May 21 1861 Tuesday
Chesapeake Bay Blockade
CSA. The Confederate Department of the Navy was given the power by the Congress to grant patents concerning inventions such as armed vessels, floating batteries, and other defences.
Missouri. A convention was held between pro-Confederate Missouri State Major-General Sterling Price and US Brigadier-General William Selby Harney Agreement with the aim of restoring order and equilibrium to the state.
Virginia. After Virginia’s state forces were consolidated with the Provisional Army of the Confederate States, Virginia State Brigadier-General Philip St George Cocke was appointed Colonel of the 19th Virginia in the Confederate army. Cocke was superseded in command of the Confederate forces gathering at Manassas by Brigadier General Milledge Luke Bonham.
Virginia. The USS Monticello fired two shots at the Sewell’s Point battery near Norfolk but drew off when the battery returned fire. The Sewell’s Point battery and other batteries in the area continued to engage Union vessels on occasions during the following twelve months.
Union Organisation
Commander in Chief: President Abraham Lincoln
Vice-President: Hannibal Hamlin
Secretary of War: Simon Cameron
Secretary of the Navy: Gideon Welles
- Coast 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
- Department of the East: John Ellis Wool
- Department of Florida: Harvey Brown
- Department of New Mexico: Edward Richard Sprigg Canby
- Department of the Ohio: George Brinton McClellan
- Department of the Pacific: Edwin Vose Sumner
- District of Oregon: George Wright
- Department of Pennsylvania: Robert Patterson
- Department of Texas: Vacant
- Department of Utah: Philip St George Cooke
- Department of Washington: Joseph King Fenno Mansfield
- Department of the West: William Selby Harney
Confederate Organisation
CSA: The Hampton Line was established, comprising forces gathering in the Yorktown peninsula of Virginia.
CSA: Colonel John Bankhead Magruder assumed command of the Hampton Line.
Magruder, John Bankhead | Virginia | Born 1 May 1807 Port Royal | USMA 1830 15/42 Infantry | 2nd Lieutenant USA 7th US Infantry 1 July 1830 1st US Artillery 11 August 1831 1st Lieutenant USA 1st US Artillery 31 March 1836 Captain USA 1st US Artillery 18 June 1846 Resigned USA 20 April 1861 Colonel PACS 16 May 1861 Brigadier-General PACS 17 June 1861 Major-General PACS 7 October 1861 Not paroled | Died 18 February 1871 | 8 May 1861 – 20 May 1861 Forces in Richmond, 21 May 1861 – 25 May 1861 Hampton Line, 26 May 1861 – 30 May 1861 Department of the Peninsula, 26 May 1861 – 30 May 1861 Army of the Peninsula, 17 June 1861 – 11 April 1862 Department of the Peninsula, 17 June 1861 – 11 April 1862 Army of the Peninsula, 4 May 1862 – 25 June 1862 Reserve Northern Virginia, 25 June 1862 – 14 July 1862 Magruder’s Command Northern Virginia, 10 October 1862 – 26 November 1862 District of Texas, 29 November 1862 – 5 August 1864 District of Texas, New Mexico and Arizona, 4 August 1864 – 28 January 1865 District of Arkansas, 4 August 1864 – 31 March 1865 II Corps Trans-Mississippi, 31 January 1865 – 14 February 1865 District of Arkansas, 20 March 1865 – 26 May 1865 District of Texas, New Mexico and Arizona
CSA: Brigadier-General Milledge Luke Bonham assumed command of the Department of Alexandria, succeeding Colonel Philip St George Cocke.
CSA: Brigadier-General Milledge Luke Bonham assumed command of the Forces in Alexandria, succeeding Colonel Philip St George Cocke.
Bonham, Milledge Luke | South Carolina | Born 25 December 1813 Edgefield, South Carolina | Captain USV Staff South Carolina 1836 Lieutenant-Colonel USA 12th US Infantry March 1847 Colonel USA 12th US Infantry August 1847 Honourably Discharged USA 1848 Major-General South Carolina Militia 1848 Major-General South Carolina 10 February 1861 Brigadier-General PACS 23 April 1861 Resigned PACS 29 January 1862 Brigadier-General PACS 20 February 1865 Surrendered 26 April 1865 | Died 27 August 1890 | 21 May 1861 – 30 May 1861 Department of Alexandria, 21 May 1861 – 23 May 1861 Forces in Alexandria, 24 May 1861 – 1 June 1861 Army of the Potomac, 31 May 1861 – 1 June 1861 Department of the Potomac
CSA: State Brigadier-General Benjamin Huger assumed command of the Forces in Norfolk, succeeding Colonel Walter Gwynn.
Huger, Benjamin | South Carolina | Born 22 November 1805 Charleston, South Carolina | USMA 1825 8/37 Artillery – Ordnance | 2nd Lieutenant USA 3rd US Artillery 1 July 1825 Captain USA Ordnance 30 May 1832 Major USA Ordnance 15 February 1855 Resigned USA 22 April 1861 Lieutenant-Colonel CSA 16 March 1861 Brigadier-General Virginia Militia 16 May 1861 Brigadier-General PACS 17 June 1861 Major-General PACS 7 October 1861 Paroled 12 June 1865 | Died 7 December 1877 | 21 May 1861 – 23 May 1861 Forces in Norfolk, 23 May 1861 – 12 April 1862 Department of Norfolk
CSA: State Colonel Thomas Turner Fauntleroy assumed command of the Forces in Richmond succeeding Colonel John Bankhead Magruder.
Fauntleroy, Thomas Turner | Virginia | Born 8 October 1795 Richmond, Virginia | Lieutenant Virginia Militia 1812 Major USA US Dragoons 8 June 1836, Lieutenant-Colonel USA 2nd US Dragoons 30 June 1846 Colonel USA 1st US Dragoons 25 July 1850 Resigned USA 13 May 1861 Brigadier-General Virginia June 1861 Brigadier-General PACS 9 July 1861 declined and unconfirmed Resigned PACS October 1861 | Died 12 September 1883 | October 1859 – 21 January 1861 Department of New Mexico, 21 May 1861 – 29 August 1861 Forces in Richmond
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: Milledge Luke Bonham
- Forces in Alexandria: Milledge Luke Bonham
- 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 Southwestern Virginia: William Wing Loring
- 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
- Indian Territory: Benjamin McCulloch
- Potomac Line: Daniel Ruggles
- Hampton Line: John Bankhead Magruder
- Forces in Harper’s Ferry”: Thomas Jonathan Jackson interim, Joseph Eggleston Johnston awaited
- “Forces in Norfolk”: Benjamin Huger
- Forces in Richmond: Thomas Turner Fauntleroy
- Forces in the Kanawha Valley: Christopher Quarles Tompkins
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 Department of the West
- Brigadier-General USA Edwin Vose Sumner 16 March 1861 Department of the Pacific
- Brigadier-General USA Irvin McDowell 14 May 1861
- 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
- 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
- Major-General USV Benjamin Franklin Butler 16 May 1861
- Major-General USV Nathaniel Prentiss Banks 3 June 1861 to rank from 16 May 1861
- Brigadier-General USV Nathaniel Lyon 17 May 1861
- 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
- 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
Confederate Generals
- General ACSA Samuel Cooper 31 August 1861 to rank from 16 May 1861 Adjutant-General and Inspector General
- Major-General PACS David Emanuel Twiggs March 22 1861 District of Louisiana
- Brigadier-General ACSA Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard March 1 1861 Department of South Carolina & Forces in Charleston
- 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 interim
- Brigadier-General ACSA Robert Edward Lee 14 June 1861 to rank from 15 May 1861
- Brigadier-General PACS Alexander Robert Lawton 13 April 1861 Defences of Savannah
- Brigadier-General PACS Milledge Luke Bonham 23 April 1861 Department of Alexandria & Forces in Alexandria
- Brigadier-General PACS Benjamin McCulloch 11 May 1861 Indian Territory
- Brigadier-General PACS William Wing Loring 20 May 1861 Department of Southwestern Virginia
- Colonel Earl Van Dorn 16 March 1861 Department of Texas
- Colonel Theophilus Hunter Holmes March 1861 Department of North Carolina & Defences of North Carolina
- Colonel Thomas Jonathan Jackson 21 April 1861 Forces in Harper’s Ferry interim
- Colonel John Bankhead Magruder 16 May 1861 Hampton Line
- State Brigadier-General Daniel Ruggles May 1861 Potomac Line
- State Brigadier-General Benjamin Huger Forces in Norfolk
- Colonel Christopher Quarles Tompkins Forces in the Kanawha Valley
- Colonel Thomas Turner Fauntleroy Forces in Richmond
