January 2026

The Defence of the Union

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Civil War Day-by-Day

January 13, 1861, The New York Herald SECOND MEETING OF THE UNION VOLUNTEERS. ADOPTION OF A CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS – ELECTION OF A CAPTAIN AND ORDERLY SERGEANT, ETC., ETC., ETC. The second meeting of the Union Volunteers–a corps of young men who have organized themselves into a military body, with the intent of offering their [...]

The Cruise of the Star of the West

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Civil War Day-by-Day

January 13, 1861, The New York Herald The steamer Star of the West, the focus of excitement for the last few days, arrived at this city at eight o’clock yesterday morning, and anchored off pier No. 29 North river. The Star of the West, under command of Captain McGowan, left New York on Saturday night [...]

The Crisis

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Civil War Day-by-Day

January 13, 1861, The New York Herald WASHINGTON, Jan. 12, 1861. I learn that despatches have been sent from here by authority to Major Anderson, at Fort Sumter, and also to Governor Pickens, of South Carolina, informing them that the steam frigate Brooklyn was not ordered to Charleston for any hostile purpose. Her mission was [...]

“We kept on, still under the fire of the battery, most of the balls passing over us, one just missing the machinery, another striking but a few feet from the rudder, while a ricochet shot struck us in the fore-chains, about two feet above the water line, and just below where the man was throwing the lead.”—Operations in Charleston Harbor

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War of the Rebellion: from the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies and Navies

. . FORT COLUMBUS, N. Y. H., January 13, 1861. COLONEL: Pursuant to instructions, dated Headquarters of the Army, January 5, 1861, I embarked on the evening of Saturday, 5th instant, from Governor’s Island, at 6 o’clock p.m., on a steam-tug, which transferred us to the steamer Star of the West. My command consisted of [...]

Seneca Rangers

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Civil War Day-by-Day

January 12, 1861, The Charleston Mercury By letters from Anderson District, we learn that the gallant yeomanry of the up-country are no laggards in maintaining the honor and glory of the State, but are rapidly arming and forming themselves into companies. Below we give a list of the officers of the ‘Seneca Rangers, ‘a corps [...]

Pensacola and its Fortifications

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Civil War Day-by-Day

January 12, 1861, The New York Herald PENSACOLA BAY. Pensacola bay has rare properties as a harbor. It is now accessible to frigates. The bar is near the coast, and the channel across it short and easily passed. The harbor is perfectly landlocked and the roadstead very capacious. There are excellent positions within for repairing, [...]

The News

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Civil War Day-by-Day

January 12, 1861, The New York Herald Mr. Thomas yesterday resigned the post of Secretary of the Treasury, and the nomination of General Dix, Postmaster of New York, for the vacancy was sent to the Senate by the President, and confirmed without the usual reference. No nominations have yet been made for the War and [...]

The Forts on the Florida Reefs

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Civil War Day-by-Day

January 12, 1861, The New York Herald In regard to the forts on the Florida reefs we quote the following from the last report of the Secretary of War. It will be remembered by our readers that the steamer Joseph Whitney sailed from Boston a few days ago with troops to take charge of these [...]

The Defences of the City of Mobile.

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Civil War Day-by-Day

January 12, 1861, The New York Herald FORT MORGAN AND MOUNT VERNON ARSENAL. At the time Louisiana was purchased from France, in 1803, Mobile was claimed and held as a Spanish possession. The French claimed territory to the Perdido river flowing into the Gulf of Mexico, between Mobile bay and Pensacola. When we came into [...]

Pilfering the Private Mails.

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Civil War Day-by-Day

January 12, 1861, The Charleston Mercury Probably the most arbitrary act of despotism that can be perpetrated by a Government, next to the punishment of men by execution, imprisonment or otherwise, without trial, is the violation of private rights of confidence in the supervision of the mails, by the breaking private seals and the seizing [...]

Alabama is out of the Union.

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Civil War Day-by-Day

January 12, 1861, The Charleston Mercury MONTGOMERY, January 11. – Alabama sends greeting to South Carolina: The Convention of her people today adopted the Ordinance of Secession from the Federal Union. It reads as follows: AN ORDINANCE. TO DISSOLVE THE UNION BETWEEN THE STATE OF ALABAMA AND THE OTHER STATES UNITED UNDER THE COMPACT STYLED [...]

“I hope is not true, that it was the purpose of the administration to coerce the Southern States, and that troops were on their way to garrison the Southern forts…”—The Secession of North Carolina

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War of the Rebellion: from the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies and Navies

EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, Raleigh, January 12, 1861. His Excellency JAMES BUCHANAN, …….President of the United States: SIR: Reliable information has reached this Department that on the 9th instant Forts Johnston and Caswell were taken possession of by State troops and persons resident in that vicinity, in an irregular manner. Upon the receipt of this information I [...]

Civil War Day-by-Day

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The Steam Ship 'Star of the West'
Civil War Day-by-Day

January 12, 1861 Star of the West returns to New York City Attorney-general I. W. Hayne leaves Charleston with a demand from Governor Pickens that the federal government surrender Fort Sumter The image is of the steamship “Star of the West” (Harper’s Pictorial History of the Civil War)

Florida Secession Convention—“When at length the names were all affixed, cheer after cheer rent the air; it was deafening. Our world seemed to have gone wild.”—Susan Bradford

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Susa Bradford Eppes
Through Some Eventful Years by Susan Bradford Eppes

January 11th, 1861. —We did not try to be early this morning, as the big event of the day did not take place until one o’clock. Capitol Square was so crowded you could see nothing but heads and the Capitol itself was full of people looking from the windows, which looked out on the east [...]

“Treason is rife in the City, and we know not what a day may bring forth.”—Horatio Nelson Taft

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Diary of US patent clerk Horatio Nelson Taft.

FRIDAY 11 Yesterdays Telegraphic news was incorrect as to Maj Anderson. The “Inteligencer” this morning publishes a letter from an ex-Congressman from the south exposing the treasonable proceedings at their Secret meetings of the Senators from the Cotton States now here. Yulee (brother of the Senator from Fla) in my room today said they were [...]

Our New York Correspondence

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Civil War Day-by-Day

January 11, 1861, The Chaleston Mercury NEW YORK, January 7. The secession of South Carolina from the Confederacy excites more condemnation now than it did when it first occurred. Since then business has decreased considerably among the merchants; orders to manufacturers are very limited; thousands of mechanics and clerks are thrown out of employment, all [...]

Savannah and its Defences.

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Civil War Day-by-Day

January 11, 1861, The New York Herald Savannah is the seat of justice and the largest city in the State of Georgia, and contains 20,000 inhabitants. It is situated on the southeast bank of the Savannah river, on a high bluff, forty feet above low water mark. It is twelve miles distant, in a direct [...]

The News

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Civil War Day-by-Day

January 11, 1861, The New York Herald Our intelligence from Charleston, published yesterday, relative to the arrival of the steamer Star of the West in the harbor of Charleston, and her retreat when fired upon by the State batteries, is fully confirmed by later advises. The particulars of the affair are detailed in another column. [...]