| | PRES’T. | V. PRES’T.
A | STATES. +-----+-----+-----+-----
| | B | C | D | E
----+-------------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----
8 | Maine | 8 | | 8 |
5 | New Hampshire | 5 | | 5 |
13 | Massachusetts | | 13 | | 13
4 | Rhode Island | 4 | | 4 |
6 | Connecticut | 6 | | 6 |
5 | Vermont | | 5 | | 5
35 | New York | 35 | | 35 |
7 | New Jersey | 7 | | 7 |
27 | Pennsylvania | 27 | | 27 |
3 | Delaware | 3 | | 3 |
8 | Maryland | 8 | | 8 |
15 | Virginia | 15 | | 15 |
10 | North Carolina | 10 | | 10 |
8 | South Carolina | 8 | | 8 |
10 | Georgia | 10 | | 10 |
12 | Kentucky | | 12 | | 12
12 | Tennessee | | 12 | | 12
23 | Ohio | 23 | | 23 |
6 | Louisiana | 6 | | 6 |
7 | Mississippi | 7 | | 7 |
13 | Indiana | 13 | | 13 |
11 | Illinois | 11 | | 11 |
9 | Alabama | 9 | | 9 |
9 | Missouri | 9 | | 9 |
4 | Arkansas | 4 | | 4 |
6 | Michigan | 6 | | 6 |
3 | Florida | 3 | | 3 |
4 | Texas | 4 | | 4 |
4 | Iowa | 4 | | 4 |
5 | Wisconsin | 5 | | 5 |
4 | California | 4 | | 4 |
----+-------------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----
296 | Whole No. of Electors | 254 | 42 | 254 | 42
| Majority 149 | | | |
====+=========================+=====+=====+=====+=====
COLUMN HEADINGS:
(A) = No. of Electors from each State.
(B) = Franklin Pierce, of New Hampshire.
(C) = Winfield Scott, of New Jersey.
(D) = William R. King, of Alabama.
(E) = Wm. A. Graham, of North Carolina.
Franklin Pierce took the oath of office, as President, and entered upon
his duties March 4, 1853.
The oath of office was administered to William R. King by a commission
while he was on a visit to Cuba for the benefit of his health; but he
died soon after his return home, and Jesse D. Bright, of Indiana, then
President of the Senate, acted as Vice-President, _ex officio_, during
the remainder of the term.
John P. Hale, of N. H., and George W. Julian, of Ind., were nominated
by the “Free Democracy” for President and Vice-President, but they did
not receive a single electoral vote.
JAMES BUCHANAN,
THIRTEENTH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
For the high position he so long maintained in the political affairs
of this country, Mr. Buchanan is not alone indebted to his early and
thorough education, but his entire devotion to whatever he undertook,
and his perseverance in surmounting obstacles which would have
intimidated less determined minds, had a large share in promoting his
advancement. He is of Irish parentage, and was born at Stony Batter,
Franklin County, Pennsylvania, April 23, 1791. At the age of seven
years, he removed with his father’s family to Mercersburg, and there
received an education that fitted him for entering Dickinson College,
in 1805, where he graduated two years afterward with the highest
honors. He then studied law with James Hopkins, of Lancaster, and in
1812 was admitted to the bar, at which he attained a high rank and
commanded an extensive practice.
In 1814, he commenced political life as a member of the Pennsylvania
State Legislature, and in 1820 was sent as a Representative to
Congress, where he remained for ten years—at the expiration of which he
declined a re-nomination.
In 1831, he was appointed minister to Russia by President Jackson,
of whom he was always the consistent friend and supporter, and he
negotiated a commercial treaty which proved of great advantage to
American commerce.
In December, 1834, having been elected to the United States Senate, he
took his seat in that body, and continued one of its most efficient
members until 1845, when he accepted the office of Secretary of State,
under Mr. Polk. He held this responsible place until the expiration of
Mr. Polk’s term of service, when he returned home to repose awhile. But
he did not, by any means, become an idle spectator in passing events;
his letters and speeches show that he was no less vigilant as a private
citizen, than as a counselor in the Cabinet, or a Representative and
Senator in Congress.
On the accession of Mr. Pierce to the Presidency, in 1853, Mr. Buchanan
was appointed minister to England, with which country questions were
then pending that required great prudence and discrimination for
their satisfactory adjustment. In his intercourse with the British
diplomatists he was not only discreet, but displayed sound sense,
courtly forbearance, a just assertion of our rights, and the true
dignity of the American character. So entirely unexceptionable was
his whole course while abroad, that, on his return to this country,
in April, 1856—he landed in New York on the sixty-fifth anniversary
of his birthday—he was received with an enthusiasm seldom accorded to
political men.
In June, 1856, Mr. Buchanan was nominated by the Democratic Convention
at Cincinnati, as a candidate for the Presidency; and although there
were powerful political elements arrayed against him in the succeeding
campaign, he was triumphantly elected to that responsible and honorable
office.
His administration was attended with unusual difficulties—difficulties
which it would seem he was not fully able to meet. The troubles in
Kansas, arising from the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, and the
opposition made to his views touching the admission of Kansas with
the Lecompton Constitution, by the Douglas wing of the Democratic
party, were matters of sore vexation to him, and tended greatly to
unpopularize the latter part of his public life. But these were
considerations of small moment as compared to the embarrassment which
the Government suffered in consequence of the treacherous intrigues of
some of the members of his Cabinet. His Secretary of War and Secretary
of the Treasury, afterward so conspicuous in the great Rebellion, were
particularly instrumental in crippling the pecuniary and military
resources of the country, and turning them to the benefit of the South.
When treason began to assume a threatening attitude, Buchanan declared
against the right of secession, but at the same time denied the right
of coercion by the Government. This, perhaps, is the most inconsistent,
inexplicable position ever taken by any of the nation’s chief rulers.
On the 4th of March, 1861, Mr. Buchanan retired from the Presidency,
leaving to his successor the highly perplexing task of setting to right
the machinery of a government crippled and weakened in all its parts,
and fully ripe for the most gigantic civil war known to history.
[Illustration: JAMES KNOX POLK.]
It was, at one time, presumed by many that Mr. Buchanan was not only
encouraging the rebellion by his weak, indecisive policy toward armed
traitors, and by winking at the thieving proceedings of some of his
Cabinet officers, but that he was himself leagued with the leaders of
the secession movement, and secretly acted in unison with them.
While it is true that the unhindered appropriation of millions of
treasure to the furtherance of rebellious schemes, and the large
deposit of choice arms made in Southern arsenals, would indicate an
affiliation of the President with the chief rebels of the South, yet
there has never been adduced any direct proof of such affiliation; and
nothing said or done by Mr. Buchanan since his retirement shows active
sympathy with the Rebellion. There is, however, evidence on every
hand of weakness—an element of character he never manifested prior to
his executive career—of that negative disposition which will, under
circumstances such as surrounded him during the latter part of his
administration, wholly unfit a man for the performance of his duties.
The subject of the present sketch would, doubtless, have been a
very good executive at a period when the country was undisturbed
by sectional agitation; at a time when there were no conflicting
local interests to stir up and embitter South against North. But the
exigencies of the period during which he sat at the helm of state
demanded a man who could take hold with a strong hand; a man of
Jacksonian character, who, with the loftiest political integrity and
most devoted loyalty, combined a Napoleonic will; a man who, foreseeing
the certain results of the pursuits of a conciliatory course with
rebellion, would have given it a decisive blow in its very infancy.
But it seems that Mr. Buchanan proposed to deal with secessionists as
an over-fond, weak-minded mother deals with a spoiled child—scolding
and coaxing alternately, satisfied to exhibit her authority by the
former, and confident that she can reform her fondling by the latter.
Perhaps he may be partially excused by some in consideration of the
debt of gratitude he felt he owed to the Southern States, for the
valuable services they had rendered him in his election. But a truly
great executive never allows his feelings to interfere with the
performance of duty. The life of the nation was in jeopardy; that grand
superstructure, the American Government, whose foundation stones had
been cemented by the sacred blood of the Revolutionary sires, whose
columns had been reared by the wisest, purest statesmen the world ever
saw, and about whose lofty dome the brightest seraphs of Heaven chanted
their sweetest lays—that great temple around which clustered the hopes
of the liberty-loving world, was threatened with destruction, and there
can hardly be any excuse for him who, having the power to save, refused
to adopt such decisive measures as were essential to salvation.
It is true that the Southern people had acted a very important part
in the election of Mr. Buchanan, but it is very far from being true
that a majority of these people were in favor of secession. The great
Democratic party was not a party of traitors, either North or South.
The masses of the people of the Southern States were by no means
desirous of severing their connection with the Government of the United
States, as was amply testified in the overwhelming Union majorities
given in North Carolina, Tennessee, and other Southern States, even
after South Carolina had sloughed off, and all the preliminary steps
had been taken by the leading secessionists toward the formation of
a Southern Confederacy. And there is no doubt that had Mr. Buchanan
taken hold of the rebellion, while it was in the larva, with that
determination to crush it which the great Jackson exhibited when South
Carolina proposed her scheme of nullification, it had never seen its
winged existence.
Buchanan’s administration, in one respect, may possibly yet be
productive of good, in that it may serve to impress the people with the
importance of selecting a man for the chief magistracy who loves the
right and dares to do it.
He only survived the close of the war about three years, as he died on
the 1st of June, 1868, in the 77th year of his age.
_Election for the Eighteenth Term, commencing March 4, 1857, and
terminating March 3, 1861._
====+===================+==============+===================
| | PRESIDENT. | VICE-PRES’T.
A | STATES. +-----+-----+--+--+-----+----+-----
| | B | C | D | E | F | G
----+-------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----
8 | Maine | | 8 | | | 8 |
5 | New Hampshire | | 5 | | | 5 |
13 | Massachusetts | | 13 | | | 13 |
4 | Rhode Island | | 4 | | | 4 |
6 | Connecticut | | 6 | | | 6 |
5 | Vermont | | 5 | | | 5 |
35 | New York | | 35 | | | 35 |
7 | New Jersey | 7 | | | 7 | |
27 | Pennsylvania | 27 | | | 27 | |
3 | Delaware | 3 | | | 3 | |
8 | Maryland | | | 8 | | | 8
15 | Virginia | 15 | | | 15 | |
10 | North Carolina | 10 | | | 10 | |
8 | South Carolina | 8 | | | 8 | |
10 | Georgia | 10 | | | 10 | |
12 | Kentucky | 12 | | | 12 | |
12 | Tennessee | 12 | | | 12 | |
23 | Ohio | | 23 | | | 23 |
6 | Louisiana | 6 | | | 6 | |
7 | Mississippi | 7 | | | 7 | |
13 | Indiana | 13 | | | 13 | |
11 | Illinois | 11 | | | 11 | |
9 | Alabama | 9 | | | 9 | |
9 | Missouri | 9 | | | 9 | |
4 | Arkansas | 4 | | | 4 | |
6 | Michigan | | 6 | | | 6 |
3 | Florida | 3 | | | 3 | |
4 | Texas | 4 | | | 4 | |
4 | Iowa | | 4 | | | 4 |
5 | Wisconsin[6] | | 5 | | | 5 |
4 | California | 4 | | | 4 | |
----+-------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----
296 |No. of Electors | 174 | 114 | 8 | 174 | 114 | 8
|Majority 149 | | | | | |
====+===================+====+====+====+====+====+====+====
COLUMN HEADINGS:
(A) = No. of Electors from each State.
(B) = James Buchanan, of Pennsylvania.
(C) = John C. Fremont, of New York.
(D) = Millard Fillmore, of New York.
(E) = John C. Breckenridge, of Kentucky.
(F) = William L. Dayton, of New Jersey.
(G) = Andrew J. Donelson, of Tennessee.
[6] When the Electoral votes were being counted, in Joint Convention
of the Senate and House of Representatives, objections were made to
including the votes of Wisconsin, because the electors did not meet
until the day after that prescribed by law. The President of the
Convention stated that he merely announced that James Buchanan had been
elected President of the United States, without any reference to the
contested votes, and declined expressing an opinion on the subject.
James Buchanan took the oath of office, as President, and entered upon
his duties, March 4, 1857.
John C. Breckenridge took the oath of office, as Vice-President, and
entered upon his duties, March 4, 1857.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN,
THE FOURTEENTH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES,
Was born in Hardin County, Kentucky, February 12th, 1809. The record of
his boyhood and youth, so far as we have been able to trace it, is not
distinguished by any thing more remarkable than the usual experience
of children of pioneers in a new country. In 1816, he removed with
his parents to what is now Spencer County, Indiana. Here he enjoyed
the advantages of a little schooling—less than a year, however, in
all. Whatever else he afterward learned from books was without the
aid of the school-master—the result of his own energy and indomitable
perseverance.
In 1832, he served in the Black Hawk war, and, on his return from that
service, was nominated for the Illinois Legislature from the county of
Macon. In 1834, he was elected to the Legislature, and reëlected in
1836, 1838, and 1840. While in the Legislature, he placed himself on
record against slavery; and it is but just to say that the principles
which actuated him then are the moving principles of the great party he
to-day represents as the executive of the nation.
For many years Mr. Lincoln was a prominent leader of the Whig party
in Illinois, and was on the electoral ticket in several Presidential
campaigns. In 1844, he canvassed the entire State for Henry Clay, of
whom he was a sincere and enthusiastic friend, and exerted himself
powerfully for the favorite of his party. In 1846, he was elected to
Congress, and took his seat on the first Monday in December, 1847, the
only Whig Representative from his State.
In November, 1860, he was elected President of the United States by the
party known as Republicans.
On the 11th of February, 1861, he left his home in Springfield,
Illinois, and proceeded to Washington, passing _en route_ the cities of
Toledo, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Columbus, Steubenville, Pittsburgh,
Cleveland, Buffalo, Albany, Poughkeepsie, New York, Trenton,
Philadelphia, Harrisburg, and Baltimore—at all of which places, except
the last, he was received with great cordiality, and addressed the
people. At Baltimore a plot had been formed to assassinate him; and, in
this affair, it seems that some of the most prominent citizens of that
place were implicated. But Mr. Lincoln, by prompt, shrewd management,
reached Washington uninjured, and on the 4th of March, 1861, was
duly inaugurated, and proceeded upon the duties of his office,
notwithstanding the threats of Baltimoreans that he never should
be installed. In his inaugural address, in view of the threatening
attitude assumed by some of the Southern States, in consequence of
the accession of a Republican administration, after declaring that
there never had been any just cause for the apprehension that such
an administration would encroach upon the constitutional rights of
any State, he said that he had “no purpose, directly or indirectly,
to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it
existed; that he, as well as every Member of Congress, was sworn to
support the whole Constitution, one of the provisions of which is,
that ‘no person held to service or labor in one State, under the laws
thereof, escaping into another State, shall, in consequence of any law
or regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but
shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or
labor may be due;’ that he took his oath to support the Constitution,
without any mental reservation; that while he did not then choose to
specify particular acts of Congress as proper to be enforced, he did
suggest that it would be much safer for all, both in official and
private stations, to conform to and abide by all those acts which stand
unrepealed than to violate any of them, trusting to find impunity in
having them held to be unconstitutional; that he held that, in the
contemplation of universal law and of the Constitution, the union
of the States is perpetual; that no State could, upon its own mere
motion, get out of the Union; that acts of violence within any State or
States against the authority of the United States are insurrectionary
or revolutionary, and that he should, as the Constitution expressly
enjoined upon him, take care that the laws of the Union should be
executed in all the States; that while he should perform this duty
perfectly, so far as practicable, unless restrained by his rightful
masters, the American people, he trusted the declaration so to do
would not be regarded as a menace, but only as the express purpose of
the Union to maintain itself.”
The inaugural address, while considered as clear and explicit by
many, was regarded as very obscure and unsatisfactory by others
(the people of the South), and, on the 13th of April, 1861, Messrs.
Preston, Stuart, and Randolph, appointed by the Virginia Convention,
were formally received by the President, and presented resolutions
requesting that, inasmuch as “great uncertainty prevailed in the public
mind as to the policy” to be pursued by the Federal Executive, he
should communicate to the Convention the course he intended to take in
regard to the “Confederate States.”
To this request the President replied that, while he was sorry that
dangerous uncertainty should exist respecting his mode of procedure
with the seceded States, he could give no clearer exposition of his
policy than was given in his inaugural address, a careful consideration
of which he recommended to the Virginia Convention.
Two days after this, Fort Sumter having been reduced by the Confederate
Government, and other demonstrations of a revolutionary character
having been made, the President issued a proclamation calling for
75,000 volunteers, for three months, to suppress the rebellion, and
summoned Congress to assemble in extraordinary session. The call was
heartily responded to, and, in a few days, a vastly greater number
than had been requested offered themselves to their country. Meantime
Washington was placed in a state of defense. Shortly after the
commencement of hostilities, a blockade of all the Southern ports was
declared. This was directly followed by a blockade of Virginia and
North Carolina. On the 3d of May, 1861, the President issued a call
for 42,034 additional volunteers for the term of three years. Congress
having assembled, he addressed a message to that body, asking that at
least 400,000 men and $400,000,000 be placed at his control, that the
work of crushing the rebellion might be expedited. Congress readily
complied, granting more men and money than had been asked.
On the 16th of August, 1861, the President issued a proclamation
prohibiting all commercial intercourse between the loyal and seceded
States. In the latter part of August, he modified a proclamation
issued by General Fremont, which declared martial law in the State
of Missouri, ordering the confiscation of the property of disloyal
persons, and declaring their slaves free. The two latter of these
measures Mr. Lincoln declared void. For this act he was blamed by many
of his own party at the time.
Passing some other acts of less importance, we next notice the message
addressed to Congress on the 6th of March, 1862, by the President,
recommending that the Government coöperate with any State desiring a
gradual emancipation of the slaves, by affording it such pecuniary aid
as would enable it to “compensate for the inconveniences, public and
private, produced by such change of system.” This message was hailed
by the radical antislavery party of the country as the initiatory
step toward a final and total abolition of slavery; by conservative
Union men, with indifference; and by the secessionists as a hostile
encroachment upon State rights.
On the 11th of March, 1862, Mr. Lincoln assumed command of the Army and
Navy of the United States, ordering a general movement of both, and
confining General McClellan to the command of the Department of the
Potomac.
April 16th, 1862, he approved and signed an act of Congress, abolishing
the institution of slavery in the District of Columbia, which act
“recognized and practically applied” the principles of compensation and
colonization.
During the month of May, the President issued two proclamations, the
one declaring the ports of Port Royal, Beaufort, and New Orleans
open for trade, the other repudiating an order issued by General
Hunter, emancipating all the slaves in Georgia, Florida, and South
Carolina. This act also produced some dissatisfaction. During the
years 1862-1863, Mr. Lincoln was actively employed in calling out and
furnishing troops, and making important changes in the organization of
the army. It was also during this period that he issued his general
emancipation proclamations—the first on the 22d day of September,
1862, declaring that all slaves held in any State, or part of a State
found in actual rebellion against the authority of the United States
on the 1st day of January, 1863, should then and forever thereafter
be free; the second, on the 1st of January, 1863, declaring that, in
accordance with the first proclamation, slavery is abolished in all the
States and counties then in armed rebellion against the Government.
These measures, while they greatly unpopularized the President with
certain parties in the Northern and Southern border States, were
regarded as the exponents of the true policy by the radicals. His
suspension of the writ of _habeas corpus_, in certain cases, September
15th, 1863, also produced considerable stir in political circles.
At the Republican Convention which met at Baltimore, in January,
1864, Mr. Lincoln was re-nominated for the Presidency of the United
States—was elected November 8th, and duly inaugurated March 4th, 1865.
The following note of his inaugural address is from an English journal.
It speaks for itself:
“On the 4th instant, the day of inaugurating his second term, President
Lincoln read a short State paper, which for political weight, moral
dignity, and unaffected solemnity has had no equal in our time. His
presidency began, he says, with the efforts of both parties to avoid
war. ‘To strengthen, perpetuate, and extend the slave interest was the
object for which the insurgents would rend the Union by war, while
the Government claimed the right to do no more than restrict the
territorial enlargement of it.’ Both parties ‘read the same Bible and
pray to the same God.’
“The prayer of both can not be answered, that of neither has been
answered fully, for the Almighty has his own purposes. Mr. Lincoln
goes on to confess for the North its partnership in the original guilt
of slavery: ‘Woe unto the world because of its offenses, for it must
needs be that offenses come; but woe unto that man by whom the offenses
cometh! If we shall suppose American slavery one of the offenses which
in the providence of God must needs come, but which, having continued
through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives
to both North and South this terrible war, as was due to those by whom
the offense came, we will not discern that there is any departure
from those divine attributes which believers in the living God always
ascribe to Him. Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this
mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if it be God’s will
that it continue till the wealth piled by bondsmen by two hundred and
fifty years’ unrequited toil shall be sunk, and till every drop of
blood drawn with the lash shall be repaid by another drawn with the
sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said
that the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. With
malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right,
as God gives us to see the light, let us strive on to finish the work
we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for those who have
borne the battle, and for their widows and orphans. And with all this
let us strive after a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with
all nations.’ No statesman ever uttered words stamped at once with
the seal of so deep a wisdom and so true a simplicity. The ‘village
attorney,’ of whom Sir G. C. Lewis and many other wise men wrote with
so much scorn, in 1861, seems destined to be one of those ‘foolish
things of the world’ which are destined to confound the wise, one of
those weak things which shall ‘confound the things that are mighty.’”
The rebel General Lee had surrendered. The war was apparently at an
end. Abraham Lincoln, the honored and the great, looked forward to
a speedy restoration of the Union. But while the storm lulled, the
assassin did his work. J. Wilkes Booth shot Abraham Lincoln on the
night of the 13th, and he died April 14th, 1865, honored and lamented
by every true American. The world never before beheld such universal
sorrow. A nation not merely mourned but was clad in the deepest
mourning.
_Election for the Nineteenth Term, commencing March 4, 1861, and
terminating March 3, 1865._
====+======================+===================+====================
| | PRESIDENT. | VICE-PRESIDENT.
A | +-----+----+----+----+-----+----+----+---
| STATES. | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | J
----+----------------------+-----+----+----+----+-----+----+----+---
8 | Maine | 8 | | | | 8 | | |
5 | New Hampshire | 5 | | | | 5 | | |
13 | Massachusetts | 13 | | | | 13 | | |
4 | Rhode Island | 4 | | | | 4 | | |
6 | Connecticut | 6 | | | | 6 | | |
5 | Vermont | 5 | | | | 5 | | |
35 | New York | 35 | | | | 35 | | |
7 | New Jersey | 4 | | | 3 | 4 | | | 3
27 | Pennsylvania | 27 | | | | 27 | | |
3 | Delaware | | 3 | | | | 3 | |
8 | Maryland | | 8 | | | | 8 | |
15 | Virginia | | | 15 | | | | 15 |
10 | North Carolina | | 10 | | | | 10 | |
8 | South Carolina | | 8 | | | | 8 | |
10 | Georgia | | 10 | | | | 10 | |
12 | Kentucky | | | 12 | | | | 12 |
12 | Tennessee | | | 12 | | | | 12 |
23 | Ohio | 23 | | | | 23 | | |
6 | Louisiana | | 6 | | | | 6 | |
7 | Mississippi | | 7 | | | | 7 | |
13 | Indiana | 13 | | | | 13 | | |
11 | Illinois | 11 | | | | 11 | | |
9 | Alabama | | 9 | | | | 9 | |
9 | Missouri | | | | 9 | | | | 9
4 | Arkansas | | 4 | | | | 4 | |
6 | Michigan | 6 | | | | 6 | | |
3 | Florida | | 3 | | | | 3 | |
4 | Texas | | 4 | | | | 4 | |
4 | Iowa | 4 | | | | 4 | | |
5 | Wisconsin | 5 | | | | 5 | | |
4 | California | 4 | | | | 4 | | |
4 | Minnesota | 4 | | | | 4 | | |
3 | Oregon | 3 | | | | 3 | | |
----+----------------------+-----+----+----+----+-----+----+----+---
315 | Whole No. of Electors| 180 | 72 | 39 | 12 | 180 | 72 | 39 | 12
| Majority 157| | | | | | | |
====+======================+=====+====+====+====+=====+====+====+===
COLUMN HEADINGS:
(A) = No. of Electors from each State.
(B) = Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois.
(C) = John C. Breckenridge, of Kentucky.
(D) = John Bell, of Tennessee.
(E) = Stephen A. Douglas, of Illinois.
(F) = Hannibal Hamlin, of Maine.
(G) = Joseph Lane, of Texas.
(H) = Edward Everett, of Massachusetts.
(J) = Herschel V. Johnson, of Georgia.
Abraham Lincoln took the oath of office as President, and entered upon
his duties, March 4th, 1861. Hannibal Hamlin took the oath of office as
Vice-President, and attended in the Senate as its President, on the 4th
of March, 1861. The accession of Mr. Lincoln to the Presidency was made
the pretext for the great rebellion of 1861.
_Election for the Twentieth Term, commencing March 4, 1865, and
terminating March 3, 1869._
===+================+==========+======+==============
| | PRESIDENT. | V. PRESIDENT.
A | STATES. +------+-----+-------+------
| | B | C | D | E
---+---------------------+------+-----+-------+------
7 | Maine | 7 | | 7 |
5 | New Hampshire | 5 | | 5 |
12 | Massachusetts | 12 | | 12 |
4 | Rhode Island | 4 | | 4 |
6 | Connecticut | 6 | | 6 |
5 | Vermont | 5 | | 5 |
33 | New York | 33 | | 33 |
7 | New Jersey | | 7 | | 7
26 | Pennsylvania | 26 | | 26 |
3 | Delaware | | 3 | | 3
7 | Maryland | 7 | | 7 |
15 | Virginia | | | |
5 | Western Virginia | 5 | | 5 |
8 | South Carolina | | | |
10 | North Carolina | | | |
10 | Georgia | | | |
11 | Kentucky | | 11 | | 11
12 | Tennessee | | | |
21 | Ohio | 21 | | 21 |
6 | Louisiana | | | |
7 | Mississippi | | | |
13 | Indiana | 13 | | 13 |
15 | Illinois | 15 | | 15 |
9 | Alabama | | | |
11 | Missouri | 11 | | 11 |
4 | Arkansas | | | |
8 | Michigan | 8 | | 8 |
3 | Florida | | | |
4 | Texas | | | |
8 | Iowa | 8 | | 8 |
8 | Wisconsin | 8 | | 8 |
5 | California | 5 | | 5 |
4 | Minnesota | 4 | | 4 |
3 | Oregon | 3 | | 3 |
3 | Nevada | 3 | | 3 |
3 | Kansas | 3 | | 3 |
----+--------------------+------+-----+-------+------
331 | | 212 | 21 | 212 | 21
====+====================+======+=====+=======+======
COLUMN HEADINGS:
(A) = No. of Electors from each State.
(B) = Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois.
(C) = Geo. B. McClellan, of Ohio.
(D) = Andrew Johnson, of Tennessee.
(E) = Geo. H. Pendleton, of Ohio.
Virginia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee,
Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida and Texas, being in
rebellion, did not vote for President and Vice-President.
Whole number of Electoral votes cast were 233—for Lincoln and Johnson,
212; for McClellan and Pendleton, 21. Lincoln and Johnson’s majority
191, the greatest majority attained since the organization of the
Government.
Abraham Lincoln took the oath of office as President and entered upon
his duties March 4, 1865.
Andrew Johnson took the oath of office as Vice-President, and attended
in the Senate as its President March 4, 1865.
ANDREW JOHNSON
Was born at Raleigh, North Carolina, December 29th, 1808, and is now in
his sixtieth year. He lost his father when only four years old. At the
age of ten he was apprenticed to a tailor in Raleigh, and served with
him an apprenticeship of seven years. His mother was poor, and had been
unable to give him any educational advantages; but young Andy, whose
unconquerable spirit was not to be restrained by any disadvantages,
became stimulated with a desire for knowledge. He acquired the alphabet
with no other instructions than those obtained from the journeymen with
whom he worked. He learned to read from an old volume of speeches,
loaned him by a friend, and thenceforward, after ten hours’ work with
his goose, needle, and scissors, applied himself with vigor to study
for three or four hours each evening. In 1824, having completed his
apprenticeship, he went to Laurens Court house, South Carolina, where
he worked as journeyman for two years. In 1826, he set out for the
West, taking his mother, whom already, at his early age, and with
his scanty wages, he was supporting. He made his home at Greenville,
Tennessee, where he remained, and commenced business, and where he
became a thriving and popular man. With the indefatigable thirst for
knowledge which had characterized his early career, he still pursued
his studies, and, in the evenings which followed a day of labor, with
his wife as instructress, pushed on in the road to knowledge.
He entered early into political life, being elected to the first office
he ever held—that of Alderman of the village of Greenville—in 1828.
He was reëlected to the same office in 1829. In 1830, he was elected
Mayor, and retained that position for three years. In 1835, he was sent
to the Legislature, where he chiefly distinguished himself by taking
strong grounds against a scheme of internal improvements, which, he
argued, was extravagant and useless. The measure was popular, however,
and he was defeated in 1837. In 1838, he was a candidate again, and
was this time successful. In 1840, he served as Presidential elector
for the State at large on the Democratic ticket, and during the
campaign rendered efficient service to the party as a stump speaker.
In 1841, he was elected to the State Senate, and, in 1843, at the
age of thirty-five, he was elected to Congress, where he held his
seat, being four times reëlected, until 1853. During this time he was
thoroughly identified with the old Democratic party, and supported all
the party measures. In 1853, he was elected Governor, after a very
exciting contest, over Gustavus A. Henry. He was reëlected in 1855,
over Meredith P. Gentry, the Whig candidate. At the expiration of his
Gubernatorial term, in 1857, he was chosen United States Senator by a
Democratic majority in the Legislature of Tennessee. In that body he
commanded the respect of all his compeers, as an able, eloquent, and
patriotic statesman. At the breaking out of the rebellion, Senator
Andrew Johnson still proclaimed his allegiance to the United States,
and continued to hold his seat in the Senate, though his course
subjected him to much unpopularity, and even danger.
When, in the spring of 1862, our army had penetrated Tennessee to
Nashville, and the northern and central portions of the State were
wrested from rebel control, the President desired the services of a
wise and sagacious man, of unquestionable loyalty, to act as Military
Governor of that State; and he did not have long to look—Andrew
Johnson was at once recognized as the man for the place, and, being
commissioned a Brigadier-General, he repaired to Nashville, where he
for two years discharged the delicate and responsible duty of his
charge with a degree of wisdom and efficiency which challenged general
admiration. Under his administration, the rebellion had steadily been
losing its hold in Tennessee, and loyalty was as constantly cultivated
and developed.
He was nominated for the Vice-Presidency by the Union Convention at
Baltimore, June 8th, 1864, and was elected November 8, 1864, and was
sworn into office March 4th, 1865.
President Lincoln died April 15. Andrew Johnson was sworn into office
as President of the United States, on the same day, by Chief Justice
Chase.
Soon after entering upon the duties of his office, he vetoed the Civil
Rights Bill, the Constitutional Amendment, the Military Government
Bill, and all the important bills passed by Congress; also suspended
Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War, from office, during the recess of
Congress; on the assembling of which, he sent them his reasons for
so doing. Upon considering which, they reinstated Secretary Stanton.
Whereupon the President issued an order removing him, and ordering
Major-General Thomas, Adjutant-General of the army, to act as Secretary
_ad interim_—the same being done without the consent or advice of the
Senate—for which and many other acts committed by him, and by Congress
deemed unconstitutional, the House did, on the 25th of February, 1868,
impeach Andrew Johnson of high crimes and misdemeanors; and he was
accordingly tried for the same by the Senate—the result of which trial
will be found in the Impeachment Act, on another page.
CHRONOLOGICAL RECORD OF THE REBELLION.
NOVEMBER, 1860—PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION.
NOV. 6.—Each of the four political parties presented its candidate
for the Presidency, and the same number for the Vice-Presidency. The
Republican party supported Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois, and Hannibal
Hamlin, of Maine. One wing of the Democratic party supported S. A.
Douglas, of Illinois, and H. V. Johnson, of Georgia; the other wing
sustained John C. Breckenridge, of Kentucky, and Joseph Lane, of
Oregon. The Old Line Whigs and Know Nothings supported John Bell, of
Tennessee, and Edward Everett, of Massachusetts. The result of the
popular vote was as follows:
Lincoln and Hamlin received 1,857,610; Douglas and Johnson, 1,365,976;
Breckenridge and Lane, 847,553; Bell and Everett, 590,631.
NOV. 7.—The news of Mr. Lincoln’s election received at Charleston,
South Carolina, with cheers for a Southern Confederacy. The “Palmetto
Flag” hoisted on the vessels in the harbor.
NOV. 9.—An attempt to seize the arms in Fort Moultrie.
NOV. 10.—A bill was introduced into the South Carolina Legislature to
raise and equip 10,000 men. The Legislature also ordered the election
of a convention, to consider the question of secession. Jas. Chester,
United States Senator from South Carolina, resigned.
NOV. 11.—Senator Hammond, of South Carolina, resigned.
NOV. 15.—Governor Letcher, of Virginia, called an extra session of the
Legislature.
NOV. 18.—Georgia Legislature appropriated $1,000,000 to arm the State.
Major Anderson sent to Fort Moultrie to relieve Colonel Gardner.
NOV. 19.—Governor Moore called an extra session of the Louisiana
Legislature.
DECEMBER, 1860.
DEC. 1.—Florida Legislature ordered the election of a convention. Great
secession meeting in Memphis.
DEC. 3.—Congress met. The President denied the right of a State to
secede, and asserted the right of the General Government to coerce a
seceding State.
DEC. 5.—Election of delegates to South Carolina Convention took place.
The successful candidates were secessionists.
DEC. 10.—Howell Cobb, Secretary of the Treasury, resigned. Senator
Clay, of Alabama, resigned. The Louisiana Legislature ordered the
election of a convention, and appropriated $500,000 to arm the State.
DEC. 13.—An extra session of the Cabinet was held to consider the
question of reinforcing Fort Moultrie; the President opposed it, and
reinforcements were not sent.
DEC. 14.—General Cass, Secretary of State, resigned.
DEC. 17.—South Carolina Convention assembled.
DEC. 18.—The Crittenden Compromise introduced in the United States
Senate.
DEC. 19.—Governor Hicks, of Maryland, refused to receive the
Mississippi Commissioner.
DEC. 20.—South Carolina Convention adopted a secession ordinance; the
vote unanimous.
DEC. 22.—The Crittenden Compromise voted down in the Senate committee
of Thirteen.
DEC. 24.—The people of Pittsburg stop the shipment of ordnance from
the arsenal at that place to Southern forts. Governor Moore called an
extra session of the Alabama Legislature.—Election of members of the
Alabama Convention took place; the majority for secession was over
50,000.—South Carolina members of Congress resigned.
DEC. 26.—Major Anderson left Fort Moultrie and took possession of Fort
Sumter. He had with him only 111 men. South Carolina Commissioners
arrived in Washington. The President refused to receive them.
DEC. 27.—Revenue cutter, William Aiken, surrendered to the South
Carolina authorities.
DEC. 28.—South Carolina seized the Government property in Charleston,
took possession of Castle Pinckney and Fort Moultrie.
DEC. 29.—John B. Floyd, Secretary of War, resigned.
DEC. 31.—South Carolina sent Commissioners to the slave States to make
arrangements for a Southern Confederacy.
JANUARY, 1861.
JAN. 2.—Governor Ellis, of North Carolina, took possession of Fort
Macon. Georgia troops seized Forts Pulaski and Jackson, and the United
States arsenal at Savannah.
JAN. 4.—Governor Moore, of Alabama, seized Fort Morgan, and the United
States arsenal at Mobile. Fast-day, by proclamation of the President.
JAN. 7.—State Conventions of Alabama and Mississippi, Legislatures of
Virginia and Tennessee, assembled.
JAN. 8.—Jacob Thompson, Secretary of the Interior, resigned. Fort
Johnson at Wilmington, and Caswell at Oak Island, seized by North
Carolina.
JAN. 9.—The steamer Star of the West fired on by rebel batteries in
Charleston harbor, and driven back. Mississippi Convention passed
secession ordinance by vote of 84 to 15.
JAN. 10.—Florida Convention adopted an ordinance of secession by a vote
of 62 to 7. Florida seized Fort McRae.
JAN. 11.—Alabama seceded; vote in Convention, ayes, 61; noes, 39. P. B.
Thomas, Secretary of the Treasury, resigned, and was succeeded by John
A. Dix, of New York. The Governor of Louisiana seized Forts Phillip
and Jackson, on the Mississippi below New Orleans, the United States
arsenal at Baton Rouge, and Forts Pike and Macomb, on Lake Ponchartrain.
JAN. 13.—Florida troops took possession of the Pensacola Navy Yard and
Fort Barancas. Lieutenant Slemmer, in command of Fort Pickens, refused
to obey Commodore Armstrong’s order to surrender the fort to the
Florida troops, and thus saved that important place to the Union.
JAN. 16.—The Legislature of Arkansas called a convention. Colonel
Hayne, of South Carolina, demanded of the President the surrender of
Fort Sumter, which was refused. The Missouri Legislature voted to hold
a convention.
JAN. 18.—The Legislature of Virginia appropriated $1,000,000 for the
defense of the State.
JAN. 19.—Georgia adopted a secession ordinance by vote of 208 to 89.
JAN. 21.—Members of Congress from Alabama resigned. Jefferson Davis
resigned his place in the Senate.
JAN. 23.—Georgia members of Congress resigned.
JAN. 24.—The rebels seized the U. S. arsenal at Augusta Georgia.
JAN. 26.—Louisiana Legislature passed secession ordinance by vote of
113 to 17.
JAN. 30.—North Carolina Legislature submitted the convention question
to the people. This was the first instance of the will of the people
being consulted in regard to the question of secession. The revenue
cutters Cass, at Mobile, and McLelland, at New Orleans, surrendered to
the rebel authorities.
FEBRUARY, 1861.
FEB. 1.—Texas Convention passed an ordinance of secession by vote of
166 to 7, to be submitted to the people. The Louisiana authorities
seized the Mint and Custom House at New Orleans.
FEB. 4.—Delegates from the seceded States met at Montgomery, Alabama,
to organize a Confederate Government. Peace Congress met at Washington;
Ex-President Tyler was chosen President.
FEB. 8.—The U. S. arsenal at Little Rock surrendered to Arkansas.
FEB. 9.—Jefferson Davis and A. H. Stephens elected Provisional
President and Vice-President of the Southern Confederacy.
FEB. 13.—The electoral vote counted. Abraham Lincoln received 180
votes, Stephen A. Douglas 12, John C. Breckenridge 72, and John Bell 39.
FEB. 19.—Fort Kearney, Kansas, seized by the rebels.
FEB. 23.—General Twiggs surrendered government property in Texas,
valued at $1,200,000, to the rebels.
MARCH, 1861.
MARCH 1.—General Twiggs expelled from the army. Peace Congress
adjourned.
MARCH 2.—Revenue cutter Dodge surrendered to the rebels at Galveston,
Texas.
MARCH 4.—The ordinance of secession passed by the Texas Convention and
submitted to the people, having been adopted by a majority of about
40,000, the Convention declared the State out of the Union.
MARCH 5.—General Beauregard took command of the troops at Charleston.
MARCH 6.—Fort Brown, on the Rio Grande, was surrendered by special
agreement. The Federal troops evacuated the fort and sailed for Key
West and Tortugas.
MARCH 28.—Vote of Louisiana on secession made public. For secession,
20,448; against it, 17,926.
MARCH 30.—Mississippi Convention ratified the Confederate Constitution
by a vote of 78 to 70.
APRIL, 1861.
APRIL 3.—South Carolina Convention ratified the Confederate
Constitution by a vote of 114 to 16.
APRIL 4.—Virginia Convention, by a vote of 89 to 45, refused to submit
an ordinance of secession to the people.
APRIL 7.—All intercourse between Fort Sumter and Charleston stopped by
order of Beauregard. The steamer Atlantic sailed from New York with
troops and supplies.
APRIL 8.—The Federal Government notified the South Carolina authorities
that provisions would be sent to Major Anderson by force, if necessary.
The State Department refused to recognize the Confederate States
Commissioners.
APRIL 11.—Troops are stationed in Washington, and the oath of fidelity
administered to the men. The rebel Commissioners left Washington.
General Beauregard demanded the surrender of Fort Sumter. Major
Anderson refused.
BOMBARDMENT OF FORT SUMTER.
APRIL 12.—The rebels had constructed batteries on Morris Island,
Sullivan Island and Cumming’s Point, besides occupying Fort Moultrie;
they had also built a powerful floating battery, all of which were
employed in the attack on Sumter. Fort Moultrie opened fire at four
o’clock in the morning. Fort Sumter did not reply until seven o’clock.
The fire was kept up with vigor by both sides. Major Anderson had
under his command 111 men, including officers, musicians and laborers.
The Legislature appropriated $500,000 to arm the State. Fort Pickens
reinforced.
APRIL 13.—The bombardment of Fort Sumter continued; early in the day
the officers’ quarters were fired by a shell; by noon most of the
wood work was on fire; Sumter’s fire was almost silenced when General
Wigfall came with a flag of truce, and arrangements were made for
evacuating the fort. The terms were that the garrison should take all
its individual and company property, that they should march out with
their side arms in their own way, at their own time, and that they
should salute their flag and take it with them.
APRIL 14.—Major Anderson and his men sailed for New York. Governor
Yates, of Illinois, called an extra session of the Legislature, to meet
April 22.
APRIL 15.—The President issued a proclamation commanding all persons
in arms against the Government to disperse within twenty days; also
calling for 75,000 volunteers. The New York Legislature authorized the
raising of $3,000,000 for their equipment and support. The President
called an extra session of Congress, to meet July 4th.
APRIL 16.—The Governors of Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee and Missouri,
refused to furnish troops Under the President’s proclamation.—The
Confederate Government called for 32,000 men.
APRIL 17.—Virginia Convention adopted secession ordinance in secret
session by a vote of 60 to 53, to be submitted to the people on the
fourth Thursday of May. Forces were sent to seize the U. S. Arsenal at
Harper’s Ferry, and the Gosport Navy Yard. All the military power of
the State was placed under the control of the President of the Southern
Confederacy. Jefferson Davis issued a proclamation, offering letters of
marque and reprisal to all who wished to engage in privateering.
APRIL 18.—U. S. Arsenal at Harper’s Ferry destroyed by Lieutenant
Jones, to prevent it falling into the hands of the enemy. Colonel Cake,
with 400 men of the 25th Pennsylvania regiment, arrived in Washington.
These were the first troops to enter the city for its defense.
APRIL 19.—Steamer Star of the West seized by the rebels at Indianola,
Texas. The 6th Massachusetts regiment, while passing through Baltimore,
was attacked by a mob; two soldiers were wounded. The troops fired
upon the mob, killing eleven and wounding many. President Lincoln
issued a proclamation declaring the ports of South Carolina, Florida,
Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, in a state of blockade.
Maryland, Delaware and Pennsylvania, added to the military department
of Washington, and placed under the command of General Patterson. City
Council of Philadelphia appropriated $1,000,000 to equip the volunteers
and support their families.
APRIL 20.—The Governor of North Carolina seized the Branch Mint at
Charlotte. Several bridges on the Northern Pennsylvania Railroad
destroyed by Maryland rebels, to prevent the passage of troops
to Washington. The U. S. Arsenal at Liberty, Mo., seized by the
secessionists and the arms distributed among the surrounding counties.
The Gosport Navy Yard destroyed by General McCauley, to keep it
from the rebels; the war vessels Delaware, Pennsylvania, Columbia,
Germantown, Merrimac, Raritan, Dolphin and United States, were
scuttled and set on fire; the Cumberland was towed out. The 4th
Massachusetts regiment arrived at Fortress Monroe. A special meeting of
the Pennsylvania Legislature called for the 30th, by proclamation of
Governor Curtin.
APRIL 21.—Federal Government took possession of the Philadelphia and
Baltimore Railroad. Senator Andrew Johnson, of Tennessee, mobbed at
Lynchburg, Va.
APRIL 22.—U. S. Arsenal at Fayetteville, N. C., seized by the rebels.
Arkansas seized the Arsenal at Napoleon.
APRIL 24.—Fort Smith, Arkansas, seized by the rebels under Senator
Boland. Cairo, Illinois, occupied by Union troops.
APRIL 25.—Major Sibly surrendered 450 U. S. troops to the rebel Colonel
Van Dorn, at Saluria, Texas. A company of Illinois volunteers, acting
under the authority of the Government, removed 22,000 stand of arms
from the Arsenal at St. Louis to Springfield, Illinois. Governor
Letcher proclaims Virginia a member of the Southern Confederacy.
APRIL 27.—The steamer Aelmick, loaded with powder and munitions of war
for the South, seized at Cairo. The blockade extended to the ports of
North Carolina and Virginia. All officers of the army were required to
take the oath of allegiance.
APRIL 29.—The Indiana Legislature appropriated $500,000 to arm the
State. The Maryland House of Delegates voted against secession, 63
to 13. Governor Harris, of Tennessee, seized bonds and money in the
Collector’s hands at Nashville, belonging to the Federal Government.
Three steamships seized at New Orleans by order of Governor Moore, of
Louisiana.
MAY, 1861.
MAY 1.—North Carolina Legislature passed a bill calling a State
Convention, to meet on the 20th of May. The Legislature of Tennessee
passed an act, in secret session, authorizing the Governor to form a
league with the Southern Confederacy.
MAY 3.—Governor Letcher called out the militia to defend Virginia.
President Lincoln called for 42,000 three years’ volunteers; 22,000
troops for the regular army, and 18,000 seamen. Fourteen companies
of Kentucky volunteers offered their services to the Secretary of
War, notwithstanding the Governor’s refusal. Connecticut Legislature
appropriated $2,000,000 for military purposes.
MAY 4.—General McClellan placed in command of the Department of Ohio,
comprising the States of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. Union meetings
were held in Preston county, Va., and at Wheeling, Va.
MAY 5.—General Butler took possession of the Relay House, Maryland.
MAY 6.—Arkansas Convention passed an ordinance of secession, by vote of
69 to 1. Tennessee Legislature adopted secession ordinance in secret
session, to be submitted to a vote of the people on the 8th of June.
MAY 10.—A mob attacked the Home Guard at St. Louis; the Guard fired on
the rioters, killing seven. A rebel force of 800 men, under Gen. Frost,
surrendered to Captain (afterwards General) Lyon, at St. Louis.
MAY 11.—The mob made another attack on the Home Guard in St. Louis.
Blockade of Charleston, S. C., established by the steamer Niagara.
MAY 13.—A Convention composed of delegates from 35 counties, met at
Wheeling, Virginia, to consider the policy of forming a new State.
MAY 14.—A schooner loaded with arms for the rebels, also a large number
of guns in Baltimore, seized by the forces under General Butler. The
ship Argo, with a cargo of tobacco valued at $150,000, captured by the
U. S. gunboat Quaker City.
MAY 16.—A bridge on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad destroyed. General
Scott ordered the fortification of Arlington Heights.
MAY 17.—Secession spies arrested in Washington by order of General
Scott. Adams Express Company prohibited from carrying packages or
letters south of Washington. Rebels commence fortifying Harper’s Ferry.
MAY 18.—Military Department of Virginia created, comprising Eastern
Virginia, North and South Carolina; headquarters at Fortress Monroe,
commander General Butler.
MAY 19.—Rebel batteries at Sewell’s Point attacked by U. S. steamers.
Two schooners with rebel troops on board captured by the U. S. steamer
Freeborn.
MAY 20.—Telegraphic dispatches throughout the North seized by order of
the Government. North Carolina secession ordinance adopted. Governor
Magoffin proclaimed the neutrality of Kentucky.
MAY 22.—Fortifications of Ship Island destroyed to keep them from the
enemy.
MAY 24.—Thirteen thousand troops crossed the Potomac into Virginia.
Alexandria occupied by Federal troops. Colonel Ellsworth shot by
Jackson; the murderer was instantly killed. Arlington Heights occupied
by Union troops.
MAY 25.—Union troops destroyed seven bridges and five miles of railroad
from Alexandria to Leesburg.
MAY 26.—Western Virginia gave a large majority in favor of the Union.
The port of New Orleans was blockaded by the sloop of war Brooklyn. All
postal service in the seceded States suspended.
MAY 31.—The steamers Freeborn and Anacosta engage the rebel batteries
at Acquia Creek.
JUNE, 1861.
JUNE 1.—Lieutenant Tompkins, with 47 men, attacked the rebels at
Fairfax Court House, killing Captain Marr and several others. Union
loss two killed. The steamers Freeborn and Anacosta engage the
batteries at Acquia Creek the second time. Skirmish at Williamsport,
Maryland, between the rebels and a company of Home Guards.
JUNE 3.—Colonel Kelly defeated the rebels at Phillippi, Va.,
killing 15; Colonel Kelly was severely wounded. Hon. S. A. Douglas
died at Chicago. General Beauregard arrived and assumed command
of the Confederate forces at Manassas Junction, Va. The voluntary
contributions in the Northern States to carry on the war amounted to
over $32,000,000.
JUNE 6.—Harriet Lane attacked the batteries at Pig Point, near Fortress
Monroe. A company of rebel cavalry, captured at Alexandria, Va., take
the oath of allegiance.
BATTLE OF BIG BETHEL.
JUNE 10.—Three regiments of Union troops, under the command of General
Pierce, were defeated with a loss of 16 killed, among them Major
Winthrop, and 41 wounded.
JUNE 11.—Skirmish at Romney, Va. Wheeling Convention met.
JUNE 14.—Rebels evacuated Harper’s Ferry, after destroying all
available property; the armory machinery was taken to Richmond.
JUNE 15.—Brig Perry arrived at New York with the privateer Savannah,
captured June 4th.
JUNE 17.—Wheeling Convention unanimously declared Western Virginia
independent of the rebel portion of the State. A train of cars with 275
Ohio volunteers, under the command of Colonel Schenck, was fired into
from a masked battery near Vienna, Va,; 8 were killed and 12 wounded.
General Lyon defeated the rebels at Boonville, Mo., with a loss of
about 30 killed and 50 wounded; Union loss 2 killed and 9 wounded.
JUNE 10.—A skirmish took place at Cole Camp, Mo., between a body of
secessionists and a company of Home Guards; the latter were defeated
with a loss of 10 killed, 20 wounded and 30 prisoners. A detachment
of U. S. Regulars captured a number of rebels with their arms and
ammunition, at Liberty, Mo.
JUNE 20.—Union Convention elected Frank D. Pierpont Governor of
Virginia. General McClellan assumed command in person of the army in
Western Virginia.
JUNE 23.—Forty-eight locomotives belonging to the Baltimore and Ohio
Railroad, valued at $400,000, were destroyed by the rebels.
JUNE 24.—The U. S. gunboat Pawnee attacked the rebel battery at Mathias
Point. A spy arrested at Washington with a full detail of the number of
the troops and batteries, and the best plan of attack on the city.
JUNE 26.—The President acknowledged the Wheeling government of Virginia.
JUNE 27.—George P. Kane, Marshal of Baltimore police, arrested by
General Banks and sent to Fort McHenry. The steamers Pawnee, Resolute
and Freeborn, made a second attack on the rebel battery at Mathias
Point; Captain Ward, commanding the Federal force, was killed.
JUNE 29.—The rebel privateer Sumter escaped from New Orleans. The
rebels made a dash at Harper’s Ferry, destroying several boats and a
railroad bridge.
JULY, 1861.
JULY 2.—General Patterson defeated the Confederates at Falling Water,
Va.; Union loss 3 killed and 10 wounded.
JULY 3.—A rebel company of 94 men captured at Neosho, Missouri.
JULY 4.—Rebels seized the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. Congress
met in extra session
BATTLE OF CARTHAGE, MO.
JULY 5.—Confederates were commanded by Governor Jackson, the Federal
troops, numbering 1,600, by Colonel Sigel. Colonel Sigel retreated to
Springfield; Union loss 13 killed and 31 wounded.
[Illustration: ZACHARY TAYLOR.]
JULY 6.—General Fremont appointed to the command of the Western
Department, consisting of the State of Illinois, and the States and
territories west of the Mississippi, and east of the Rocky Mountains.
Headquarters at St. Louis. 45 men belonging to the 3d Ohio regiment,
cut their way through an ambuscade near Buchanan, Virginia.
JULY 10.—Skirmish at Laurel Hill, Virginia, rebels defeated. Union
loss, 2 killed and 2 wounded.
JULY 11.—The following Senators were expelled from the U. S. Senate: J.
M. Mason, R. M. Hunter, of Virginia; T. L. Clingham and Thomas Bragg,
of North Carolina; L. T. Wigfall and J. U. Hemphill, of Texas; C. B.
Mitchell and W. K. Sebastian, of Arkansas; and A. O. F. Nicholson, of
Tennessee.
BATTLE OF RICH MOUNTAIN.
JULY 12.—The Federal troops, under command of Colonel Rosecrans,
defeated the enemy under Colonel Pegram. The rebels lost their wagons,
guns, camp equipage, and about 800 prisoners, besides 150 killed and
wounded.
JULY 13.—-The Confederates under General Garnett were defeated at
Carrick’s Ford, Virginia. The rebel General Garnett was killed. Union
loss was 2 killed and 10 wounded.
BATTLE OF SCREYTOWN, VA.—The Federals under Colonel Lowe, were defeated
with a loss of 9 killed and 40 wounded and missing.
JULY 15.—Skirmish at Bunker Hill, Virginia. The rebel cavalry under
Colonel Stuart, made the attack, but were defeated.
JULY 16.—Skirmish at Millville, Missouri, and at Barboursville,
Virginia. Tilgham, a negro, killed three of a rebel prize crew on the
S. J. Warring, and brought the vessel into New York. President Lincoln
authorized to call the militia and accept the services of 500,000 men.
FIGHT AT BLACKBURN FORD.
JULY 18.—The Federal troops under command of General Tyler made
the attack, but after three hours’ fighting were ordered back to
Centerville; their loss was 19 killed and 64 wounded and missing. The
Department of Maryland created, and General John A. Dix placed in
command. Headquarters at Baltimore.
JULY 19.—General Banks superceded General Patterson. Headquarters in
the field.
JULY 20.—The Confederate Congress met at Richmond.
BATTLE OF BULL RUN.
JULY 21.—The Army of the Potomac, 45,000 strong, under the command
of Brigadier-General McDowell, left its camp near Washington, July
17. The army was formed in five divisions. General Tyler commanded
the 1st division, Colonel Hunter the 2d, Colonel Heintzelman the 3d,
Colonel Runyon the 4th, and Colonel Miles the 5th. Colonel Runyon’s
division remained in the rear, between Centerville and Fairfax, and
took no part in the battle. The enemy, in numbers about equal to the
attacking force, occupied a position at Manassas naturally strong, and
made doubly so by art. The battle was commenced on Sunday morning by
the Union troops and was fought skilfully and bravely; the enemy were
driven from a portion of their works, and the chances were decidedly
in favor of the Federals; but the arrival of the rebel General Johnson
with large reinforcements, turned the scale; at the same time a panic
seized upon the troops, and they commenced a shameful and disorderly
retreat towards Washington. The Federal loss was 481 killed, 104
wounded, and 1,216 missing. The rebel loss, according to General
Beauregard, was 269 killed, and 1,483 wounded.
JULY 22.—General McClellan took command of the Army of the Potomac.
Three Months Volunteers began to return home.
JULY 24.—Fort Fillmore, New Mexico, treacherously surrendered to the
enemy by Major Lynde, U. S. A. All the arms and supplies were delivered
up, and the soldiers released on parole.
JULY 25.—General Rosecrans assumed command of the army in Western
Virginia.
JULY 31.—City Council of Cincinnati appropriated $23,000 to aid in
relieving the families of volunteers from Hamilton county, Ohio.
AUGUST, 1861.
AUG. 1.—The rebels retreated from Harper’s Ferry to Leesburg.
AUG. 2.—General Lyon defeated the Confederates at Dug Spring, Missouri.
Union loss was 8 killed at 30 wounded. The vessels engaged in a
contraband trade with the rebels of Virginia and North Carolina were
destroyed in Pocomoke Sound
AUG. 3.—Congress passed a bill for raising $20,000,000 by direct
taxation and the Confiscation bill.
AUG. 5.—Commodore Alden bombarded Galveston, Texas.
AUG. 6.—The extra session of Congress closed.
AUG. 7.—The village of Hampton, Virginia, destroyed by the rebels. The
privateer York burned by the U. S. Gunboat Union, crew taken prisoners.
BATTLE OF WILSON CREEK, MO.
AUG. 10.—General Lyon, with 5,000 Missouri, Iowa and Kansas troops,
attacked a Confederate force double that of his own at Wilson Creek,
near Springfield, Missouri. After a hard fight of six hours, General
Lyon being killed, the Union troops, under the command of Colonel Sigel
and Major Sturgis, retired to Springfield. The enemy did not pursue.
Union loss was 223 killed, and 1,012 wounded and missing. General
McCulloch, commanding the rebels, reported 265 killed, and 800 wounded.
AUG. 12.—President Lincoln appointed the 30th of September as a fast
day.
AUG. 14.—General Fremont declared martial law in St. Louis.
AUG. 15.—Jefferson Davis ordered all Northern men to leave the South in
forty days.
AUG. 16.—General Wool took command at Fortress Monroe.
AUG. 21.—Colonel Doherty with 300 Illinois troops, dispersed a rebel
force at Charleston, Missouri. Union loss 1 killed and 6 wounded.
AUG. 26.—The 7th Ohio regiment, 900 strong, were surprised at
Summerville, Virginia, while at breakfast, by the rebels, under General
Floyd, but fought their way out, with a loss of 6 officers. The
Hatteras expedition sailed.
AUG. 28.—Fort Clark, on the coast of North Carolina, captured.
AUG. 29.—Fort Hatteras surrendered to the Union forces. Rebel loss was
48 killed, 51 wounded, and 691 prisoners. The Federals lost none.
AUG. 30.—Fort Morgan, at Ocracoke Inlet, abandoned by the Confederates.
SEPTEMBER, 1861.
SEPT. 1.—Kentucky Legislature met. Union majority in the Senate, 16; in
the House, 52. Fight at Boonville, Virginia; the rebels were defeated
and the town destroyed. Union loss 6 wounded.
SEPT. 4.—Confederates under General Polk, took possession of Columbus,
Kentucky. The rebels attempted to cross the Potomac at Great Falls, but
were repulsed.
SEPT. 6.—General Grant took possession of Paducah, Ky.
BATTLE OF CARNIFEX FERRY.
SEPT. 10.—General Rosecrans with 4,500 troops, attacked the rebels
under Floyd, in their intrenched camp at Gauley river, near Carnifex
Ferry. After several hours’ fighting, darkness put an end to the
contest. During the night Floyd retreated, burning the bridge over
Gauley river. The Federal loss was 15 killed and 70 wounded. A naval
engagement took place on the Mississippi between the U. S. gunboats
Conestoga and Lexington, and two Confederate boats, assisted by a
battery at Lucas Bend. The battery was silenced, and the boats driven
to Columbus.
SEPT. 11.—President Lincoln modified General Fremont’s emancipation
proclamation.
SEPT. 12.—Fight at Cheat Mountain. Colonel J. A. Washington, proprietor
of Mount Vernon, was killed. Union loss, 9 killed and 12 wounded.
SEPT. 17.—Accident on the Ohio and Mississippi railroad, near
Huron, Indiana. About 100 of the 19th Illinois regiment were killed
or wounded. Skirmish between the 3d Iowa regiment and a band of
Confederates at Blue Mills, Missouri. The Federal troops were compelled
to fall back, but receiving reinforcements, rallied, when the rebels
retreated. Union loss, 12 killed and 85 wounded.
SEPT. 18.—Colonel Frank Blair arrested by order of General Fremont.
Maryland Legislature closed by Provost Marshal. Secession members sent
to Fort McHenry.
SEPT. 19.—Governor Morehead, Rueben Merrit, and M. A. Barr, arrested in
Louisville, Kentucky, for treason.
BATTLE OF LEXINGTON, MO.
SEPT. 20.—Colonel Mulligan, with 2,460 men, occupying the town of
Lexington, Missouri, was attacked by a greatly superior force of the
enemy, and after four days was compelled to surrender. During the siege
the whole Union loss was 39 killed and 120 wounded.
SEPT. 21.—John C. Breckinridge fled from Frankfort, Kentucky, and
joined the rebels. General Lane defeated a rebel force at Papinsville,
Missouri. Federal loss 17 killed.
OCTOBER, 1861.
OCT. 1.—The propeller Fanny captured by the rebels at Chicamacomico.
OCT. 2.—Fight at Chapmanville, Virginia, between Colonel Enyartz,
Kentucky volunteers, and a party of Confederates. The latter were
defeated and 47 of them taken prisoners. Union loss 4 killed and 8
wounded.
OCT. 3.—General Reynolds made an armed reconnaissance of the enemy’s
position at Greenbriar. After driving in the rebel pickets and
capturing three cannon, General Reynolds returned to Cheat Mountain,
having lost 8 killed and 32 wounded. The Confederates evacuated
Lexington, Missouri.
OCT. 4.—A large force of rebels under Colonel Barlow attacked the
20th Indiana regiment in their camp at Chicamacomico. The Federals
retreated, leaving the wounded in the hands of the enemy.
OCT. 5.—The steamer Monticello shelled the rebels under Bartow, and
drove them to their boats.
OCT. 6.—Fight at Flemington, Kentucky, between the Home Guard and a
band of rebels. The latter were defeated.
OCT. 7.—The rebel iron-clad steamer, Merrimac, made its first
appearance within sight of Fortress Monroe.
OCT. 9.—Confederates made an attack on Santa Rosa Island, but were
defeated. Union loss was 13 killed and 21 wounded. Colonel Geary, with
400 Pennsylvania troops, crossed the Potomac at Harper’s Ferry, and
captured 21,000 bushels of wheat.
OCT. 11.—Rebel steamer Theodore escaped from Charleston, South
Carolina, with Mason and Slidell on board.
OCT. 15.—Jeff. Thompson, with a force of 600 men, captured a guard of
50, stationed at Big River Bridge, near Potosi, Missouri, and destroyed
the bridge.
OCT. 16.—A small Union force under Major White recaptured Lexington,
Missouri.
OCT. 21.—Fight at Fredericktown, Missouri. The Confederates defeated.
Union loss 6 killed and about 60 wounded.
BATTLE OF BALL’S BLUFF.
OCT. 21.—Union forces engaged numbered 1,900, commanded by Colonel
Baker. General Stone failed to cross the Potomac to support Colonel
Baker. After a severe fight, in which Colonel Baker was killed, the
Federals retreated. Union loss was 223 killed, 266 wounded, and 455
prisoners, including 100 wounded.
BATTLE OF WILD CAT, KY.
OCT. 21.—General Zollicoffer, with 6,000 Confederates, attacked the
Unionists at Camp Wild Cat, Laurel county, Kentucky, and was repulsed
by the forces under General Schoep. Union loss 4 killed and 21 wounded.
OCT. 22.—Skirmish at Buffalo Mills, Missouri. Rebels lost 17 killed and
90 prisoners.
OCT. 25.—General Kelley defeated the enemy, at Romney, Virginia.
OCT. 26.—Gallant charge of Major Zagoni, with 150 of Fremont’s body
guard on a large force of rebels near Springfield, Missouri. The enemy
was routed with a loss of 106 killed and 27 prisoners. Union loss 52
killed and wounded.
OCT. 26.—General Lane captured a rebel transportation train near
Butler, Missouri.
OCT. 29.—The second naval expedition, consisting of 80 vessels, and
15,000 men, sailed from Fortress Monroe. The naval force was commanded
by Commodore Dupont; the land forces were commanded by General Sherman.
NOVEMBER, 1861.
NOV. 1.—General Scott resigned as commander-in-chief of the armies
of the United States. General McClellan was appointed in his place.
General Benham defeated the rebels at Gauley Bridge, Virginia.
NOV. 2.—General Hunter superceded John C. Fremont in the command of the
Western Department. The Confederate schooner Bermuda ran the blockade
at Savannah.
PORT ROYAL.
NOV. 7.—The naval and military forces under the command of Commodore
Dupont and General Sherman, captured Forts Walker and Beauregard, at
Port Royal entrance. They also took possession of the town of Beaufort
and Hilton Island. The Union loss was 8 killed and 25 wounded.
BATTLE OF BELMONT.
General Grant, with a force of 2,800, attacked a rebel camp at Belmont,
Missouri, driving the enemy out and destroying the camp, and taking a
quantity of arms; but reinforcements arriving at Columbus, the Federals
were compelled to retreat; their loss was 84 killed, 288 wounded, and
235 missing.
NOV. 8.—Five rebel boats made an attack on Fort Hatteras, but were
repulsed.
NOV. 10.—The rebels attack the town Guyandotte, Virginia, killing some
of the Union men, but were driven off.
NOV. 11.—Guyandotte burned by the Unionists. General Halleck takes
command of the Western Department.
NOV. 15.—The United States Frigate San Jacinto arrived at Fortress
Monroe with Mason and Slidell, the rebel commissioners to Europe.
NOV. 18.—Confederate Congress met.
NOV. 21.—The United States vessel Santee captured the privateer Royal
Yacht, off Galveston, Texas.
NOV. 23.—Fort Pickens and the U. S. war vessels Niagara and Colorado,
bombarded the rebel fortifications at Pensacola. Port of Warrenton
burnt.
NOV. 26.—Sharp skirmish at Hunter’s Hill, Virginia. Union loss 28
killed and wounded.
NOV. 27.—General McClellan directed the observance of the Sabbath in
all the camps of the U. S. Army.
NOV. 29.—Skirmish at Warsaw, Missouri; a portion of the town destroyed.
NOV. 30.—Fight at Salem, Missouri. Rebels defeated with a loss of 39
killed and wounded.
DECEMBER, 1861.
DEC. 3.—Congress met.
DEC. 4.—John C. Breckinridge expelled from the United States Senate.
DEC. 5.—Engagement between the rebel gunboats and the Federal vessels,
at Cape Hatteras. According to the reports of the Secretaries of War
and Navy, the Union forces numbered 640,537 volunteers, 20,334 regular
soldiers, and 22,000 seamen.
DEC. 9.—The Confederate Congress passed a bill admitting Kentucky into
the Southern Confederacy. Freestone Point, Virginia, shelled by the
National gunboats; the rebel batteries were silenced, and the buildings
containing stores were destroyed.
DEC. 13.—Engagement at Camp Alleghany, Virginia, in which General
Milroy defeated the rebels under Colonel Johnson. Union loss, 21 killed
and 107 wounded.
FIGHT AT MUNFORDSVILLE, KY.
DEC. 17.—The Union force engaged was a portion of the 32d Indiana
(German) regiment; the Confederates were commanded by General Hindman;
battle drawn. Union loss 10 killed and 17 wounded. General Pope
captured 360 secessionists at Osceola, Missouri.
DEC. 18.—General Pope captured 1,300 rebels, a number of horses and
wagons, and 1,000 stand of arms, at Millford, Missouri. Union loss 2
killed and 17 wounded. Stone fleet sunk in Charleston harbor.
DEC. 20.—Battle of Drainsville, Virginia, in which the rebels were
defeated by the Union troops under General McCall. Union loss 7 killed
and 61 wounded.
DEC. 27.—Mason and Slidell surrendered to the British Minister.
DEC. 28.—A fight took place at Mount Zion, Boone county, Missouri. The
Confederates were dispersed with considerable loss in killed, wounded
and prisoners. Union loss 3 killed and 11 wounded.
JANUARY, 1862.
JAN. 1.—Mason and Slidell left Fort Warren, for England, in the British
steamer Rinaldo. Cannon fight at Fort Pickens. General Stevens advances
from Beaufort to the mainland, and with the assistance of the gunboats,
captured the Coosaw batteries. Union loss 2 killed and 8 wounded.
JAN. 4.—General Milroy defeated the rebels at Huntersville, Virginia,
and captured $80,000 worth of stores.
JAN. 7.—Rebels defeated at Romney. A force of 300 Union troops sent by
General Milroy, captured a large quantity of stores in Tucker county,
Virginia.
JAN. 8.—General Palmer defeated the rebels at Silver Creek, Missouri.
Union loss 4 killed and 18 wounded.
JAN. 10.—Colonel Garfield defeated the rebels under Humphrey Marshall,
at Prestonburg, Ky.
JAN. 11.—The Burnside expedition sailed from Fortress Monroe. Naval
engagement on the Mississippi between the Union steamers Essex and
St. Louis, and four rebel boats; the latter were compelled to seek
protection under the batteries at Columbus. Simon Cameron resigned his
position as Secretary of War, and E. M. Stanton appointed in his place.
MILL SPRING, KY.
JAN. 19.—This battle was fought between 3,000 Union troops under
General Schoep, and rebels under General Zollicoffer. The enemy were
defeated and General Zollicoffer killed. Union loss, 39 killed and 127
wounded.
FEBRUARY, 1862.
FEB. 3.—The Federal Government decided that the crews of the captured
privateers were to be considered as prisoners of war.
FEB. 5.—Jesse D. Bright expelled from the United States Senate.
FEB. 6.—Commodore Foote, with 7 gunboats, attacked Fort Henry, on
the Tennessee river. After fighting an hour and a half, the rebel
commander, General Tilghman, made an unconditional surrender.
FEB. 7.—The expedition under General Burnside and Commodore
Goldsborough reached Roanoke Island, and commenced the attack on the
rebel fortifications.
ROANOKE ISLAND.
FEB. 8.—General Burnside captured the six forts on Roanoke Island,
taking about 3,000 small arms and destroying all the Confederate fleet,
except two vessels. Union loss was 50 killed and 212 wounded. 2,500
prisoners and a large quantity of ammunition were captured.
FEB. 9.—General C. P. Stone arrested and sent to Fort Lafayette.
FEB. 10.—Elizabeth City, N. C., surrendered to General Burnside. The
Federal gunboats ascended the Tennessee river as far as Florence,
Alabama, capturing three and destroying six rebel boats.
FORT DONELSON.
FEB. 13.—General Curtis took possession of Springfield, Mo. Fort
Donelson invested, and the bombardment commenced.
FEB. 14.—Commodore Foote attacked Fort Donelson with the gunboats, but
was compelled to withdraw.
FEB. 15.—The attack on Fort Donelson renewed by the land forces under
General Grant, numbering 40,000. Bowling Green evacuated by the rebels.
FEB. 16.—General Buckner made an unconditional surrender of Fort
Donelson and the troops under his command. Between 12,000 and 15,000
prisoners, 40 cannon, and a large amount of stores were captured.
Union loss was 321 killed, 1,046 wounded and 150 missing. Skirmish at
Independence, Mo.
FEB. 18.—General Curtis drove the rebels across the Arkansas line,
capturing a number of prisoners and army stores.
FEB. 21.—The Union troops occupied Clarksville, Tennessee. Desperate
fight at Fort Craig, New Mexico, between the Union troops under Colonel
Canby, and the Texans. The Federals were defeated with a loss of 62
killed and 162 wounded.
FEB. 22.—Jefferson Davis inaugurated President, and A. H. Stephens
Vice-President of the Southern Confederacy.
FEB. 24.—Nashville, Tennessee, occupied by the Union troops.
FEB. 27.—Columbus evacuated by the Confederates.
MARCH, 1862.
MARCH 1.—Fight at Pittsburgh Landing between two Union gunboats and a
rebel battery.
MARCH 4.—Brunswick, Ga., Fort Clinch, Fernandina and St. Mary’s, Fla.,
were captured by Commodore Dupont. Andrew Johnson appointed Military
Governor of Tennessee.
BATTLE OF PEA RIDGE.
MARCH 6.—The Confederates under Van Dorn, Price, and McCulloch,
attacked General Curtis at Pea Ridge, Arkansas. The Union army numbered
about 12,000.
MARCH 7.—The battle of Pea Ridge renewed, lasting all day.
MARCH 8.—The battle of Pea Ridge ended in the total defeat of the
enemy. Union loss was 212 killed and 926 wounded. The rebel steamers
Merrimac, Jamestown and Yorktown, attacked the Federal fleet at Hampton
Roads, destroying the Cumberland and the Congress, and damaging several
other vessels. The Federal loss, in addition to the vessels, was 201
killed and 108 wounded.
MARCH 9.—Duel of the Ironsides in Hampton Roads. After three hours’
fighting the Merrimac was towed under the protection of the battery
at Sewall’s Point, and never renewed the contest. The Monitor was
uninjured.
MARCH 11.—General McClellan took command of the Army of the Potomac;
General Fremont of the Mountain Department, and General Halleck of the
Department of the Mississippi. Manassas occupied by Union troops.
MARCH 12.—Commodore Dupont took possession of Jacksonville, Florida.
The rebels driven from their works at Paris, Tennessee.
MARCH 13.—The Confederates evacuated their works at New Madrid, Mo., in
such haste as to leave 25 pieces of artillery, and a large quantity of
military stores, valued at $1,000,000.
MARCH 14.—General Burnside attacked the rebels in their fortifications
at Newbern, N. C. After a fight of four hours, the enemy retreated,
leaving a large quantity of ammunition, provisions and stores in the
hands of the victors. The Union loss was 91 killed and 466 wounded.
MARCH 16.—Commodore Foote commenced the attack on Island No. 10. Rebels
defeated at Cumberland Mountain, Ky.
MARCH 18.—Rebel fortifications at Acquia Creek evacuated. Confederates
defeated at Salem, Ark.
BATTLE OF WINCHESTER, VA.
MARCH 23.—The Union force engaged was a part of General Shield’s army,
and numbered about 8,000, commanded by Colonel Kimball. The fight
commenced at ten o’clock in the morning, and lasted until three o’clock
in the afternoon. The rebels were finally defeated, and retreated to
Strasburgh, leaving their dead and wounded upon the field. The Union
loss was 103 killed and 440 wounded.
MARCH 28.—Fight at Pigeon Ranch, New Mexico, between 3,000 Union troops
under Colonel Hough, and 1,100 Texans. The battle was a drawn one.
MARCH 31.—Colonel Buford dispersed the rebels at Union City, Tennessee.
APRIL, 1862.
APRIL 6.—The rebels under Generals Johnson and Beauregard, attacked
General Grant’s army at Pittsburgh Landing. The Union forces were
driven back to the river and a number of prisoners captured.
APRIL 7.—The battle of Shiloh renewed. General Buell arrived during
the night with reinforcements. The battle lasted throughout the day
with varied success, but the rebels were finally defeated and driven
to their fortifications at Corinth. The Federal loss was 1,614 killed,
7,721 wounded and 3,956 missing. The rebel General Johnson was killed.
APRIL 8.—Island No. 10 captured, 5,000 prisoners, 100 siege guns, 24
pieces of field artillery, 5,000 stands of small arms, 2,000 hogsheads
of sugar and a large quantity of clothing, tents and ammunition.
APRIL 11.—Fort Pulaski, commanding the entrance to Savannah,
surrendered after a bombardment of thirty hours. General Mitchell
occupied Huntsville, Ala., taking 200 prisoners, 15 locomotives and a
large number of cars. The rebel iron-clad Merrimac makes her second
appearance in Hampton Roads, destroying three small vessels. Congress
passed the bill abolishing slavery in the District of Columbia.
APRIL 12.—The enemy attacked General Milroy at Monterey, Virginia, but
were repulsed. General Mitchell captured 2,000 prisoners at Chattanooga.
APRIL 18.—The rebels attacked General Smith’s division at Yorktown,
but were repulsed. Bombardment of Forts Jackson and Phillip, on the
Mississippi below New Orleans, commenced.
APRIL 19.—Fight between General Burnside’s troops and the enemy, near
Elizabeth City, N. C. The latter were defeated. Union loss 11 killed.
General Reno, with 2,000 Union troops, defeated the enemy at Camden, N.
C. Union loss 14 killed and 99 wounded.
APRIL 24.—The Union fleet having removed the obstructions in the
Mississippi, passed Forts Jackson and St. Phillip on its way to New
Orleans.
APRIL 25.—Commodore Farragut arrived at New Orleans and took possession
of the city. Fort Macon, Georgia, surrendered after a bombardment of
eleven hours. General C. F. Smith died at Savannah, Tenn.
APRIL 28.—Forts Jackson and St. Phillip surrendered. In the capture of
New Orleans the rebels lost, in addition to the forts, 13 gunboats,
among them the ram Manassas and the iron-clad Louisiana.
APRIL 29.—General Mitchell defeated the rebels at Bridgeport, Alabama.
MAY, 1862.
MAY 3.—The rebels evacuated Yorktown, Jamestown, and Mulberry and
Gloucester Islands, leaving ammunition, camp equipage and 100 guns
behind.
BATTLE OF WILLIAMSBURGH, VA.
MAY 5.—The troops were commanded by Generals Hancock and Hooker. The
rebels were defeated, and retreated in the night toward Richmond. Union
loss 200 killed and 700 wounded. General Dumont attacked Morgan’s
cavalry at Lebanon, Tenn., killed 66 and took 183 prisoners. Union loss
10 killed, and 26 wounded and missing.
WEST POINT, VA.
MAY 7.—Generals Franklin and Sedgewick, with a force of 20,000 men,
were attacked by General Lee. The rebels were defeated. Union loss
about 300 killed and wounded.
MAY 8.—General Milroy attacked the enemy at McDowell’s, Va. After a
fight of five hours General Milroy was forced to withdraw. Federal loss
29 killed and about 200 wounded.
MAY 9.—The rebels evacuated Pensacola, and destroyed the Navy Yard.
MAY 10.—The Federal forces took possession of Norfolk, Va. The result
of this movement was the destruction of the iron-clad Merrimac and the
capture of a number of guns and a large amount of ammunition. Gosport
Navy Yard destroyed by the rebels. Gunboat fight on the Mississippi,
near Fort Wright; the rebels were repulsed, losing two vessels.
MAY 12.—Natchez, Mississippi, surrendered to Commodore Farragut.
MAY 16.—The Union gunboats repulsed at Fort Darling.
MAY 17.—Rebels driven across the Chickahominy, at Bottom Bridge.
MAY 23.—The rebel Colonel Heath attacked the Federal troops at
Lewisburgh, Va. After an hour’s fighting the rebels were defeated.
Union loss 14 killed and wounded.
MAY 24.—Colonel Kenley, commanding the Federal troops at Front Royal,
Va., was attacked by a large force of the enemy and defeated with a
heavy loss.
MAY 25.—General Banks defeated at Winchester, Va., and driven across
the Potomac.
MAY 27.—Confederates defeated at Hanover, Va. Union loss 35 killed and
220 wounded.
MAY 29.—Rebels evacuated Corinth, Miss.
MAY 30.—Union troops took possession of Corinth.
BATTLE OF FAIR OAKS.
MAY 31.—The rebels, under General Johnson, attacked the left wing of
the Army of the Potomac, commanded by General Casey, at Fair Oaks.
Union forces were driven back.
JUNE, 1862.
JUNE 1.—Battle of Fair Oaks was renewed, resulting in the repulse of
the rebels. Union loss 890 killed and 4,844 wounded.
JUNE 4.—Confederates abandoned their works at Fort Wright, on the
Mississippi.
JUNE 6.—Gunboat engagement on the Mississippi, near Memphis. Seven
rebel boats were destroyed or captured. After the naval battle Memphis
surrendered to the Union troops. Skirmish near Harrisonburg, Virginia;
the rebel General Ashby killed.
JUNE 8.—Battle of Cross Keys, Va., between General Fremont’s army and
the Confederate army, commanded by General Jackson. The latter were
defeated.
JUNE 16.—Fight on James Island, near Charleston, S. C. Federals
defeated with a loss of 85 killed, 172 wounded and 128 missing.
JUNE 17.—Colonel Fitch destroyed a rebel battery at St. Charles, Ark.
125 were killed by an explosion on one of the Federal gunboats.
JUNE 18.—Union troops occupied Cumberland Gap.
RICHMOND, VA.
JUNE 26.—General Pope assigned to the command of the Army of Virginia.
Commencement of the six days’ fight before Richmond. The rebels
attacked McClellan’s right wing at Mechanicsville. The day closed,
battle undecided.
JUNE 27.—Bombardment of Vicksburg commenced. General Fremont relieved
of his command. Battle before Richmond renewed; the Federals were
driven back; loss heavy on both sides. White House evacuated by the
Union troops.
JUNE 28.—Incessant fighting all day between the right wing of the Union
army on the Chickahominy, and the left wing of the rebels; the enemy
were repulsed. In the evening the Unionists were ordered to fall back.
JUNE 29.—Battle before Richmond renewed by an attack on the Union
forces at Peach Orchard; the rebels were driven back, but late in the
evening made another attack at Savage’s Station. The fight continued
until nine at night. The Union wounded fell into the hands of the enemy.
JUNE 30.—Battle of White Oak Swamp; heavy loss on both sides. General
McClellan continues his retreat towards James river. In the afternoon
the gunboats opened fire on the enemy, who were also subsequently
charged by General Heintzelman’s corps and routed, leaving 2,000
prisoners in the hands of the Unionists.
JULY, 1862.
JULY 1.—Battle of Malvern Hill, and last of the Richmond battles.
The rebels were repulsed at every point. The Union loss during the
six days’ fighting before Richmond was 1,561 killed, 7,701 wounded
and 5,958 missing. President Lincoln calls for 300,000 additional
volunteers.
JULY 7.—Skirmish at Bayou Cache, Ark., between a portion of General
Curtis’s army and the rebels under General Pike; the latter were
defeated. Skirmish at Jasper, Ala.; Federals defeated.
JULY 9.—Hamilton, North Carolina, captured by the Federal troops.
JULY 11.—The rebel General Morgan entered Glasgow, Kentucky, and issued
a proclamation calling upon the Kentuckians to rise. General Halleck
appointed commander of all the land forces of the United States.
JULY 13.—Fight at Murfreesboro, Tenn.; Union troops surrendered;
$30,000 worth of commissary stores captured, and a number of prisoners
taken. General Morgan captured Lebanon, Ky., burned part of the town
and robbed the Bank.
JULY 17.—The rebels under Morgan captured Cynthiana, Ky., and burned
several railroad bridges.
JULY 18.—A band of rebels entered the town of Newburgh, Ind., and
destroyed some hospital stores, took 250 stand of arms and retreated
across the Ohio. The traitor, General Twiggs, died.
JULY 19.—Severe skirmish at Memphis, Tenn.; Union loss 6 killed and 32
wounded.
JULY 21.—John S. Phelps appointed Military Governor of Arkansas.
JULY 22.—The siege of Vicksburg abandoned. The rebels destroyed a
quantity of commissary stores at Florence, Ala., and burned all the
cotton in the place.
JULY 28.—Rebels defeated at Moore’s Hill, Mo.; Union loss 10 killed and
30 wounded.
AUGUST, 1862.
AUG. 3.—The rebel General Jeff. Thompson defeated near Memphis, Tenn.
General Halleck ordered General McClellan to evacuate the Peninsula of
Virginia.
AUG. 4.—The Secretary of War ordered a draft of 300,000 men. The rebel
ram Arkansas destroyed by her crew.
AUG. 5.—General Robert McCook murdered by the rebels, while wounded and
riding in an ambulance. The Confederate General J. C. Breckinridge made
an unsuccessful attack on Baton Rouge, La. Union loss was 56 killed and
175 wounded and missing.
BATTLE OF CEDAR MOUNTAIN.
AUG. 10.—Confederates under General Jackson crossed the Rapidan river,
and attacked General Banks at Cedar Mountain. The contest was short
but severe. General Banks held his position, while the enemy fell back
two miles, and did not renew the fight. The Union army numbered 7,000;
their loss was 450 killed, 660 wounded, and 290 prisoners.
AUG. 16.—General McClellan evacuated Harrison’s Landing.
AUG. 19.—General Wright placed in command of the Department of the
Ohio. Colonel Rodney Mason surrendered Clarksville, Tenn., to an
inferior force, without firing a gun.
AUG. 25.—Confederates made an unsuccessful attack on Fort Donelson.
AUG. 26.—The rebel General Ewell drove the Union troops from Manassas.
AUG. 27.—General Pope finding his right turned by General Ewell,
fell back towards Warrenton, when he was joined by General Hooker;
overtaking the rebels under Ewell at Haymarket a severe fight ensued,
terminating in the defeat of the enemy. The Federal gunboats destroy
the rebel works at City Point, Va.
BATTLE OF GAINSVILLE, OR GROVETON, VA.
AUG. 29.—The battle was opened by General Sigel early in the morning.
At 10 A. M. both wings of the Union army were hard pressed and the
situation became very critical, when Generals Reno and Kearney arrived
with reinforcements. The fight continued until 6 P. M., when the enemy
retired.
BATTLE OF RICHMOND, KY.
AUG. 30.—The Confederates made the attack at 6 A. M. The Union troops
under General Manson were defeated with a loss of about 200 killed,
700 wounded, and 2,000 prisoners. Rebels defeated at Bolivar, Tenn.
SECOND BATTLE OF BULL RUN.
AUG. 30.—The Federal forces under General Pope defeated.
AUG. 31.—Bayou Sara, La., destroyed by the U. S. gunboat Essex.
SEPTEMBER, 1862.
SEPT. 1.—Fight at Britton’s Lane, Tenn.; rebels retired leaving their
dead on the field. Union loss 5 killed, 78 wounded, and 92 missing.
FIGHT AT CHANTILLY, VA.
SEPT. 1.—The Union troops were commanded by Generals Hooker, Reno
and Kearney. The rebels retired leaving their dead and wounded on
the field. This was the last fight in which General Pope’s army
was engaged. In the five battles fought since August 26, the Army
of Virginia had lost about 1,000 killed, 6,000 wounded, and 2,000
prisoners. The Union troops evacuated Lexington, Ky.
SEPT. 2.—General McClellan appointed to the command of the troops for
the defense of Washington.
SEPT. 5.—Confederates began crossing the Potomac into Maryland.
SEPT. 6.—The rebels made an attack on the Union garrison at Washington,
N. C.; were repulsed. Union loss 8 killed and 36 wounded. Colonel Lowe
recaptured Clarksville, Tenn.
SEPT. 7.—General Banks assigned to the command of the fortifications in
and around Washington. General McClellan took the field at the head of
the Army of the Potomac.
SEPT. 12.—Fight at Middletown, Md. Union loss, 80 killed and wounded.
BATTLE OF SOUTH MOUNTAIN, MD.
SEPT. 14.—General McClellan overtook the enemy at South Mountain, Md.
A general engagement took place. The fight was severe and the loss
heavy on both sides, the Unionists losing 443 killed and 1,806 wounded.
General Reno was among the killed. The rebels retreated towards the
Potomac.
SEPT. 15.—Harper’s Ferry surrendered, after two days’ fighting, to
the enemy, with all the garrison, consisting of 8,000 men. The rebels
attempted to destroy the Green river bridge, on the Louisville and
Nashville R. R., but were defeated.
SEPT. 16.—Munfordsville, Ky., captured by the rebels; about 4,000 taken
prisoners.
BATTLE OF ANTIETAM, MD.
SEPT. 17.—The battle was fought on Antietam Creek, near Sharpsburg,
Md., and began early in the morning and continued until evening. Armies
each numbering nearly 100,000 men. The battle was fought with great
determination. During the night the Confederates retreated, leaving
3,500 prisoners, 39 stand of colors, and 13 guns in the hands of the
victors. The Union loss was 2,010 killed, 9,416 wounded, and 1,043
missing. Cumberland Gap evacuated by the Federals.
SEPT. 18.—Confederates recrossed the Potomac into Virginia, having been
in Maryland two weeks. The rebels evacuated Harper’s Ferry.
SEPT. 19.—General Rosecrans commenced an attack on the rebel forces at
Iuka, Miss.
SEPT. 20.—Confederates evacuated the place during the night. The Union
loss was 135 killed and 527 wounded.
SEPT. 21.—General McCook recaptured Munfordsville, Ky.
SEPT. 22.—President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation issued.
SEPT. 27.—Fight at Augusta, Ky. The Union garrison, 120 strong,
surrendered after a gallant defense. Their loss was 9 killed, 15
wounded and the rest prisoners.
SEPT. 29.—General Nelson was shot by General Jeff. C. Davis at
Louisville, Ky.
OCTOBER, 1862.
BATTLE OF CORINTH, MISS.
OCT. 3.—The rebels under Price and Van Dorn attacked the Union troops
and drove them into the town.
OCT. 4.—Battle of Corinth renewed. The Confederates were defeated with
heavy loss. The Union loss was 315 killed and 1,802 wounded.
OCT. 6.—The Confederates attacked General Palmer’s brigade at
Lavergne, Tenn., but were defeated. Union loss, 5 killed and 13
wounded and missing.
BATTLE OF PERRYVILLE, KY.
OCT. 8.—The advance of Buell’s army was attacked at Perryville, Ky.,
by a superior force of the enemy under Generals Jackson and Perrell.
The Confederates retreated during the night. Union loss was over 3,000
killed and wounded.
OCT. 10.—The rebel cavalry under General Stuart entered Chambersburg,
Penn., and captured a quantity of small arms and clothing.
OCT. 18.—The rebel General Morgan occupied Lexington, Kentucky.
OCT. 19.—The Confederate General Forrest defeated near Gallatin, Tenn.
OCT. 22.—Rebel salt works in Florida destroyed. General Blunt defeated
the rebels at Maysville, Ark., capturing all their artillery. Fight
at Pocotaligo, S. C. The Federals attempted to gain possession of the
Charleston and Savannah railroad, but were repulsed with a loss of 30
killed and 180 wounded.
OCT. 27.—Fight at Labadieville, La.; rebels defeated; Union loss, 17
killed and 74 wounded.
OCT. 28.—General Herron defeated the rebels near Fayetteville, Arkansas.
OCT. 30.—General Rosecrans assumed command of the Army of the
Cumberland. General Mitchell died at Port Royal, South Carolina.
NOVEMBER, 1862.
NOV. 5.—General McClellan relieved of the command of the Army of the
Potomac, and General Burnside put in his place.
NOV. 11.—General Ransom defeated the rebels under Woodward, near
Garrettsburg, Kentucky. Under the cartel the following officers
were exchanged: U. S. officers—Brigadier Generals, 3, Colonels, 18,
Lieutenant Colonels, 19, Captains, 431, Lieutenants, 545; Confederate
officers—Colonels, 27, Lieutenant Colonels, 17, Captains, 467,
Lieutenants, 1,085. About 24,000 privates were also exchanged, leaving
a balance due the United States of 6,000 privates.
NOV. 16.—President Lincoln enjoined on the United States forces the
orderly observance of the Sabbath.