May 6, 1861
- Arkansas secedes from the Union
- Tennessee votes to put the question of secession before the people in a popular referendum.
A Chronological History of the Civil War in America1
- Virginia admitted as a State of the Confederate States of America.
- Arkansas State Convention passed an ordinance of secession (69 v. 1).
- The Confederate States Congress made public the war and privateering act.
- Legislature of Tennessee passed an ordinance of secession—passed by Senate (20 v. 4) and by House (46 v. 21), which was termed a Declaration of Independence, and ordered it to be voted on by the people.
- Baltimore city militia disbanded.
- A Chronological History of the Civil War in America by Richard Swainson Fisher, New York, Johnson and Ward, 1863