1861 March 7th

March 7 1861 Thursday

Go to March 8 1861

USA. Colonel Samuel Cooper resigned as Adjutant-General of the US Army to join the Confederacy. In due course, he became jointly the Adjutant-General and Inspector-General of the Confederate Army. He was commissioned first as Brigadier-General and shortly afterward as General in the Confederate Regular Army and became the ranking officer of the army, albeit serving in a staff role rather than a field command. He was therefore highest in the grade but was effectively outranked by all non-staff General officers holding “line” commissions. He was succeeded in the US Army by the Assistant Adjutant-General Colonel Lorenzo Thomas.

Alabama. Braxton Bragg was the second Brigadier-General appointed in the Confederate Army. He was assigned to command the newly created Department of West Florida and the Forces in Pensacola which were gathering to threaten the Union garrison at Fort Pickens.

Georgia. The Georgia State Convention reassembled.

Louisiana. The Louisiana state legislature adopted an ordinance in secret session transferring to the Confederate States $536,000, being the amount of bullion in the US mint and customs seized by the State.

Texas. Camp Verde was abandoned by the US Army. Camp Verde was established in 1856. At the suggestion of Secretary of War Jefferson Finis Davis, camels were brought to the camp as an experiment in providing transportation for troops and equipment in desert areas. The experiment with camels was interrupted by the Civil War and ended when the fort was evacuated in 1869. Union soldiers were held prisoner by Confederates in 1861 at nearby Prison Canyon Ranch.

Texas. Camp Ringgold was evacuated by the US Army and occupied by pro-Confederate forces. Camp Ringgold was established in 1848 at the top of a river bluff offering observation across the river into Mexico. This was one of several posts built along the Rio Grande River between Brownsville and Eagle Pass. Camp Ringgold was named for Major Samuel Ringgold, who was killed at the battle of Palo Alto in 1846. The nearby settlement of Rancho Davis was later renamed Rio Grande City. Camp Ringgold changed hands several times. Union troops re-entered the Rio Grande Valley and seized the camp briefly in 1863 but it wasoccupied by Confederate Colonel John Salmon Ford and Colonel Santos Benavides. The post stayed in Confederate hands until the end of the war. The post was renamed Fort Ringgold after the war in 1865.

Union Organisation

USA. Colonel Samuel Cooper resigned as Adjutant-General of the US Army to join the Confederacy.
USA. Colonel Lorenzo Thomas assumed interim command as Adjutant-General of the US Army, succeeding Colonel Samuel Cooper.

Commander in Chief: President Abraham Lincoln
Vice-President: Hannibal Hamlin
Secretary of War: Simon Cameron
Secretary of the Navy: Gideon Welles

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 the East: John Ellis Wool

Department of New Mexico: Thomas T Fauntleroy interim, William Wing Loring awaited

Department of the Pacific: Albert Sidney Johnston

• District of Oregon: George Wright

Department of Texas: Carlos Adolphus Waite

Department of Utah: Philip St George Cooke

Department of the West: William Selby Harney

Confederate Organisation

CSA: The Department of West Florida was established.
CSA: Brigadier-General Braxton Bragg was appointed to command the Department of West Florida, arriving on 11 March 1861.
CSA: The Forces in Pensacola was established, comprising the field forces in and near Pensacola and under the jurisdiction of the Department of West Florida.
CSA: Brigadier-General Braxton Bragg was appointed to command the Forces in Pensacola, arriving on 11 March 1861.

CSA: Braxton Bragg was promoted Brigadier-General ACSA 7 March 1861.

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”: Braxton Bragg

• “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 West Florida established: Braxton Bragg awaited

• “Forces in Pensacola” established: Braxton Bragg awaited

Union Generals

Major-General USA

Winfield Scott

Brigadier-General USA

John Ellis Wool
David Emanuel Twiggs

Brigadier-General USA (Staff)

Joseph Eggleston Johnston

Confederate Generals

Brigadier-General ACSA

Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard
Braxton Bragg