Chronological History of the American Civil War

P a g e | 15

consultation and in a short time give an answer." The President said, "Take your full time -- no hurry at all." The delegation then withdrew. Also this day, the Memphis Daily Appeal (Memphis, Tennessee), “Appeal to the Ladies of Tennessee.” The military and financial board of this State suggested that each lady in Tennessee shall prepare goods for one suit of clothing and knit two pairs of stockings. If this shall be done, every soldier will be amply clothed and provided against the sufferings of a winter's campaign. In Richmond, meanwhile, Jefferson Davis ordered the banishment of all foreign nationals whose home countries did not recognize the Confederate government. In St. Louis, U.S. Maj. Gen. John Charles Fremont declared marshal law. In Washington, the 79th New York volunteer regiment mutinies when its request for furlough is denied. Several of the ring leaders are arrested. Twenty-one members of the 79th who were considered to be the ringleaders of the revolt were sent to the remote Dry Tortugas prison in Florida. Thursday, August 15, 1861 : A further mutiny occurred in the 2 nd Maine Volunteers who were also defending Washington DC. It became clear that a major reorganization was required to take into account the militia status of those defending the capital. General George McClellan assumes command of the Army of the Potomac. The Richmond Whig reports that a large number of Union prisoners are being housed in three large tobacco factories in that city. Friday, August 16, 1861 : President Lincoln prohibits Union states from trading with Confederacy. New skirmishes break out at Fredericktown/Kirkville, in Missouri. Sunday, August 18, 1861 : The Fort Smith Times states that two companies of southern black men have been formed in the neighborhood. They are thorough southern men, not armed but are drilling to take the field, and say that they are determined to fight for their masters and their homes. Lt. Reigart Lowry reported that the “stone fleet” was ready to sail. Old wooden ships were loaded with rock until they were barely able to float, were to be sunk in Albermarle Sound, North Carolina to block Confederate shipping until the new gunboats were ready for the blockade. Monday, August 19, 1861 : Union loyalists attack pro-South newspaper offices in West Chester and Easton, Pennsylvania. The editor of the Essex County Democrat is tarred and feathered for the expression of Southern sympathies. The Congress of the Confederacy allies with the state of Missouri, providing for the establishment of a Confederate state government. Tuesday, August 20, 1861 : Loyalist at the Wheeling Convention approved the separation which consisted of most of the northwestern counties of Virginia, which decided to secede from Virginia after Virginia joined the Confederate States of America. The name of "Kanawha," based on the Kanawha River, was proposed by the convention as the name for the new state. The Memphis Daily Appeal writes, “Summary: Discussion of the new city ordinance requiring each illegal house of ill-fame to hire a policeman at its own expense, or be closed.” Saturday, August 17, 1861 : Witnesses exhibition of J. D. Mills' gun [dubbed by Lincoln "coffee mill gun"] near Washington Monument and advises government to pay double sum mechanics say it is worth if delivered in 30 days. The request gets lost in the bureaucracy.