What Happened in 1861

Walt Whitman Publishes "Beat! Beat! Drums!" During The Civil War

As the American Civil War was beginning, Whitman published his poem "Beat! Beat! Drums!" as a patriotic rally call for the North. Whitman's brother... Read more

James D. Bulloch Acts as European Agent for the Confederacy

Naval service and European agent of Confederacy Bulloch served in the United States Navy for 14 years before joining a private shipping company.... Read more

James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok Joins the Pony Express

Rock Creek Station was known as a "road ranch" to early western travelers, and when the Pony Express started in 1860, it was a logical site for a... Read more

Louis Pasteur Discovers Anaerobiosis

An anaerobic organism or anaerobe is any organism that does not require oxygen for growth, could possibly react negatively and may even die in its... Read more

'Great Expectations' is Published

The plot of Great Expectations is also noticeable as indicating, better than any of his previous stories, the individuality of Dickens's genius.... Read more

"Blind Tom" Wiggins composes "The Battle of Manassas"

Battle of Manassas was written by Thomas Wiggins (aka "Blind Tom") at the age of 12. It is a programmatic work which describes the first major... Read more

Mississippi Secedes from the Union

A Declaration of the Immediate Causes which Induce and Justify the Secession of the State of Mississippi from the Federal Union. In the... Read more

Florida Secedes From The Union

On January 10, 1861, delegates to the Florida Convention in Tallahassee voted to secede from the United States of America. The following month,... Read more

Davis Delivers Last Speech before the U.S. Senate

His renewed service in the Senate was interrupted by an illness that threatened him with the loss of his left eye. Still nominally serving in the... Read more

Kansas is the 34th State Admitted to the Union

Kansas entered the Union as a free state on January 29, 1861. About two hundred years earlier the French Jesuit priests, Jacques Marquette and... Read more

Montgomery Convention

Four days after his resignation, Davis was commissioned a Major General of Mississippi troops. On February 9, 1861, a Constitutional convention at... Read more

Jefferson Davis Becomes First President of the Confederate States of America at Confederate Constitutional Convention in Montgomery, Alabama

Four days after his resignation, Davis was commissioned a Major General of Mississippi troops. On February 9, 1861, a Constitutional convention at... Read more

The Baltimore Plot to Assassinate Abraham Lincoln

The Baltimore Plot was an alleged conspiracy in late February 1861 to assassinate President-elect Abraham Lincoln en route to his inauguration.... Read more

Ohio Representative Proposes Corwin Amendment

The Corwin Amendment was a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution passed by the United States Congress on March 2, 1861. Ohio... Read more

Inauguration of Abraham Lincoln

The mystic chords of memory . . . will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our... Read more

Congress Ratifies Confederate Constitution

The states that left the American Union in 1860 and 1861 brought with them a rich tradition of constitutionalism. Many Southern Leaders explained... Read more

Alexander Stephens Delivers the Cornerstone Speech

The Cornerstone Speech was delivered by Confederate Vice President, Alexander Stephens extemporaneously in Savannah, Georgia on March 21, 1861. The... Read more

Jabbar Garyagdioglu Is Born

Jabbar Garyagdioglu or Garyaghdyoglu (Azeri Cabbar Qaryağdıoğlu, pronounced [dʒɑpˈbɑr ɡɑrjɑ:ˌdɯ.o:ˈlu]) (March 31, 1861, Shusha – 20 April 1944,... Read more

Aaron Van Camp Takes Part in Confederate Spy Ring

Aaron Van Camp (June 23, 1816–September 15, 1892) was an espionage agent for the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. He... Read more

"Life in the Iron Mills" is Published

Life in the Iron Mills must be considered a central text in the origins of American realism, American proletarian literature, and American... Read more

James Butler 'Wild Bill' Hickok Joins the Union Army

When the Civil War broke out in April 1861, Hickok signed on as a teamster for the Union Army in Sedalia, Missouri, and by the end of the year he... Read more

First Battle of Fort Sumter

On April 11, Beauregard sent three aides, Colonel James Chesnut, Jr., Captain Stephen D. Lee, and Lieutenant A. R. Chisolm to demand the surrender... Read more

The Baltimore Riot of 1861

The Baltimore riot of 1861 (also called the Pratt Street Riot and the Pratt Street Massacre) was an incident that took place on April 19, 1861, in... Read more

Editor and Author Thomas Jordan Spies for Confederacy

On May 22, 1861, Jordan resigned from the U.S. Army and was commissioned as a captain in the fledgling Confederate army. Promotion came rapidly,... Read more

Davis and Family Take Residence at the White House of the Confederacy

In conformity with a resolution of the Confederate Congress, Davis immediately appointed a Peace Commission to resolve the Confederacy's... Read more