February 1, 1861 Texas secessionist convention votes 166 to 7 to secede, calling for a ratification election by the people

January 30, 1861 Louisiana Secessionist Convention selects 6 delegates to represent the state at the Convention of Seceded States in Montgomery, AL

January 29, 1861 Kansas is admitted as the 34th U.S. state — without slavery.

January 26, 1861 The state of Louisiana secedes from the Union with a vote of 112 to 17 at the Secession Convention. The sovereign state of Mississippi establishes a state flag: It featured a white, five-pointed star on a dark blue canton (commonly called the Bonnie Blue), a field of white with a magnolia tree [...]

January 24, 1861 Lucy, a female slave from Wheeling who fled to Cleveland, Ohio, is returned to her owner. She is the last slave to be returned under the Fugitive Slave Law.

January 21, 1861 Five senators from Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi bid farewell to their colleagues in the upper house. Among them is Senator Jefferson Davis, future president of the Confederacy. All but 6 of the delegates to Georgia’s Secessionist Convention sign the Ordinances of Secession Fort Sumter, Charleston, South Carolina, 1861 (from Frank Leslie’s Illustrated [...]

January 19, 1861 Following two days of debate and a day of hammering out the wording of the secession document, Georgia votes to leave the Union. Virginia calls for a peace conference Tennessee votes to hold a secessionist election Georgia secedes from the Union. Image: One of the Ten Flank Casemate Batteries at Fort Pickens, [...]

January 16, 1861 The Georgia Secession Convention of 1861 convenes. The Crittenden Compromise dies on the floor of the Senate.

January 15, 1861 Albert Sidney Johnston assumes command of the Department of the Pacific.

January  14, 1861 The chairman of the Committee of Thirty-three, Thomas Corwin (OH), presents the group’s report to the House of Representatives. Recommendations include a Constitutional amendment guaranteeing slavery where it exists, a repeal of northern “personal liberty laws”, and jury trials for fugitive slaves. The committee does not unanimously approve of the proposals. Virginia [...]

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)

January 11, 1861 Alabama secedes from the United States. Federal soldiers seize buildings in St. Louis to prevent them from falling into Rebel hands South Carolina demands the surrender of Fort Sumter. Major Anderson refuses. Image: Fort Sumter, seen from the rear, at low water (Harper’s Pictorial History of the Civil War)

January 10, 1861 Florida becomes the third state to secede from the Union. They simply replace the term “United States” with “Confederate States” in their constitution Lieutenant Adam Slemmer moves his small federal garrison from Barrancas Barracks at Pensacola to Fort Pickens on Santa Rosa Island. Slemmer will refuse repeated surrender demands from Florida authorities, [...]

January 9, 1861 “Star of the West” incident occurs near Charleston, South Carolina. Secessionist forces in South Carolina fire at the Star of the West, forcing it to withdraw. Artillery fires on the Star of the West from Morris Island as it crosses into the main entrance channel to Charleston Harbor. As the ship comes [...]

January 7, 1861 John Crittenden tries to resurrect his proposal on the floor of the Senate. It had earlier been killed by committee. Virginia calls a special session of its Assembly to consider convening a convention on the question of secession. The image is of the steamship “Star of the West” (Harper’s Pictorial History of [...]

January 6, 1861 Florida militia takes over a federal arsenal near Appalachiacola. Maryland’s pro-Union governor denounces secession in a speech to the residents of the state. Fernando Wood, mayor of New York, proposes that New York City should secede as well, allowing trade with both the North and South The image is of the steamship [...]

January 5, 1861 At the last minute General Winfield Scott substitutes the Star of the West, a New York based merchant marine vessel for the Brooklyn, a heavily armed and reinforced sloop ordered to sail to Fort Sumter to resupply the federal outpost. The Brooklyn, however, is to travel to Fort Sumter with the Star [...]

January 4, 1861 Alabama troops seize an arsenal near Mobile. The image is of Fort Sumter, seen from the rear, at low water (Harper’s Pictorial History of the Civil War)

January 3, 1861 Georgia militia under the command of Francis “Frank” Bartow seize Fort Pulaski, at the mouth of the Savannah River, from a single federal soldier and a contractor. The image is of Fort Pulaski. (Newspaper Illustration Harper’s Weekly Newspaper, December 28, 1861 p. 829.)

January 1, 1861 On New Year’s Day Georgians go to the polls to elect either a pro-Union or pro-Seccession slate of delegates to a state convention to be held in Milledgeville. According to Gov. Brown the results are overwhelmingly pro-secession, however, later research by the Georgia Historical Society indicates that the returns were overstated in [...]

December 31, 1860 Charleston is notified by telegraph that a man of war with troops is on the way Image: The United States Sloop of War “Brooklynn”

December 30, 1860 South Carolina’s convention officially approves the Ordinance of Secession. South Carolina secedes from the Union South Carolinians seize the Federal Arsenal at Charleston, making Fort Sumter the last piece of federal property in the state controlled by the United States government. The image is of Fort Sumter, seen from the rear, at [...]

December 29, 1860 As requested, John Floyd tenders his resignation as Secretary of War. Charges come out later in the day that he had misdirected funds to contractors and guns to the South. Neither charge will be fully investigated and his guilt (or innocence) is still a hotly debated subject

December 26, 1860 Major Robert Anderson transfers his small command from Fort Moultrie to Fort Sumter on his own initiative. He felt it was impossible to hold Fort Moultrie against the South Carolina militia and believes the former location will soon be attacked and that the change of location is necessary to “prevent the effusion [...]