1861 May 3rd

May 3 1861 Friday

Go to May 4 1861

Great Britain. British Foreign Minister Lord John Russell met informally with a delegation from the Confederate States comprising William L Yancey, Pierre A Rost, and A Dudley Mann. The Confederate diplomats were seeking diplomatic recognition of the Confederate government but no commitment was made by the British government.

USA. US President Abraham Lincoln called for 42,000 volunteers for three years’ service and directed an increase in the US Regular Army by the formation of eight new three-battalion regiments of infantry (24 companies each) (11th-18th US Infantry), and one regiment of Regular Army Artillery (5th US Artillery). This raised the Regular Army’s nominal strength to 22,714 men. He also authorised the enlistment of 18,000 seamen for the US Navy.

Missouri. Governor Claiborne Fox Jackson sent a message to the legislature, advising the arming of the state and recommending a sympathetic attitude with the Confederate slave-holding states.

Virginia. Governor John Letcher of Virginia issued a call for additional volunteers to strengthen the defence of the state.

Union Organisation

USA: The Department of the Ohio was established, comprising Illinois, Ohio, and Indiana, to be transferred from the Department of the East.
USA: Major-General of Ohio Militia George Brinton McClellan was appointed to command the Department of the Ohio, arriving on 13 May 1861.

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

Pacific Squadron: John Berrien Montgomery
Potomac Flotilla: James Harmon Ward

General–in-Chief: Winfield Scott

Department of Annapolis: Benjamin Franklin Butler awaited

Department of the East: John Ellis Wool

Department of Florida: Harvey Brown

Department of New Mexico: Vacant

Department of the Ohio: George Brinton McClellan awaited

Department of the Pacific: Edwin Vose Sumner awaited

• 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: Edmund Brooke Alexander temporary

Confederate Organisation

CSA: The Forces in the Kanawha Valley was established, comprising forces recruited in western Virginia.
CSA: Colonel of Virginia Militia Christopher Quarles Tompkins assumed command of the Forces in the Kanawha Valley.

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: Philip St George Cocke

• Alexandria Line: Philip St George Cocke

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 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

Potomac Line: Daniel Ruggles

“Forces in Harper’s Ferry”: Thomas Jonathan Jackson

“Forces in Norfolk”: Walter Gwynn

Forces in Richmond: Joseph Eggleston Johnston

Forces in the Kanawha Valley: Christopher Quarles Tompkins

Union Generals

Note: Italics, awaiting confirmation of the commission

Major-General USA

Winfield Scott

Brigadier-General USA

John Ellis Wool
William Selby Harney
Edwin Vose Sumner

Confederate Generals

Note: Italics, awaiting confirmation of the commission

Major-General PACS

David Emanuel Twiggs

Brigadier-General ACSA

Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard
Braxton Bragg

Brigadier-General PACS

Alexander Robert Lawton
Milledge Lake Bonham