April 15 1861 Monday
USA. US President Abraham Lincoln summoned a special session of the US Congress to consider the status of war against the Confederate states. Only Congress could formally declare war but as it was not in session, the President’s summons and call to arms was deemed the equivalent of a declaration of war. With that confirmation assured, he issued a Proclamation calling for 75,000 militiamen to serve for 90 days.
California. Incidents at Mad River and Van Dusen’s Creek.
Florida. The Confederates demanded the surrender of Fort Pickens at Pensacola Bay but this was rejected.
Indiana. Governor Oliver P Morton opened Camp Morton at Henderson’s Grove in Indianapolis, naming it for himself. Before the war, the site served as the ground for the Indiana State Fair. Camp Morton was initially used as a military training ground and the first recruits arrived on 17 April 1861. The site was later converted into a prisoner-of-war camp with the first Confederate prisoners arriving from Fort Henry and Fort Donelson on 22 February 1862. The last prisoners were paroled on 12 June 1865. The property then resumed its role as the fairgrounds for the Indiana State Fair. It was among the largest of the Union’s eight prison camps established for Confederate non-commissioned officers and privates. Other large prison camps included Camp Douglas (Chicago, Illinois), Camp Chase (Columbus, Ohio), and Camp Butler (Springfield, Illinois). Between 1862 and 1865, the camp’s average prison population was 3,214 with a maximum population of 4,999 in July 1864. More than 1,700 prisoners died at the camp during its four years of operation. General officers were sent to Fort Warren in Boston Harbor, and lower commissioned officers were sent to Johnson’s Island in Sandusky Bay, Ohio.
Kentucky. The Governor of Kentucky asserted its neutrality and refused to furnish its quota of militia for Federal service.
New York. Seventeen vessels registered from Southern ports and without US clearance to depart were seized and fined by the New York authorities.
North Carolina. The Governor of North Carolina refused to furnish its quota of militia for Federal service.
North Carolina. Fort Macon near Beaufort was taken over by North Carolina troops under Captain Josiah Solomon Pender before the state seceded from the Union. It was located at the eastern end of Bogue Bank, in the Outer Banks.
Construction began in 1826 and the first garrison arrived after completion in December 1834. It was named after Nathaniel Macon, 6th Speaker of the US House of Representatives and Senator from North Carolina. It was intended to protect the entrance to the harbor at Beaufort and Morehead City. Fort Macon was a Third System fort designed by French Brigadier General Baron Simon Bernard. Bernard served with distinction in the Napoleonic and Royal French army but after the emperor’s second abdication, he was banished and emigrated to the USA. He accepted a commission in the US Army with the rank and pay of a Brigadier-General of Engineers on 16 November 1816. He designed several extensive forts, notably Fort Monroe and Fort Wool in Virginia, Fort Adams in Newport, Rhode Island, Fort Morgan in Alabama, Fort McRee in Florida, and Fort Pulaski in Georgia. He resigned from the US Army on 10 July 1831.
The inner structure of the fort is an irregular pentagon constructed of brick and stone masonry. It has 26 enclosed casemates and three of the five sides face seaward. The inner structure is surrounded by a ditch with two drawbridge entrances. The ditch is surrounded by a high earthwork with additional gun emplacements. The fort was designed to mount 51 seacoast guns.
The garrison comprised a single US Army sergeant acting as caretaker when it was occupied and only four guns were mounted in the dilapidated and neglected fortification. The Confederates immediately began to upgrade the armament until 56 guns (5 8-inch and 2 10-inch Columbiads, 19 24-pounders, 32 32-pounders, and 6 field guns) were mounted. Confederate Colonel Moses J White was assigned to command a new garrison of 430 men.
Texas. The US Army evacuated Fort Stockton. The fort was established by 1st Lieutenant Walter Jones (1st US Infantry) on 23 March 1859 and named after Commodore Robert H Stockton USNy. Originally named Camp Stockman, the name was changed to Fort Stockton in 1859. The fort was located at Comanche Springs on Comanche Creek and was intended to protect a portion of the San Antonio-El Paso Road which led to California. It was one of a string of forts along this important road. The Confederates took possession of the fort later in1 861 but abandoned it in 1862.
Union Organisation
Commander in Chief: President Abraham Lincoln
Vice-President: Hannibal Hamlin
Secretary of War: Simon Cameron
Secretary of the Navy: Gideon Welles
Pacific Squadron: John Berrien Montgomery
General–in-Chief: Winfield Scott
Department of the East: John Ellis Wool
Department of Florida: Harvey Brown awaited
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
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: Earl Van Dorn awaited
Department of West Florida: Braxton Bragg
- “Forces in Pensacola”: Braxton Bragg
Defences of Savannah: Alexander Robert Lawton awaited
“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
Note: Italics, awaiting confirmation of the commission
Major-General PACS
David Emanuel Twiggs
Brigadier-General ACSA
Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard
Braxton Bragg
Brigadier-General PACS
Alexander Robert Lawton
American Civil War High Command 