1861 April 11th

April 11 1861 Thursday

Fort Sumter Operations

District of Columbia. The members of the Confederate Peace Commission to Washington left the capital.

New York. The US steamship Coatzacoalcos docked in New York, bringing Union troops expelled from the Union garrisons in Texas.

South Carolina. Brigadier-General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard demanded the surrender of Fort Sumter in the name of the Confederate Government, Beauregard dispatched three aides including Colonel James Chesnut Jr, Captain Stephen Dill Lee, and Lieutenant A R Chisholm to Fort Sumter to issue his final ultimatum. The Union garrison commander Major Robert Anderson refused again although he was aware that he could only endure a few more days unless he received supplies by sea. He was playing for time but Beauregard was authorised by the CS Secretary of War, Leroy Pope Walker to commence firing on the fort if an immediate surrender was not forthcoming. The three aides left Fort Sumter for Fort Johnson at about 3 am on 12 April 1861, and Colonel Chesnut reported to Beauregard that the ultimatum would not be complied with.

Virginia. Commander James Alden USN was ordered to take command of USS Merrimack which was undergoing repair in the Norfolk Navy Yard. Chief Engineer Benjamin Isherwood was sent the next day to put the ship’s engines in working order to permit its evacuation to a Northern port.

Union Organisation

Commander in Chief: President Abraham Lincoln
Vice-President: Hannibal Hamlin
Secretary of War: Simon Cameron
Secretary of the Navy: Gideon Welles

African Squadron: William Inman
Brazil Squadron: Joshua Ratoon Sands
East Indian (Asiatic) Squadron: Cornelius Kinchiloe Stribling
European Squadron: vacant
Home Squadron: Garrett J Prendergast
Mediterranean Squadron: Charles H Bell
Pacific Squadron: John Berrien Montgomery

General–in-Chief: Winfield Scott

Department of the East: John Ellis Wool

Department of New Mexico: William Wing Loring

Department of the Pacific: Albert Sidney Johnston interim Edwin Vose Sumner awaited

District of Oregon: George Wright

Department of Texas: Carlos Adolphus Waite

Department of Utah: Philip St George Cooke

Department of Washington: Charles Ferguson Smith

Department of the West: William Selby Harney

Confederate Organisation

CSA: The Department of Texas was established.
CSA: Colonel Earl Van Dorn was appointed to command the Department of Texas, arriving on 21 April 1861.

Commander in Chief: President Jefferson Finis Davis
Vice-President: Alexander Hamilton Stephens
Secretary of War: Leroy Pope Walker
Secretary of the Navy: Stephen Russell Mallory

Department of Louisiana: David Emanuel Twiggs

“Forces in New Orleans” “Army of Louisiana”: Braxton Bragg

Department of South Carolina: Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard

“Forces in Charleston”: Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard

Department of Texas established: Earl Van Dorn awaited

Department of West Florida: Braxton Bragg

“Forces in Pensacola”: Braxton Bragg

Forces in Harper’s Ferry”: Kenton Harper

Union Generals

Major-General USA

Winfield Scott

Brigadier-General USA

John Ellis Wool
William Selby Harney
Edwin Vose Sumner

Brigadier-General USA (Staff)

Joseph Eggleston Johnston

Confederate Generals

Major-General PACS

David Emanuel Twiggs

Brigadier-General ACSA

Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard
Braxton Bragg