June 8 1861 Saturday
Tennessee Seceded
Chesapeake Bay Blockade
McClellan’s West Virginia Campaign
USA. The Sanitary Commission was authorised by the Federal government.
CSA. All military forces collected by the various states for service of the Confederate states were assigned to the Confederate Provisional Army of the Confederate States.
California. Incident at Larabee’s House.
Florida. The USS Mississippi established the naval blockade at Key West. The blockade of the Gulf coast had already been commenced by USS Powhatan against Mobile, Alabama, and USS Brooklyn against New Orleans, Louisiana. With the arrival of Flag Officer William Mervine in USS Mississippi, the blockading fleet was raised to a strength of twenty vessels.
Maryland. Union troops from Annapolis seized a supply of arms at Easton.
Pennsylvania. Union forces under Pennsylvania State Major-General Robert Patterson Left Chambersburg to advance on Harper’s Ferry, Virginia.
Tennessee. Tennessee formally seceded from the Union, following the lead of the state legislature. The date of secession effectively dated from the alliance formed on 6th May 1861 but was not ratified for two months. Eastern Tennessee remained a staunchly pro-Union region.
Virginia. The Union camp at Newport News held by the 1st Vermont was reinforced by 9th New York (Hawkins’ Zouaves). Union Major-General Benjamin Franklin Butler also expanded Camp Hamilton, started by Colonel Justin Dimick at Hampton within the range of the guns of Fort Monroe.
Virginia. The bridges over the Potomac River at Point of Rocks and Berlin were burned by the Confederates. Four bridges on the Alexandria & Hampshire Railroad were also destroyed.
Virginia. After the defeat at Philippi, Colonel George A Porterfield was succeeded in command of Confederate forces in western Virginia by Confederate Brigadier-General Robert Selden Garnett. The companies of Confederate recruits present at Philippi became part of various regiments, including the 9th Virginia Battalion, the 25th Virginia, 31st Virginia, 11th Virginia Cavalry and 14th Virginia Cavalry. The Barbour Lighthorse Cavalry, commanded by Captain William Jenkins, disbanded after the retreat from Philippi. Garnett’s force was designated the Army of the Northwest.
Union Organisation
USA: The Coast Blockading Squadron of the US Navy was discontinued and divided into the Atlantic Blockading Squadron, the Gulf Blockading Squadron, and the West Indies Squadron.
USA: The Atlantic Blockading Squadron of the US Navy was established.
USA: Captain Silas H Stringham USN assumed command of the Atlantic Blockading Squadron.
USA: The Gulf Blockading Squadron of the US Navy was established.
USA: Captain William Mervine USN assumed command of the Gulf Blockading Squadron.
USA: The West Indies Squadron of the US Navy was established.
USA: Captain Garrett J Prendergast USN assumed command of the West Indies Squadron of the US Navy.
Commander in Chief: President Abraham Lincoln
Vice-President: Hannibal Hamlin
Secretary of War: Simon Cameron
Secretary of the Navy: Gideon Welles
- Atlantic Blockading Squadron USN: Flag Officer Silas Horton Stringham USN
- Gulf Blockading Squadron USN: Flag Officer William Mervine USN
- Pacific Squadron USN: Captain John B Montgomery USN
- Western Gunboat Flotilla USN: Commander John Rodgers USN
- Potomac Flotilla USN: Commander James Harmon Ward USN
General–in-Chief: Winfield Scott
- Department of Annapolis: John Adams Dix interim Nathaniel Prentiss Banks awaited
- Department of the East: John Ellis Wool
- Department of Florida: Harvey Brown
- Department of Kentucky: Robert Anderson
- Department of New Mexico: Edward Richard Sprigg Canby
- Department of Northeastern Virginia: Irvin McDowell
- Department of the Ohio: George Brinton McClellan
- Department of the Pacific: Edwin Vose Sumner
- District of Oregon: George Wright
- Department of Pennsylvania: Robert Patterson
- Army of the Shenandoah: Robert Patterson
- Department of Texas: Vacant
- Department of Utah: Philip St George Cooke
- Department of Virginia: Benjamin Franklin Butler
- Department of Washington: Joseph King Fenno Mansfield
- Department of the West: Nathaniel Lyon
Confederate Organisation
CSA: Brigadier-General Robert Edward Lee was appointed Military Adviser to the President.
Lee, Robert Edward | Virginia | Born 19 January 1807 Stratford Hall, Virginia | USMA 1829 2/46 Engineers | 2nd Lieutenant USA Engineers 1 July 1829 1st Lieutenant USA Engineers 21 September 1836 Captain USA Engineers 7 July 1838 Lieutenant-Colonel USA 2nd US Cavalry 3 March 1855 Colonel USA 1st US Cavalry 16 March 1861 Resigned USA 25 April 1861 Commander-in-Chief Virginia Army 23 April 1861 Brigadier-General ACSA 14 June 1861 to rank from 15 May 1861 General ACSA June 14 1861 General-in-Chief January 31 1865 Surrendered and Paroled 9 April 1865 | WIA Chapultepec 1847 CIA Appomattox 1865 | Died 12 October 1870 | 8 June 1861 – 4 November 1861 Military Adviser to the President, 5 November 1861 – 13 March 1862 Department of South Carolina, Georgia and East Florida, 5 March 1862 – 31 May 1862 Military Adviser to the President, 1 June 1862 – 9 April 1865 Department of Northern Virginia, 1 June 1862 – 9 April 1865 Army of Northern Virginia. 31 January 1865 – 9 April 1865 General-in-Chief
CSA: The Army of the Northwest was established, comprising all forces collected in north-western Virginia.
CSA: Brigadier-General Robert Selden Garnett assumed command of the Army of the Northwest.
Garnett, Robert Selden | Virginia | Born 16 December 1819 Essex, Virginia | USMA 1841 27/52 Artillery | 2nd Lieutenant USA 4th US Artillery 31 January 1842 1st Lieutenant USA 4th US Artillery 18 August 1846 7th US Infantry 31 August 1848 Captain USA 7th US Infantry 9 March 1851 1st US Cavalry 3 March 1855 Major USA 9th US Infantry 27 March 1855 Resigned USA 30 April 1861 Brigadier-General PACS 6 June 1861 | KIA Carrick’s Ford 13 July 1861 | 8 June 1861 – 13 July 1861 Army of the Northwest
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
Military Adviser to the President: Robert Edward Lee
- Department No 1: David Emanuel Twiggs
- “Forces in New Orleans” “Army of Louisiana”: Braxton Bragg
- Department of Fredericksburg: Theophilus Hunter Holmes
- Department of the Potomac: Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard
- Army of the Potomac: Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard
- Department of Norfolk: Benjamin Huger
- Department of North Carolina: Theophilus Hunter Holmes
- Defences of North Carolina: Theophilus Hunter Holmes
- Department of the Peninsula: Daniel Harvey Hill temporary
- Army of the Peninsula: Daniel Harvey Hill temporary
- Department of South Carolina: Daniel Harvey Hill
- Department of Southwestern Virginia: William Wing Loring
- Department of Texas: Earl Van Dorn
- Department of West Florida: Braxton Bragg
- “Forces in Pensacola”: Braxton Bragg
- Defences of Savannah: Alexander Robert Lawton
- Indian Territory: Benjamin McCulloch
- Forces in Harper’s Ferry”: Joseph Eggleston Johnston
- Forces in Richmond: Thomas Turner Fauntleroy
- Army of the Kanawha: Henry Alexander Wise
- Army of the Northwest: Robert Selden Garnett
Union Generals
- Major-General USA Winfield Scott 5 July 1841 to rank from 25 June 1841 General-in-Chief
- Major-General USA George Brinton McClellan 14 May 1861 Department of the Ohio
- Major-General USA John Charles Frémont 3 July 1861 to rank from 14 May 1861
- Brigadier-General USA John Ellis Wool 25 June 1841 Department of the East
- Brigadier-General USA William Selby Harney 14 June 1858
- Brigadier-General USA Edwin Vose Sumner 16 March 1861 Department of the Pacific
- Brigadier-General USA Irvin McDowell 14 May 1861 Department of Northeastern Virginia
- Brigadier-General USA Joseph Fenno King Mansfield May 17 1861 to rank from May 14 1861 Department of Washington
- Brigadier-General USA Montgomery Cunningham Meigs 15 May 1861 Quartermaster-General
- Brigadier-General USA Robert Anderson 17 June 1861 to rank from 15 May 1861 Department of Kentucky
- Brigadier-General USA William Starke Rosecrans 16 June 1861 to rank from 16 May 1861
- Major-General USV John Adams Dix 16 May 1861 Department of Annapolis interim
- Major-General USV Benjamin Franklin Butler 16 May 1861 Department of Virginia
- Major-General USV Nathaniel Prentiss Banks 3 June 1861 to rank from 16 May 1861 Department of Annapolis awaited
- Brigadier-General USV Nathaniel Lyon 17 May 1861 Department of the West
- Brigadier-General USV Jacob Dolson Cox 17 May 1861
- Brigadier-General USV Samuel Peter Heintzelman 27 May 1861 to rank from 17 May 1861
- Brigadier-General USV Robert Cumming Schenck 5 June 1861 to rank from 17 May 1861
- Brigadier-General USV John Pope 14 June 1861 to rank from 17 May 1861
- Brigadier-General USV Joseph Jones Reynolds 14 June 1861 to rank from 17 May 1861
- Brigadier-General USV Stephen Augustus Hurlbut 14 June 1861 to rank from 17 May 1861
- Brigadier-General USV William Tecumseh Sherman 3 August 1861 to rank from 17 May 1861
- Brigadier-General USV Andrew Porter 6 August 1861 to rank from 17 May 1861
- Brigadier-General USV William Buel Franklin 6 August 1861 to rank from 17 May 1861
- Brigadier-General USV Charles Pomeroy Stone 6 August 1861 to rank from 17 May 1861
- Brigadier-General USV Thomas West Sherman 6 August 1861 to rank from 17 May 1861
- Brigadier-General USV Benjamin Franklin Kelley 6 August 1861 to rank from 17 May 1861
- Brigadier-General USV Joseph Hooker 6 August 1861 to rank from 17 May 1861
- Brigadier-General USV John Alexander McClernand 6 August 1861 to rank from 17 May 1861
- Brigadier-General USV Frederick West Lander 6 August 1861 to rank from 17 May 1861
- Brigadier-General USV Erasmus Darwin Keyes 7 August 1861 to rank from 17 May 1861
- Brigadier-General USV David Hunter 7 August 1861 to rank from 17 May 1861
- Brigadier-General USV Don Carlos Buell 7 August 1861 to rank from 17 May 1861
- Brigadier-General USV Fitz-John Porter 7 August 1861 to rank from 17 May 1861
- Brigadier-General USV George Archibald McCall 7 August 1861 to rank from 17 May 1861
- Brigadier-General USV Rufus King 7 August 1861 to rank from 17 May 1861
- Brigadier-General USV Franz Sigel 7 August 1861 to rank from 17 May 17 1861
- Brigadier-General USV Charles Smith Hamilton 7 August 1861 to rank from 17 May 1861
- Brigadier-General USV Samuel Ryan Curtis 7 August 1861 to rank from 17 May 1861
- Brigadier-General USV Philip Kearny 7 August 1861 to rank from 17 May 1861
- Brigadier-General USV Alpheus Starkey Williams 9 August 1861 to rank from 17 May 1861
- Brigadier-General USV William Reading Montgomery 9 August 1861 to rank from 17 May 1861
- Brigadier-General USV Israel Bush Richardson 9 August 1861 to rank from 17 May 1861
- Brigadier-General USV Benjamin Mayberry Prentiss 9 August 1861 to rank from 17 May 1861
- Brigadier-General USV Darius Nash Couch 9 August 1861 to rank from 17 May 17 1861
- Brigadier-General USV Ulysses Simpson Grant 9 August 1861 to rank from May 17 1861
- Brigadier-General USV James Cooper 12 August 1861 to rank from 17 May 1861
- Brigadier-General USV Julius Stahel 12 November 1861 to rank from 17 May 1861
- Brigadier-General USV John Wolcott Phelps 9 August 1861 to rank from 27 May 1861
- Colonel George Wright 3 March 1855 District of Oregon
- Colonel Philip St George Cooke 14 June 1858 Department of Utah
- Colonel Edward Richard Sprigg Canby 14 May 1861 Department of New Mexico
- Colonel Harvey Brown 14 May 1861 Department of Florida
- State Major-General Robert Patterson Department of Pennsylvania Army of the Shenandoah
Confederate Generals
- General ACSA Samuel Cooper 31 August 1861 to rank from 16 May 1861 Adjutant-General and Inspector General
- General ACSA Albert Sidney Johnston 31 August 1861 to rank from 30 May 1861
- Major-General PACS David Emanuel Twiggs March 22 1861 Department No 1
- Brigadier-General ACSA Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard March 1 1861 Department of the Potomac & Army of the Potomac
- Brigadier-General ACSA Braxton Bragg March 7 1861 Forces in Louisiana & Department of West Florida & Forces in Pensacola & Forces in New Orleans
- Brigadier-General ACSA Joseph Eggleston Johnston May 15 1861 to rank from May 14 1861 Forces in Harper’s Ferry
- Brigadier-General ACSA Robert Edward Lee 31 August 1861 to rank from 14 June 1861 to rank from 15 May 1861 Military Adviser to the President
- Brigadier-General PACS Alexander Robert Lawton 13 April 1861 Defences of Savannah
- Brigadier-General PACS Milledge Luke Bonham 23 April 1861
- Brigadier-General PACS Benjamin McCulloch 11 May 1861 Indian Territory
- Brigadier-General PACS William Wing Loring 20 May 1861 Department of Southwestern Virginia
- Brigadier-General PACS Charles Clark 22 May 1861.
- Brigadier-General PACS John Buchanan Floyd 23 May 1861
- Brigadier-General PACS William Henry Talbot Walker 25 May 1861
- Brigadier-General PACS Henry Rootes Jackson 4 June 1861
- Brigadier-General PACS Earl Van Dorn 5 June 1861 Department of Texas
- Brigadier-General PACS Theophilus Hunter Holmes 5 June 1861 Department of North Carolina & Defences of North Carolina & Department of Fredericksburg
- Brigadier-General PACS Henry Alexander Wise 5 June 1861 Army of the Kanawha
- Brigadier-General PACS Robert Selden Garnett 6 June 1861 Army of the Northwest
- Colonel Daniel Harvey Hill May 1861 Department of South Carolina & Department of the Peninsula temporary & Army of the Peninsula temporary
- State Brigadier-General Benjamin Huger Department of Norfolk
- Colonel Thomas Turner Fauntleroy Forces in Richmond
