October 21, 1861
- Union forces under Colonel Edward Baker are defeated by Confederate troops in the second major battle of the war.
- Battle of Leesburg [CS]; Battle of Ball’s Bluff [US]; Battle of Harrison Island [US];
- General Nathan Evans [CS] defeats General Charles Stone [US].
- Oregon Senator Edward Baker, field commander, becomes the first (and only) sitting senator to die in battle.
A Chronological History of the Civil War in America1
- Union fleet, consisting of twenty steamers, sailed from Annapolis, Md., bound south.
- Battle of Ball’s Bluff. Part of Gen. Stone’s division crossed the Potomac at Ball’s Bluff, and after severe fighting, during which Col. Baker was killed, was driven back with great loss by the enemy; killed, 223, wounded 165, wounded among prisoners 100, prisoners not wounded 421, total 918. The rebel loss is supposed to have been about 500 killed and wounded.
- Battle of Wild Cat, Ky.; Zollicoffer (rebel) defeated by Shoepf (Union).
- Rebels under Jeff. Thompson defeated at Fredericktown, Mo.
- A Chronological History of the Civil War in America by Richard Swainson Fisher, New York, Johnson and Ward, 1863