Harman Patil (Editor)

1861 in the United States

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Events from the year 1861 in the United States. This year marked the beginning of the American Civil War.

Contents

Federal Government

  • President: James Buchanan (D-Pennsylvania) (until March 4), Abraham Lincoln (R-Illinois) (starting March 4)
  • Vice President: John C. Breckinridge (D-Kentucky) (until March 4), Hannibal Hamlin (R-Maine) (starting March 4)
  • Chief Justice: Roger B. Taney (Maryland)
  • Speaker of the House of Representatives: William Pennington (R-New Jersey) (until March 4), Galusha A. Grow (R-Pennsylvania) (starting July 4)
  • Congress: 36th (until March 4), 37th (starting March 4)

    • January–March

  • January 3 – American Civil War: Delaware votes not to secede from the Union.
  • January 9 – Mississippi becomes the second state to secede from the Union, preceding the American Civil War.
  • January 10 – American Civil War: Florida secedes from the Union.
  • January 11 – American Civil War: Alabama secedes from the Union.
  • January 12 – Major Robert Anderson sends dispatches to Washington.
  • January 18 – American Civil War: Georgia secedes from the Union.
  • January 21 – American Civil War: Jefferson Davis resigns from the United States Senate.
  • January 26 – American Civil War: Louisiana secedes from the Union.
  • January 29 – Kansas is admitted as the 34th U.S. state (see History of Kansas).
  • February 1 – American Civil War: Texas secedes from the Union.
  • February 4 – American Civil War: Delegates from six seceded states meet at the Montgomery Convention in Montgomery, Alabama.
  • February 8 – American Civil War: The Confederate States of America adopts the Provisional Confederate States Constitution.
  • February 9 – American Civil War: Jefferson Davis is elected the Provisional President of the Confederate States of America by the Weed Convention at Montgomery, Alabama.
  • February 11 – American Civil War: The U.S. House unanimously passes a resolution guaranteeing non-interference with slavery in any state.
  • February 18 – American Civil War: In Montgomery, Alabama, Jefferson Davis is inaugurated as the provisional president of the Confederate States of America.
  • February 23 – President-elect Abraham Lincoln arrives secretly in Washington, D.C. after an assassination attempt in Baltimore.
  • February 28 – Colorado Territory is organized.
  • March 2 – Nevada Territory and Dakota Territory are organized.
  • March 4
  • President Abraham Lincoln takes office, succeeding James Buchanan.
  • American Civil War: The Stars and Bars is adopted as the flag of the Confederate States of America.
  • March 11 – American Civil War: The Confederate States Constitution is adopted.

    • April–June

  • April 12 – Battle of Fort Sumter: The American Civil War begins at Fort Sumter, South Carolina.
  • April 14 – Battle of Fort Sumter: Fort Sumter surrenders to Confederate forces.
  • April 17 – The state of Virginia secedes from the Union.
  • April 20 – American Civil War: Robert E. Lee resigns his commission in the United States Army in order to command the forces of the state of Virginia.
  • April 25 – American Civil War: The Union Army arrives in Washington, D.C.
  • April 27 – American Civil War:
  • President Abraham Lincoln suspends the writ of habeas corpus in the United States.
  • May 6 – American Civil War: Arkansas secedes from the Union.
  • May 7 – American Civil War: Tennessee secedes from the Union.
  • May 8 – American Civil War: Richmond, Virginia is named the capital of the Confederate States of America.
  • May 10 – American Civil War – Camp Jackson Affair: Union military forces clash with civilians on the streets of St. Louis, Missouri, resulting in the deaths of at least 28 people and injuries to another 100.
  • May 13 – American Civil War: Queen Victoria issues a "proclamation of neutrality" which recognizes the breakaway states as having belligerent rights.
  • May 20
  • American Civil War: Kentucky proclaims its neutrality which lasts until September 3, when Confederate forces enter the state.
  • American Civil War: North Carolina secedes from the Union.

    • July–September

  • July 13 – American Civil War: The Battle of Corrick's Ford takes place in western Virginia.
  • July 21 – American Civil War – First Battle of Bull Run aka First Manassas: At Manassas Junction, Virginia, the first major battle of the war ends in a Confederate victory.
  • July 25 – American Civil War: The Crittenden–Johnson Resolution is passed by the U.S. Congress, stating that the war is being fought to preserve the Union and not to end slavery.
  • July 26 – American Civil War: George B. McClellan assumes command of the Army of the Potomac following a disastrous Union defeat at the First Battle of Bull Run.
  • August 5
  • American Civil War: In order to help pay for the war effort, the United States government issues the first income tax as part of the Revenue Act of 1861 (3% of all incomes over US $800; rescinded in 1872).
  • The U.S. Army abolishes flogging.
  • August 10 – American Civil War: The first major battle west of the Mississippi River, the Battle of Wilson's Creek, is fought, with a Confederate victory.
  • September 3 – American Civil War: Confederate General Leonidas Polk invades neutral Kentucky, prompting the state legislature to ask for Union assistance.
  • September 6 – American Civil War: Forces under Union General Ulysses S. Grant bloodlessly capture Paducah, Kentucky, which gives the Union control the mouth of the Tennessee River.

    • October–December

  • October 9 – American Civil War – Battle of Santa Rosa Island: Confederate forces are defeated in their effort to take the island.
  • October 21 – American Civil War – Battle of Ball's Bluff: Union forces under Colonel Edward Baker are defeated by Confederate troops in the second major battle of the war. Baker, a close friend of Abraham Lincoln, is killed in the fighting.
  • October 28 – The Missouri legislature takes up a bill for Missouri's secession from the Union.
  • October 30 – The bill is passed for Missouri's secession from the Union.
  • October 31
  • Missouri's secession from the Union bill is signed by Governor Claiborne Fox Jackson.
  • American Civil War: Citing failing health, Union General Winfield Scott resigns as Commander of the United States Army.
  • November 1 – American Civil War: U.S. President Abraham Lincoln appoints George B. McClellan as commander of the Union Army, replacing the aged General Winfield Scott.
  • November 2 – American Civil War: Western Department Union General John C. Frémont is relieved of command and replaced by David Hunter.
  • November 6 – American Civil War: Jefferson Davis is elected president of the Confederate States of America.
  • November 7 – American Civil War – Battle of Belmont: In Mississippi County, Union forces led by General Ulysses S. Grant overrun a Confederate camp but are forced to retreat when Confederate reinforcements arrive.
  • November 8 – American Civil War – Trent Affair: The USS San Jacinto stops the United Kingdom mail ship Trent and arrests two Confederate envoys, James Mason and John Slidell, sparking a diplomatic crisis between the U.K. and U.S.
  • November 21 – American Civil War: Confederate President Jefferson Davis appoints Judah Benjamin Secretary of War.
  • November 28 – American Civil War: Acting on the ordinance passed by the Jackson government, the Confederate Congress admits Missouri as the 12th Confederate state.
  • December 10 – American Civil War: Kentucky is accepted into the Confederate States of America.

    • Ongoing

  • Secession crisis (1860–61)
  • American Civil War (1861–65)

    • Deaths

  • April 15 – Isaiah Stillman, U.S. Army Major in the Black Hawk War (born 1793)
  • May 21 – Benjamin Paul Akers, sculptor (born 1825)
  • June 3 – Stephen A. Douglas, Senator from Illinois from 1847 till 1861 and Presidential candidate (born 1813)
  • June 13 – Richard Lawrence, failed assassin of Andrew Jackson (born c. 1800-1801)
  • July 22 – Barnard Elliott Bee, Jr., Confederate general (born 1824)
  • August 12 – Eliphalet Remington, gunmaker (born 1793)
  • August 17 – Alcée Louis la Branche, politician (born 1806)
  • October 5 – Kinsley S. Bingham, U.S. Senator from Michigan from 1859 to 1861 (born 1808)
  • October 20 – William Woodbridge, Governor of Michigan from 1840 to 1841 and U.S. Senator from Michigan from 1841 to 1847 (born 1780)
  • October 21 – Edward Dickinson Baker, U.S. Senator from Oregon from 1860 to 1861 (born 1811)
  • October 26 – Edward "Ned" Kendall, bandleader and instrumentalist (keyed bugle) (born 1808)
  • November 28 – Richard M. Young, U.S. Senator from Illinois from 1837 to 1843 (born 1798)

    • References

    1861 in the United States Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA