P.G. Nagle

Timeline: 1861

Sources include THE CIVIL WAR DAY BY DAY, by E.B Long with Barbara Long; THE CIVIL WAR IN THE WESTERN TERRITORIES, by Ray C. Colton; and THE OFFICIAL RECORDS OF THE WAR OF THE REBELLION.

January February March April May June July August September October November December

JANUARY 1861
	IN THE FAR WEST	BACK EAST
1/9		Mississipi secedes, the second state to do so. (South Carolina had seceded on December 20, 1860.)
1/10		Florida secedes.
1/11		Alabama secedes.
1/19		Georgia secedes.
1/21		Jefferson Davis withdraws from the U.S. senate to return to his home state, Mississippi.
1/26		Louisiana secedes.

FEBRUARY 1861
	IN THE FAR WEST	BACK EAST
2/1		Texas secedes.
2/4		Convention of seceded states meets in Montgomery, Alabama.
2/9		Jefferson Davis elected Provisional President of the Confederacy.
2/12	Secession is the chief topic of discussion among the officers at Fort Union. Union Lieutenant John V. DuBois observes "Of all the officers here only Lt. McRae of North Carolina, Captain Shoemaker, M.S.K. and myself are thoroughly loyal."
2/16		In San Antonio, Texas, Major General David E. Twiggs, a Federal officer in sympathy with the Confederates, surrenders all government and military property in Texas to the Confederacy. Lieutenant Colonel Robert E. Lee arrives in San Antonio on his way to report to General-in-Chief Scott in Washington, and is astonished to learn of Twiggs' action.
2/18		Jefferson Davis inaugurated President of the Confederacy.

MARCH 1861
	IN THE FAR WEST	BACK EAST
3/4		Abraham Lincoln inaugurated 16th President of the United States.
3/10	Officers at Fort Union continue to debate the issue of secession. Lieutenant John V. DuBois notes "I became involved in several very bitter political discussions here & threatened, if an effort was made to seduce my regiment from its allegiance, I would assume command myself & fight it out.. Propositions were made to me to go into the Southern army & high positions were offered me, but of course declined...The soldiers are loyal, most of the officers going south themselves, & all the West Pointers except Longstreet urge their soldiers to remain true."
3/11		The Confederate Congress unanimously adopts the Constitution of the Confederacy.
3/16	Confederate sympathizers in New Mexico hold a convention in Mesilla claiming to represent the people of Arizona and allying themselves with the Confederacy.
3/29		Lincoln orders an expedition to resupply the beleagured Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor.

APRIL 1861
	IN THE FAR WEST	BACK EAST
4/11		Confederates demand the surrender of Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor.
4/12		Fort Sumter fired upon; the war begins.
4/13		Fort Sumpter surrenders.
4/19		Civilians attack the 6th Massachusetts Volunteers as they pass through Baltimore.
4/22	Colonel W. W. Loring, in command of the Department of New Mexico, reports to Army Headquarters that he is negotiating peace with the Comanches.

MAY 1861
	IN THE FAR WEST	BACK EAST
5/11		Caleb Smith, U.S. Secretary of the Interior, writes to Secretary of War Simon Cameron regarding the possibility of a Confederate invasion of New Mexico.
5/13	Colonel William Wing Loring, Commander of the Department of New Mexico, sends his resignation to Washington. He remains in command in Santa Fe. Captain Henry Hopkins Sibley also resigns his commission in the U.S. Army. On the same day he receives his promotion to Major. He leaves New Mexico before recieving notice of the acceptance of his resignation.	General Benjamin F. Butler moves U.S. troops to occupy Baltimore, Maryland.
5/17	Special Orders are issued by Army Headquarters directing the withdrawal of troops from New Mexico. Major E.R.S. Canby is breveted Lieutenant-Colonel.
5/20		North Carolina secedes. Simon Cameron replies to Caleb Smith regarding New Mexico: "...the attention of this department has been duly given to that subject, [and] measures have been or will be taken commensurate with its importance."
5/23		Virginians vote to secede.
5/24		Federal troops occupy Alexandria, Virginia. Colonel Elmer Ellsworth killed.

JUNE 1861
	IN THE FAR WEST	BACK EAST
6/3		Stephen A. Douglas dies in Chicago, posisbly of typhoid fever.
6/8		Tennessee votes to secede.
6/10		Big Bethel, Virginia. 2500 Federal troops clash with 1200 Confederates in a sketchy conflict lasting approximately one hour and ending with the withdrawal of the Federals.
6/11	Colonel W.W. Loring leaves Santa Fe along with George Crittenden and other members of his staff. Major E.R.S. Canby assumes control of the Department of New Mexico.
6/12	Unaware of Loring's departure, Henry H. Sibley writes to him from Hart's Mill in Franklin, Texas, informing him of the subsistence and ammunition available there and advising him to engage a seat in the stage to San Antonio.
6/14	Canby receives his brevet to Lieutenant-Colonel, along with orders to march all of the Regular infantry in New Mexico Territory to Fort Leavenworth. He begins organizing volunteer regiments for the defense of the territory.
6/16	Major Issac Lynde, Commanding Fort McLane, is ordered to abandon the fort, take its garrison to Fort Fillmore, and assume command there.
6/17		Boonesville, Missouri. General Nathaniel Lyon leads 1700 Federal troops in an attack on Boonesville, capturing and occupying the town. In Washington, Professor Thaddeus Lowe makes a demonstration balloon flight and communicates with President Lincoln by a telegraph wire from the balloon.
6/24	Canby writes to Major Issac Lynde (commanding Fort Fillmore), warning him to be on his guard against a possible attack from Fort Bliss.
6/29	Sibley's letter to Loring is received in Santa Fe and delivered to Canby.	A special Federal Cabinet meeting convenes in Washington, attended by leading generals.
6/30	Orders are issued to the commanding officer at Fort Buchanan to abandon the fort and bring the garrison to Fort Fillmore. Canby reports the threat of an attack on Fort Fillmore to Army Headquarters in Washington.	A brilliant meteor is seen in the East. Witnesses speculate on its being a sign.

JULY 1861
	IN THE FAR WEST	BACK EAST
7/3	Fort McLane abandoned.
7/8		Henry Hopkins Sibley, after presenting his plan for indaving New Mexico to Jefferson Davis, is made a Brigadier General and authorized to raise a brigade in Texas.
7/10	Fort Breckenridge abandoned.
7/21		Battle of First Bull Run (Manassas). Irvin McDowell commands a Union army of 37,00 marching toward Richmond. Joseph E. Johnston and P.G.T. Beauregard command 35,000 Confederates. Federal losses: 2896. Confederate losses: 1982. Confederate General Barnard Bee inadvertently gives General Jackson his nickname of "Stonewall."
7/23	Confederate Lieutenant Colonel John R. Baylor leads 250-350 men of the 2nd Texas Mounted Rifles up the Rio Grande into New Mexico. Fort Buchanan abandoned.
7/24	Baylor's command camps within 400 yards of Fort Fillmore, planning to surprise the garrison in the morning. Two pickets desert and warn the Federals of the coming attack.
7/25	Having lost the advantage of surprise, Baylor's command occupies Mesilla, on the west bank of the Rio Grande. They are welcomed by Southern sympathizers. Major Isaac Lynde, commander of Fort Fillmore, demands the Texans's surrender, doesn't get it, advances a few companies toward Mesilla. After a brief skirmish he withdraws and gives orders to fortify Fort Fillmore.	The U.S. Senate votes 30 to 5 in favor of the Crittenden Resolution, that the war is to be fought to maintain the Union and the Constitution, and not to interfere with established institutions (such as slavery).
7/26	Major Lynde abandons Fort Fillmore and marches its garrison northeast toward Fort Stanton, over 150 miles away.
7/27	Major Lynde's command suffers from blistering heat and lack of water. Baylor's command follows, picking up Federal stragglers, and catches up to Lynde at St. Augustin Springs. Lynde surrenders the entire command, nearly 500 officers and men, to the Texans without firing a shot.	Major General George B. McClellan assumes command of the Division of the Potomac.

AUGUST 1861
	IN THE FAR WEST	BACK EAST
8/1	Lieutenant Colonel John R. Baylor issues a proclamation claiming all of New Mexico Territory south of the 34th parallel for the Confederacy. He calls this area the Territory of Arizona, and names himself Governor.	General R.E. Lee arrives in western Virginia to inspect and coordinate the forces there (which are under the command of W.W. Loring, former U.S. Commander of the Department of New Mexico).
8/2	Lieutenant Colonel B.S. Roberts learns of Lynde's surrender and abandons Fort Stanton. Lieutenant Colonel E.R.S. Canby requests four additional companies of volunteers from New Mexico Territory's new governor, Henry Connelly. The men and officers surrendered by Lynde at St. Augustin, having been paroled, begin leaving Las Cruces (near Mesilla) for Fort Craig. They are: 1 major, 2 assistant surgeons, 2 captains, 5 first lieutenants, 1 second lieutenant, 1 sergeant major, 1 quartermaster sergeant, 1 principal musician, 23 sergeants, 22 corporals, 7 musicians, and 344 privates, for a total of 11 officers and 399 enlisted men.
8/6	The St. Augustin parolees arrive at Fort Craig.	Lincoln signs into law a bill freeing slaves employed or used by Confederates in arms against the U.S., and another increasing pay for the private soldier.
8/7	Word of Lynde's surrender reaches the Federal column en route to Fort Fillmore from Fort Buchanan. They turn north toward Fort Craig, burning their train in order to travel more quickly and escape Baylor's forces.
8/8	Colonel Canby suspends the writ of habeus corpus in New Mexico.
8/10		Battle of Wilson's Creek, near Springfield, Missouri. Nathaniel Lyon commands 5400 Federals in attack against Benjamin McCulloch's 11,000 Confederates. Federal losses: 1317 (including General Lyon). Confederate losses: 1230.
8/14	Canby writes to Governor Gilpin of Colorado Territory, asking him to raise one or two companies of volunteers for the purpose of supporting Fort Wise.	Major General John Fremont declares martial law in St. Louis.
8/20		Major General George B. McClellan assumes command of the newly organized Army of the Potomac.
8/27		Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, attacked by Federal army and navy.
8/28		Cape Hatteras captured by Federals.
8/30		On his own initiative, Major General John C. Fremont declares martial law in Missouri, and issues a proclamation confiscating the property and emancipating the slaves of all men in arms against the Union.

SEPTEMBER 1861
	IN THE FAR WEST	BACK EAST
	Brigadier General Henry Hopkins Sibley continues to raise his brigade from his headquarters in San Antonio, Texas. Colonel. E.R.S. Canby, drawing on men and resources throughout his department, begins assembling a battery of field artillery.
9/2		President Lincoln asks Major General John Fremont to modify his August 30 proclamation of martial law and emancipation in Missouri.
9/3		Confederates under Gideon Pillow enter Kentucky and head for Columbus, ending Kentucky's neutrality.
9/5		Federal troops sent by U.S. Grant capture Paducah at the mouth of the Tennessee, preventing the Confederates from seizing all of Kentucky.
9/8	Colonel E.R.S. Canby, commanding the Department of New Mexico, writes to Governor William Gilpin of Colorado Territory regarding the raising of volunteers in both territories and the garrisoning of Fort Garland. Gilpin has supplied two companies for that purpose, and requested a large quantity of armament which Canby is unable to supply. Canby asks Gilpin to organize more volunteers and promises to forward his requests for materiel to the commander of the Western Department (Fremont, at the time).
9/11		R.E. Lee begins a campaign in the rugged mountains of western Virginia. His overcomplex campaign is doomed by heavy rains and difficult terrain, and is ultimately criticized.
9/12		A small Federal garrison under Colonel James Mulligan at Lexinton, Missouri is besieged by Confederates under Price, who greatly outnumber them.
9/20		Colonel Mulligan surrenders Lexington, Missouri after enduring a nine-day seige, during which he had asked for, but not received, help from Fremont in St. Louis. Federals lost 39 killed and 120 wounded out of approximately 3600, Confederates lost 25 killed and 72 wounded out of approximately 18,000.
9/25	Skirmish at Cañada Alamosa--Confederates under Captain Bethel Coopwood of Lt. Col. John R. Baylor's command attack a Federal picket camp between Mesilla and Fort Craig in the early morning hours, stampeding horses as they surprise the Federals. Captain John H. Minks surrenders with about nine of his men after losing 3 wagons, 12, mules, and several horses. The rest of the picket is scattered and most make their way north to Fort Craig.	Grant's troops occupy Smithland, Kentucky, strengthening their hold on the lower Tennessee at nearby Paducah.
9/26	Skirmish at Fort Thorn--Captain Robert Morris, 3rd US Cavalry, brings a troop to Minks's aid, following the trail of the Texans south from Cañada Alamosa and encountering them at Fort Thorn. In under two hours of fighting, Federals lose 3 wounded, Confederates lose 2 killed and 8 wounded. Captain Morris retires when his ammunition runs low.

OCTOBER 1861
	IN THE FAR WEST	BACK EAST
	A newly organized Federal battery of six guns arrives at Fort Craig. Command of the new battery is given to Captain Alexander McRae.
10/4		President Lincoln watches a balloon ascension.
10/12		Confederate ironclad Manassas rams two Federal ships near the mouth of the Mississippi.
10/21		BATTLE OF BALL'S BLUFF/LEESBURG, VIRGINIA--Federal forces under Brigadier General Charles P. Stone cross the Potomac and then are forced back into the river by Confederates under Brigadier General Nathan G. Evans. Federals lost 49 killed, 158 wounded, and 714 missing (many drowned); Confederates lost 36 killed, 117 wounded, and 2 missing.
10/22	The 1st Regiment of Sibley's Brigade, (4th Texas Mounted Volunteers), under Colonel James Riley, leave San Antonio for New Mexico Territory.
10/24	Lt. Colonel John R. Baylor writes to Sibley from Mesilla, the newly proclaimed capitol of Confederate Arizona, urgently requesting reenforcements.	Transcontinental Telegraph is completed by linking Denver to Sacramento. Citizens of western Virginia vote to form a new state.

NOVEMBER 1861
	IN THE FAR WEST	BACK EAST
11/1		Major General George Brinton McClellan succeeds Lieutenant General Winfield Scott as General-In-Chief of the Union armies.
11/2	The 2nd Regiment of Sibley's Brigade, (5th Texas Mounted Volunteers), under Colonel Tom Green, leaves San Antonio for New Mexico Territory.
11/6		Jefferson Davis elected president of the Confederate States of America.
11/8		Mason and Slidell, CSA commissioners to Great Britain and France seized aboard British mail packet Trent by U.S.S. San Jacinto commanded by Captain Charles Wilkes.
11/9	Colonel E.R.S. Canby placed in command of the Department of New Mexico.
11/20	The partially filled 3rd Regiment of Sibley's Brigade, (7th Texas Mounted Volunteers), under Colonel William Steele, leaves San Antonio for El Paso.
11/25	Major Isaac Lynde dismissed from the U.S. Army for his surrender of Fort Fillmore in July.

DECEMBER 1861
	IN THE FAR WEST	BACK EAST
12/3		President Lincoln delivers his first State of the Union address, saying "The Union must be preserved."
12/8	In a report to the Adjutant-General in Washington, Colonel E.R.S. Canby describes the condition of regular and volunteer troops in the Territory, and expresses doubt that the volunteers can be made efficient in any reasonable period of time. He asks for one or two regiments of volunteers from the East to replace the regular troops scheduled for withdrawal, saying, "The New Mexican volunteers, without the support of regular troops or of volunteers drawn from some other part of the country, cannot be relied on to resist an invasion of the country, if one is attempted."
12/9		The U.S. Senate sets up the Joint Committee on the Conduct of War.
12/14	Brigadier General Henry Hopkins Sibley assumes command of the Confederate forces in New Mexico.	His Royal Highness Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, dies.
12/17	The 4th Texas marches into Fort Bliss, near Franklin, Texas (modern El Paso).
12/20	General Sibley addresses a proclamation to the people of New Mexico Territory, saying "by geographical position, by similarity of institutions, by commercial interests, and by future destinies New Mexico pertains to the Confederacy."
12/23		Lord Lyons, British Minister to the United States, delivers a formal demand for the release of Confederate commissioners Mason and Slidell in the now-famous Trent affair.
12/25	On a cold Christmas day, Colonel James Riley of the 4th Texas bids his regiment farewell in their camp at Willow Bar, just over the border in New Mexico Territory. Riley departs on a diplomatic mission to the Mexican states of Sonora and Chihuahua. Lt. Colonel William R. Scurry assumes command of the regiment in his absence.
12/26		After many meetings and consultations, President Lincoln and his Cabinet decide to release Mason and Slidell.
12/28	Canby arrives at Fort Craig and establishes his headquarters there. He reports to Washington that, according to a spy in El Paso del Norte (modern Juarez), the Confederates have been reinforced by 1,400 men.

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