February 4 1861 Monday
Montgomery Convention: Opening of Confederate Provisional Congress
Confederate Government Organised
Virginia Peace Conference Opens
CSA. Thomas Howell Cobb was named provisional head of state for the establishment of the Confederate States of America.
CSA. Representatives from the seceded states of South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana opened a convention in Montgomery to organise a new government. The Texas delegation arrived later. Thomas Howell Cobb was appointed provisional President for the duration of the Confederate Provisional Congress.
CSA. Judah Philip Benjamin was appointed Attorney General in the Confederate provisional government.
District of Columbia. A Peace Conference called by the Virginia legislature opened in Washington but it was not attended by representatives from any of the seven seceded states. Twenty-one states sent representatives and the Border States were particularly prominent in the debates. Arkansas, Wisconsin, Minnesota, California, and Oregon did not send representatives. Former President John Tyler headed the conference.
Virginia. A pro-Union majority took control of the Virginia Secession Convention, raising hopes that Virginia would not leave the Union. The Conference sat until 27 February 1861.
Union Organisation
Commander in Chief: President James Buchanan
Vice-President: John Cabell Breckinridge
Secretary of War: Joseph Holt
Secretary of the Navy: Isaac Toucey
- African Squadron USN: Captain William Inman USN
- Brazil Squadron USN: Captain Joshua R Sands USN.
- East Indian (Asiatic) Squadron USN: Captain Cornelius K Stribling USN
- European Squadron USN: vacant
- Home Squadron USN: Captain Garrett J Prendergast USN
- Mediterranean Squadron USN: Captain Charles H Bell USN
- Pacific Squadron USN: Captain John B Montgomery USN
General–in-Chief: Winfield Scott
- Department of the Pacific: Albert Sidney Johnston
- District of Oregon: George Wright
- Department of the East: John Ellis Wool
- Department of New Mexico: Thomas T Fauntleroy
- Department of Texas: David Emanuel Twiggs
- Department of Utah: Philip St George Cooke
- Department of the West: William Selby Harney
Confederate Organisation
Provisional President Thomas Howell Cobb
Union Generals
Major-General USA
Winfield Scott
Brigadier-General USA
John Ellis Wool
David Emanuel Twiggs
William Selby Harney
Brigadier-General USA (Staff)
Joseph Eggleston Johnston
