United States Civil War (1861 – 1865) in Real Time

Day 219 of the United States Civil War, November 16th 1861

District of Columbia

(United States) President Abraham Lincoln issue a Executive Order which reads as follows:

General Orders, No. 100

Headquarters of the Army

Adjutant-General's Office

Complaint has been made to the President of the United States that certain persons within the State of Virginia, in places occupied by the forces of the United States, claim to be incumbents of civil offices--State, county, and municipal--by alleged authority from the Commonwealth of Virginia, in disregard and violation of the "declaration of the people of Virginia represented in convention at the city of Wheeling, Thursday, June 13, 1861," and of the ordinances of said convention, and of the acts of the general assembly held by authority of said convention.

It is therefore ordered, by direction of the President, that if any person shall hereafter attempt within the State of Virginia, under the alleged authority of said Commonwealth, to exercise any official powers of a civil nature within the limits of any of the commands of the occupying forces of the United States, unless in pursuance of the declaration and ordinances of the convention assembled at Wheeling on the 13th day of June, 1861, and the acts of the general assembly held by authority of said convention, such attempt shall be treated as an act of hostility against the United States, and such person shall be taken into military custody.

Commanding officers are directed to enforce this order within their respective command

By command of Major-General McClellan:

L. Thomas, Adjutant-General.

Virginia

The following are appointed Brigadier Generals in the Confederate States Army:

- Lawrence O'Bryan Branch.
- William Mahone.

(Confederate States) Secretary of the Navy Stephen Russell Mallory advertised for plans and bids to build four seagoing ironclad warships, each capable of carrying four heavy guns.

Operation in Kanawha Valley began.

A group of Confederates captured some United States foraging parties at Doolan’s farm, near Taylor’s Corner and Falls Church.

Kentucky

The Pro-United States partisan William Blount Carter reached the United States lines and reported to United States Army, Brigadier General George Henry Thomas about the success of his bridge-burning raids in East Tennessee.

Pennsylvania

The wooden-hulled 224 foot, 730 ton, side wheel gunboat USS MIAMI at the Philadelphia Navy Yard is christened by Miss Ann Ingersoll.

South Carolina

Confederate States Navy, Captain Duncan Nathaniel Ingraham was assigned to the naval command in Charleston Harbour.

New York

The 66th New York Infantry Regiment (United States), called variously the Governor’s Guard; Mechanic Rifles; or Old Sixth Militia and recruited in New York City; left the state under the command of United States Army, Colonel Joseph C. Pinckney for service in Graham"s Brigade, Buell’s Division, Army of the Potomac to serve three years United States service.

Day 221 of the United States Civil War, November 18th 1861

District of Columbia

(United States) President Abraham Lincoln celebrates the naval actions on the South Carolina coast in a note to Edward Everett, with an additional nod to the seizures of the Confederate diplomats:“The success at Port-Royal was both splendid and important. The military men are taking what they consider all necessary steps to hold the places taken. And then the capture of Mason and Slidell!”

Virginia

The first provisional meeting of the Confederate Congress is held in Richmond, Virginia.

Confederate States Army, Lieutenant-Colonel Fitzhugh Lee (1st Virginia Cavalry) skirmished at Fairfax Court House and on the Falls Church Road.

Kentucky

The Kentucky Sovereignty Convention of Confederate sympathisers met at Russellville and remained in session for three days, ultimately voting to secede from the United States. This resulted in the existence of two rival state governments with opposing loyalties, similar to the situation in Missouri, North Carolina, and western Virginia.

The side-wheeled steamer USS CONESTOGA under the command of United States Navy, Lieutenant Samuel L Phelps, made an expedition up the Cumberland River. It dispersed some Confederate forces and silenced a battery at Canton.

Missouri

Reconnaissance to Texas County and Wright County ended.

Skirmish at Palmyra.

Confederate raiders attacked the steamer Platte Valley at Price’s Landing.

A United States wagon train travelling near Warrensburg was attacked and captured by a group of Confederates.

North Carolina

Three United States vessels filled with rocks were sunk in the Ocracoke Inlet to block the port to Confederate blockade runners. The rapid deterioration of the wooden ships’ frames meant that their stone ballast soon collapsed and weakened the obstacle.

Loyalist citizens met under United States Army auspices in a convention at Hatteras in Dare County, North Carolina that claimed to represent forty-five of North Carolina's counties. Its ordinances rescinded the state's secession from the United States and named Methodist minister Marble Nash Taylor as new provisional governor.

The wooden screw steamer USS MONTICELLO engaged a Confederate battery near New Inlet.

Tennessee

United States raiders were arrested and charged with burning bridges at Doe River.

California

United States Army, Colonel James H. Carleton (1st California Infantry), is relieved from command of the District of Southern California.

Day 223 of the United States Civil War, November 20th 1861

District of Columbia

(United States) Treasury Secretary Salmon Chase instructs James Pollock of US Mint in Philadelphia that "the trust of our people in God should be declared on our national coins."

(United States) President Abraham Lincoln got a good look at the reorganized Army of the Potomac that United States Army, General George McClellan had been training during a Grand Review of the Army held at Baily’s Crossroad, Virginia.

The 16th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment (United States), a unit organized in the North Country, was one of many New York Regiments that took part in this massive parade.

New Yorker Julia Ward Howe, who was visiting the Army that day, was inspired to write the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" after watching the troops assemble. The lines of the second verse of the song-"I have seen his righteous anger writ in burnished rows of steel"-were inspired by the events of that day.

Early on the cold morning of November 20, 1861 Soldiers from seven divisions of the Army camped around Washington began marching towards Bailey’s Crossroads. Around 20,000 to 30,000 spectators gathered to watch the review. According to the New York Times:

"As no passes were required it was free to everyone who could procure a conveyance, or who chose to walk, the distance being about eight miles by the route which they were obliged to take. The roads were guarded the entire distance, so that civilians without written permission could not diverge from the prescribed limits of travel. "

As the 70,000 Soldiers arrived in Bailey’s Crossroads, they were organized into a semi-circle of four miles. At the start of the ceremony, fifteen batteries fired a salute and then McClellan, along with (United States) President Abraham Lincoln, (United States) Secretary of War Simon Cameron, and
(United States) Secretary of State William H. Seward, "all on horseback, rode rapidly along the line, meeting with continuous and enthusiastic cheers from the soldiers," the New York Times said.

Lieutenant Albert M. Barney of the 16th remembered the review in a letter to his sister:

" The grand review, which you of course have read of, was a truly grand affair, and must have been a splendid scene to look upon for those who took no part in the parade; for there is really hard work in such ceremonies. For instance, our regiment marched six miles to the reviewing ground with knapsacks, twenty rounds of ball cartridges, haversacks, with dinner and canteens with water. "After arriving, we stood in the mud ankle deep for over two hours, waiting for the balance of the forces to take their positions. We stood at ‘attention’ while the President and General McClellan and his staff made the rounds of the entire force, and it was no small task to ride past seventy thousand men in line of battle. After that we waited for about half the number to pass, before our turn came to march by the reviewing stand, from which we made a circuit of two miles, to reach the road which led to our camp, and when we reached it, all felt we had performed a hard day’s work. "

Virginia

Confederate States Army, Colonel William B. Wood, announces to (Confederate States) Confederate Secretary of War Judah P. Benjamin, the suppression of the East Tennessee rebellion.

Confederate States Army, Brigadier General John Buchanan Floyd completed the withdrawal of Confederate troops from the vicinity of the Gauley River.

Southampton County, Virginia, planter Daniel W. Cobb records the contradictory elements of warfare for the citizens who will be called upon to sustain it and the laborers expected to undertake the work involved in it:“Our slaves is ordered out at this time in the County to work on embankments [earthwork fortifications] by the government which will throw farmers back.”

Maryland

In Baltimore, Maryland, police carried out a morning raid against Miller's Hotel at German and Paca Streets, suspected as a mail center for Confederates communciating with the city. All the premises were seized, including the stables and a large number of horses there. A boarder named Webster, along with his wife, was arrested but the press reported that he escaped while being transported to Fort McHenry. It turned out later, however, that "Webster" was Timothy Webster, a United States spy working for Allan Pinkerton.

Delaware

The explosion at the Dupont Powder Mills was powerful enough to shake homes in the city of Wilmington, Delaware. Four men were reported killed in the accident, which damaged nearby homes of mill workers and the Dupont family and displaced machinery and shattered all the windows in an unrelated factory on the other side of Brandywine Creek.

Kentucky

Skirmish at Brownsville, involving Confederate States Army, Brigadier General Thomas Carmichael Hindman.

The pro-Confederate Kentucky Sovereignty Convention passed a Declaration of Independence and an Ordinance of Secession and appointed a Provisional Government. George W Johnson was chosen as the putative Confederate Governor.

California

United States forces pursued and captured several of the Showalter Party of pro-Secessionist conspirators at Warner’s Ranch in the San Jose Valley, southeast of Los Angeles.

Department of Kansas (United states)

United States Army, Major General David Hunter, assumes the command of the Department of Kansas.

Department of the Missouri (United states)

Skirmishes at Butler and Little Santa Fe.

United States Army, Major General Henry Wager Halleck, issues General Orders No. 3, excluding fugitive slaves from the military camps in the Department of the Missouri.

Department of the Indian Territory (Confederate States)

Confederate States Army, Colonel Douglas Hancock Cooper set out for Chief Opothleyahola’s camp near Round Mountain but found the Indians had gone during the night.

Day 225 of the United States Civil War, November 22nd 1861

District of Columbia

The United States Marine Corps was authorised to increase its establishment with permission to enlist an additional 500 privates and a proportionate number of non­-commissioned officers.

Virginia

Expedition to Eastern Shore and Northampton County ended.

The Confederate Army of the Peninsula under Confederate States Army, Major General John Bankhead Magruder was organised into divisions. The aggregate present for duty was about 16,000 men.

California

Incidents at Warner’s Ranch and San Jose Valley.

Louisiana

The screw steamer USS NEW LONDON under the command of United States Navy, Lieutenant Abner Read, with USS R R CUTLER and crew members of USS MASSACHUSETTS, captured the steamer ANNA, with naval stores in Mississippi Sound.

Florida

USS NIAGARA under the command of United States Navy, Captain William Wister McKean, USS RICHMOND under the command of United States Navy, Captain Francis B Ellison, and the batteries of Fort Pickens commenced a two-day bombardment against the Confederate defences at Fort McRae, the Pensa­cola Navy Yard, and the town of Warrington. Some damage was inflicted on Confed­erate positions and on USS RICHMOND. The United States warships succeeded in destroying the Confederate steamer CSS TIME as it entered Pensacola harbour and caused considerable damage to Fort McRae.

Department of the Indian Territory (Confederate States)

The Confederate Department of the Indian Territory is established, under the command of Confederate States Army, Brigadier General Albert Pike.

Day 227 of the United States Civil War, November 24th 1861

Georgia troops had occupied Tybee Island, outside of Savannah, Georgia in April, 1861. Following the United States amphibious operation against Port Royal, Confederate positions around Savannah were consolidated on Fort Pulaski and Tybee Island was abandoned on November 10th 1861 and all the batteries there removed. Boatcrews from the United States Navy, gunboat USS AUGUSTA, gunboat USS POCAHONTAS and gunboat USS SENECA took possession of the island without opposition two weeks later.

Georgia

After building up supplies and equipment on Hilton Head Island, the United States expeditionary force prepared to commence a siege of Fort Pulaski. The advance began with a reconnaissance that revealed that the Confederates had abandoned Tybee Island in Savannah Harbour. United States Navy, Captain Samuel Francis Du Pont ordered a raid with three gunboats against the Tybee Island Lighthouse. Under a two-hour ship’s bombardment, the Confederate pickets set fire to the lighthouse and then withdrew. A landing party in thirteen surf-boats from the gunboat USS FLAG (6 × 8 in (203 mm) Parrott rifles) under the command of United States Navy, Commander John Rodgers, gunboat USS AUGUSTA, gunboat USS POCAHONTAS, gunboat USS SENECA and gunboat USS SAVANNAH took possession of Tybee Island and also occupied the Lighthouse and the Martello tower. Overnight, a reduced company set false campfires to mislead the Confederates ashore about their strength.

Massachusetts

The screw frigate USS JACINTO delivers Confederate Commissioners, Mason and Slidell, to Fort Warren, Boston Harbor, Massachusetts.

Kentucky

Confederate States Army, Lieutenant Colonel Nathan Bedford Forrest had recently assembled a regiment of cavalry made up of companies from Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Texas. At the head of three hundred of these men, he left the Confederate camp at Hopkinsville, Kentucky on his first of his many mounted operations of the war. Scouting northward towards the Ohio River, he reached into Crittenden County, Kentucky before returning to base without engaging the enemy.

California

Incidents at Warner’s Ranch and San Jose Valley.

Missouri

Skirmishes at Johnstown and Lancaster.

Day 229 of the United States Civil War, November 26th 1861

District of Columbia

(United States) President Abraham Lincoln considers ideas for the compensated emancipation of slaves for states, using Delaware as a potential template.

Virginia

(Confederate States) President Jefferson Finis Davis transmitted to the Confederate Congress a message concerning the secession of Missouri. It was accompanied by a letter from Governor of Missouri Claiborne Fox Jackson, communicating an act dissolving the union with the United States, and an act ratifying the Constitution of the Provisional Government of the Confederate States.

Expedition to Dranesville began.

Skirmish at Hunter’s Mill involving United States Army, Brigadier General George Archibald McCall;s brigade.

Skirmish at Vienna.

West Virginia

Delegates to a convention at Wheeling, Virginia, adopt a constitution for a state to be named West Virginia.

California

United States forces ended a three-day pursuit of a small pro-Confederate group, known as the Showalter party. The United States forces caught up with the Confederates near Los Angeles and, after a brief fight, the Confederates insurgents surrendered at Warner’s Ranch in the San Jose Valley. A total of 18 Confederate agitators were captured, including their leader, Daniel Showalter.

Georgia

CSS SAVANNAH under the command of Confederate States Navy, Captain Josiah Tattnall, and three steamers including the CSS RESOLUTE and CSS SAMPSON made a sortie against the United States fleet in Cockspur Roads, near Savannah. They were unsuccessful in their effort to draw the blockading vessels within range of Fort Pulaski’s guns but drove them further out to sea. United States Navy, Captain Samuel Francis Du Pont and United States Army, Brigadier General Thomas West Sherman made a personal reconnaissance of Fort Pulaski, in preparation for an attack.

Missouri

Skirmishes at Independence and the Little Blue River.

Tennessee

Expedition to Clarksville, Edgefield, Harpeth Shoals, and Sycamore Creek began.

Philadelphia

The commander of the Home Guard in Philadelphia, brigadier general of the Pennsylvania militia, Augustus Pleasonton, confirmed at a meeting of senior officers that the force now numbered around four thousand active members. Since the state had determined the Guard was a city and not a state unit, resolutions were made that the City Councils on the Safety and Defense of the City swiftly appropriate funds for the support of the units raised to make sure that all members had a uniform and adequate facilities for drill.

Day 231 of the United States Civil War, November 28th 1861

Virginia

The Confederate Congress in Richmond, Virginia passed the ordinance to bring Missouri into the Confederacy as its eleventh state. The action was rather hollow, however, since United States forces occupied most of the region. The secessionist governor, Claiborne Jackson, had forced through an ordinance of secession exactly a month before. Although Missouri was regularly represented in Richmond, Confederate supporters were soon forced from the state.

South Carolina

The firm of Seville, Denbigh, and Hobbs completed the laying of the underwater cable in Charleston Harbor linking Fort Moultrie with Fort Sumter. The event was commemorated with the firing of a combined salute from the forts, ordered over the new communication.

California

Incidents at Warner’s Ranch and San Jose Valley.

Georgia

The gunboat CSS SAVANNAH, tugboat CSS RESOLUTE and tugboat CSS SAMPSON (1 × 32-pdr smoothbore gun and 1 × 12-pdr gun) resupplied Fort Pulaski with six months of provisions after running past the United States blockading fleet. CSS SAVANNAH was partially disabled in the action but returned safely to harbour. CSS SAMPSON received considerable damage and did not return to patrol the Savannah River until mid-November 1862.

Mississippi

The screw steamer USS New LONDON under the command of United States Navy, Lieutenant A Read, captured the Confederate blockade-runner LEWIS, with a cargo of sugar and molasses, and the schooner A J VIEW, with a cargo of turpentine and tar, off Ship Island.