouaves arrive in Washington to fight for the Union. Ellsworth will shortly be killed in Alexandria, VA, and as such will be the first Union casualty of the war.

May 1, 1861

Robert E. Lee orders Stonewall Jackson to remove the weapons and equipment from the arsenal at Harpers Ferry.

April 30, 1861

Colonel Thomas Jackson arrives in Harpers Ferry.

April 29, 1861

Jefferson Davis gives his "all we ask is to be let alone" speech to Confederate Congress. He announces that the Confederate Constitution has been ratified by all Confederate states.

April 28, 1861

The 5th Regiment (Jefferson Guard) NYS Militia left NYC under the command of Co,onel Christian Schwarzwaelder for Washington for three months United States service in Washington.

April 27, 1861

"Army and Navy officers (Virginians mostly) who are resigning their commissions just now, most indignantly censured .... (Their) resignations should not be accepted. They should be kept under arrest and tried for their lives by court-martial as spied and traitors."

- George Templeton Strong

April 26, 1861

Governor Joseph Brown of Georgia issues an order to all Georgians repudiating all debts owed to any Northern person or company.

April 25, 2011

Abraham Lincoln writes to Winfield Scott regarding the meeting of the Maryland Legislature taking possible action to secede from the United States. He urges Scott to counteract should this come of fruition.

April 24, 1861

Troops from the First Rhode Island Regiment of Detached Militia parade in downtown Providence before marching south to Washington to defend against an expected Confederate attack. They will fight in the First Battle of Manassas later in  July.

April 23, 1861

Robert E. Lee assumes command of Virginia's militia.

April 22, 1861

 Governor John Letcher, wartime governor of Virginia

- from Governor Letcher, of Virginia, in proclamation to Secretary of State Cameron, regarding state of affairs at Norfolk:

"....and whereas, the General Assembly of Virginia, by a majority approaching to entire unanimity, declared at its last session that the State of Virginia would consider such an exertion of force as a virtual declaration of war, to be resisted by all the power at the command of Virginia; and subsequently the Convention now in session, representing the sovereignty of this State, has reaffirmed in substance the same policy, with almost equal unanimity; and whereas, the State of Virginia deeply sympathizes with the Southern States in the wrongs they have suffered, and in the position they have assumed; and having made earnest efforts peaceably to compose the differences which have severed the Union, and having failed in that attempt, through this unwarranted act on the part of the President; and it is believed that the influences which operate to produce this proclamation against the seceded States will be brought to bear upon this commonwealth, if she should exercise her undoubted right to resume the powers granted by her people, and it is due to the honor of Virginia that an improper exercise of force against her people should be repelled. Therefore I, JOHN LETCHER, Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, have thought proper to order all armed volunteer regiments or companies within this State forthwith to hold themselves in readiness for immediate orders, and upon the reception of this proclamation to report to the Adjutant-General of the State their organization and numbers, and prepare themselves for efficient service. Such companies as are not armed and equipped will report that fact, that they may be properly supplied.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the Commonwealth to be affixed, this 17th day of April, 1861, and in the eighty-fifth year of the Commonwealth.
JOHN LETCHER.

April 21, 1861

Thomas J. Jackson, a professor at the Virginia Military Institute, attends chapel with cadets. That afternoon, they are off to enlist for the defense of Virginia and the Confederacy.

April 20, 1861

Robert E. Lee resigns from the United States army.

April 19, 1861

Lincoln issues Proclamation of Blockade Against Southern Ports, authorizing the blockade of ports in South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas.

April 18, 1861

Robert E. Lee is offered command of the United States Army by a former commanding officer, Winfield Scott.

Young U.S. military officer Robert E. Lee.

Robert E. Lee before joining his beloved Virginia and the Confederacy.

April 17, 1861

Virginia secedes from the Union.

Two special photographers from Charleston, SC, James M. Osborn and F.E. Durbec, spend the beginning of several days visiting Fort Sumter and all of the Confederate installations that fired against it. They capture over forty scenes, the most complete record ever made of the site of a Civil War engagement.

April 16, 1861

The Confederate Congress passes a Conscription Act, drafting white men between the ages of eighteen and thirty-five for three years service.

 

A young Confederate recruit.

April 15, 1861

University of Michigan President addresses citizens in Ann Arbor, Michigan about the Confe3derate army attack on Fort Sumter in South Carolina. Civilian and military support for the Union will grow exponentially.

Citizens from town, country, and University gather on Courthouse Square for news of importance on April 15, 1861.

April 14, 1861

Lincoln violates the U.S. constitution by illegally calling for states to raise 75,000 troops to invade the South.

Robert E. Lee resigns from Union army.

A bombed Fort Sumter on April 14, 1861 after its surrender by Major Robert Anderson.

April 13, 1861

After a thirty-three hour bombardment by Confederate cannon, Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor surrenders.

April 12, 1861

Confederate artillery batteries surrounding Fort Sumter open fire.

April 11, 1861

Beauregard demands the surrender of Fort Sumter.

Correspondence between Beauregard and Anderson:



HEADQUARTERS PROVISIONAL ARMY, C. S. A.,
Charleston, S. C., April 11, 1861.
SIR: The Government of the Confederate States has hitherto forborne from any hostile demonstration against Fort Sumter, in the hope that the Government of the United States, with a view to the amicable adjustment of all questions between the two Government, and to avert the calamities of war, would voluntarily evacuate it.
There was reason at one time to believe that such would be the course pursued by the Government of the United States, and under that impression my Government has refrained from making any demand for the surrender of the fort. But the Confederate States can no longer delay assuming actual possession of a fortification commanding the entrance of one of their harbors, and necessary to its defense and security.
I am ordered by the Government of the Confederate States to demand the evacuation of Fort Sumter. My aides, Colonel Chesnut and Captain Lee, are authorized to make such demand of you. All proper facilities will be afforded for the removal of yourself and command, together with company arms and property and all private property, to any post in the United States which you may select. The flag which you have upheld so long as with so much fortitude, under the most trying circumstances, may be saluted by you on taking it down.
Colonel Chesnut and Captain Lee will, for a reasonable time, await your answer.
I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
G. T. BEAUREGARD,
Brigadier-General, Commanding.


Major ROBERT ANDERSON,

Commanding at Fort Sumter, Charleston Harbor, S. C.
FORT SUMTER, S. C., April 11, 1861.
GENERAL: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication demanding the evacuation of this fort, and to say, in reply thereto, that it is a demand with which I regret that my sense of honor, and of my obligations to my Government, prevent my compliance. Thanking you for the fair, manly, and courteous terms proposed, and for the high compliment paid me,
I am, general, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
ROBERT ANDERSON,
Major, First Artillery, Commanding.

April 10, 1861

Civil War Deeply Rooted in Virginia - from Los Angeles Times, April 10, 2011
- Three key places in Virginia tell the tale of rebellion and answer some big questions.

April 9,1861

1st Confederate States of America flag

Union flag flown at time of Fort Sumter bombing

April 8, 1861

Maps of Union and Confederate states

April 7, 1861

Lincoln Cabinet - 1861

First Confederate Cabinet - 1861

April 6, 1861

Coats of Arms of the Several States of the Union - from Harper's Weekly (April 1861)

Scenes in Virginia - from Harper's Weekly (April 1861)

April 5, 1861

A soldier from Georgia signed this enlistment oath to serve in the Army of the State of Georgia for three years.

Five Myths About Why The South Seceded  - The Washington Post, April 5, 2011

Faces of the Civil War - the Washington Post, April 5, 2011: "The last full Measure: Civil War Photographs from the Liljenquist Family Collection," an exhibit opening at the Library of Congress on April 12, offers a haunting view of the Civil War generation through 400 period photographs.

April 4, 1861

The Virginia Convention rejects a motion to secede by a vote of 90 to 45.

April 3, 1861

Abraham Lincoln, President - USA, 1861

 Jefferson Davis, President - CSA, 1861

Robert E. Lee, before his command of The Army of Northern Virginia

April 2, 1861

From The Daily Virginian:

"One of the great arguments - indeed the chief cause assigned by those of our Southern fellow-citizens who favor Disunion - is, that we are two distinct people, having different systems of labor, and cannot, therefore, live under one government."

 South Carolina Governor Francis Pickens

(Left) Brigadier  General P.G.T. Beauregard - Commander, CSA, Charleston, SC
(Right) Major Robert Anderson, Commander, Federal forces at Fort Sumter

April 1, 1861

Fort Sumter, Charleston Harbor

New York times article: How Slavery Really Ended in America

Fort Monroe, Virginia, 19th century

March 31, 1861

The General Council of the Choctaw Nation resolves to side with the South. Despite this resolution, various Choctaw individuals and groups joined each side of the conflict.

March 30, 1861

The Mississippi State Convention, at Jackson, ratified the Constitution of the Confederate States, by a vote of 78 to 7.

March 29, 1861

Lincoln orders plans for a relief expedition to sail to South Carolina's Fort Sumter, which was still in the hands of Union forces despite repeated demands by the Confederacy that it be turned over.

March 28, 1861

Governor Pickens, of South Carolina, sent a message to the convention of that state, informing it that six hundred men would be required to garrison the forts in Charleston Harbor.

March 27, 1861

From The Commercial Appeal, Memphis, Tennessee:
"Southerners Attention! All citizens who are in favor of Secession and a union with the Confederate States are invited to assemble at the corner of Main and Madison streets, today at 2 o'clock p.m. to form a procession, in order to take part in escorting the Mississippi troops to the Memphis and Charleston depot. All true and loyal sons of the South are invited to be present to assist in paying honor to the brave soldiers of our glorious sister state."

March 26, 1861

General Beauregard, commanding rebel forces in Charleston and Major Anderson, commanding Federal forces at Fort Sumter, exchange letters to clear up some of the foggy particulars concerning handling over of the fort.

March 25, 1861

Lincoln conducts final talks with members of his cabinet for upcoming discussions of national policy with foreign powers.

March 24, 1861

William Lloyd Garrison publishes an editorial in New York Herald stating"for the first time in the history of the country, abolitionism pure and simple has found an honorable recognition at the hands of the administration."

March 23, 1861

Georgia's secession continued its work adopting ordinances organizing Congressional districts, providing side-arms to militia leaders, and continued work on re-writing the state constitution.

March 22, 1861

General Braxton Bragg prohibits all vessels from furnishings supplies to war vessels off Pensacola or to Fort Pickens, under penalty of forfeiture to the Confederation.

March 21, 1861

A.H. Stephens, Vice-President of the "Confederate States" of the South, delivers a speech at Savannah, Georgia, intended to be a vindication of the new features in the constitution, which has been adopted for their government.

March 20, 1861

Resolutions defending slavery are passed by a convention of the people of Arkansas.

March 19, 1861

Missouri Convention rejects secession.

March 18, 1861

Lincoln writes memorandum on "some consideration in favor of withdrawing the troops from Fort Sumter."

March 17, 1861

Federal troops from Camp Hudson in Texas leave for service in the Civil War.

March 16, 1861

Georgia ratifies Confederate Constitution.

March 15, 1861

Charleston Courier reports that the fortifications around Charleston Harbor are nearly complete.

March 14, 1861

Lincoln plans with Gustavus Fox to resupply Fort Sumter, though some Cabinet members were mixed or against it.

U.S. Senators debate about what to do with seats left vacant by their Southern colleagues.

March 13, 1861

Jefferson Davis signs a bill authorizing slaves to be used as soldiers for the Confederacy.

March 12, 1861

The London News of to-day publishes a strong protest against recognition of the Southern Confederacy by the British Government.

March 11, 1861

The Clinch Rifles, a militia unit in Augusta, Georgia, report on the presentation of a new Confederate flag.

March 10, 1861

Confederate Congress at Montgomery adopts the Constitution unanimously.

March 9, 1861

Brigadier General P.G.T. Beauregard writes from Charleston, South Carolina to the Hon. L.P. Walker, Secretary of War, Montgomery, Alabama "reporting the circumstances connected with the accidental shooting of a loaded gun toward Fort Sumter on the 8th instant."

March 8, 1861

The Confederate Commissioners, using California Sen William Gwin as an intermediary, send a memo to Secretary of State Seward, proposing to delay action against Fort Sumter for 20 days in return for a promise that the existing military position would be preserved.

March 7, 1861

General Braxton Bragg is assigned to command Confederate troops in the vicinity of Pensacola, Florida.

March 6, 1861

The new Confederate Congress authorizes the use of 100,000 volunteer soldiers for twelve months.

March 5, 1861

U.S. Senate confirms Lincoln's Cabinet nominations.

March 4, 1861

Abraham Lincoln takes the Oath of Office as sixteenth President of the United States.

March 3, 1861

General Winfield Scott says of seceded states," Wayward sisters, depart in peace."

March 2, 1861

U. S. Congress passes a proposed 13th Amendment stating that the Congress will not abolish or interfere with slavery where it exists.

March 1, 1861

P.G.T. Beauregard appointed as Brigadier General of Confederate States of America

February 28, 1861

Confederate States of America bonds are first printed.

February 27, 1861

The Peace Convention submits to the United States Senate a plan of adjustment involved in seven amendments to the Constitution of the United States.

February 26, 1861

Confederate President Jefferson Davis sends a message to the U.S. Congress, calling on them to release all armaments that rightfully belong to Southern states - arguing that they now rightfully belong to the Confederate States of America.

February 25, 1861

President-Elect Lincoln meets with both houses of Congress.

February 24, 1861

The Montgomery Convention completes the Constitution of the Confederate States of America.

February 23, 1861

Lincoln arrives secretly in Washington, DC to take office.

February 22, 1861

In Montgomery, Georgia, dele3gate Augustus Wright introduces a bill to form a Volunteer Division in the Army of the Confederate States of America.

February 21, 1861

President-elect Lincoln speaks to both houses of New Jersey legislature.

February 20, 1861

P.G.T. Beauregard resigns from the U.S. Army.

February 19, 1861

Fort Kearney, in Kansas Territory, was taken possession of by secessionists, and a secession flag raised. It was soon after retaken by a party of Unionists.

February 18, 1861

Jefferson Davis is inaugurated President of the Confederacy.

February 17, 1861

Abraham Lincoln and his family attend a church service in Buffalo, New York and dine with Millard Fillmore.

February 16, 1861

Abolition newspapers are making merry over the fact that South Carolina gets neither a President nor a Vice President in the Southern Confederacy.
- from Charleston Mercury

February 15, 1861

The Montgomery convention, acting as the provisional Confederate congress, resolves to take Fort Sumter by force if necessary.

February 14, 1861

President-elect Lincoln and his party depart Columbus, Ohio for a 12-hour train trip to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

February 13, 1861

The U.S. Electoral College makes Lincoln's win official.

February 12, 1861

Noble Leslie DeVotie, main contributing founder of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, drowns on this day while on duty as chaplain of the Alabama troops. He was 23 years of age. Since Alabama had in fact seceded at that time, he was the first man to lose his life in the Civil War.

February 11, 1861

Abraham Lincoln leaves Springfield, Illinois to start his inaugural journey to Washington, D.C.

February 10, 1861

Jefferson Davis , at his plantation, Brierfield, receives word from Montgomery that he has been selected president of the new Confederate States of America.

February 9, 1861

Jefferson Davis of Mississippi is unanimously elected President of the Confederacy by delegates to the Montgomery convention.

February 8, 1861

Confederate States of America organizes in Montgomery, Alabama.

February 7, 1861

Choctaw Nation in Indian territory aligns itself with the Provisional Confederate government.

February 6, 1861

Richmond ramps up arms production at the Tredegar Iron Works.

February 5, 1861

Three of the four Louisiana representatives to the U.S. Congress leave their seat.

February 4, 1861

Confederate constitutional convention meets for the first time.

 Delegates from South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Georgia, and Louisiana meet in Montgomery, Alabama to establish the Confederate States of America.

February 3, 1861

Ben McCullough, a former Texas Ranger and U.S. Marshal, receives an appointment as a "military officer" from the committee of public safety in Texas.

February 2, 1861

Let the 'great, but not the greatest, evil' come ; for, as did the great and good Calhoun, from whom is drawn that expression of value, I love and venerate the Union of these States, but I love Liberty and Mississippi more." 

Jefferson Davis, as quoted in February 2, 1861 issue of Harper's Weekly

February 1, 1861

Delegates convene in Austin, Texas to vote for secession.

January 31, 1861

On January 26th, 1861, the State of Louisiana seceded from the Union and the Mint, along with nearly $5,000,000.00 in silver and gold, was seized by Louisiana militia on Jan. 31, 1861.

January 30, 1861

“ … Virginia – the home of the Constitution, the mother of Independence as well as of Presidents, the burial ground of Washington, of Madison, Jefferson and Henry, and the rest – Virginia, the shrine of so many memories, associations and glories, she must put on her armor and buckle on her shield, to save the constitution she bore so great a part in framing, and the Union, in whose affairs she has taken such a noble part.”

- Editorial, The Daily Virginian

January 29, 1861

Kansas is admitted to the Union as a free state.

January 28, 1861

Approval by the legislature of a joint resolution authorizing a state convention to act for the people of Texas on the secession matter.

January 27, 1861

Major Robert Anderson, in a letter to his superior in Washington, DC Colonel Cooper, lists food supplies left inside Fort Sumter, including only 13 barrels of hardtack crackers.

January 26, 1861

Louisiana secedes from the Union.

January 25, 1861

Staunton, Virginia: George Baylor announces his candidacy for delegate to the State Convention. He supports the Crittenden-Douglas amendments to the Constitution, but believes that the South and North should part peacefully if they cannot find mutually agreeable terms.

January 24, 1861

The Federal arsenal at Augusta, Georgia is seized by secessionists.

January 23, 1861

Police in New York City seized 950 rifles destined for Alabama. The weapons were to be loaded on the steamer Monticello.

January 22, 1861

"I can anticipate no greater calamity for the country than the dissolution of the Union. It would be an accumulation of all the evils we complain of, and I am willing to sacrifice everything but honor for its preservation."Colonel Robert E. Lee, in a letter to his son, Custis

January 21, 1861

Jefferson Davis announces his resignation from the U.S. Senate.

January 20, 1861

Jefferson Davis writes to Franklin Pierce lamenting his departure from the Union: ".... and now I come to the hard task of announcing to you that the hour is at hand which closes my connection with the United States."

January 19, 1861

Georgia joins South Carolina, Florida, Mississippi, and Alabama in secession. Special state convention votes unanimously to leave the union.

January 18, 1861

William Tecumseh Sherman, Superintendent of the Louisiana State Seminary of Learning and Military Academy, declares his intention to resign from his post in the wake of Louisiana's probable secession, stating ".... on no earthly account will I do any act or think any thought hostile to or in defiance of the old Government of the United States."

January 17, 1861

James L. Orr, a commissioner from South Carolina to the Georgia Secession Convention, declares the South "had suffered indignities and insults until they were no longer tolerable....(and) The North was firmly in the grip of a blind and relentless fanaticism."

January 16, 1861

The Crittenden Compromise, a compromise consisting of a series of amendments seeking to continue the old Missouri Compromise, offers a chance to keep North and South together, but dies on the Senate floor.

January 15, 1861

Albert Sidney Johnston assumes command of the Department of the Pacific.

January 14, 1861

Virginia Assembly approves a convention to consider secession.

January 13, 1861

USS TYLER fired on in the Mississippi river near Vicksburg

January 12, 1861

The Star of the West arrives back in New York, having failed to land her troops at Fort Sumter.

January 11, 1861

Alabama secession convention votes to withdraw from the federal Union.

January 10, 1861

Florida convention votes overwhelmingly to secede from the Union.

Major Robert Anderson gets order to continue to defend Fort Sumter.

January 9, 1861

Secessionist batteries at Charleston, South Carolina turn back The Star of the West, which had been sent from New York to reinforce Fort Sumter.

Five Myths About Why the South Seceded

Secesssion and thoughts for and against it were rampant in these days 150 years ago, and James W. Loewen of The Washington Post speculates as to the myths surrounding the Southern states' reasons for seceding.

January 8, 1861

The steamship Star of the West continues to move closer on its mission to Charleston, SC with Union reinforcements, and the Boston Herald states: "Anxiety will be on tip-toe to learn of the steamer's mission. If the fire-eaters mean anything by their threats, we may expect to hear within the next twenty-four hours that the vessel with her precious freight has met with a warm reception in the shape of a powder and shot welcome."
- "The Crisis Approaching!," Boston Herald, January 8, 1861

January 7, 1861

Pittsylvania County people's meeting passes resolution urging Virginia State Convention to "take steps.....necessary to secure equality of rights and protection of her interest" regarding "dangers" threatening institutions of the South.

Washingon Post Civil War Sesquicentennial special coverage

The Washington Post "Civil War 150: Ongoing Special Coverage of the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War"

Mason-Dixon Line highway marker

January 6, 1861

Maryland governor Thomas Hicks understands and personifies his state's divided loyalty regarding the secession issue, but denounces secession in a speech to state residents.

Civil War Sesquicentennial Events in Virginia in 2011

Calendar of 2011 events from Virginia Sesquicentennial of the American Civil War Commission

January 5, 1861

200 Federal troops leave New York on the merchant ship Star of the West on mission to secretly approach Charleston, SC and reinforce Fort Sumter.

"2011 Manassas and PWC Sesqui Activities"

Henry Smeltzer's blog, Bull Runnings: A Journal of the Digitization of a Civil War Battle, lists some Civil War sesquicentennial events in Manassas and Prince William County, Virginia during January, February, and March of 2011.

January 4, 1861

State troops in Alabama seize United Sates Arsenal at Mount Vernon.

Claiborne Fox Jackson is inaugurated as governor of Missouri.

Florida Governor Perry orders state troops to seize federal arsenal at Fort Marion and Chattahoochee at St. Augustine.

Ft. Pulaski Marks A Civil War Anniversary - Georgia Public Broadcasting

Orlando Montoya of Georgia Public Broadcasting posits Georgia Governor Joseph Brown's takeover of Ft. Pulaski in Savannah was spurred by concern that U.S. troops might duplicate recent aggression on Ft. Sumter in Charleston, SC.

Civil War War Anniversary Begins - Richmond Times-Dispatch

Katherine Calos discusses Virginia's early-1861 position on possible secession from the Union, an "uncertain path" that is the focus of two upcoming exhibits at the Virginia State Capitol Visitor Center and the Virginia Historical Society.

Historical insight on happenings of January 1861 in America

"It's unbelievable what happened in January. Almost every day of the month of January 1861, there was some kind of state takeover (of) a federal facility. The country unravelled."
- Mike Weinstein, ranger at Savannah's Ft. Pulaski National Monument

January 3, 1861

Delaware votes not to secede from the Union.

PBS documentary "Robert E. Lee"

Hank Steuver of The Washington Post pans PBS show "Robert E. Lee," anticipating four years of upcoming sesquicentennial Civil War doumentaries.

January 2, 1861

Georgia Governor Joseph Brown orders state militia to take Fort Pulaski, an unoccupied fort guarding Savannah, Georgia.

January 1, 1861

The storm clouds of war are gradually rolling in and around, but will eventually hover.
On this New Year's Day in 1861, West Virginia resolves to stay with the Union, and Georgia holds a state convention to vote on seceding from the Union.