Civil War Chronology
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Emmell Journal: Feb 18th. Our Church was opened for the first time to night, it was decorated with holly, evergreens, flags, & the band played sacred music for the occasion. It is a large building about 20 paces in length & about half as wide, it contains three rows for the three relief of guards & a prison & a office for the officer of the guard. This is all on the first floor, & the second story contains a church, band & drum corps room. This building is made of pine logs with the crack filled with clay & the roof is thatched with straw. The doors are made of flour barrels. We have another log building which is used for a bakery & for a blacksmith shop.
Battle for Fort Donelson: Union troops begin the march to Fort Donelson on the Tennessee River.
Emmell Journal: Feb 11th. The rebels have a flag on their pole at Cock Pit battery the first time I noticed it was two or three days ago. Our company was on guard again at the stone house at Rum Point a few days ago & the night we were there, their came a boat load of the 2nd Fire Zoaves after express boxes. They are encamped farther below us still & they had to pass the rebels batteries. I send home a 32 pound solid shot thrown over from Cock Pit a few days ago, it was warm when picked up. The funeral of the division Doctor took place a few days ago they had the 2nd New Hampshire & 1st Mass brass bands who played the Dead March & Gen Hooker & staff Col Sickels & all the staff officers of the division were present.
Battle for Fort Henry: Confederate Fort Henry on the Tennessee River is attacked by by Union gunboats while Union infantry landed a few miles away to make their way overland. The fort, which had not been designed to withstand an infantry assault was largely abandoned except for the men firing the artillery. The Fort surrendered before the Union infantry could reach it. The fall of Fort Henry opened that much of the Tennessee River up to Union gunboats.
Emmell Journal: Our brigade is busy building a road to Rum Point landing. Merritt goes to Washington to day on a 48 hour pass on business.
Emmell Journal: Feb 2nd 1862. The roads are in a very bad condition & it is very hard on the horses to cart our rations from Rum Point where the boats land. One of Co K died the first of the week with measles & we raised 50 or 60 dollars to send his remains home to his mother. His name is Moses Berry. I borrowed Lieut Hillyers field glass & had a fair view of rebels across from us & could see the rebel sentry pacing his beat. I have been very busy the past week. Monday we drilled all day. Tuesday. Tuesday our Company was detailed to build corderoy roads. Wednesday went on guard, come off Thursday at 10 A.M Friday was on police duty. Saturday the whole regiment were building corderoy roads. To day Sunday we have had inspection dress parade & have been bringing in wood to keep our fire through the night.
The ironclad Monitor is launched from Greenpoint, Long Island (see October 25 1861).
Emmell Journal: Jan 26. We have had Sunday morning inspection as usual this morning. Mr Cory is on the parade ground watching the rebels fire at Schooner that is trying to run by Cock Pit Battery; this is some thing new for a civilian to see. At Occoquan Point below here, on the opposite shore, the rebels have another battery also at Onantico Point is a larger battery with 10 guns, manned by Alabama troops. From our encampment all these can seen. Seventeen boys are sick with the measles three from Co K; I was on picket last Monday & it rained all day. We do not have to keep much of a watch except at night. There are three at a post, one stands sentry, one sleeps, and the third has to keep communication with the next post every half hour, of course we each take our turn at the different parts of the duty. The man on sentry has to watch the water, & if a boat comes across to call out, “boat-a-hoy who goes there”, & to arrest those in the boat if they have not the pass word.
Battle of Mill Springs KY.
The Battle of Mill Springs was a Union victory that proved crucial to Union control of Kentucky, an important border state.
Emmell Journal: Jan 12th 1862 The Pensacola (a man of war) has run past the rebel batteries. They fired 100 rounds at her but not injure her any. This morning between 5 & 6 oclock a boat load of rebels came over & when they approached, they were halted by our pickets when they commenced firing drove our pickets from the shore & took 7 men of one the Mass regiments prisoner. It seems strange to me that it takes only a minute for a shell to come across the Potomac which is here a mile & a half you can first see the smoke from their cannon then hear the report & the shell whiring over your head. Two boats coming here from Washington have sunk one having on board dress coats for our regiment. We begin to know some thing of a soldiers life, exposed to cold, for instance the other night I was on guard & it would rain & freeze as it come down; I could only think of myself as a great icicle. We have a very large fire place & keep up a good fire. Our table is made out of on of our express boxes so you see we live quite comfortably. The only trouble is the darkness for we only have one window & that is covered with thin white muslin as we cannot procure glass. The bunks are built on one side of the log house, one on top of the other like berths on a steam boat. The roof is thatched with the tall grass which grows on the banks of the Potomac. The rebels meant to keep the Pensacola at Washington & do not like her getting past their guns safely to Fort Monroe. We now have soft bread beaked in our camp.
Emmell Journal: Camp Revere Jan 11th The ground is very muddy owing to the snow melting. This morning Lieut Hillyer took the company down by the river to drill by a little creek near the river & there saw a schooner frozen fast. The men belonging to it had been obliged to leave it. This shows how cold it is here. O.K. Guerin & myself bunk together now & keep warm since the extra blanket has been sent me. We had quite a time on dress parade night before last. The rebels sent a shell which came very near dropping among the regiment. Dr. Totten arrived here to night to be hospital steward for the regiment.
Emmell Journal: Camp Revere Jan 9th 1862. Our regiment has a brass band now, but it is not a very good one. Lieut Mullory Sergeant Connett & Corporal Watkins go to Morristown on recruiting service.
Emmell Journal: Camp Revere Jan 1st/1862 I have received the nice box of things for my New Year’s dinner. They make us drill today, there no New Years for a soldier.
Confederate Commissioners James Mason and John Slidell board the British ship Rinaldo off Provincetown, Massachusetts. With their departure, the Trent affair which its potential for a serious conflict between the British and American governments is closed.(see December 30 1861).
Confederate Commissioners James Mason and John Slidell are released from prison and transferred to the custody of Lord Lyons (see December 26 1861).
Confederate victory Chustenahlah
About 9,000 pro-Union Creek and Seminole Indians were driven from Chustenahlah in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) into Kansas by Confederate forces.
The United States agrees to surrender the Confederate Commissioners Mason and Slidell (see December 20 1861).
Emmell Journal: Camp Revere Dec 25th. I think from all appearances, we will stay here some time. Early Monday morning, Company K was sent to Rum Point to guard the stores there for 24 hours. I had a very disagreeable post on the dock, & the water would splash up where I had to stand. We had a great time at camp the other night. The Adjutant rode to the companies & roused the orderly Sargeants & told them that the enemy was crossing the river & ordered them to pack knapsack, & take every thing they had; with in 15 min. from that time we were in line, when Col Revere told us he only wished to see how quickly he could get us in line & ready to leave. We were asleep with our blankets over us when aroused to get up. We are building a log shanty of logs filling the cracks with clay, we will have a fire place in it. Col Revere was reproving a Sergeant the other day & the Sergeant asked Colenol if he wished him to get on his kness to him & for that the Sergeant has been court martialed & his sentence is to cary a log of wood on his shoulder from Sunrise to Sunset for twenty days & to live on bread & water & to have his stripes taken of his arm before the whole regiment & to have $10.00 of pay taken of each month for four months.
Forces under Union General Edward Ord clashed with forces under Confederate General J.E.B. Stuart at the intersection of the Georgetown Pike and Leesburg Pike in the Village of Dranesville. The Confederate infantry suffered 70 or more friendly fire casualties. Union artillery turned the tide against the Confederates who withdrew from the field. Although the battle had no tactical significance, it was the first time the Union had driven the Confederates from the field.
England sends 2 warships to Canada to have forces in readiness in the affair of Confederate Commissioners Mason and Slidell (see December 19 1861).
Emmell Journal: Camp Revere 20th I have a very bad cold. I was on guard last night which has not been any help to my cold. Capt Willetts of Co H came off picket this morning, bringing a large shell which struck within a few feet of him, but did not burst. There is a Doubleday’s battery in our Div, commanded by Capt Doubleday, who was in Fort Sumpter with Major Anderson.
Lord Lyons, the British Ambassador to the United States, meets with US Secretary of State Seward to convey England’s response in the affair of Confederate Commissioners Mason and Slidell. England gives the United States 7 days to respond to the demand that the men be released and a formal apology is made to England see December 18, 1861.
Lord Lyons, the British Ambassador to the United States, receives his country’s orders in the affair of Confederate Commissioners Mason and Slidell see November 29 1861.
Emmell Journal: Camp Revere Md. Dec 16th We have been inspected to day by some of Gen McClellan Staff. Last Sunday Gen Hooker inspected us. We he came to me he turned my knapsack over with his foot & seemed to think that I had to much in it. John Winslow who belongs to the 9th N.Y battery, has been over to see the Morristown boys. I miss the soft bread we had until we left Washington. The creek opposite us is called Occuquan Creek. The rebels continue to fire at every Schooner that passes their batteries but do not often touch them.
Battle of Camp Allegheny (western Virginia).
In December, Forces under Confederate Colonel Edward Johnson occupied the summit of Allegheny Mountain to defend the Staunton-Parkersburg Pike. Forces under Union General Robert Milroy attacked Johnson at sunrise on December 13. Union forces occupied an area of felled timber that resisted Confederate infantry until artillery drove them off with round and canister shot.
Half the city of Charlston, South Carolina is burned in an accidental fire.
The Congress of the Confederacy admits Kentucky to the Confederate States even though most Kentuckians are against that move.
Coastal South Carolina planters their year's crop of cotton to prevent it from being siezed by Union troops.
The Confederate CSS Sumter seizes the whaler Eben Dodge.
Emmell Journal: Camp Revere Dec 8th They call this camp Revere after the Colenol. We commence to see a little more of a soldiers life then we here to fore have. Yesterday we saw a balloon go up & the rebels fired shell at it & also at 2 vessels that passed their batteries. A party of us went over to Smith battery to see Bob Lambert. I saw a shell there weighing 64 lbs which the rebels sent across the river. The battery opened while I was there. The rebel shells all bursted before they reached the objects they fired at. Did you read of the rebel steamer George Page? It is fixed up for a gunboat. She lays in a little creak. I think it is called Quantico Creek with two Schooners which she captured. You can see the masts of the Schooners & the smoke stack of the Page from this side of the Potomac. To the right of this creek is Shipping Point battery where you can see the rebels & talk to them across the river 1½ miles, the water carries the sound. Our men & theirs black guard each across the river. The battery of the rebels across from our camp is Cock Pit battery. Some of the 1st Mass regiment went in a boat partly across the river & wanted the rebels to meet them but they would not do it. A person pretending to be a deserter from the rebels came over & give himself up. They have him under guard, being afroaid lest he may be a spy. We are encamped on the grounds of a Mr Posey. He owns 1200 acres & has quite a village of stone cabins behind his house. His wife & daughter and himself undertook to go across the river to the rebels, a shell from one of our batteries brought them back. Mr. Posey was taken to Washington where he took the oath of allegiance & was sent back to his home to be watched.
Emmell Journal: Dec 6th We only came 2 or 3 miles & are fixing up a camp as if we would stay here a little while. Our camp is on a side hill & we are leveling it & diging gutters &cc. We leave the tress stand in front of our camp so the rebels can not see where we are encamped for their battery is right in front of us on the Varginnia side & they can shell us.
Emmell Journal: Lower Potomac Md. Dec 5th. Bob Lambert was over here yesterday; he says that we have a large force of Cavalry, Artillary, & Infantry about 5 miles from here where his battery is parked & that when our whole brigade arrives there will be 19000 men here under Gen Hooker, composing Hooker's Division. This is a green looking country, the little pine trees are very thick being so close together that a rabbit could scarcely run through them. I am on guard to day; we stay on 2 hours then are off 4 so we are on 8 hours in 24. I saw Gen Hooker for the first time this morning. The order has come to strike tents.
Queen Victoria prohibits all exports to the United States including armaments or materials for their production.
Emmell Journal: December 3 Lower Potomac. Dec 3rd. We struck tents last Monday morning, packed up & received one days rations & marched for the Potomac & stayed there until dark when the whole regiment were packed in a single boat. I was in the hole of the boat & there was a good part of the regiment drunk they commenced fighting & striking at every body in general. They wanted to get on deck but it was not allowed & they tried to pull down the ladder that went up on deck. We lay at the dock in Washington until morning when we started down the Potomac & landed within a few miles of Port Tobacco; we then marched 9 miles to a place called Rum Point where the boat which we came on, arrived with our knapsacks & officers baggage. They did not wish to pass the rebel baterries with so many on board as the rebels might sink the boat so they marched us around here. At the landing there are boats coming & going from Washington. After reaching here we made coffee & eat some hard tack & then went to look for our knapsacks but I could not find mine until the next morning. Somebody had taken it for theirs in the dark.
US Gunboat Penguin seizes the Confederate blockade runner Albion. Nearly $100,000 of war supplies are taken.
In a letter to the US, England expresses its displeasure with the seizure of Confederate Commissioners Mason and Slidell, demands their release, and an apology. The British Navy is put on alert (see November 27).
Missouri admitted to Confederacy despite its not having seceded.
Word of the Trent affair reaches England. Headlines reading “Outrage on the British Flag” appear in the London newspapers (see November 24).
In Wheeling (western Virginia), a convention adopts a new constitution calling for the formation of the State of West Virginia.
The Confederate warship CSS Sumter seizes a Union ship in the Atlantic.
The Confederate Navy begins conversion of the captured USS Merrimack, now named the CSS Virginia, to an ironclad.
The Confederate Commissioners Mason and Slidell are arrive at the prison in Fort Warren, Boston Harbor (see November 14).
The USS San Jacinto carrying Confederate Commissioners Mason and Slidell arrives at Fort Monroe (see see November 8).
In the evening, President Lincoln calls on Union General in Chief McClellan at his home. McClellan retires for the night without acknowledging the President.
Fingal (later CSS Atlanta), purchased in England, entered Savannah laden with military supplies -- the first ship to run the blockade solely on behalf of the Confederate government.
Thaddeus Lowe made balloon observation of Confederate forces from Balloon-Boat G. W. Parke Curtis anchored in Potomac River.
Trent Affair begins when James M. Mason and John Slidell, Confederate Commissioners to Great Britain and France, are taken from British mail packet Trent by Federal warship San Jacinto, Charles Wilkes captain, precipitating a crisis with Great Britain.
Naval forces under Flag Officer S. F. Du Pont captured Port Royal Sound, South Carolina. The action places Union troops in a strategically critical area between Savannah and Charlston on the South Carolina coast..
Union General John C. Fremont removed from command by the President for insubordination and incompetence (see August 30 1861).
Union General George B. McClellan appointed general-in-chief of U.S. Army to succeed General Winfield Scott.
Union General-in-Chief of the United States Army, Winfield Scott, resigns voluntary.
The keel of the U.S.S. Monitor is laid in Greenpoint, Long Island (see October 4 1861).
Union victory Camp Wildcat
Kentucky was a border state, officially neutral in the conflict between the Union and the Confederacy. Early on the morning of October 21, Confederates from Tennessee who had marched through the Cumberland Gap into Kentucky along the Wilderness Road, clashed with Union forces under Brigadier General Albin Scheopf. The Union troops had the advantage of natural and man made fortifications and, after a day-long battle, repulsed the Confederates. That night, the Confederates retreated back into Tennessee and Kentucky’s status as a neutral was retained.
Confederate victory Ball's Bluff
Union General Charles Stone sent a small scouting party across the Potomac River in the vicinity of Leesburg, Virginia on the evening of October 20, 1861. After a sharp encounter with Confederate troops, Col. Edward Baker, a U.S. Senator, took command of the field and immediately began gathering troops to reinforce the men on the Virginia side of the river. The delay gave Confederate commanders time to organize their forces. In a spirited attack, Colonel Baker fell with a mortal wound. A complete rout ensued and the triumphant Confederates drove the Yankees over the bluff and into the Potomac river. The death of Baker, the only U.S. Senator ever to be killed in battle, led Congress to establish the Congressional Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, which would lead Union commanders to second-guess their decisions for the rest of the war.
Charles Slidell, Confederate Commissioner to France and James Mason, Confederate Commissioner to England slip past the Union blocade on the Confederate ship Theodora. This is the first step in a series of events that nearly leads to war between England and the Union. .
Confederate forces are rebuffed in an attack on Union held Santa Rosa Island, Pensacola Bay, Florida.
The Union Navy Department approves a contract with John Ericsson to build ironclad warships including the USS Monitor.
The Confederacy signs treaties with the Cherokee, Shawnee, and Seneca Indian tribes. Indians are recruited for the Confederate Army.
Confederate naval forces capture the Union steamer Fanny in Pamlico Sound with Union troops aboard.
Heyward Emmell enlists in Company K, 7th Regiment, NJ Volunteers. The catalyst for his action is not known. Many men enlisted at torch light rallies filled with flags and bunting where bands played, local dignitaries and politicians made patriotic speeches, and young women applauded the brave boys who signed up. Young women were early supporters of the war. They sang a song, “I Am Bound To Be A Soldier’s Wife Or Die An Old Maid”.
Note from Captain James Brown (who placed the Jerseyman ad on September 21) to Colonel Ezra Carman. Colonel Carman is at Camp Olden near Trenton NJ, the staging area for the 5th, 5th, 7th, and 8th NJ Regiments The letter reads:
Morristown Sept 25th 1861
Col E. A. Carman
Dear Sir
I have now 70 men all the best sort I think. I will be able to report to you on Wednesday next at Camp Olden with full Company. The Boonton Band declined to go at the Government pay but for a little advance will report 18 Musicians first Class.
James M. Brown
This note is in the collection of the New Jersey Historical Society.
James Brown, Chatham businessman and Colonel designate of Company K 7th Regiment New Jersey Volunteers, placed the following ad in the newspaper Jerseyman:
A Morris County Company is now forming for the War, to be commanded by Captain James M. Brown. It is already accepted, and will be attached to Gen. Revere's Regiment. Headquarters on the Public Square. Now is the chance for all who wish to join a Morris Company. Let it be eagerly embraced.
It was eagerly embraced. By the evening of October 1 1861, 101 men had volunteered for Company K.
Battle of Lexington Missouri Conclusion: The Confederates constructed a mobile breastworks from bales of water soaked hemp (water soaked to keep it from catching fire when the Union fired incendiary shells into it). Advancing behind the bales of hemp, the Confederates overwhelmed the Union line giving the Confederates a victory.
Battle of Lexington Missouri Continues: Confederate General Price orders an attack that pushes the Union forces back to their inner perimeter. .
Battle of Lexington Missouri: The pro-Confederate Missouri state Guard marched on Lexington Missouri under the command of General Sterling Price. The Confederate attempt to overrun the Union defenders was thwarted by heavy fighting in the Machpelah Cemetery. General Price then lay siege to Lexington .
Battle of Cheat Mountain Summit (western Virginia):This battle is the first battle of the Civil War in which Confederate General Robert E. Lee lead troops. About 4500 Confederate troops moved against about 1800 well entrenched Union troops defending Cheat Mountain Fort. The Confederate attack was uncoordinated due to the rain, fog, terrain, and dense forest. By September 15, convinced that he was facing an overwhelming force, Lee withdrew.
Battle of Carnifax Ferry (western Virginia): Union Gen. William S. Rosecrans was concerned about a Confederate presence that could control the Kanawha Valley. He led three brigades of infantry into position on the afternoon of September 10, Rosecrans attacked Confederate General John Floyd's position. Fighting continued until darkness. Rosecrans's artillery proved decisive and the Confederate forces retreated at night to the south side of the Gauley River.
Union troops capture Paducah, Kentucky: Kentucky was a border state that declared itself neutral. However, on September 3, Confederate forces entered the western part of the state ending Kentucky’s neutrality. Union troops under the command of General Ulysses Grant sent a force up the Ohio River which entered the city of Paducah without incident. This action gave the Union control of the mouth of the Tenessee River.
Battle of Dry Wood Creek: Union Colonel James Lane and 600 Union cavalry left Fort Scott in southwestern Missouri looking for a rumored force of Confederates. They surprised a 6000 man force under Confederate Generals Sterling Price and James Rains near Big Dry Wood Creek. Although the Union force had the element of surprise, the superior numbers of the Confederates forced them back and lead the the Union abandoning southwestern Missouri.
Major General John Fremont declared martial law in Missouri (a border state), ordered secessionists' property be confiscated, and the slaves emancipated. Fremont's action, taken without consulting President Lincoln, caused wide protests and put Union support in the border states in jeopardy.
Confederate Forts Hatteras and Clark surrender: Two Confederate forts (Forts Hatteras and Clark) were hastily built to protect Hatteras Inlet from Federal attack. Hatteras Inlet was one of the routes to the open sea used by Confederate commerce raiders and blockade runners. The undermanned forts were attacked on August 28 by means of an amphibious landing. By August 29, the undermanned forts succumbed to the naval bombardment. Union Naval Flag Officer S. H. Stringham and Army General B. F. Butler received their unconditional surrender. This victory was significant because it was the first Union victory after the embarrassment of the Union loss at Bull Run, the first amphibious operation, and the first combined Army - Navy operation.
George McClellan assumes command of Army of the Potomac.
Battle of Wilson's Creek or Oak Hills: Union Brigadier General Nathaniel Lyon’s Army of the West was camped at Springfield, Missouri, with a larger Confederate force under the command of Brigadier General Ben McCulloch approaching. Lyon split his smaller force and about 5:00 A.M. on the 10th, Lyon, in two columns commanded by himself and Colonel Franz Sigel, attacked the Confederate cavalry on Wilson’s Creek. Confederate reinforcements soon rushed up and held their positions. The Confederates attacked the Union forces three times that day but failed to break through the Union line. Lyon was killed during the battle making him the first Union General to be killed in combat. Meanwhile, the Confederates had routed Sigel’s column, south of Skegg’s Branch. Following the third Confederate attack, which ended at 11:00 am, the Confederates withdrew. Major General Sturgis, who replaced Lyon, realized, that his men were exhausted and his ammunition was low, so he ordered a retreat to Springfield. This Confederate victory buoyed southern sympathizers in Missouri, provided a staging area for a push north that brought Price’s forces as far as Lexington, and gave the Confederates control of southwestern Missouri. .
Lincoln imposes the first federal income tax by signing the Revenue Act. This act imposed a 3% tax on annual incomes over $800.
The first balloon ascent is made from a Union ship. John LaMontain ascends in a tethered balloon from the Union ship Fanny to observe Confederate artillery batteries at Sewell's Point, Virginia.
Battle of Bull Run (aka Battle of Bull Manassas): General Irvin McDowell, commander of the Army of the Northeastern Virginia, was harassed by politicians and the public into attacking the Confederate Army under General Pierre Beaurgard. He led 35,000 Union troops against the 22,000 Confederate defenders near Mannassas Junction, a local railroad hub. McDowell’s slow advance on Manassas allow time for Confederate General Joe Johnston to move his troops to Manassas by train.
It is during this battle that Confederate General Thomas Jackson recieved the nickname “Stonewall”.
The Union forces were pushing the Confederates back until mid-afternoon when additional Confederate reinforcements. The Confederates counter attacked uttering, for the first time, the fearsome “Rebel Yell”. The exhausted Union troops began to withdraw to the Bull Run (river). There, the troops were panicked when a wagon overturned on the one bridge over the river. Many troops threw down their rifles and ran in panic back towards Washington, D.C. On the road, they mingled with civilians, both men and women, and politicians who had come to picnic and view the battle.
Battle of Corrick's Ford in western Virginia. The final battle of a series of battles between General Robert Garnett (Confederate) and General George McClellan (Union). General Garnett was killed, becoming the first general to be killed during the Civil War, and the Confederates abandoned the field of battle leaving the western part of Virginia in Union hands for the duration of the war. This series of battles was instrumental in General McClellan becoming the commander of the Army of the Potomac.
Battle of Rich Mountain in western Virginia. Union forces under the overall command of General George McClellan defeated a Confederate force in a two-hour battle.
Battle of Hoke's Run in western Virginia. Technically a Union Victory, in this action troops under Colonel Thomas Jackson delayed the larger force of General Robert Paterson. Paterson's division halted their advance on the Shenandoah Valley freeing up Confederate troops to later take part in the Battle of Manassas (aka Battle of Bull Run).
Battle of Boonville in Missouri. By defeating the Confederates in this small battle, the Union established control of the Missouri River and helped prevent Missouri from joining the Confederacy.
Battle of Big Bethel in Virginia. Disorganized Union force attacks and is defeated.
The State of Tennessee secedes from the United States. Eleven states have now left the union.
Battle of Philippi, Virginia in western Virginia. This was the first organized (as opposed to the impromptu skirmish at Fairfax Courthouse) land action of the war.
Skirmish at Fairfax Courthouse, Virginia. This was the first land action after the surrender of Fort Sumter.
The State of Virginia secedes from the United States. Ten states have now left the union.
The State of North Carolina secedes from the United States. Nine states have now left the union.
The State of Arkansas secedes from the United States. Eight states have now left the union.
The 6th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment is attacked by a mob in Baltimore, MD.
Lincoln declares a naval blocade of the Confederacy.
Major Anderson surrenders Fort Sumter to the Confederates.
Confederate shelling of Fort Sumter in Charlston Harbor begins.
Abraham Lincoln inaugurated as the 16th President of the United States.
Jefferson Davis inaugurated as President of the Confederate States of America.
lst Session of the Provisional Confederate Congress convenes as a convention.
The State of Texas secedes from the United States. Seven states have now left the union.
Kansas is admitted to the United States as a free state.
The State of Louisiana secedes from the United States.
The State of Georgia secedes from the United States.
The State of Alabama secedes from the United States.
The State of Florida secedes from the United States.
The State of Mississippi secedes from the United States.
Star of the West fired upon.
The state of South Carolina secedes from the United States.
Private Heyward Emmell kept a journal during his 3-year enlistment. This chronology has his entries (beginning October 1 1861, time-shifted by 150 years) detailing his experiences in northern Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. Notable events from the entire Civil War are also included for content and to emphasize that the war spanned a large geographic area and the high seas. More information about Heyward Emmell is here.
The entries from Emmell's journal in this chronology are transcripts. They represent EXACTLY what he wrote. Spelling, punctuation, capitalization, cross-outs, and lack of paragraph breaks are as he wrote them.
Occasionally in the text there will be a hot link to a further explanation of a word, name, place, or event. Click on the link to get more information.