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Civil War Timeline / Chronology for April 1861 <<Previous year Next year>> January, 1861
May, 1861
September, 1861
February, 1861
June, 1861
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March, 1861
July, 1861
November, 1861
April, 1861
August, 1861
December, 1861
April 3 , 1861
A "test vote" in the Virginia convention shows a 2-1 margin against secession
Virginia
Virginia Secession Convention
April 4 , 1861
Virginia's secessionist convention votes 80-45 against secession.
Virginia
Virginia Secession Convention
April 6 , 1861
Abraham Lincoln sends a message to Governor Pickens informing him that Fort Sumter will be reprovisioned and that if the effort is resisted the fort will be reinforced
South Carolina
Fort Sumter
Abraham Lincoln
April 7 , 1861
P. G. T. Beauregard orders all transports to Fort Sumter cut off. This ended the fort's supply of fresh food
South Carolina
P. G. T. Beauregard
Fort Sumter
April 10 , 1861
Braxton Bragg assumes command of the Department of Alabama and West Florida
Florida Alabama
Braxton Bragg
April 11 , 1861
Confederates demand the surrender of Fort Sumter
South Carolina
Fort Sumter
P. G. T. Beauregard
April 12 , 1861 April 13 , 1861
Beginning at 4:30 am on the 12th and continuing until the morning of the 13th, Confederate batteries along the shore of Charleston Harbor fire on Fort Sumter under the command of Major Robert Anderson. Anderson arranges a surrender with Texas Senator Louis Wigfall on the morning of the 13th.
South Carolina
P. G. T. Beauregard
Fort Sumter
Edmund Ruffin
Civil War Firsts
Robert Anderson
April 12 , 1861 May 10 , 1865
The American Civil War
The Civil War
April 14 , 1861
During the formal surrender of Fort Sumter Private Daniel Hough dies when the cannon he was loading (for the Union's 100-gun salute to the U.S. flag) discharges prematurely. He is the first man to die in the Civil War. A second man is mortally wounded.
South Carolina
Fort Sumter
Civil War Firsts
April 15 , 1861
President Lincoln calls for 75,000 voluteers for three months service to deal with the "insurrection."
Abraham Lincoln
April 15 , 1861
Braxton Bragg places Lt. John Worden under arrest in Pensicola, Florida, making him the first prisoner-of-war in the American Civil War
Braxton Bragg
Civil War Firsts
April 15 , 1861
Rejecting Lincoln's call for troops, Tennessee Governor Isham Harris orders a second session of the state legislature to consider the question of a secessionist convention.
Tennessee
April 16 , 1861
The Confederate Congress passes a Conscription Act.
April 17 , 1861
Virgina Secession Convention approves the wording of a referendum of secession and calls for a popular vote to approve it.
Virginia
Confederate Order of Secession
Virginia Ordinance of Secession
Virginia Secession Convention
April 17 , 1861
Star of the West is taken by militia aboard the Confederate Army steamer General Rusk off the coast of Texas.
Texas
Star of the West
April 18 , 1861
Robert E. Lee is offered command of the United States Army
Virginia
Robert E. Lee
April 18 , 1861
Troops begin to arrive in Washington, D. C.
Washington D. C.
April 18 , 1861
Federal forces withdraw from Harpers Ferry
West Virginia Virginia
Harpers Ferry
April 19 , 1861
Southern sympathizers in Baltimore cut telegraph lines and bridges to Washington, D. C. While passing through the city, the 6th Massachusetts Regiment is attacked. They open fire on a crowd. When the dust settles, three soldiers and one civilian were dead, the first casualties during fighting in the Civil War.
Maryland
Civil War Firsts
Washington D. C.
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
Maryland and Secession
April 19 , 1861
Surprising most people, Lincoln calls for a blockade of Southern ports, a major element of Winfield Scott's Anaconda Plan
Winfield Scott
Abraham Lincoln
April 19 , 1861
Virginia forces take control of Harpers Ferry
West Virginia Virginia
Harpers Ferry
April 19 , 1861
Federal marshals seize records of telegraphs sent from major northern cities, leading to the arrest of southern sympathizers.
April 20 , 1861
Robert E. Lee resigns his commission in the United States Army
Virginia
Robert E. Lee
April 20 , 1861
Federal troops scuttle ships at the the Gosport Naval Yard and evacuate Norfolk, Virginia
Virginia
April 20 , 1861
Guyandotte calls for the state to approve the actions of the Virginia legislature
West Virginia
First Wheeling Convention
April 22 , 1861
The Clarksburg (present-day West Virginia) Convention calls for a anti-secessionist convention to be held in May, 1861
West Virginia
First Wheeling Convention
April 22 , 1861
Maryland Governor Thomas Holliday Hicks calls a session of the Maryland legislature to consider secession
Maryland
Maryland and Secession
April 23 , 1861
George McClellan appointed Major General of the Ohio militia
Ohio
George McClellan
April 23 , 1861
Federal troops withdraw from Fort Smith
Arkansas
April 23 , 1861
Nominated by Governor Letcher of Virginia and approved by the Assembly on the previous day, Robert E. Lee assumes command of Virginia's militia
Virginia
Robert E. Lee
April 23 , 1861
Virginia secessionist convention ratifies a temporary union with the Confederacy and accepts the Southern Constitution, subject to approval of the ordnance of secession
Virginia
Virginia Secession Convention
April 25 , 1861
New York's 7th Regiment arrives in Washington, having around Baltimore by boat.
New York
Washington D. C.
April 25 , 1861
In a daring nighttime operation Illinois troops steam from Alton to St. Louis and remove 10,000 muskets with the help of federal troops in the armory
Missouri Illinois
April 25 , 1861
General Edwin Vose Sumner relieves Albert Sidney Johnston as Commander, Department of the Pacific
California
Albert Sidney Johnston
Edwin Vose Sumner
April 27 , 1861
Lincoln extends the blockade to include Virginia and North Carolina
Virginia North Carolina
Abraham Lincoln
April 27 , 1861
Virginia offers Richmond to be the Confederate capital.
Virginia
Richmond, Virginia
April 29 , 1861
The Maryland legislature votes 53-13 against convening a secessionist convention, dashing the hopes of a sizable pro-South group, but did not vote to end the session
Maryland
Maryland and Secession
January, 1861
May, 1861
September, 1861
February, 1861
June, 1861
October, 1861
March, 1861
July, 1861
November, 1861
April, 1861
August, 1861
December, 1861