Chronological History of the American Civil War

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Targets included Fort McRee, Fort Barrancas, and the Pensacola Navy Yard. After two days of fighting, the results were negligible on either side. Memphis Daily Appeal reported: "The Blockade vs. Chestnuts.—Yesterday, as we rode by a wagon and steers on Peach-Tree Street, we overheard a countryman tell his wife (we suppose) to "try and sell them 'ar ches'nuts while I git this jug filled." "What mus I ax fur 'em?" said the wife. "Why, fifty cents," replied he. We halted and inquired if they were fifty cents a bushel. With a speculative stare he turned and looked at us and said, " No, sir , fifty cents a peck ." We replied that we bought them last winter at fifty cents a bushel. "Yes," said he, "but dad fetch it there wan't that infernal block- cade on 'em then." We went on to dinner.—Atlanta Confederacy." (Have you priced them lately???)

Monday, November 25, 1861 : Nathan Bedford Forrest (CSA) (pictured) was the nearly-illiterate son of a backwoods Tennessee blacksmith. He took over the support of his large family at the age of 16 when his father died, and by now, age 40, was a wealthy Memphis merchant and slave trader. The regiment he raised and commanded set forth today on their first mission to Kentucky. Debate still rages today, whether he should be officially considered a “cavalryman” in the classic sense, or as mere “mounted infantry”. Having no training in either, Nathan Bedford Forrest (CSA) didn’t care either way. His philosophy of “get there first, with the most men” made him one of the most feared Confederate commanders of the Western theater. Tuesday, November 26, 1861 : The state of West Virginia was now created as a result of dispute over slavery with Virginia. Wednesday, November 27, 1861 : Eleven days ago, Captain Charles

Wilkes committed the most famous act of his career; his USS San Jacinto waited until the British registry ship mail packet Trent left Havana, Cuba. Once they were in international waters Wilkes had ordered the ship to heave to, under threat of arms, removed Confederate Commissioners Slidell, Mason, and their aides. Such an offense against Her Majesty's ship outraged all of London. Eight thousand troops were immediately dispatched for Canada to fortify the border, and orders went to the shipyards for construction of new warships. Queen Victoria was not amused. A Union expeditionary force leaves Hampton Roads, Virginia for Ship Island, Mississippi, to set up a base of operations against New Orleans and the Gulf Coast area. General Forrest’s (CSA) cavalry crosses the Duck River east of Columbia, pushing back the Federal Cavalry under General James Wilson (U.S.). Thursday, November 28, 1861 : Lincoln observes Thanksgiving at the White House. No boarder states had it easy during the war, Missouri was no different. Its elected Governor Claiborne Jackson was pro- secession, but exiled in Arkansas. The state’s government was in chaos. The Confederate Legislature “accepted” the admission of Missouri into the Confederacy today and ordered a star added to the flag in her honor, but in fact the major cities and Mississippi River banks were firmly in control of the Union. Friday, November 29, 1861 : Planters along the coasts of Georgia and South Carolina burn cotton to prevent it from falling into Federal hands. The future commander of the U.S.S. Monitor , Lieutenant John Lorimer Worden, arrives in Washington, following seven months as a prisoner of war in Montgomery, Alabama. Saturday, November 23, 1861 : The “Trent Affair”, as it was beginning to be called on both sides of the Atlantic was heating up. The British Foreign Secretary, Lord John Russell, wrote to the British ambassador in Washington that he, on behalf of the British government, was to express in the strongest terms Britain’s outrage over what happened to the ‘Trent’. Lyons was to demand the immediate release of Slidell and Mason and a formal apology from the Federal government. In a private letter, Russell told Lyons to give the Federal government 10 days before closing the embassy and cutting diplomatic relations. The Royal navy was put on alert and the Guards regiments were told to prepare to sail to Canada.