1861 April 25th

April 25 1861 Thursday

Fort Smith and Van Buren, AK

Fort Smith and Van Buren, Arkansas. Arkansas militia led by Senator Solon Borland took possession of Fort Smith and Van Buren. This post and town on the edge of the Indian Territory were important strategic locations as they were the terminus of the overland stage to California. The US Army garrison of two troops of cavalry under Captain Samuel Davis Sturgis (1st US Cavalry) escaped after his junior officers resigned to join the Confederacy. Although the fort was surrounded, Sturgis managed to reach Fort Leavenworth unscathed and safely delivered most of the government property under his care.

District of Columbia. The Union garrison of the capital was reinforced by the 7th New York Militia Infantry and about 1,200 militiamen each from Massachusetts and Rhode Island. They arrived by train after re-laying the damaged track from Annapolis and repairing a wrecked locomotive. Until this point, the available Union garrison of Washington, DC beyond ad hoc units, had comprised only the 6th Massachusetts Infantry and five companies of Pennsylvanians, quartered in the Senate Chamber and the House of Representatives. This reinforcement ended the isolation of the city from the rest of the North.

Illinois. Arms and military stores were moved clandestinely from St Louis, Missouri, to Alton to prevent their seizure by pro-Confederate forces in Missouri. This pre-emptive move was made through the initiative of the commander of the US Arsenal, Union Captain Nathaniel Lyon. Lyon was aware of the risk of local militants obtaining the arms to force the secession of the state. Union Captain James H Stokes transported 12,500 muskets from the Federal arsenal to equip Union Militia troops in Illinois.

New York. The transport Empire City arrived from Texas, carrying 600 men of the 3rd US Infantry and
2nd US Cavalry, who had been withdrawn from the state after secession. These were part of the US Army’s forces in the Department of Texas before the state’s secession. Some garrisons managed to escape by sea while others were imprisoned and were not exchanged until 1862.

Texas. US Army posts at Indianola and Saluria surrendered to the Texas authorities. Confederate Colonel Earl Van Dorn claimed 450 US Army prisoners at Saluria under the command of Major Caleb C Sibley. Sibley had brought his garrison from Fort McIntosh to Matagorda Bay a battalion, where he surrendered a battalion of the 3rd US Infantry.

Texas. Fort Stockton surrendered to the Texas authorities. Fort Stockton was established by 1st Lieutenant Walter Jones (1st US Infantry) on 23 March 1859 and named after Commodore Robert H Stockton of the US Navy. It was originally named Camp Stockman early 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 but abandoned it in 1862.

Union Organisation

USA: Brigadier-General Edwin Vose Sumner, now the fourth-ranking officer in the US Army, arrived to command the Department of the Pacific, succeeding Colonel Albert Sidney Johnston who had defected to the Confederacy.

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

Department of New Mexico: William Wing Loring

Department of the Pacific: Edwin Vose Sumner arrived

District of Oregon: George Wright

Department of Texas: Vacant

Department of Utah: Philip St George Cooke

Department of Washington: Robert Patterson

Department of the West: Nathaniel Lyon

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 Alexandria: Philip St George Cocke

Alexandria Line: Philip St George Cocke

Department of North Carolina: Theophilus Hunter Holmes

Defences of North Carolina: Theophilus Hunter Holmes

Department of South Carolina: Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard

“Forces in Charleston”: Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard

Department of Texas: Earl Van Dorn

Department of West Florida: Braxton Bragg

“Forces in Pensacola”: Braxton Bragg

District of Louisiana: David Emanuel Twiggs

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

Defences of Savannah: Alexander Robert Lawton

Potomac Line: Daniel Ruggles

“Forces in Harper’s Ferry”: Kenton Harper

“Forces in Norfolk”: William Booth Taliaferro

Union Generals

Major-General USA

Winfield Scott

Brigadier-General USA

John Ellis Wool
William Selby Harney
Edwin Vose Sumner

Confederate Seniority

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
Milledge Lake Bonham