May 13, 1861
- George McClellan [US] appointed Commander, Department of Ohio. The following day he is promoted major general, his rank in the Ohio militia. Only General-in-Chief Winfield Scott held a higher rank.
- Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom issues a “proclamation of neutrality” which recognizes the Confederacy as having belligerent rights.
- The First Wheeling Convention opens (West Virginia)
- U.S. troops occupy Baltimore, Maryland
- North Carolina elects delegates to the Secession Convention
A Chronological History of the Civil War in America1
- Anti-secession Convention of delegates from the counties of Western Virginia met at Wheeling—35 counties represented.
- Union troops under Gen. Butler took possession of Federal Hill, Baltimore. ( (During night of May 12/13)
- Travel through Baltimore re-established.
- Blockade of the Mississippi at Cairo established.
- Queen Victoria issued a proclamation enjoining neutrality in the contest between the North and South.
- A Chronological History of the Civil War in America by Richard Swainson Fisher, New York, Johnson and Ward, 1863