Gettysburg Project

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The weather still detemined how much warfare took place in January 1862. The American Civil War was determined by a series of skirmishes in the winter months coupled with a great deal of political work. In January 1862 Lincoln issued two orders both of which required McClellan to go on the offensive as opposed to remaining, in Lincoln’c mind, on the defensive.

January 1^st: The Cabinet urged greater success in Missouri, which seemed to be a state out of control. Martial law was introduced to St. Louis but General Halleck was urged to do more by politicians in Washington DC.

January 3^rd: Jefferson Davis expressed his concern that Union forces were stationed at Ship Island in the Mississippi Sound. This base was only 65 miles from New Orleans. General ‘Stonewall’ Jackson started his campaign to disrupt the North’s movement of supplies. His targets were the Baltimore to Ohio railway and the Ohio to Chesapeake canal. 

January 4^th: Jackson’s reputation for keeping his men on the move was cemented when Union forces could barely find his 10,000 men who were on the march.

January 6^th: The Senate urged Lincoln to replace McClellan because of his seeming lack of activity. However, Lincoln supported McClellan.

January 7^th: Three Union gunboats made a sortie along the Mississippi to within three miles of the important Confederate stronghold at Columbus. Their information was fed back to General U Grant.

January 9^th: General Grant started his campaign against Columbus.

January 11^th: Secretary of War Simon Cameron resigned over accusations of corruption and basic incompetence. 100 Union ships transported 15,000 troops to Port Royal, North Carolina, to support the men who are already there. 

January 13^th: Edwin Stanton became Secretary of War.

January 14^th: Lincoln called for a more robust campaign in Missouri. McClelland urged caution.

January 19^th: A battle at Mill Spring (sometimes called the Battle of Somerset) led to as many as 195 Confederate troops being killed with 200 taken prisoner. However, the Union’s leader in the attack, General Zollicoffer, was killed.

January 25^th: By this day, what was left of the Confederate force at Mill Spring had been forced 100 miles to the southwest to Gainsboro, which resulted in the Confederate line having a large gap punched through it.

January 27^th: Lincoln issued General War Order Number One. This urged the Union army into action and set February 22^nd as the date he expected a major surge in action.

January 30^th: The ‘USS Monitor’ was launched – a revolutionary new vessel designed by John Ericsson. The ‘Monitor’ marked a new stage in the development of ironclads. Mason and Slidell finally arrived in Great Britain.

January 31^st: Lincoln issued his Special War Order Number One. This ordered the army that had been protecting Washington DC to launch an attack on Manassas Junction – as long as the safety of the capital had been ensured – by February 22^nd. Great Britain announced that it would remain neutral in the war.  

Source: http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/january-1862-civil-war.htm

December 1861 saw a continuing fraught relationship between the president, Abraham Lincoln, and the man he appointed as overall commander of the North’s army, General McClellan. Lincoln continued to question the timidity of McClellan’s approach while McClellan continued with his assertion that if got it wrong, the whole of the North could suffer as a consequence.

December 1^st: President Lincoln expressed his concern to General McClellan that the Unionist armies did not seem to be doing anything substantial.

December 2^nd: Congress gave its permission for the suspension of habeas corpus in Missouri.

December 3^rd: Lincoln gave his State of the Union address to Congress. The Union started its move against New Orleans when ‘USS Constitution’ arrived at Ship Island at the mouth of the Mississippi River carrying the 26^th Massachusetts Regiment.

December 4^th: Great Britain announced an embargo on all exports to the US

December 5^th: The Secretary of War announced that Unionist strength stood at 660,971 men of whom 640,637 were volunteers.

December 6^th: It was announced that the Treasury could cope with a war that ended by mid-1862 but if it lasted longer than this then the Treasury’s income would be far outweighed by its outgoings and taxes on most things would have to be increased to fund the war.

December 7^th: In a scene that mirrored the ‘Trent’ incident, the ‘USS Santiago de Cuba’ stopped a British ship, the ‘Eugenia Smith’ and a Southerner called J W Zacharie was taken off. Zacherie was a purchasing agent for the Confederacy.

December 9^th: The Senate approved the setting up of the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War. This recognised that previous comments made to the Confederacy, that states rights would not be interfered with once the war was over, was no longer the case and that the internal affairs of the rebel states would be reformed regardless and that the Union would be upheld.

December 10^th: The Confederacy admitted Kentucky to its membership despite the overwhelming evidence that the state was about to fall to Unionist forces.

December 11^th: Charleston was damaged as a result of a fire that swept through the city. Charleston was the most important port in South Carolina.

December 12^th: The success of the Union’s navy along the South’s coastline was such that cotton farmers started to burn their crop in fear that it might fall into the hands of the Union. 

December 15^th: Congress expressed its view that the use of slavery in the South was becoming more and more an issue. The original cause of the war was state’s rights but greater knowledge in the Union about slavery put it at the forefront of why the war was being fought. Over the next few months Congress passed a number of laws such as the military could no longer return to the South fugitive slaves; that slavery was to be outlawed in the District of Columbia; that any slave state that offered to give up slavery would be given financial assistance from the Union. 

December 18^th: Lord Lyons, the British ambassador in Washington DC, received a message from the British government that he was to demand the release of Mason and Slidell. If the Union failed to do this within 10 days, he had instructions to break off diplomatic relations.

December 19^th: Lyons met the US Secretary of State, Seward.

December 20^th: Two British warships arrived in Canada as a result of the ‘Trent’ affair.

December 21^st: The meetings between Lyons and Seward continued. Both Seward and Lincoln recognised that there was a real risk of war with the British if their demands went unheeded.

December 23^rd: The Cabinet was advised by Seward that Captain Wilkes made an error in taking off Mason and Slidell and that he should have brought in the ‘Trent’ and its ‘contents’ as the ship had violated its neutral status. Seward made it clear that the seizure of the Confederate commissioners was unlawful whereas the seizure of the ‘Trent’ as an entity would have been lawful. 

December 24^th: Congress passed a series of duties that were to be added to tea, coffee, sugar and what were classed as “luxury goods”.

December 25^th: Despite it being Christmas Day, the Cabinet and the President were in discussions on what to do with Mason and Slidell. Fighting was reported at Fort Frederick in Maryland and Cherry, western Virginia.

December 26^th: It was announced that Mason and Slidell would be released because their arrest was illegal. It was further announced that Captain Wilkes had acted without the knowledge of the government.

December 30^th: Mason and Slidell were handed over to Lord Lyons. They were immediately put on a ship to England. Lyons then released his own interpretation of the law regarding “neutral nations” and it was at odds with Seward’s and, ironically, found support among many Americans. However, with the issue resolved, relations between the North and Great Britain improved.

December 31^st: President Lincoln pressed his army commanders for more action. However, McClellan did not hear his message as he was ill.      

November 1861 saw a turn in the weather for the worse and as was to become a norm in the American Civil War, the winter months saw little military activity. However, the suffering of the soldiers in the field increased and disease was as much an enemy for the soldier as was his opponent in the field.

November 1^st: General McClellan, aged 35, took up his post as overall commander of the United States Army. General Frémont agreed to an exchange of prisoners in Missouri – but such action could only be carried out with the express support of the President.

November 2^nd: General Frémont was formally relieved of his command and was replaced by General David Hunter.

November 3^rd: Jefferson Davis and his senior army commanders disagreed on how the Confederacy should proceed. His major opponent was General Beauregard. Jefferson tried to bring onto his side commanders he felt shared his views such as General Robert E Lee.

November 4^th: A Union naval force arrived at Port Royal Bar. An anchorage here gave the Unionists dominance along the whole coast of South Carolina and allowed the blockade to be better enforced.

November 6^th: Jefferson Davis was elected to a six-year term as President of the Confederacy. Alexander Stephens was appointed Vice-President.

November 7^th: A battle at Belmont, Missouri, left about 100 Unionist and 261 Confederate soldiers dead. Over 1000 men were reported as missing from both sides.

November 8^th: Two Confederate commissioners (John Slidell and James Mason) joined a British ship, the ‘Trent’, in Havana en route to the UK. In international waters, the ‘USS San Jacinto’, forced the ‘Trent’ to heave to and surrender Slidell and Mason. Once this is done, the ‘Trent’ was allowed to continue with both men’s families on board – but not them.

November 12^th: McClellan announced a major shake-up of the Union command structure. The Department of the West was split into three new departments – New Mexico, Kansas and Missouri. Previously one man had commanded all of these. Now, each new department had a new commander.

November 15^th: Slidell and Mason were landed at Fortress Monroe, Virginia. Political bigwigs in Washington DC were quick to congratulate Captain Wilkes of the ‘USS San Jacinto’ with some even suggesting that the ‘Trent’ itself should have been taken in as well. However, once the celebrations died down it became apparent that Wilkes had acted as he did in international waters against a ship belonging to the world’s greatest naval power. There was a fear that the UK would be pushed into supporting the Confederacy as a result of this. Postmaster-General Blair and Senator Sumner of Massachusetts called for Slidell and Mason to be released with due speed.

November 19^th: Davis called for the construction of a major rail network in the Confederacy to allow for the rapid movement of troops and supplies.      

November 24^th: Commissioners Slidell and Mason were moved to Massachusetts amid fears in Washington DC that the episode might lead to war between the UK and the North.

November 27^th: News of what happened to the ‘Trent’ finally reached London and the outcry was immediate.

November 30^th: The British Foreign Secretary, Lord John Russell, wrote to the British ambassador in Washington that he, on behalf of the British government, was to express in the strongest terms Britain’s outrage over what happened to the ‘Trent’. Lyons was to demand the immediate release of Slidell and Mason and a formal apology from the Federal government. In a private letter, Russell told Lyons to give the Federal government 10 days before closing the embassy and cutting diplomatic relations. The Royal navy was put on alert and the Guards regiments were told to prepare to sail to Canada.   

October 1861 saw little decisive military action in the American Civil War though many skirmishes occurred. However, October 1861 did witness something that was to have a major impact on the American Civil War in later years - the promotion of General Tecumsah Sherman as commander of the Army of the Cumberland. Sherman was to make his real mark on the war in 1864. Despite their differences, Lincoln also made McClellan overall commander of the Union army.

October 1^st: President Lincoln met with his Cabinet and senior army figures such as McClellan to discuss a major operation against the Confederates along the east coast. Ironically, Jefferson Davis was doing the same in Richmond regarding an attack against Unionist positions in Virginia as the public in the South were also expecting a major military campaign against the enemy. 

October 3^rd: Governor Thomas More of Alabama banned the export of cotton to Europe. He hoped that this would pressurise the governments of France and Great Britain to recognise the Confederate government. Soldiers fought at Greenbriar, western Virginia, which resulted in over 100 Confederate dead while the Unionists lost just eight killed but also captured a large number of horses and cattle.

October 4^th: The Confederacy signed a number of treaties with Native American tribes that brought these tribes into the war on the side of the Confederacy.

October 5^th: The Cabinet in Washington DC signed a contract for a new type of warship – the Ironclad. The first was called the ‘USS Monitor’ and had a pair of heavy guns in a revolving turret.

October 6^th: The Confederacy started a campaign to find crossings over the Upper Potomac that, if successful, would have allowed them to outflank the Unionist force in the capital.

October 7^th: Lincoln sent the Secretary of War to Missouri to investigate what exactly was going on as more reports reached Washington DC about the incompetence of General Frémont. What Secretary of War Simon Cameron found was that it had taken Frémont seventeen days to organise troops in an effort to retake Lexington. The news was not well received by President Lincoln.

October 8^th: William T Sherman was appointed commander of the Union’s Army of the Cumberland. Sherman replaced the ill General Robert Anderson. 

October 10^th: Jefferson Davis, while discussing the fact that the South has a smaller population when compared to the North, ruled out using slaves in the Confederate Army.

October 12^th: Two commissioners from the Confederacy left the South for Europe. Their task was to increase trade between the South and the UK and France. In Missouri many people, opposed to Frémont’s harsh rule, took part in clashes against Unionist forces.

October 14^th: President Lincoln suspended habeas corpus. Though he did so reluctantly, Lincoln felt that such a move was necessary to the war effort.

October 16^th: Lexington in Missouri was back in the hands of the Union after Confederate forces withdrew from the town.

October 18^th: Union gunboats started a move down the Mississippi River.

October 20^th: McClellan believed that the Confederacy was planning a major move against Washington DC.

October 21^st: A Union force suffered heavy losses at Ball’s Bluff. The Union force, commanded by Colonel Edward Baker, believed that it was attacking a small Confederate force. In fact, they advanced into four Confederate regiments. In the confusion that reigned in the Union ranks, many men tried to swim across the river at Ball’s Bluff but were drowned. 223 Unionists were killed at Ball’s Bluff, 226 wounded and 445 taken prisoner. The Confederates lost 36 men killed. There was an outcry in the North but the Confederate leader at Ball’s Bluff, Nathan Evans, was hailed as a hero by the Confederacy.

October 22^nd: Lincoln’s Cabinet met to discuss the disaster at Ball’s Bluff.

October 24^th: Lincoln decided to replace Frémont as Union commander in Missouri. He appointed General David Hunter as his replacement “with immediate effect”.

October 29^th: A major naval force sailed from Hampton Roads – 77 ships. The ships carried 12,000 troops commanded by General T Sherman. Deliberate leaks make the Confederates believe that the naval force will target Charleston or New Orleans. In fact, it was heading for Port Royal, South Carolina.

October 31^st: General Winfield Scott, head of the Union Army, retired at the age of 75. He was replaced by General George McClellan.   

Source: http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/october-1861-civil-war.htm

September 1861 saw further political pressure put on General McClellan to attack Confederate forces near to Washington. McClellan presented his plan of attack to Lincoln on September 27th 1861. McClellan contimued to resent the political pressure that was being put on him as he knew that if his plan failed he would be blamed for possibly losing the American Civil War for the North.

September 1^st: Union forces commanded by General Rosecrans tightened their hold on western Virginia.

September 2^nd: President Lincoln voiced his concerns with regards to the declaration of martial law in Missouri. He believed that it would turn away those in the state who were sympathetic to the Union.

September 3^rd: General Polk ordered Confederate troops into Kentucky. When war started, Polk was a bishop in the Episcopal Church but resigned from the Church because of its support of the Union.

September 4^th: Troops commanded by Polk seized Columbus, thus ending Kentucky’s attempt to stay neutral in the war.

September 5^th: Union troops commanded by Ulysses Grant prepared to move into Kentucky in response to the move made by Polk.

September 6^th: Union forces captured Paducah without bloodshed. This town gave the Union a large measure of control over the river systems that were vital to the region.

September 9^th: Lincoln was advised by numerous senior military figures to relieve General Frémont of his command in Missouri. Lincoln did not take this advice but appointed General David Hunter to assist Frémont.

September 10^th: The Confederacy appointed General Albert Sidney Johnston as commander of the Confederate Armies of the West.

September 11^th: Lincoln ordered Frémont to withdraw his order regarding property and slave confiscation in Missouri for anyone who voiced their support for the Confederacy. Lincoln ordered Frémont to come into line with the Confiscation Act passed by Congress. To emphasise his order, Lincoln sent Judge Joseph Holt to St. Louis to push Frémont towards moderating his stance.

September 12^th: Lee, with 30,000 men under his command, expected to fight a force led by the Unionist General Rosecrans at Meadow Bridge, western Virginia. However, at the last moment Rosecans changed his direction of movement and engaged a Confederate force at Cheat Mountain, comprehensively defeating them. Union losses were 9 dead and 12 wounded while the Confederates lost nearly 100 men.

September 14^th: ‘USS Colorado’ sank the ‘Judah’, which was attempting to break the Federal blockade on Southern ports.

September 15^th: Confederate forces continued their efforts to capture Lexington. 3,600 Union defenders faced 18,000 Confederate troops. Colonel Mulligan, the Union commander of Lexington, waited for reinforcements unaware that all his messages to General Frémont were being read by the Confederates.

September 16^th: Union reinforcements sent to Lexington were captured en route by the Confederates who knew their movements beforehand.

September 18^th: Having received supplies, including ammunition, the Confederates launched a major assault on Lexington. The Union defenders were cut off from their fresh water supplies by Confederate snipers.

September 19^th: Confederate forces captured the hills around Lexington thus making the city even more open to artillery attacks. An attempt to get supplies to the Union defenders via the river system failed when the Confederates captured the supply boats along with their supplies.

September 20^th: Lexington finally fell to Confederate forces. Along with 1,600 prisoners, the Confederates also found $1 million – the Union forces payroll. Frémont’s perceived failure to help the Union defenders at Lexington badly counted against him in Washington DC.

September 21^st: All the evidence pointed to the situation in Missouri descending into chaos. Law and order had broken down with murder a common offence, as was the destruction of property.

September 24^th: Frémont shut down a newspaper printed in St Louis that questioned his leadership during the siege of Lexington. The editor of the ‘St. Louis Evening News’ was also arrested.

September 27^th: McClellan responded to the public’s overwhelming desire for him to launch an offensive against Confederate forces near Washington. McClellan discussed his strategy with President Lincoln. McClellan based his future strategy on highly inflated figures regarding the strength of Confederate forces near the capital. He told Lincoln that there were 150,000 Confederate troops near Washington DC. In fact, there were probably no more than 50,000. The president was told that 35,000 men were needed to guard the city with a further 23,000 needed to guard the Potomac River. This left him with about 75,000 men to launch his campaign against Confederate forces. McClellan demanded a force of 150,000 men to give him parity with the perceived strength of the Confederates.   

September 30^th: Great public pressure was put on Lincoln to give his backing to an attack on Richmond led by McClellan. The president had to balance public desires with what McClellan had told him about the size of the Confederate force near the capital.

August 1861 saw no military developments in the American Civil War that were likely to tip the balance towards one side or the other. In fact, the military commander of the North, General McClellan, was criticised by Lincoln for being too cautious. McClellan for his part argued that if he lost a major battle just once, the American Civil War could have seen a Confederate victory. McClellan despaired about what he saw as a political interference into military matters.

August 1^st: Captain Baylor claimed Arizona and New Mexico for the Confederacy.

August 3^rd: A skirmish occurred between Union and Confederate troops at Mesilla, New Mexico.

August 4^th: The Union planned to expand her naval capabilities and $1.5 million was spent on a study regarding the Union Navy’s capability.

August 6^th: Congress passed the Confiscation Act, which declared that all property used in insurrection would be forfeited. The President was also given extraordinary powers when dealing with navy and army matters.

August 7^th: Hampton, held by Unionist forces, was burned to the ground by attacking Confederate troops in retaliation for the Union harbouring fugitive slaves.

August 10^th: General Lyons was killed in a battle at Wilson’s Creek, the second largest of the year after Bull Run. Ironically, Confederate losses were higher but the loss of such a talented commander was a major blow to the Union forces.

August 11^th: McClellan, in a letter to Lincoln, argued that the Confederacy was large enough to constitute a nation. To defeat it, McClellan argued, the Union would have to create a very large military capability.

August 14^th: A mutiny occurred in the 79^th New York Regiment that was defending Washington DC.

August 15^th: A further mutiny occurred in the 2^nd Maine Volunteers who were also defending Washington DC. It became clear that a major reorganisation was required to take into account the militia status of those defending the capital.

August 19^th: The Confederate Congress announced an alliance with Missouri that further widened the gap between those for the Union and those for the Confederacy within that state.

August 20^th: The Confederate government announced that it was sending more commissioners to Europe – especially Great Britain and France – in an effort to secure war supplies.

August 22^nd: The Confederacy started to make plans for an expected Unionist attack along its vulnerable coastline.

August 25^th: General McClellan continued to improve the defences of Washington DC and ignore the public demand that his forces launch an attack on the Confederates based near the capital. He was a lot more cautious simply because he did not know the true strength of the army opposing him. Therefore McClellan concentrated on being defensive as opposed to launching an offensive campaign. McClellan also knew that if he gave in to the public’s demand for an offensive policy and that campaign failed, the capital would be open to occupation by Confederate forces.

August 26^th: The Battle of Cross Lanes (also known as the Battle of Summerville) was fought in Virginia. The Unionists lost with over 200 men taken prisoner.    

August 28^th: The first major action involving gunboats took place at Hatteras Inlet, North Carolina. Union gunboats bombarded Forts Clark and Hatteras but could not press home their attack because of worsening weather. 600 Union troops were landed on the inlet but the naval force, commanded by General Benjamin Butler, could not support them because of the difficult weather.

August 29^th: The attack on Fort Hatteras continued with the coming of improved weather. After several hours of shelling, the commander of Fort Hatteras, Commodore Barron, agreed to surrender unconditionally. The Unionist attack on Hatteras Inlet was a success and a great propaganda boost after Bull Run. The Confederates lost 56 men and had 700 taken as prisoners.

August 30^th: Butler was given orders to destroy Fort Hatteras. It was only after he landed at Hatteras Inlet and visited the fort that he realised its strategic importance in terms of being a Unionist base to disrupt ships attempting to break the blockade of the South.  Butler returned to Washington DC to state his case for making Hatteras Fort a Unionist stronghold. In Missouri a state of martial was declared. General Frémont also ordered that anyone who openly supported the Confederate government in Missouri would have their property and slaves confiscated. 

Source: http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/august-1861-civil-war0.htm

In July 1861 President Abraham Lincoln made it clear that there would be no separation of the Union. Therefore, from the viewpoint of the Confederacy, the American Civil War had to continue. Both Lincoln and Davis had set out their beliefs and their detemined stand made a long drawn out civil war inevitable. July 1861 also saw the first major battle of the American Civil War at Bull Run.

July 1st: The Union government announced that it would recruit in Tennessee and Kentucky even though Tennessee had already voted to join the Confederacy and Kentucky had announced her resolve to remain neutral.

July 2nd: General John C Frémont was made commander of Union forces in Missouri. A large Confederate force massed just a few miles outside of Washington DC. 18,000 Union soldiers moved out to observe their movements but not to engage them.

July 3rd: The threat of having to confront 18,000 Union soldiers was sufficient for the Confederacy to withdraw their men from their position near Washington DC and the capital was once again deemed to be safe.

July 4th: President Lincoln addressed Congress on the 84th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. He gave a rousing speech about the indivisibility of the Union. Several government figures also addressed Congress. Among them was Secretary of War, Simon Cameron, who recommended that Congress supported his idea that volunteers served for three years. The Secretary of the Treasury, Salmon Chase asked Congress for $240 million to pay for the running of the war. 

July 5th: A battle at Carthage, Missouri, ended when Union troops commanded by General Sigel had to withdraw as a result of facing a much larger force. Though casualties were light (13 Union dead and 50 Confederate dead) the withdrawal was a blow to what had been a successful Union advance through Missouri.

July 6th: General Sigel continued his withdrawal to Mount Vernon.

July 8th: The Confederacy set in motion a plan to take control of New Mexico territory and appointed General H Sibley to command it.

July 10th: President Lincoln intervened in an effort to keep Kentucky neutral during the war. Lincoln sent an appeal to Simon Bolivar Buckner, Kentucky’s Inspector General of Militia, and a known opponent of secession.

July 11th: The Battle of Rich Mountain in western Virginia was fought resulting in a Union victory over the Confederates. It was the bloodiest engagement to date with 71 killed – 11 Union troops and 60 Confederates. At nearby Laurel Mountains, an attack by Union troops forced the Confederates based there to withdraw.

July 12th: 600 Confederate troops were taken prisoner at Beverley in western Virginia when Union troops occupied the town.

July 13th: The Confederates suffered a heavy defeat at Carrick’s Ford in western Virginia. This defeat meant that Union forces had a commanding control over western Virginia.

July 14th: With a secure base in western Virginia McClellan was able to conduct operations against the rest of Virginia. Control of a number of vital rail lines allowed troops to be moved to western Virginia and McClellan planned to send 40,000 troops under General McDowell into Virginia.  

July 16th: McDowell’s army began its move out towards Manassas.

July 17th: This day witnessed the most fighting to date. All the fighting was on a small-scale but it took place in Fulton, Missouri, Martinsburg, Missouri, Scarrytown, western Virginia and Bunker Hill, Virginia.

July 18th: A sizeable action took place at Blackburn’s Ford on the Bull Run Creek. Troops from McDowell’s force encountered well dug in Confederates under the command of James Longstreet. While the Union force was suitably engaged a large Confederate force withdrew to Manassas Junction.

July 19th: McDowell realised that his men had not engaged the main part of the Confederate force while fighting at Blackburn’s Ford and that the bulk were now stationed at Bull Creek. McDowell knew that he had to do something if only because many of his troops (10,000) were on a three-month enlistment and their time was up within days. Under no circumstances could he take on the Confederates short of 10,000 men.

July 20th: 9,000 Confederate soldiers from the Army of the Shenandoah joined those already at Bull Run. McDowell had a force of 28,000 men after 2,000 three-month enlisters could not be persuaded to stay on. The Confederate force numbered just over 30,000 men.

July 21st: The Battle of Bull Run was fought. The battle saw a Confederate victory and overwhelming evidence that the Union forces were not as well disciplined as was thought. Panic and non-ordered withdrawals became contagious and the Union army retreated en masse when it became clear that Confederate forces were not willing to run. Men from Thomas Jackson’s brigade stood “like a stone wall” to ensure that the Union forces could not advance and Jackson ended up with the nickname ‘Stonewall’ Jackson. Union casualties totalled 2,896 men – with 460 killed. Confederate casualties totalled 1,982 with 400 killed. The Confederate victory made Washington DC even more exposed while the government there realised that what they thought would be an easy victory was actually the start of what would be a much longer war than anyone could have previously predicted. In the Confederacy, the opposite occurred. The leaders of the Confederates believed that the war would be short especially after the poor performance of the Union army witnessed at Bull Run.

July 22nd: Two state governments existed in Missouri. One was for secession and was led by Governor Jackson while the other was pro-Union and based in Jefferson City.

July 23rd: General John C Frémont was put in command of Union forces in the West.

July 24th: The Confederates evacuated the area around Charleston after they were attacked by Union forces.

July 25th: Congress passed the Crittenden Resolution, which declared that the war was being fought to preserve the Union and not to abolish slavery.

July 27th: General McDowell was relieved of his command of Union troops in the Washington DC area by President Lincoln. General McClellan was handed the command.

July 29th: Union forces in western Virginia still held the upper hand. President Davis decided to send General Robert E Lee to the area to resolve matters.

July 31st: General Ulysees S Grant was appointed General of Volunteers by Lincoln.

Sources: BlueandGray.com, historylearningsite.co.uk

June 1861: West Virginia Is Born.

Residents of the western counties of Virginia did not wish to secede along with the rest of the state. This section of Virginia was admitted into the Union as the state of West Virginia on June 20, 1863.

June 1861: Four Slave States Stay in the Union.

Despite their acceptance of slavery, Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, and Missouri did not join the Confederacy. Although divided in their loyalties, a combination of political maneuvering and Union military pressure kept these states from seceding
June 1 U.S.S. Union, Commander J. R. Goldsborough. captured Confederate schooner F. W. Johnson with cargo of railroad iron off the coast of North Carolina.

June 3: Stephen A. Douglas dies from typhoid fever, Chicago, IL

June 6: President Franklin Pierce withdraws his name from nomination. Stephen Douglas withdraws at the end of the 16th ballot. James Buchanan is nominated by acclamation

June 3: Confederate privateer Savannah Captain Baker, captured American brig Joseph with cargo of sugar; Savannah was then captured by U.S.S. Perry, Lieutenant Parrott.
The first land battle of the Civil War, which gained its name for the speed of the Confederate retreat. There were only 17 casualties on either side!

June 5: Revenue Cutter Harriett Lane, Captain Faunce, USRM, engaged Confederate battery at Pig Point, Hampton Roads.
USS. Niagara. Captain MeKean, captured schooner Aid at Mobile.
Flag Officer Pendergrast reported the capture of bark General Green by U.S.S. Quaker City, Commander Overton Carr, at the Capes of the Chesapeake.

June 8: U.S.S. Mississippi, Flag Officer Mervine, set blockade at Key Wes

June 9: U.S.S. Massachusetts, Commander Melancton Smith, captured British blockade runner Perthshire with cargo of cotton near Pensacola.

June 10: Defeat of a Federal attack on the fort at Big Bethal in Virginia.
U.S.S. Union, Commander J.R. Goldsborough, captured brig Hallie Jackson off Savannah with cargo of molasses.

June 13: U.S.S. Mississippi, Flag Officer Mervine, captured schooner Forest King, at Key West.

June 14: American schooner Christiana Ken, grounded and was burned by Confederates near Upper Machodoc Creek, Virginia.

June 30: C.S.S. Sumter escapes the blockade at the mouth of the Mississippi River.

Sources: BlueandGray.com, HistoryofWar.com