Episodes Nearest to April 12, 1861: 1 through 25 of 25

  1. The Confederate bombardment of Fort Sumter
    date April 12, 1861map CHARLESTON, South Carolinatags Crime/Violence, War

    At 4:30 am on April 12th, 1861, Confederate forces, under the leadership of Brig. General Beauregard, opened fire on Fort Sumter. Two day prior, on April 10th Brig. General Beauregard called for the surrender of Major Robert Anderson and his Union garrison. They refused, thus prompting the batteries to fire upon the fort. Unable to counter the forces by the Confederates effectively, Major Anderson...

  2. Lincoln fears attack on the Capital and summons troops
    date April 11, 1861map Washington City, District of Columbiatags War

    On April 11th, 1861 President Lincoln stated that he received information and “positive knowledge' of an attack on the city of Washington. He then put a call out for the military and said to “hold them in readiness at a moments warning.' (The Louisville Daily Journal, April 11, 1861, p. 1) The heightened tensions near Fort Sumter, after attempting to supply the fort with provisions,...

  3. Sumner Takes Command of The Department of The Pacific
    date March 22, 1861 to April 28, 1861map SAN FRANCISCO, Californiatags War, Civil War, Military, Politics

    With hostilities breaking out between Confederate and Union forces in the east, a secessionist uprising in California was feared.  In command of the U.S. Army’s Department of The Pacific, was Col. Albert S. Johnston; an adopted Texan with questionable loyalties. Believing that Johnston posed a risk to Union control in California, General Winfield Scott dispatched Brigadier General E. V. Sumner...

  4. Northwestern region of Virginia breaks away from the state
    date April, 1861map ALLEGHANY, Virginiatags Agriculture, Economy, Urban-Life/Boosterism

    Although Virginia decided to secede from the Union, the northwestern counties of the Allegheny region had different beliefs about the state's actions. Three out of every four voters were against the secession. As tensions mounted with the parent state, northern counties formed their own state and broke away from Virginia, allowing them to remain loyal to the Union. The issue of the discontentment...

  5. Virginia secedes from the Union and joins the Confederacy
    date April 17, 1861map HENRICO, Virginiatags War

    Virginia surprisingly had a large number of Union supporters within its borders. During the Virginia Convention, members debated the secession issue with much passion. Members of the convention were summoned to meet with President Lincoln in Washington, D.C. to discuss the matter further, which happened to be right after the bombardment of Fort Sumter. After Lincoln made a call for troops immediately...

  6. The South's Exciting First Victory
    date April 17, 1861map CHARLESTON, South Carolinatags Civil War, Confederacy

    The newspaper article "Glory Enough for One Day" was written on April 17, 1861. The article describes how the Union surrendered Fort Sumter to the Confederate Army on April 13, 1861. The article starts out by talking about the telegram that announced to the south that Fort Sumter had been surrendered to the Confederate States, and how it "sent a thrill of joy to the heart of every true friend of...

  7. Confederate troops seize Harper's Ferry
    date April 18, 1861map JEFFERSON, Virginiatags War

    Immediately after Virginia's declaration of secession from the Union, Confederate forces began to reinforce their borders and military outposts. Approximately 360 of Virginia's militia men assembled and advanced toward Harper's Ferry. These southern forces seized the United States Armory outpost, machines, and tools. After the Union troops retreated across the Potomac River, the Confederate...

  8. Governor Hicks Sends a Message of Union Loyalty
    date April 18, 1861map BALTIMORE, Marylandtags Government, Politics, War

    As the secession movement began, the Union focused on keeping the key Border states loyal to the nation if war occurred. Most crucial were Kentucky and Maryland, but worrisome was the fact that during the election of 1860, Maryland voted for John Breckinridge just as the Deep South had. Thus, many Unionists believed that Maryland contained large numbers of underground secessionists. One man within...

  9. Massachusetts 6th Regiment of Volunteers under attack by Baltimore citizens
    date April 19, 1861map BALTIMORE, Marylandtags Crime/Violence, War

    Baltimore citizens gathered en masse in the streets of Baltimore, Maryland as the Massachusetts 6th Regiment of Volunteers marched through on their way to Washington, D.C. A mob of southern sympathizers threw stones and other objects at the soldiers as they marched through Baltimore. The volunteers fired into the mob of citizens as they passed through the streets in defense. This created hysteria...

  10. News of Fort Sumter Rallies Supporters in Augusta County, Virginia
    date April 20, 1861 to April 21, 1861map AUGUSTA, Virginiatags Government, Law, Politics

    James M. Schreckhise wrote to, and received, many letters from many people during the Civil War. He lived with his parents in Augusta County, while many members of his immediate family served in the Confederate Army. Having received information from a first-hand source in South Carolina, he provided a patriotic description of the local reaction to the attack on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861. Augusta...

  11. The Burning of the Gosport Navy Yard
    date April 21, 1861map NORFOLK, Virginiatags Government, Politics, War

    The atmosphere at the Gosport Navy Yard in Portsmouth was hostile on the hazy Saturday evening of April 21, 1861. Virginia had just succeeded and the loyalty of the yard was torn between North and South. Both sides wanted it and sent forces to take control of it. The first ones to get there were two companies of Virginia Navy volunteers and militiamen of the Norfolk Greys who mustered outside the...

  12. The State Seal: A Symbol of Revolution
    date March 30, 1861map YAZOO, Mississippitags Government, Politics, War

    The bird of liberty sat perched on top of a Magnolia, waiting to strike a cautiously approaching serpent that threatened the safety of her nest. This was the symbolic image imbedded onto the enlarged copy of the Mississippi State Seal that W.S. Barry, President of the Mississippi State Convention, sat inspecting on March 20, 1861. It had been three months since the state had made the decision to...

  13. A Divinely Righteous Cause
    date April 25, 1861 to April 27, 1861map MARSHALL, Mississippitags Church/Religious-Activity, Government, War

    In April of 1861 the Fall of Fort Sumter gripped the United States. After this dramatic turning point, both the North and South began to take offensive and defensive measures. Suddenly, the nation stood at the threshold of war. Only approximately two weeks after Beauregard's Confederate troops had stormed the national fort, a large group of clergymen from across the state of Mississippi gathered...

  14. Furman University's Philosophian Society Discusses Divisive Issues
    date March 22, 1861 to April 5, 1861map GREENVILLE, South Carolinatags Arts/Leisure, Education, Government, Law, Migration/Transportation, Politics, Slavery

    On March 22, 1861 in Philosophian Hall at Furman University, a secretive meeting was called to order. A leather-bound book as tall as a man's forearm with robin's egg blue pages was then opened reverently, and a man's voice read aloud the last meeting's minutes. After he finished, his hand held a pen poised above the first line of a new page, ready to record in flowing script...

  15. President Lincoln extends declaration of blockade to North Carolina
    date April 27, 1861map BRUNSWICK, North Carolinatags Economy, War

    On April 27th, 1861 President Lincoln extended the blockade to Virginia and North Carolina. This declaration was an extension from the original one on April 19th for seven of the Confederate States. The intention for this decision was to cut off the international trade lines for the Confederacy and make it difficult to transport weapons and troops. The rigid blockade was established on the Southern...

  16. President Lincoln suspends the writ of habeas corpus
    date April 27, 1861map Washington City, District of Columbiatags Crime/Violence

    From Washington, D.C. to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, President Abraham Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus, which prevented illegal imprisonment. This enraged Maryland citizens who were at the heart of the matter. They felt that this surrender of privileges of free men was unnecessary. One reason for the suspension was due to John Merrymen. He blew up a railroad bridge in Baltimore County...

  17. Relief from Crop Devastation
    date March 28, 1861map YAZOO, Mississippitags Agriculture, Health/Death, Economy, Government

    A considerable drought met the residents of central Mississippi during the summer of 1860. A great number of people from counties such as Leake and Attala were left with ruined crops and no other source of economic gain. In many cases both corn and cotton were devastated, leaving a considerable number of people without the means or credit to purchase bread.

    On March 28, 1861, John Pettus...

  18. Reactions to Lincoln's Inauguration
    date March, 1861map MOBILE, Alabamatags Government, Politics, Slavery, War

    Lincoln was inaugurated on March 4, 1861. One month earlier, Jefferson Davis had been inaugurated as the new president of the Confederacy. Elizabeth Saxon traveled to Montgomery, Alabama to celebrate the inauguration of Davis and then traveled to Mobile when Lincoln was inaugurated. In Mobile, she visited with a good friend and mentor from her childhood, Madame Octavia Walton Invert. Well-educated...

  19. Surrender at Camp Jackson and the subsequent onslaught
    date May 10, 1861map ST LOUIS, Missouritags Crime/Violence, War

    A group of armed men accused of being pro-Confederate, formed at Camp Jackson in St. Louis, Missouri. Simultaneously, a pro-Union group, headed by Nathaniel Lyon, formed to counter the threat. Lyon surrounded the camp and forced the surrender of the troops, although they professed their loyalty to the Union. Because of the current events and violence at all levels (local, state, regional, and...

  20. Confederate Congress adopts a constitution
    date March 11, 1861map MONTGOMERY, Alabamatags Race-Relations, Slavery

    The Confederate Constitution was adopted by the Confederacy in opposition to the Union and the United States Constitution. The prominent differences between the two were that the Confederate Constitution sought different guarantees of states' rights and protected slavery as an institution. Members of the convention held in Montgomery made it their goal to create a constitution for the southern...

  21. Kentucky announces its neutrality in the North/South conflict
    date May 16, 1861map FRANKLIN, Kentuckytags Slavery, War

    After the attack on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861, Kentucky wanted to pursue a neutrality policy between the North and the South. Many Kentuckians supported the idea of remaining neutral through the conflict, although eventually both sides became so strong that Kentucky had to eventually align with one. In the mean time they declared, “that this state and the citizens thereof shall take no...

  22. The Virginia (Secession) Convention of 1861
    date January 12, 1861 to April, 1861map ALBEMARLE, Virginiatags Government, Politics, Slavery

    The large body of men from Albemarle County quickly came to a unanimous decision about who they would nominate to hold their county's seat at the Virginia Convention of 1861. They truly believed that the questions so long pending between the North and the South must be settled. They chose to nominate William C. Rives and V.W Southall to represent Albemarle County at the state convention. Rives...

  23. Encouraging the Troops
    date March 1, 1861map WAKE, North Carolinatags Arts/Leisure, War

    Support and encouragement of the Confederate troops in the Civil War took many different forms, including letters in newspapers, poetry, and songs. At the beginning of the war, it was important to build up the troops for their initial engagements with the Union Army, expressed by supporters as the need to wake from a dream-like state. In the song North Carolina: A Call to Arms, the author...

  24. “On the Home Front”: Civilian Reaction to Northern Occupation during the American Civil War
    date May 30, 1861map ARLINGTON, Virginiatags Letters Home, Women, Civil War

    As Northern forces began to push into Southern territory, they were forced to occupy many Southern residences and forage for resources and materials from Southern fields. Often, the actions taken by Northern troops led to hostility and bitterness by southerners towards Northern troops because often the soldiers would cause destruction to civilian Property. This hostility appeared in letters written...

  25. How Shall They Be Remembered?
    date February 20, 1861 to February 25, 1861map Washington City, District of Columbiatags Veterans, American Revolution, Civil War, Abraham Lincoln

    During the years of his term in office, President Lincoln read two letters that were to remind him of how our nation was forged.  Abraham Lincoln, like most other presidents, received letters giving him praise and thanks for all the work he had done.  Abraham Lincoln also received mail detailing news from the battle front and giving support from the home front.  Two of those letters focused more...