← 1860 1859 1858 1861 in the United States → 1862 1863 1864
Decades:	1840s 1850s 1860s 1870s 1880s
See also:	History of the United States (1849–1865) Timeline of the history of the United States (1860-1899) List of years in the United States

Events from the year1861 in the United States. This year marked the beginning of theAmerican Civil War.

• 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 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 theAmerican Civil War.
• January 10 –American Civil War:Florida secedes from the Union.
• January 11 –American Civil War:Alabama secedes from the Union.
• January 12 – MajorRobert Anderson sends dispatches to Washington.^{[clarification needed]}
• January 12 –American Civil War:Florida state troops demand surrender ofFort Pickens.^[1]
• January 18 –American Civil War:Georgia secedes from the Union.
• January 21 –American Civil War:Jefferson Davis resigns from theUnited States Senate.Ordinance of Secession is ratified.
• January 26 –American Civil War:Louisiana secedes from the Union.
• January 29 –Kansas is admitted as the 34thU.S. state (seeHistory of Kansas).
• February 1 –American Civil War:Texas secedes from the Union.
• February 4 –American Civil War: Delegates from six seceded states meet at theMontgomery Convention inMontgomery, Alabama.
• February 8 –American Civil War: TheConfederate States of America adopts theProvisional Constitution of the Confederate States.
• February 9 –American Civil War:Jefferson Davis iselected the provisionalpresident of theConfederate States of America by the Weed Convention atMontgomery, 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: InMontgomery, Alabama,Jefferson Davis is inaugurated as the provisional president of theConfederate States of America.
• February 23 – President-electAbraham Lincoln arrives secretly in Washington, D.C., after anassassination attempt inBaltimore.
• February 28 –Colorado Territory is organized.
• March 2 –Nevada Territory andDakota Territory are organized.
• March 4
  • Abraham Lincoln is sworn in as the 16thpresident of the United States, andHannibal Hamlin is sworn in as the 15thvice president.
  • American Civil War: TheStars and Bars is adopted as theflag of the Confederate States of America.
• March 11 –American Civil War: TheConstitution of the Confederate States is adopted.

• April 12 –Battle of Fort Sumter: TheAmerican Civil War begins atFort Sumter,South Carolina.
• April 14 –Battle of Fort Sumter:Fort Sumter surrenders to Confederate forces.
• April 17 – The state ofVirginia 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 ofVirginia.
• April 25 –American Civil War: TheUnion Army arrives in Washington, D.C.
• April 27 –American Civil War:
  • PresidentAbraham Lincoln suspends thewrit of habeas corpus in Maryland.
• May 6 –American Civil War:Arkansas secedes from theUnion.
• May 7 –American Civil War:Tennessee secedes from theUnion.
• May 8 –American Civil War:Richmond, Virginia, is named the capital of theConfederate States of America.
• May 10 –American Civil War –Camp Jackson Affair:Union military forces clash with civilians on the streets ofSt. 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 ofneutrality" which recognizes thebreakaway states as havingbelligerent rights.
• May 20
  • American Civil War:Kentucky proclaims itsneutrality which lasts until September 3, whenConfederate forces enter the state.
  • American Civil War:North Carolina secedes from the Union.

• July 13 –American Civil War: TheBattle of Corrick's Ford takes place in westernVirginia.
• July 21 –American Civil War –First Battle of Bull Runaka First Manassas: at Manassas Junction,Virginia, the first major battle of the war ends in aConfederate victory.
• July 22 –American Civil War: After Union forces led byNathaniel Lyon capture the Missouri state capital ofJefferson City, theMissouri Constitutional Convention reconvenes and removes pro-secessionist GovernorClaiborne Fox Jackson from office, replacing him with a pro-Union governor.
• July 25 –American Civil War: TheCrittenden–Johnson Resolution is passed by theU.S. Congress, stating that the war is being fought to preserve the Union and not to endslavery.
• July 26 –American Civil War:George B. McClellan assumes command of theArmy of the Potomac following a disastrous Union defeat at theFirst Battle of Bull Run.
• August 5
  • American Civil War: In order to help pay for the war effort, the United States government issues the firstincome tax as part of theRevenue Act of 1861 (3% of all incomes over US$800; rescinded in 1872).
  • TheU.S. Army abolishesflogging.
  • John Gill Shorter iselected the 17thgovernor of Alabama defeatingThomas H. Watts.
• August 10 –American Civil War: The first major battle west of theMississippi River, theBattle of Wilson's Creek, is fought, with aConfederate victory.
• September 3 –American Civil War:Confederate GeneralLeonidas Polk invades neutralKentucky, prompting the state legislature to ask for Union assistance.
• September 6 –American Civil War: Forces under Union GeneralUlysses S. Grant bloodlessly capturePaducah, Kentucky, which gives the Union control the mouth of theTennessee River.

• 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 ColonelEdward Baker are defeated byConfederate troops in the second major battle of the war. Baker, a close friend ofAbraham Lincoln, is killed in the fighting.
• October 28 – A small pro-secessionist section of theMissouri legislature takes up a bill for Missouri's secession from the Union.
• October 30 – The bill is passed forMissouri's secession from the Union.
• October 31
  • Missouri's secession from the Union bill is signed by GovernorClaiborne Fox Jackson, but by this date Governor Jackson only controls parts of South-Western Missouri. Union forces led by generalJohn C. Frémont have consolidated control over the vast majority of Missouri.
  • American Civil War: Citing failing health, Union GeneralWinfield Scott resigns as Commander of theUnited States Army.
• November 1 –American Civil War: U.S. PresidentAbraham Lincoln appointsGeorge B. McClellan as commander of theUnion Army, replacing the aged GeneralWinfield Scott.
• November 2 –American Civil War: Western Department Union GeneralJohn C. Frémont is relieved of command and replaced byDavid Hunter.
• November 6 –American Civil War:Jefferson Davis iselected president of theConfederate States of America.
• November 7 –American Civil War –Battle of Belmont: InMississippi County, Union forces led by GeneralUlysses S. Grant overrun aConfederate camp but are forced to retreat when Confederate reinforcements arrive.
• November 8 –American Civil War –Trent Affair: TheUSS San Jacinto stops the United Kingdom mail shipTrent and arrests twoConfederate envoys, James Mason andJohn Slidell, sparking a diplomatic crisis between the U.K. and U.S.
• November 21 –American Civil War:Confederate PresidentJefferson Davis appointsJudah Benjamin Secretary of War.
• November 28 –American Civil War: Acting on the ordinance passed by the Jackson government, the Confederate Congress admitsMissouri as the 12th Confederate state.
• December 2 –John Gill Shorter is sworn in as the 17thgovernor of Alabama replacingAndrew B. Moore.^[2]
• December 10 –American Civil War:Kentucky is accepted into theConfederate States of America.

• Secession crisis (1860–1861)
• American Civil War (1861–1865)

• Alonzo E. Deitz founds the A. E. Deitz lock company in Brooklyn, New York.

• April 4 –John McLean,U.S. Postmaster General from 1823 to 1829, Associate Justice of theSupreme Court from 1829 to 1861 (born1785)
• April 8 –Elisha Otis, industrialist, founder of theOtis Elevator Company (born1811)
• April 15 –Isaiah Stillman, U.S. Army Major in theBlack Hawk War (born1793)
• May 21 –Benjamin Paul Akers, sculptor (born1825)
• May 24 –Elmer E. Ellsworth, firstUnion officer to die in theCivil War (born1837)
• June 3 –Stephen A. Douglas, Senator from Illinois from 1847 till 1861 and presidential candidate (born1813)
• June 5 –John Garland,Bvt.Brigadier General in theUnion Army (born1793)
• June 13 –Richard Lawrence, failed assassin ofAndrew Jackson (born c. 1800–1801)
• July 7 –John Willis Ellis, 35thGovernor of North Carolina from 1859 to 1861 (born1820)
• July 13 –Robert S. Garnett,Confederatebrigadier general (born1819)
• July 22 –Barnard Elliott Bee Jr., Confederate general (born1824)
• August 10 –Nathaniel Lyon,Union Army brigadier general, first general to be killed in theCivil War (born1818)
• August 12 –Eliphalet Remington, gunmaker (born1793)
• August 17 –Alcée Louis la Branche, politician (born1806)
• October 5 –Kinsley S. Bingham, U.S. Senator from Michigan from 1859 to 1861 (born1808)
• October 20 –William Woodbridge, Governor of Michigan from 1840 to 1841 and U.S. Senator from Michigan from 1841 to 1847 (born1780)
• October 21 –Edward Dickinson Baker, U.S. Senator from Oregon from 1860 to 1861 (born1811)
• October 26 –Edward "Ned" Kendall, bandleader and instrumentalist (keyed bugle) (born1808)
• November 28 –Richard M. Young, U.S. Senator from Illinois from 1837 to 1843 (born1798)

• Timeline of United States history (1860–1899)

• American Annual Cyclopaedia ... 1861, NY: D. Appleton & Co. – via HathiTrust

• Media related to1861 in the United States at Wikimedia Commons

• 1861 in the United States
• 1860s in the United States
• 1861 by country
• 1861 in North America
• Years of the 19th century in the United States

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