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.