[Doug64]

July 21, Sunday

The morning dawns bright and clear. The day promises to be hot. The battlefield area near Bull Run is somewhat deceptive. At first glance it appears to be gently rolling country with a few hills, farms, and woods. There does not seem to be anything that would present a real obstacle to the movement of an army. But, on closer inspection, the whole area is cut apart by streams running in narrow valleys between the hills. Of these, Bull Run is, of course, the largest. It presents a fairly formidable obstacle, if well defended.

The Confederate attack fails to materialize. The orders issued by General Beauregard are confused and vague, and some of them never reach his brigade commanders at all. Of the four brigades in the front line on the Confederate right, only those of Longstreet and Jones actually cross Bull Run; Bonham’s and Ewell’s brigades are left waiting for orders. The Confederate attack plan is canceled when the Union army makes its attack at the other end of the battlefield.

The Union plan for enveloping the Confederate left flank calls for two crossings of Bull Run. The main attack led by General McDowell himself is to cross at 7:00 am, far beyond the Confederate left, at a ford near Sudley Church. The secondary attack is to be made at daybreak down the Warrenton Turnpike, straight toward the Stone Bridge. It is here that the battle opens at 5:15 am with a demonstration by the Union 1st Division.

It is soon obvious to Colonel Evans commanding the Confederate troops at the Stone Bridge that this is not the main effort. He has with him only a few troops which could easily have been pushed aside by the Union 1st Division, yet they make no real effort to do so. For almost four hours a slow cannonading continues. The only result of this demonstration is that the two Confederate brigades of General Bee and Colonel Bartow are ordered at 7:00 am to march toward the Stone Bridge. General Jackson is sent with his brigade to a position of readiness nearby. This is the time set for the Union main attack to cross near Sudley Church—but it is two hours behind schedule; one of the divisions took a wrong fork in the road, though it eventually arrives. If the demonstration at the Stone Bridge had been timed to coincide with the main attack, or even to follow it, the Union plan would have had a better chance of success.

About 9:00 am the Confederates are warned of the forces crossing near Sudley Church. The Union main attack has been observed from a high hill behind the Confederate lines. The warning message sent by flag signal, “wigwag,” is probably the first use of this type of signaling in any war. It certainly produces fast action on the part of Colonel Evans. Leaving a guard at the Stone Bridge, he moves his small command rapidly to the left and rear, posting it on a hill north of the Warrenton Turnpike, facing the enemy. Here he meets the onslaught of the leading brigade of the Union 2nd Division led by Colonel A.E. Burnside.

At this stage of the battle the main assault forces of the Union army, having rounded the Confederate left flank, are facing a very small, but very stubborn, unit doing its best to hold until Confederate reserves can reach the scene. The other brigade of the Union 2nd Division enters the fray. Part of the 3rd Division joins in the attack, but so do some Confederate troops including the brigades of Bee and Bartow. Heavily outnumbered, the defenders cling desperately to their position. It begins to look as if they are there to stay. The Union forces should have dispersed them long ago, but the attacks have been delivered piecemeal (regiment by regiment), straight to the front.

At this moment another Union brigade comes on the field. Brigadier General William Tecumseh Sherman has found a crossing of Bull Run north of the Stone Bridge. His attack is not delivered straight to the front, but instead hits the Confederates on the right flank. The Confederate line breaks. In his first major battle General Sherman is giving clear evidence of his ability as a tactician.

The Confederates flee across Young’s Branch, past the Stone House, and up the slopes of the Robinson House and Henry House Hills. Desperately trying to rally the retreating forces, General Bee discovers a long, steady line of Confederate infantry waiting just behind the brow of the Henry House Hill. Another general, this time on the Confederate side, is demonstrating an unusual capacity for command. Marching to the sound of the firing, General Jackson has grasped the situation at a glance and formed his command in the best possible location to halt the enemy attack. His troops, whom he has worked so diligently to train, are standing firm awaiting the enemy attack.

It is here that General Bee, pointing at this brigade, shouts, “Look! There is Jackson standing like a stone wall! Rally behind the Virginians!” Though Bee, soon after, falls mortally wounded, his words will not die. “Stonewall” Jackson and the “Stonewall Brigade” will always live in the history of the United States. The fleeing soldiers do turn and rally around the Virginians.

Once both sides have sorted themselves out, the battle now enters its second phase. It is in many ways a repetition of the first. The main assault forces of the Union army again face a stubborn defense, formed this time around the strong core of Jackson’s brigade. Again the Union army attacks. A mistake is made; some of the artillery pushes forward. A swift cavalry charge led by Colonel J.E.B. Stuart, coupled with a counterattack against orders by one of Jackson’s regiments (mistaken for Union troops due to their blue uniforms), breaks the supporting infantry and the guns are lost. The Union troops fall back, return again to the fight. The front lines surge back and forth over the Henry House Hill, the abandoned guns changing hands several times.

General McDowell loses track of the battle as a whole, riding back and forth along the fighting front rallying his men while forgetting the strong reserves he still possesses. In spite of this both sides receive reinforcements, and the greater Union strength begins to tell. The Union line threatens to reach around the left of the Confederate line. At this critical moment the last of Johnston’s brigades from Winchester, led by Brigadier General E. Kirby Smith, arrives on the scene. Hastily, it has detrained, formed, and marched to the battlefield. Attacking on the Confederate left, this brigade threatens the Union forces but it is not enough. More troops are needed. In the distance General Beauregard sees a column of marching men.

Is it Union or Confederate? Whichever it is it will surely win the day. Which flag is that at the head of the column? None can tell. A breeze strikes the colors, spreads the flag—it is Confederate! Colonel Jubal A. Early’s brigade, all the way from the opposite end of the battlefield, has come in the nick of time. All along the Confederate line, for the first time on any battlefield, rises the rebel yell as the men charge forward.

The Union line staggers backward, then collapses. A few units retreat in good order. Many more simply walk away. Covered by the regulars and some units which have not been engaged, the retreating forces are comparatively safe from pursuit. The Confederates do not have enough troops available to make possible an assault on Washington. They do follow for a short distance and fire a few rounds of artillery at the road, upsetting a wagon, and temporarily blocking the way. This causes the panic, the future oft-told hysterical flight of visiting Congressmen and their ladies, the society leaders who have come from Washington in their Sunday best to watch the battle. Many of the soldiers join the mad rush. They don’t stop until they reach Washington. Disorderly as the retreat is, the Union army covers more distance in this one night than it had managed to cover in three days of southward marching the week before.

On the Confederate side there is also disorganization. Above Stone Bridge the regiments are halted for realignment, all possibility of control being gone. On the opposite side of the line, where the brigades have forced their way across the fords below the bridge, pursuit is abandoned and the men recalled to the south bank of the run to meet a false alarm of an attack at Union Mills—Brigadier General James Longstreet is commanded to fall back just as he gives the order to his batteries to open fire on the retreating Union column. Stuart’s cavalry, swinging wide around Sudley Springs, is soon burdened with so many prisoners that they lose all mobility and eventually dwindle to a squad. It is the same all along the line.

Even President Jefferson Davis, braced for disaster as he rides from Manassas Junction through the backwash of the army (the rear of an army in battle always looks like it’s losing), loses some measure of his self-control when he finds the Union soldiers fleeing. Meeting Colonel Elzey, he confers the first battlefield promotion of the war. He joins the horseback chase toward Sudley Springs, and everywhere encounters rejoicing and elation. But when he rides back to see Johnston and Beauregard at their Manassas headquarters and asks what forces are pushing the beaten enemy, they reply that the troops are confused and need rest; pursuit has ended for the night. Davis is unwilling to reconcile himself to this, but presently a slow rain comes on, turning the dust to mud all over eastern Virginia, and there is no longer even a question of the possibility of pursuit. Bull Run or Manassas is over.

There are heavy casualties on both sides, at least for this early in the war, and the men are physically exhausted from their efforts, the heat, and the emotional strain of battle. The dead and wounded show the severity of the first great battle of the war. Of the 35,000 Union troops there are 460 killed, 1,124 wounded, and 1,312 missing for 2,896. The Confederates have 32,000 present; approximately 18,000 of these eventually enter the battle but the bulk of the fighting is done by only a portion of this number. They have 387 killed, 1,582 wounded, and 13 missing for 1,982; but they also capture numerous guns, rifles, and other supplies and equipment abandoned in the flight to Washington.

At Washington as night falls the Cabinet meets, President Lincoln hears from civilian eyewitnesses of the reported stampede and spends the night calmly listening to the news.

Though there is dissatisfaction in the North, there also is a realization that this is a war and the people had better get busy and pull together. For the South it perhaps gives a bit of overconfidence—the Southern soldier has proven himself and the infant nation has taken a grown-up step forward.

Meanwhile, over in the Shenandoah, where most of Johnston’s men have left to join Beauregard, there is a brief skirmish at Charles Town.

General Scott in Washington orders Major General N.P. Banks to relieve Major General Patterson in command of the Department of the Shenandoah, blaming Patterson for the failure to hold Johnston in the valley.

Far to the west, US troops skirmish with Amerinds on the south fork of the Eel River in California.

In Richmond the Confederate Secretary of State Robert A. Toombs, having long bridled at being deskbound while others are taking service in the field, resigns his post even before word of the victory arrives. He will enter the army as a Georgia brigadier general.

[Doug64]

July 22, Monday

Dismay over Bull Run or Manassas spreads in the North and elation spreads in the South. The Confederate Congress in Richmond calls for a day of thanksgiving. In Washington Major General George B. McClellan, youthful victor in western Virginia, is ordered to come take command of the army which has suffered such a defeat under McDowell. Orders for reorganization are issued. Of course, McDowell has to be a scapegoat, although his strategy was sound, and, while not a brilliant soldier, he has many capabilities.

While all attention is on Virginia, troops skirmish at Etna and Forsyth, Missouri, with the Federals capturing Forsyth. The State Convention meeting at Jefferson City affirms the loyalty of the state and declare the state offices vacant. Meanwhile, the pro-Confederate state government under Claiborne Jackson also claims to represent the state.

In Washington the House of Representatives passes a resolution (the Crittenden Resolution) announcing that the war is being waged “[t]o defend and maintain the supremacy of the Constitution and to preserve the Union,” and not to interfere with slavery or subjugate the South.

The schooner Enchantress, captured earlier by the Confederate privateer Jefferson Davis and returning to port, is encountered and freed by the USS Albatross. The prize crew is captured and sent to Philadelphia to stand trial for piracy.

[Doug64]

July 23, Tuesday

While the reverberations of Bull Run or Manassas continue in both capitals and both nations, people wonder what is coming next. Federal command changes continue, with Major General John A. Dix taking over the Department of Maryland, and Brigadier General W.S. Rosecrans assuming command of the Department of the Ohio, which includes western Virginia.

In New Mexico Territory Federal troops are forced to abandon Fort Buchanan, and it is occupied by Confederate troops.

Confederate Colonel John R. Baylor has reconnoitered Fort Fillmore in New Mexico Territory from his base at Fort Bliss, El Paso (abandoned by the US Army and occupied by Baylor the previous July 1st at the order of Colonel Canby, head of the Department of Texas). Now Baylor crosses into New Mexico Territory with his battalion of the 2nd Texas Mounted Rifles, 258 men, on his way to Fort Fillmore.

President Lincoln is busy indeed, but he does jot down a memorandum of military policy, a result of the Bull Run defeat. In this he suggests pushing the blockade, strengthening forces in the Shenandoah Valley, reorganizing the troops around Washington, bringing new men forward quickly, and in general standing and preparing for increased war.

[Doug64]

July 24, Wednesday

Confederate troops of Brigadier General Henry A. Wise, at Tyler Mountain in western Virginia near Charleston, retreat as the Federals of Jacob D. Cox, after a difficult march, begin to attack the rear of the Confederate camp. During the night Wise pulls his entire force out of Charleston and vicinity and retires toward Gauley Bridge.

Confederate Colonel Baylor is camped undetected within 600 yards of Fort Fillmore, New Mexico Territory, intending to take it by surprise at daybreak. But the fort commander, Major Isaac Lynde of Vermont, is warned of the Confederate presence by one of Baylor’s pickets who deserts during the night.

There is also slight skirmishing at Black River, Virginia, and at Blue Mills, Missouri, but fighting for the moment is limited.

[Doug64]

July 25, Thursday

The United States Senate, following the course of the House, passes the Crittenden Resolution that the present war is being fought to maintain the Union and Constitution and not to interfere with established institutions such as slavery. Andrew Johnson of Tennessee moves adoption. The vote is 30 to 5.

Three new Federal commanders assume important posts—Major General Banks supersedes Patterson in the Shenandoah, Major General Dix takes command in Baltimore, and Major General Charles Fremont assumes his post of command in the Western Department at St. Louis.

There is skirmishing at Dug Springs in southwest Missouri, and indications are that more action will be seen in the general area of Springfield soon. There is also fighting at Harrisonville, Missouri.

In New Mexico Territory Confederate Colonel Baylor, realizing that his force’s presence just outside Fort Fillmore has been discovered, calls off his assault and moves his force of 258 men across the Rio Grande to enter the town of Mesilla. Already flying a Confederate flag, the town’s population gives him a rousing welcome. Although a veteran of 34 years in the infantry, the fort’s commander Major Lynde takes most of the day to decide to sally against Colonel Baylor’s force late in the afternoon in a halfhearted attempt to drive the Texans from Mesilla. After a brief exchange of fire—three Federals are killed and six wounded—darkness falls and Lynde withdraws back into Fort Fillmore.

In western Virginia Federals under Jacob Cox occupy Charleston on the Great Kanawha.

Northern balloon observation operations begin at Fort Monroe.

Robert Mercer Taliaferro Hunter, Virginia lawyer and political figure, is named Secretary of State of the Confederacy, succeeding Robert Toombs, who has resigned to enter military service. Hunter is the first member of the Cabinet from the all-important border states that were part of the second wave of secession after Lincoln had called for volunteers to put down the rebellion.

[Doug64]

July 26, Friday

At Fort Fillmore, New Mexico Territory, after dithering all day and although outnumbering the Confederates 500 to 250, Major Lynde decides to abandon Fort Fillmore and retreat to Fort Stanton, 140 miles across the desert to the northeast. In the excitement of packing and departing, some of Lynde’s soldiers break into the post’s stock of medicinal whiskey and fill their canteens.

At McCulla’s Store, Missouri, there is a small affair.

Brigadier General Felix K. Zollicoffer is assigned Confederate command in east Tennessee.

[Potemkin]

July 26, Friday

At Fort Fillmore, New Mexico Territory, after dithering all day and although outnumbering the Confederates 500 to 250, Major Lynde decides to abandon Fort Fillmore and retreat to Fort Stanton, 140 miles across the desert to the northeast. In the excitement of packing and departing, some of Lynde’s soldiers break into the post’s stock of medicinal whiskey and fill their canteens.

To be fair to him, he probably figured that, since the local town was overwhelmingly pro-Confederate, there was simply no point in maintaining possession of Fort Fillmore. Defeating the Confederate forces in a pitched skirmish would have been a Pyrrhic victory.

[Doug64]

To be fair to him, he probably figured that, since the local town was overwhelmingly pro-Confederate, there was simply no point in maintaining possession of Fort Fillmore. Defeating the Confederate forces in a pitched skirmish would have been a Pyrrhic victory.

I think I have to disagree. Yes, the local population was pro-Confederate, but outside of posting a Confederate flag (that he apparently hadn’t attempted to take down) they hadn’t done anything. And this fort is important.

[Potemkin]

I think I have to disagree. Yes, the local population was pro-Confederate, but outside of posting a Confederate flag (that he apparently hadn’t attempted to take down) they hadn’t done anything. And this fort is important.

Point taken. Besides, in any civil war, a certain... firmness with civilian populations is sometimes necessary.

[Doug64]

Point taken. Besides, in any civil war, a certain... firmness with civilian populations is sometimes necessary.

In this case, AFAIK, no firmness was necessary—all they had done was raise a flag and give an enthusiastic welcome to Baylor’s men. Certainly they weren’t a threat to the fort itself.

[Edit] California could have been very different, around a third of the population was from the South, but when the war came huge numbers of them packed up and headed back east to fight.

[Doug64]

July 27, Saturday

Major General George B. McClellan is officially put in command by President Lincoln of the Federal Division of the Potomac, which includes all troops in the vicinity of Washington. He had been called to the post the day after Bull Run and replaces defeated Major General McDowell. He finds Washington “almost in condition to have been taken by a dash of a regiment of cavalry,” and looked up to by all as a deliverer. This evening he writes to his wife, “I find myself in a new and strange position here. President, cabinet, Gen. Scott, and all deferring to me. By some strange operation of magic I seem to have become the power of the land.” With a strong belief in his ability to set things straight, he will go to work at once, declaring, “I see already the main causes of our recent failure. I am sure that I can remedy these, and am confident that I can lead these armies of men to victory.” Within ten days of his arrival he will be able to write, “I have restored order completely.”

Mr. Lincoln adds to his memo of July 23 regarding moves to be made following Bull Run. He writes that Manassas Junction, Virginia, and Strasburg in the Shenandoah should be seized and that a joint movement from Cairo on Memphis and from Cincinnati on east Tennessee.

The latter seems difficult in view of the “neutrality” of Kentucky. A congressional act is approved that calls for indemnification of the states for expenses in defending the nation.

Union Major Lynde orders Fort Fillmore, New Mexico Territory, abandoned at 1 am and by daybreak his men have made good progress along the desert road to Fort Stanton. But after daybreak the July heat and a and lack of water—combined with the whiskey a number of the soldiers have brought—takes a terrible toll leaving most of the men fallen out of the march. When Colonel Baylor, bypassing the Union solders strung out along the road begging him for water, catches up with Major Lynde at San Agustin Springs, the Major has at most 100 men left which he surrenders to the Confederates without firing a shot. (Major Lynde will be discharged from the Army in November, but after the war this will be revoked and he will be put on the retired list.)

As word of Major Lynde’s surrender spreads the Union troops who have been marching toward Fort Fillmore from Forts Buchanan and Breckinridge to the west will change direction and head for Fort Craig, 100 miles farther north on the Rio Grande. At the same time the Federal commander at Fort Stanton, 80 miles to the east, will hurry his men northwestward to Albuquerque and Santa Fe. With the exception of the isolated garrison at Fort Craig, no Union troops will stand guard below the 34th parallel bisecting New Mexico Territory, opening the way to California.

[Potemkin]

July 27, Saturday
Union Major Lynde orders Fort Fillmore, New Mexico Territory, abandoned at 1 am and by daybreak his men have made good progress along the desert road to Fort Stanton. But after daybreak the July heat and a and lack of water—combined with the whiskey a number of the soldiers have brought—takes a terrible toll leaving most of the men fallen out of the march. When Colonel Baylor, bypassing the Union solders strung out along the road begging him for water, catches up with Major Lynde at San Agustin Springs, the Major has at most 100 men left which he surrenders to the Confederates without firing a shot. (Major Lynde will be discharged from the Army in November, but after the war this will be revoked and he will be put on the retired list.)

As word of Major Lynde’s surrender spreads the Union troops who have been marching toward Fort Fillmore from Forts Buchanan and Breckinridge to the west will change direction and head for Fort Craig, 100 miles farther north on the Rio Grande. At the same time the Federal commander at Fort Stanton, 80 miles to the east, will hurry his men northwestward to Albuquerque and Santa Fe. With the exception of the isolated garrison at Fort Craig, no Union troops will stand guard below the 34th parallel bisecting New Mexico Territory, opening the way to California.

Was Lynde aware that reinforcements were on their way? If so, then his behaviour is astounding.

[Doug64]

Was Lynde aware that reinforcements were on their way? If so, then his behaviour is astounding.

I can't find anything specific but I'd say no, because the reaction wasn't strong enough. In November Lynde was, at the direction of President Lincoln, dropped from the army rolls (essentially dishonorably discharged) for "abandoning his post — Fort Fillmore, N. Mex. — on the 27th of July, 1861, and subsequently surrendering his command to an inferior force of insurgents." If Lynde had known that reinforcements were on the way, I'd guess that the punishment would have been considerably stronger.

[Potemkin]

I can't find anything specific but I'd say no, because the reaction wasn't strong enough. In November Lynde was, at the direction of President Lincoln, dropped from the army rolls (essentially dishonorably discharged) for "abandoning his post — Fort Fillmore, N. Mex. — on the 27th of July, 1861, and subsequently surrendering his command to an inferior force of insurgents." If Lynde had known that reinforcements were on the way, I'd guess that the punishment would have been considerably stronger.

Indeed, and Lincoln's anger is completely understandable. It's interesting that they seem to have essentially forgiven him after the Civil War ended with a Union victory, though, and reinstated his pension.

[Doug64]

July 28, Sunday

Confederate troops occupy New Madrid, Missouri, an important defensive point on the Mississippi just across from the Tennessee-Kentucky state line.

General R.E. Lee leaves his post as advisor in Richmond for an inspection in western Virginia, where the Confederates have suffered serious defeats.

In the Confederacy a day of thanksgiving is observed for success of Southern arms in defending their homes.

[Doug64]

Indeed, and Lincoln's anger is completely understandable. It's interesting that they seem to have essentially forgiven him after the Civil War ended with a Union victory, though, and reinstated his pension.

Probably a part of the effort to reconcile the two halves and put the war behind us. After all, if we were going remarkably easy on those that fought against the Union, how can we not go easy on those that fought for the Union and failed to measure up? It would have been a very different story if the North had lost, of course.

[Doug64]

July 29, Monday

Horace Greeley, who has called for “Forward to Richmond” in his New York Tribune, now writes the President favoring negotiations for peace.

Federal vessels of the Potomac flotilla duel with a new Confederate battery and there is action against batteries at Marlborough Point, Virginia, also on the Potomac.

There is a skirmish at Edwards’ Ferry, Maryland, on the Potomac.

Congress is rapidly approving the various measures already put into effect by the President. Today President Lincoln approves a bill to call out the militia to suppress rebellion, which amends the old 1795 militia act. The Regular Army is enlarged by nine infantry regiments and one each of cavalry and artillery.

Federal Brigadier General John Pope assumes command in northern Missouri.

[Doug64]

July 30, Tuesday

The Federal troops of Jacob Cox in western Virginia move up the Great Kanawha Valley from Charleston and enters the area of Gauley Bridge.

General Benjamin F. Butler in command at Fort Monroe again writes Secretary of War Cameron seeking clarification of policy on the continuing problems of “contraband,” as he designates former slaves who have come into Federal lines. He has some nine hundred Blacks in his care and asks, “What shall be done with them?” He raises the question of whether they are property. The problem includes their treatment under the fugitive slave law, but Butler has used Black men on fortifications and is anxious to make them an instrument of war by refusing to return them to the rebels.

[Doug64]

July 31, Wednesday

The State Convention of Missouri moves the capital to St. Louis and formally elects Hamilton R. Gamble as pro-Union governor of the state, replacing pro-Confederate Claiborne Jackson. Gamble is inaugurated and makes a patriotic speech.

An act of the Federal Congress is approved which defines conspiracy against the United States and sets up punishments for the crime of overthrowing or attempting to put down or destroy by force the government of the United States.

Naval activity has been high during the latter part of July with Confederate privateers and CSS Sumter active, while at the same time Federal blockaders are making their presence felt.

President Lincoln nominates obscure Colonel Ulysses S. Grant and others as Brigadier Generals of Volunteers.

[Doug64]

August 1, Thursday

General R.E. Lee, CSA Army, and advisor to President Davis, arrives in western Virginia on an uncertain mission to coordinate and inspect the various Confederate forces there. After Garnett fell and his army was scattered through McClellan’s skillful maneuvering, someone has to pick up the pieces and Lee has been given that unenviable task with high public expectations. What the public doesn’t know is that Lee isn’t sent to command, but to advise and coordinate four small independent “armies” whose commanders will include one professional soldier and veteran of the Mexican War who has only been there for a week and resents Lee’s arrival as an indication that the government doesn’t trust him, one scholarly but inexperienced ex-diplomat (the pair’s tardiness and inexperience, respectively, will hopelessly botch Lee’s initial suggested campaign), and two high-tempered ex-governors of Virginia that seem more intent on destroying each other than injuring the enemy to their front. The campaign is to be conducted seventy miles from the nearest railhead in an area whose population is largely hostile and whose principle “crop” is mountain laurel, so that supplies have to be brought up over roads made bottomless by rain that seldom slacks. (One veteran will assert that “it rained thirty-two days in August.”) The troops are hungry and ragged, cowed by the defeats they’ve suffered, half of them down with measles or mumps and the other half lacking confidence in their leaders.

In New Mexico Territory, Colonel John R. Baylor, having returned with his around 250 “buffalo hunters” to the town of Mesilla outside Fort Fillmore after the surrender of the fort’s Union garrison at San Agustin Springs, proclaims the establishment of the Confederate Territory of Arizona, including of all of New Mexico and Arizona south of the 34th parallel, with Mesilla as the capital and himself as Governor. However, his force is much too small to carry out the occupation of the newly-declared Territory unaided and pro-unionists of New Mexico consider it more of a “Texas invasion.”

The effort to reinforce Baylor is already underway, under the command of Brigadier General Henry Hopkins Sibley. Sibley, a veteran officer and inventor of the army’s cone-shaped Sibley tent as well as the portable Sibley stove, became familiar with New Mexico Territory while campaigning against the Navajo under Canby, a fellow cadet at West Point and now a lieutenant colonel and in charge of the Union Department of Santa Fe. Sibley has orders from President Davis to organize an army in Texas and drive the Federals out of all of New Mexico. After that, his orders read, he is to be “guided by circumstances and your own good judgment”—essentially, to extend the conquest to California, Nevada, Colorado, and other areas as circumstances permit. But first Sibley has to build his army, and that will take the rest of the summer and into the fall.

There is a slight skirmish at Endina, Missouri.

Brazil recognizes the Confederate States of America as a belligerent.

President Davis writes from Richmond to General Joseph E. Johnston at Manassas on military matters and says, “We must be prompt to avail ourselves of the weakness resulting” from the effect on morale produced by the Bull Run defeat of the Federals.

The US Senate debates a bill to suppress insurrection and sedition.

The Onandaga County, New York, Cavalry, eighty strong, leave for war with a young bride, Mrs. Cook, accompanying her husband as “daughter of the regiment.”

President Lincoln appoints Gustavus Vasa Fox Assistant Secretary of the Navy. Fox has been chief clerk of the department and already has a prominent role in the administration of things naval.