WHAT ALL HAPPENED FEBRUARY TO SEPTEMBER 1861
Find out what all happened February to September 1861

In Gaeta the capitulation of the fortress decreeing the end of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies is signed. (13. February 1861)

American Civil War: Battle of Big Bethel - Confederate troops under John B. Magruder defeat a much larger Union force led by General Ebenezer W. Pierce in Virginia. (10. June 1861)

The United States Army abolishes flogging. (5. August 1861)

American Civil War, Battle of Fairfax Court House (June 1861): the first land battle of the American Civil War after the Battle of Fort Sumter, producing the first Confederate combat casualty. (1. June 1861)

American Civil War: Richmond, Virginia is named the capital of the Confederate States of America. (8. May 1861)

Battle of Vienna, Virginia in the American Civil War. (17. June 1861)

American Civil War: Maryland's House of Delegates votes not to secede from the Union. (29. April 1861)

American Civil War: Jefferson Davis is elected the Provisional President of the Confederate States of America by the Confederate convention at Montgomery, Alabama. (9. February 1861)

The Great Comet of 1861 is discovered by John Tebbutt of Windsor, New South Wales, Australia. (13. May 1861)

The Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce is founded, in Hong Kong. (29. May 1861)

American Civil War: George B. McClellan assumes command of the Army of the Potomac following a disastrous Union defeat at the First Battle of Bull Run. (26. July 1861)

The first national flag of the Confederate States of America (the "Stars and Bars") is adopted. (4. March 1861)

American Civil War: Confederate General Leonidas Polk invades neutral Kentucky, prompting the state legislature to ask for Union assistance. (3. September 1861)

American Civil War: Union troops occupy Alexandria, Virginia. (24. May 1861)

In Montgomery, Alabama, Jefferson Davis is inaugurated as the provisional President of the Confederate States of America. (18. February 1861)

Alexander II of Russia signs the Emancipation Manifesto, freeing serfs. (3. March 1861)

American Civil War: Arkansas secedes from the Union. (6. May 1861)

First ascent of Weisshorn, fifth highest summit in the Alps. (19. August 1861)

American Civil War: Texas secedes from the United States. (1. February 1861)

American Civil War: The war begins with Confederate forces firing on Fort Sumter, in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina. (12. April 1861)