January 9 1861 Wednesday
Mississippi Seceded
Star of the West Incident, SC
Maryland. Thirty US Marines were sent under Lieutenant Andrew J Hays from the Washington Navy Yard to garrison Fort McHenry in Baltimore until US Army troops could relieve them.
Mississippi. The state of Mississippi passed the Ordinance of Secession and seceded from the Union by a vote of 84 to 15. In the ordinance, the people of Mississippi expressed their consent to form a union with those States that had seceded or may in future secede from the United States of America. Mississippi became the second state to secede after South Carolina and claimed independence, pending the creation of a Confederacy of seceded states.
North Carolina. Fort Johnston was occupied by North Carolina state troops and citizens from Smithville.
South Carolina. The steamship Star of the West (Captain McGowan) was fired upon by cadets from the Citadel Military Academy who were located on Morris Island and at Fort Moultrie. They were the only available trained artillerymen under South Carolina State control. The ship had tried to land its reinforcements and supplies at Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbour but turned back undamaged after being fired upon. This was the first overt act of hostility of the war and the first shots fired at a vessel flying the United States flag. South Carolina State troops continued to construct batteries on Morris Island and around Fort Sumter.
Virginia. The Virginia state legislature passed a resolution asking for the status quo to be maintained with respect to the seceded states.
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: 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 California: Benjamin Lloyd Beall temporary
Department of the East: John Ellis Wool
Department of New Mexico: Thomas Turner Fauntleroy
Department of Oregon: George Wright
Department of Texas: David Emanuel Twiggs
Department of Utah: Philip St George Cooke
Department of the West: William Selby Harney
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
American Civil War High Command 