Compiled by Jim Hachtel, President
Gen. William T. Sherman Memorial Civil War Roundtable
May 19,1861- The Confederate garrison at Harpers Ferry is strengthened by additional troops
May 20,1861- North Carolina secedes-the tenth state to do so
May 21,1861- Richmond is chosen the new capital of the Confederacy
May 21,1861- The Kentucky State Legislature votes to remain neutral in the upcoming struggle
May 21,1861- Lt. Fitzhugh Lee (Robert E. Lee's nephew) resigns as instructor at West Point to join the Confederacy
May 21,1861- Gen. William S. Harney, commanding in Missouri, agrees with Missouri State Guard commander Gen. Sterling Price to NOT introduce Union Troops into the state if peace was maintained. Congressman Francis Blair and General Nathaniel Lyon condemn the agreement; even call it treason
May 22,1861- Gen. Butler's Union forces occupy Ft. Monroe, VA
May 23,1861- Three runaway slaves appear at Ft. Monroe. Gen. Butler declares them "contraband of war" setting an important precedent for allowing more slaves to escape to Union lines
May 24,1861- Union troops under Gen. Samuel Heintzelman occupy Alexandria and Arlington, a to help defend Washington
May 24,1861- Colonel Elmer E. Ellsworth of the 11th New York (Fire Zouaves) removes a Confederate flag from an Alexandria hotel roof and is shot by the owner
May 25,1861- Pres. Lincoln attends the funeral of Col. Elmer Ellsworth. Ellsworth read law in Lincoln's office in Springfield and was a family friend
May 26,1861- The Confederate Army of the Peninsula is formed with Gen. J.B. Macgruder commanding
May 26,1861- Chief Justice Roger B. Tandy rules that the President cannot suspend the writ of habeas corpus - Pres. Lincoln ignores the ruling
May 26,1861- Union Gen. George McClellan moves troops to Grafton, in western Virginia and secures the B&O Railroad
May 27,1861- The New York Tribune used "ON TO RICHMOND" for the first time
May 27,1861- Gen. Benjamin F. Butler occupies Newport News, eight miles from Ft. Monroe, VA
May 28,1861- Union Gen. Irvin McDowell is appointed commander of the Department of Northeastern Virginia with responsibility for the defense of Washington, DC
May 29,1861- Dorothea Dix approaches Sec. of War Simon Cameron offering to organize a hospital for Federal forces
May 29,1861- The Confederacy has its first session in Richmond. Albert Sidney Johnston is appointed Full General in the Confederate Army
May 30,1861- Secretary Cameron instructs Gen. Benjamin Butler to feed and house fugitive slaves and assign them to work at Ft. Monroe
May 30,1861- Gen. Thomas A. Morris seizes Philippi in Western Virginia strengthening Union hold on the region
May 31,1861- Gen. John C. Fremont supersedes Gen. William Harney in Missouri and abrogates Harney's agreement with Sterling Price (see May 21)
