Important Historical Events of the year 1861, Year 1861 in History
List of 1861 Major News Events in History, Most Important Historical Events in 1861
What happened in the year 1861?
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| January 1, 1861 | Liberal forces supporting Benito Juárez enter Mexico City. |
| January 3, 1861 | American Civil War: Delaware votes not to secede from the United States. |
| January 9, 1861 | American Civil War: "Star of the West" incident occurs near Charleston, South Carolina. |
| January 9, 1861 | Mississippi becomes the second state to secede from the Union before the outbreak of the American Civil War. |
| January 10, 1861 | American Civil War: Florida becomes the third state to secede from the Union. |
| January 11, 1861 | American Civil War: Alabama secedes from the United States. |
| January 19, 1861 | American Civil War: Georgia joins South Carolina, Florida, Mississippi, and Alabama in declaring secession from the United States. |
| January 21, 1861 | American Civil War: Jefferson Davis resigns from the United States Senate. |
| January 26, 1861 | American Civil War: The state of Louisiana secedes from the Union. |
| January 29, 1861 | Kansas is admitted as the 34th U.S. state. |
| February 1, 1861 | American Civil War: Texas secedes from the United States and joins the Confederacy a week later. |
| February 4, 1861 | American Civil War: In Montgomery, Alabama, delegates from six breakaway U.S. states meet and initiate the process that would form the Confederate States of America on February 8 |
| February 9, 1861 | American Civil War: Jefferson Davis is elected the Provisional President of the Confederate States of America by the Provisional Confederate Congress at Montgomery, Alabama |
| February 10, 1861 | Jefferson Davis is notified by telegraph that he has been chosen as provisional President of the Confederate States of America. |
| February 11, 1861 | American Civil War: The United States House of Representatives unanimously passes a resolution guaranteeing noninterference with slavery in any state. |
| February 13, 1861 | Italian unification: The Siege of Gaeta ends with the capitulation of the defending fortress, effectively bringing an end of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. |
| February 18, 1861 | In Montgomery, Alabama, Jefferson Davis is inaugurated as the provisional President of the Confederate States of America. |
| February 18, 1861 | With Italian unification almost complete, Victor Emmanuel II of Piedmont, Savoy and Sardinia assumes the title of King of Italy. |
| February 23, 1861 | President-elect Abraham Lincoln arrives secretly in Washington, D.C., after the thwarting of an alleged assassination plot in Baltimore, Maryland. |
| March 3, 1861 | Alexander II of Russia signs the Emancipation Manifesto, freeing serfs. |
| March 4, 1861 | The first national flag of the Confederate States of America (the "Stars and Bars") is adopted. |
| March 10, 1861 | El Hadj Umar Tall seizes the city of Ségou, destroying the Bamana Empire of Mali. |
| March 11, 1861 | American Civil War: The Constitution of the Confederate States of America is adopted. |
| March 17, 1861 | The Kingdom of Italy is proclaimed. |
| March 19, 1861 | The First Taranaki War ends in New Zealand. |
| March 20, 1861 | An earthquake destroys Mendoza, Argentina. |
| March 21, 1861 | Alexander Stephens gives the Cornerstone Speech. |
| March 30, 1861 | Discovery of the chemical elements: Sir William Crookes announces his discovery of thallium. |
| April 12, 1861 | American Civil War: Battle of Fort Sumter. The war begins with Confederate forces firing on Fort Sumter, in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina. |
| April 13, 1861 | American Civil War: Fort Sumter surrenders to Confederate forces. |
| April 15, 1861 | President Abraham Lincoln calls for 75,000 Volunteers to quell the insurrection that soon became the American Civil War. |
| April 17, 1861 | The state of Virginia's secession convention votes to secede from the United States, later becoming the eighth state to join the Confederate States of America. |
| April 19, 1861 | American Civil War: Baltimore riot of 1861: A pro-Secession mob in Baltimore attacks United States Army troops marching through the city. |
| April 20, 1861 | American Civil War: Robert E. Lee resigns his commission in the United States Army in order to command the forces of the state of Virginia. |
| April 20, 1861 | Thaddeus S. C. Lowe, attempting to display the value of balloons, makes record journey, flying 900 miles from Cincinnati to South Carolina. |
| April 27, 1861 | American President Abraham Lincoln suspends the writ of habeas corpus. |
| April 29, 1861 | Maryland in the American Civil War: Maryland's House of Delegates votes not to secede from the Union. |
| May 6, 1861 | American Civil War: Arkansas secedes from the Union. |
| May 13, 1861 | American Civil War: Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom issues a "proclamation of neutrality" which recognizes the Confederacy as having belligerent rights. |
| May 13, 1861 | The Great Comet of 1861 is discovered by John Tebbutt of Windsor, New South Wales, Australia. |
| May 13, 1861 | Pakistan's (then a part of British India) first railway line opens, from Karachi to Kotri. |
| May 20, 1861 | American Civil War: The state of Kentucky proclaims its neutrality, which will last until September 3 when Confederate forces enter the state. Meanwhile, the State of North Carolina secedes from the Union. |
| May 24, 1861 | American Civil War: Union troops occupy Alexandria, Virginia. |
| May 29, 1861 | The Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce is founded, in Hong Kong. |
| June 1, 1861 | American Civil War: The Battle of Fairfax Court House is fought. |
| June 3, 1861 | American Civil War: Battle of Philippi (also called the Philippi Races): Union forces rout Confederate troops in Barbour County, Virginia, now West Virginia. |
| June 8, 1861 | American Civil War: Tennessee secedes from the Union. |
| June 10, 1861 | American Civil War: Battle of Big Bethel: Confederate troops under John B. Magruder defeat a much larger Union force led by General Ebenezer W. Pierce in Virginia. |
| June 17, 1861 | American Civil War: Battle of Vienna, Virginia. |
| July 16, 1861 | American Civil War: At the order of President Abraham Lincoln, Union troops begin a 25-mile march into Virginia for what will become the First Battle of Bull Run, the first major land battle of the war. |
| July 21, 1861 | American Civil War: First Battle of Bull Run: At Manassas Junction, Virginia, the first major battle of the war begins and ends in a victory for the Confederate army. |
| July 25, 1861 | American Civil War: The United States Congress passes the Crittenden–Johnson Resolution, stating that the war is being fought to preserve the Union and not to end slavery, in the wake of the defeat at the First Battle of Bull Run. |
| July 26, 1861 | American Civil War: George B. McClellan assumes command of the Army of the Potomac following a disastrous Union defeat at the First Battle of Bull Run. |
| August 5, 1861 | American Civil War: In order to help pay for the war effort, the United States government levies the first income tax as part of the Revenue Act of 1861 (3% of all incomes over US$800; rescinded in 1872). |
| August 5, 1861 | The United States Army abolishes flogging. |
| August 6, 1861 | Britain imposes the Lagos Treaty of Cession to suppress slavery in what is now Nigeria. |
| August 10, 1861 | American Civil War: Battle of Wilson's Creek: A mixed force of Confederate, Missouri State Guard, and Arkansas State troops defeat outnumbered attacking Union forces in the southwestern part of the state. |
| August 19, 1861 | First ascent of Weisshorn, fifth highest summit in the Alps. |
| August 28, 1861 | American Civil War: Union forces attack Cape Hatteras, North Carolina in the Battle of Hatteras Inlet Batteries which lasts for two days. |
| August 29, 1861 | American Civil War: The Battle of Hatteras Inlet Batteries gives Federal forces control of Pamlico Sound. |
| September 3, 1861 | American Civil War: Confederate General Leonidas Polk invades neutral Kentucky, prompting the state legislature to ask for Union assistance. |
| September 6, 1861 | American Civil War: Forces under Union General Ulysses S. Grant bloodlessly capture Paducah, Kentucky, giving the Union control of the Tennessee River's mouth. |
| September 17, 1861 | Argentine Civil Wars: The State of Buenos Aires defeats the Argentine Confederation at the Battle of Pavón. |
| October 1, 1861 | Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management is published, going on to sell 60,000 copies in its first year and remaining in print until the present day. |
| October 9, 1861 | American Civil War: Union troops repel a Confederate attempt to capture Fort Pickens at the Battle of Santa Rosa Island. |
| October 17, 1861 | Aboriginal Australians kill nineteen Europeans in the Cullin-la-ringo massacre. |
| October 21, 1861 | American Civil War: Union forces under Colonel Edward Baker are defeated by Confederate troops in the second major battle of the war. |
| October 24, 1861 | The first transcontinental telegraph line across the United States is completed. |
| October 25, 1861 | The Toronto Stock Exchange is created. |
| November 1, 1861 | American Civil War: U.S. President Abraham Lincoln appoints George B. McClellan as the commander of the Union Army, replacing General Winfield Scott. |
| November 7, 1861 | American Civil War: Battle of Belmont: In Belmont, Missouri, Union forces led by General Ulysses S. Grant overrun a Confederate camp but are forced to retreat when Confederate reinforcements arrive. |
| November 7, 1861 | The first Melbourne Cup horse race is held in Melbourne, Australia. |
| November 8, 1861 | American Civil War: The "Trent Affair": The USS San Jacinto stops the British mail ship Trent and arrests two Confederate envoys, sparking a diplomatic crisis between the UK and US. |
| November 20, 1861 | American Civil War: A secession ordinance is filed by Kentucky's Confederate government. |
| November 21, 1861 | American Civil War: Confederate President Jefferson Davis appoints Judah Benjamin Secretary of War. |
| November 28, 1861 | American Civil War: The Confederate States of America accept a rival state government's pronouncement that declares Missouri to be the 12th state of the Confederacy. |
| December 4, 1861 | The 109 Electors of the several states of the Confederate States of America unanimously elect Jefferson Davis as President and Alexander H. Stephens as Vice President. |
| December 9, 1861 | American Civil War: The Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War is established by Congress. |
| December 10, 1861 | American Civil War: The Confederate States of America accept a rival state government's pronouncement that declares Kentucky to be the 13th state of the Confederacy. |
| December 10, 1861 | Forces led by Nguyễn Trung Trực, an anti-colonial guerrilla leader in southern Vietnam, sink the French lorcha L'Esperance. |
| December 21, 1861 | Medal of Honor: Public Resolution 82, containing a provision for a Navy Medal of Valor, is signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln. |
| December 26, 1861 | American Civil War: The Trent Affair: Confederate diplomatic envoys James Murray Mason and John Slidell are freed by the United States government, thus heading off a possible war between the United States and the United Kingdom. |