April 18, 1861
- Robert E. Lee is unofficially offered command of the thousands of soldiers being called up to protect Washington by presidential adviser Francis P. Blair. Lee immediately refuses.1
- Federal forces withdraw from Harpers Ferry
- Federal marshals seize records of telegraphs sent from major northern cities, leading to the arrest of southern sympathizers.
A Chronological History of the Civil War in America2
- U. S. steamer “Star of the West” captured by the rebels at Indianola, Tex.
- U. S. Sec. of the Treasury ordered that no clearances should be granted to vessels bound to ports south of Maryland.
- Pennsylvania State Volunteers reached Washington.
- Rebels obstruct the channel at Norfolk, Va., to prevent the sailing of war vessels from that point.
- Harper’s Ferry Arsenal destroyed to prevent its being held by the rebels.
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- Pryor, E. (2011, April 20). The General in his Study. New York Times Opinionator. Retrieved April 11, 2021
- A Chronological History of the Civil War in America by Richard Swainson Fisher, New York, Johnson and Ward, 1863