“Will the Sec. of Navy please call on me at once.” Thus Lincoln writes from the “Executive Mansion,” signaling the crisis that is Fort Sumter. Meanwhile, in Montgomery, Alabama, the Confederate States of America issues its first currency. Also in Alabama, the Cedar Bluff Baptist Church (in Cedar Bluff, Alabama) meets for its monthly business…
Shortly after the new year begins, the white First Baptist Church of Nashville, Tennessee establishes a “Second Colored Baptist Mission” in Edgefield (on Fatherland Street), East Nashville. Directed by a white committee and George Dardis, a free black preacher, the Second slave congregation is co-sponsored by Nelson G. Merry, the free black pastor of the…
New York lawyer Chester A. Arthur is appointed by Gov. Edwin D. Morgan as Engineer-in-Chief of the New York State Militia. The future 21st president of the United States (1881-1885) would serve in political appointments during the Civil War. On April 4, 1862 he was appointed Inspector-General of the New York State Militia, then –…