I'll be gone for a few days so multiple days are posted tonight. See you again Monday night.
August 19, 1861 Monday
The Confederate Congress at Richmond agreed to an alliance with Missouri and virtually admitted the state into the Confederacy. Thus the state officially had two governments, one Union and one Confederate. Another act authorized a produce loan of $100,000,000 to be taken up by planters to help finance the war. (
http://www.usrarecoininvestments.com/co ... 1558_d.htm )
In Washington President Lincoln made several appointments. Advises Sec. Cameron: "At the request of Brigadier General Anderson, I have concluded to appoint George H. Thomas, of the 2nd. Cavalry, a Brigadier General of Volunteers. Also, let the Hon. James Shields, now of California, be appointed a Brigadier General of Volunteers. Also, Col. Michael Corcoran, now a prisoner at Richmond." He ordered Maj Gen Henry W. Halleck, then in California, to report to Washington. It was thought Halleck would be named to a top command. Newspapers at West Chester and Easton, Pennsylvania were raided by unionists, and a publisher in Haverhill, Massachusetts was tarred and feathered by a mob for alleged pro-Southern sentiments.
There was a skirmish at Klapsford, Missouri; Federal forces from Bird’s Point, opposite Cairo, railroaded to Charleston, Missouri and defeated a force of Missouri state troops. U.S. Assistant Secretary of the Navy Fox ordered 200 Marines to report to Commander Dahlgren at the Washington Navy Yard for duty on board ships of the Potomac Flotilla for the purpose of scouring the Maryland countryside--especially Port Tobacco--for locations suspected of being Confederate depots for provisions and arms to be used for invading Maryland.
August 20, 1861 Tuesday
Major General George B. McClellan assumed command of the newly organized Department and the Army of the Potomac for the Union. A convention in Wheeling, western Virginia provided for setting up a new pro-Union state to be called Kanawha. M. Romero confers with President Lincoln concerning proposed intervention of European powers in Mexican affairs. Skirmishing occurred at Hawk’s Nest and Laurel Ford Creek, western Virginia; and at Fish Lake, Missouri. Confederates attacked a railroad train near Lookout Station, Missouri. William Farquhar Barry, USA and John Fulton Reynolds, USA were appointed to Brigadier General. Brigadier General Richard Caswell Gatlin, USA, assumes command of the defenses of North Carolina.
President Davis wrote General Joseph E. Johnston at Manassas about complaints in the Confederate Army of improper food and lack of care for the sick. Davis approved a bill increasing Confederate artillery and calling for other military measures. At Springfield, Missouri, General Sterling Price proclaimed the great Southern victory at Wilson’s Creek and said Northern oppressors of Missouri had been defeated.
August 21, 1861 Wednesday
The Federal government ordered that copies of New York newspapers suppressed for allegedly aiding rebellion should not be carried by the mails, and papers were confiscated in Philadelphia. There was a skirmish at Jonesboro, Missouri. Brig Gen Roswell S. Ripley was named to command the Confederate Department of South Carolina, and Brig Gen John B, Grayson the Department of Middle and East Florida. President Davis approved an act of the Confederate Congress to name two more commissioners to Europe, and another measure authorizing the President to cooperate and extend aid to Missouri. U.S.S. Vandalia, under Commander Samuel Phillips Lee, captured Confederate blockade runner Henry Middleton off Charleston with a cargo of spirits, turpentine, and rosin.
August 22, 1861 Thursday
Suppression of alleged pro-Southern Northern newspapers continued in New York; Canton, Ohio; and Philadelphia. President Lincoln writes Sec. Cameron: "Victor B. Bell [Illinois businessman], now of Colorado, is one of my most valued friends; . . . I would like for him to be an Asst. Quarter Master or Commissary of Subsistence of Volunteers. Can you not fix it for me?"
Brig. Gen. Henry H. Sibley and brigade of 3,700 men called the "Confederate Army of New Mexico" depart San Antonio, Texas, for New Mexico.
Commander J. Rodgers reported that six hundred Confederate troops occupying Commerce, Missouri, withdrew at the approach of the Union gunboats. This action prevented the erection of Confederate batteries at a location which would have effectively impeded navigation.
U.S.S. Lexington, under Commander Stembel, seized steamer W. B. Terry at Paducah, Kentucky, for trading with Confederates.
Steamer Samuel Orr was seized by Confederates at Paducah, Kentucky, and taken up the Tennessee River.