February 9, 1861 - At a convention in Montgomery, Alabama, the 7 seceding states created the Confederate Constitution. The Confederate States of America (CSA) was formed with Jefferson Davis as their President. Davis was a graduate of West Point and had served as a U.S. Army officer. March 4, 1861 - Abraham Lincoln is sworn in as 16th President of the United States. April 12, 1861 - 4:30 am Confederate soldiers under the command of General Pierre Beauregard, opened fire upon Ft. Sumter with 50 cannons. The Civil War has now begun. April 14, 1861 - Shelling has stopped, and Ft. Sumter is in Confederate hands, flying the "stars & bars". With the attack on Ft. Sumter, 4 more states joined the Confederacy, making Richmond the Confederate capital. April 17, 1861- Virginia secedes from the Union, followed by Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina 5 weeks later. This forms the 11 state Confederacy with a population of 9 million, including nearly 4 million slaves. April 19, 1861 - Lincoln issues a Proclamation of Blockade against Southern ports. This blockade limits the ability of the rural South to stay well supplied in its war against the North. April 20, 1861 - Robert E. Lee resigns his commission in the United States Army. Saying: "I cannot raise my hand against my birthplace, my home, my children." Lee is offered command of the military and naval forces of Virginia, he accepts. June, 1861 - Residents of the western counties of Virginia didn't want to secede along with the rest of the state, so this section of the state was admitted to the Union as the State of West Virginia on June 20th, 1863. Despite their acceptance of slavery, Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri did not join the Confederacy. Although they were divided in their loyalties, political and military pressure kept these state in the Union. July 4, 1861 - Lincoln states in a speech to Congress that the war is: "A People's contest....a struggle for maintaining in the world, that form, and substance of government, whose leading object is, to elevate the condition of men..." Congress authorizes a call for 500,000 men. July 21, 1861 - The Union Army, under the command of General Irvin McDowell, suffers a defeat at Bull Run, 25 miles south of Washington, DC. Confederate General Thomas J. Jackson earns his nickname "Stonewall", as his brigade resists Union attacks. Union troops fall back to Washington and President Lincoln realizes this will be a long war. July 27, 1861 - The President appoints George B. McClellan as Commander of the Department of the Potomac, replacing McDowell. McClellan tells his wife, "I find myself in a new and strange position here: President, Cabinet, General Scott, all deferring to me. By some strange operation of magic I seem to have become the power of the land." September 11, 1861 - President Lincoln revokes General John C. Fremont's unauthorized military proclamation of emancipation in Missouri. Later the President relieves Fremont of his command and replaces him with General David Hunter. November 1, 1861 - President Lincoln appoints McClellan as General-in-Chief of all Union forces after the aged Winfield Scott resigns. Lincoln tells McClellan, "..the supreme command of the Army will entail a vast labor upon you." McClellan responds, "I can do it all." November 8, 1861 - The beginning of the International diplomatic crisis for President Lincoln as 2 Confederate officials sailing toward England are seized by the U.S. Navy. England, being the leading world power, demands their release, threatening war. Lincoln eventually gives in and orders their release in December. Lincoln remarks, "One war at a time."