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.