February 6, 1861 - Virginia and North Carolina represented in the Confederate capital

First Capitol of the Confederacy

February 6, 1861

Reports from Montgomery dated 150 years ago today indicate that Southern states that had not yet seceded were reaching out to the two-day old Confederate States of America.

The Confederacy had been formed on February 4, 1861, by delegates from South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas. It was widely expected, however, that other Southern states would soon join the new nation and a telegram from Montgomery, Alabama - now the capital city of the Confederacy - indicated that representatives from both Virginia and North Carolina were present in the city:

MONTGOMERY, (Ala.), Feb. 6 – The Commissioners from North Carolina presented their credentials and were tendered seats in the convention during the open sessions.

The Commissioners from Virginia are also in the city.

The Committee appointed yesterday in secret session, stated through their chairman (MR. MEMMINGER) that they would probably report on Thursday a plan for the Provisional Government . - Philadelphia Inquirer, February 7, 1861, p. 1.

Virginia and North Carolina had not seceded from the Union, but their outreach to the forming government in Montgomery illustrated the natural ties that existed between the Southern states and their willingness to work together and communicate, regardless of their current status.

You can read more about the historic Alabama Capitol Building, the first capitol of the Confederacy, at www.exploresouthernhistory.com/montgomerycapitol2.

February 4, 1861 - The Confederate States of America is Formed

February 4, 1861

On this day 150 years ago, delegates from the seven seceded states met in Montgomery, Alabama, and declared the formation of a provisional government for the Confederate States of America.

The meeting took place in the historic Alabama State Capitol, which still stands atop Goat Hill at the end of Dexter Avenue in Montgomery. Eyewitness accounts indicate that large crowds gathered outside the building to await the results of the meeting as militia companies paraded in the streets.

The delegates had come to Montgomery at the invitation of the Alabama Secession Convention, which offered the capital city as a centrally located meeting place for a discussion of measures to provide for the common defense of the newly independent Southern states. They voted to declare themselves as a provisional legislature and quickly moved to unify their states. A committee was appointed to draft a Constitution for the new Southern nation, work on which began immediately. It would take four days to complete.

The Confederate States of America, however, was born with the meeting of the delegates at Montgomery, Alabama, 150 years ago today. To learn more about the historic First Capitol of the Confederacy, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/montgomerycapitol1.

January 27, 1861 - An Alabama Professor goes to War

Raw Troops at Pensacola, 1861

January 27, 1861

A remarkable account of the early days of an Alabama professor as a soldier originated from Pensacola, Florida, in January 1861 and was carried by newspapers around the South. If anyone can provide more information on this individual, I would love to hear from you!

The letter was datelined from the camps near Fort Barrancas, where soldiers from Florida, Alabama and Mississippi were in a standoff with the small U.S. garrison of Fort Pickens across Pensacola Bay:

Professor Day is just six and a half feet high in his stockings. His weight is three hundred and ten pounds, and he measures seven feet in the girth. He is the tallest and biggest man in the regiment, and is noted for his great strength as well as for his huge proportions. --He has been known to shoulder a six hundred bale of cotton, and has frequently taken a whiskey barrel by the chines, raised it at arms' length, and drank at the bung hole. On one occasion he threw a mustang pony and his rider over a ten-rail fence. For this offence he was tried and convicted in the Circuit Court of Lauderdale county, and fined five hundred dollars. This remarkable man is the youngest and smallest of seventeen brothers. His father is two and a half inches taller than he is, but not so thick set. His brothers are taller, but none of them are so stout as the Professor. It is necessary to remark that his father has been twice married, and has eight children by his first wife and nine by his present wife. 

The Professor is the Principal of the Marion High School, and is a learned man in every sense of the word. He is master of six languages, and as a mathematician he has no superior. He is, besides, one of the best men living, and is noted for his good nature. He never had but one fight in his life, and then he killed a horse and nearly murdered a man. 

January 11, 1861 - Alabama Secedes & Demand for Surrender of Fort Sumter is Refused

Alabama State Capitol

January 11, 1861

Just 24 hours after Florida seceded the previous day, Alabama joined the growing number of Cotton States in leaving the Union on January 11, 1861.

As the ladies of Montgomery unveiled a blue flag that included the words "Independent Now and Forever" on one side and the Latin words "Nole Me Tangere" or "Touch Me Not" on the other, the delegates to the Alabama Secession Convention passed an ordinance of secession that specifically blamed the "election of Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin to the offices of President and Vice-President of the United States of America."

The document also included an invitation to the other Southern states to meet in Montgomery on February 4, 1861, to consider measures for the "common peace and security." This convention, of course, would lead to the formation of the Confederate States of America.

Please click here to learn more about Alabama's historic old capitol, where the ordinance of secession was passed: http://www.exploresouthernhistory.com/montgomerycapitol2.

In Louisiana, meanwhile, state troops took possession of Forts Jackson and St. Philip on the Mississippi River below New Orleans. The forts were the primary river defenses for New Orleans and were considered of vital military importance.

Fort Sumter in 1861

In South Carolina, the first demand for the surrender of Fort Sumter was made by the State of South Carolina. Major Robert Anderson, commanding the fort, refused. Work continued on the fort at a rapid pace as soldiers and workmen struggled to place the unfinished citadel into a defensible condition. Guns were mounted and traverses constructed to protect exposed positions inside and on the top of the fort.

Around Charleston Harbor, state forces pushed forward with the construction of battery positions. Defenses facing the harbor and Fort Sumter were improved at Fort Moultrie and sand batteries were thrown up at other positions. The progress was rudimentary at this stage of the growing siege, but would intensify over the coming months.

To learn more about Fort Sumter, please visit http://www.exploresouthernhistory.com/fortsumter.

January 5, 1861 - Alabama Troops seize Fort Morgan

Fort Morgan, Alabama

January 5, 1861
 
On the heels of the state's bloodless occupation of the Mount Vernon Arsenal north of Mobile the previous day, Alabama militia forces moved against Fort Morgan at the entrance of Mobile Bay 150 years ago today.

A massive masonry fortification, Fort Morgan had been built in 1819-1833 on the site of a War of 1812 defense called Fort Bowyer. In conjunction with Fort Gaines on Dauphin Island, the fort was designed to sweep the entrance to Mobile Bay with artillery fire to defend it from foreign attack. It had been a major stopping point on the Creek Trail of Tears in 1836-1837, but since 1842 had been in caretaker status. On the eve of the Civil War, it was held only by an ordnance sergeant and a handful of men.

Fort Morgan Parade Ground

Governor A.B. Moore of Alabama, informed that the federal government might try to send regular army troops to occupy the posts in Alabama, ordered the occupation of Forts Morgan and Gaines well in advance of that state's secession from the Union. It took some time for Colonel Todd of the Alabama militia to arrange a force and steamboat to carry them down Mobile Bay to Fort Morgan, but on January 5, 1861, he and his men landed on Mobile Point and occupied the fort.

Casemates of Fort Morgan

Ordnance Sergeant S. Patterson, the caretaker assigned to the fort by the U.S. Army, reported the loss of his post to state forces in a brief communique to the adjutant general in Washington, D.C.:

      DEAR SIR: I have been superseded by Colonel Todd, of the Militia of Alabama, and he took and receipted for all the property belonging to the Ordnance Department and fort.
      I wait for orders from the Adjutant-General. 

In the weeks that followed, Alabama moved hundreds of militia soldiers into Fort Morgan, putting them to work clearing the fort for action and conducting much needed maintenance. Fort Gaines, across the bay entrance, was not immediately occupied by state forces (although many modern sources indicate that it was also seized on January 5th). It would remain in U.S. hands for another two weeks.

To learn more about Fort Morgan, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/fortmorgan.

January 4, 1861 - Seizure of the Mount Vernon Arsenal, Alabama

Mount Vernon Arsenal in 1935

On January 4, 1861, the Southern states continued to prepare themselves for independence. In Alabama, state troops seized the U.S. Arsenal at Mount Vernon (30 miles north of Mobile).

With a history dating back to 1828, the Mount Vernon Arsenal was a unique horseshoe-shaped complex that featured a primary arsenal building, barracks, workshops, officers' quarters, stables and other structures. The entire complex was enclosed by a strong brick wall and had served as a major source for small arms during the Creek War of 1836 and the Second Seminole War (1835-1842). In addition to being a major depository for weapons, the arsenal also was a manufacturing point for small arms ammunition. As such, it was of critical importance to Alabama as that state moved closer to secession from the Union.

Arsenal Wall in 1935

On December 20, 1860, Congressman David Clopton of Alabama had requested that the War Department provide him with the plans of the arsenal. This request remained in limbo for two weeks until Acting Secretary of War J. Holt refused to comply with the request, citing "interest of the service."

On the same day, having received intelligence from Washington that the U.S. Army was considering moving additional troops to the Mount Vernon Arsenal and forts at Mobile Bay, Governor A.B. Moore of Alabama ordered state militia forces to take possession of the posts. Alabama forces arrived at the gates of the arsenal at dawn on January 4, 1861, 150 years ago today. The following report was filed by Captain Jesse Reno, the U.S. Army officer commanding the arsenal, to Captain William Maynadier of the Ordnance Bureau in Washington, D.C.:

MOUNT VERNON ARSENAL, January 4, 1861.

SIR: I have the honor to inform you that this arsenal was taken possession of by four companies of volunteers from Mobile at daylight this morning. I did not make, nor could I have made, any resistance, as they had scaled the walls and taken possession before I knew anything about the movement.

   The governor has demanded all the public property, and his men now have entire possession of the arsenal.

   …As it was impossible for me to hold this place with my seventeen men, I trust that the Department will not hold me responsible for this unexpected catastrophe.

Aerial View of the Arsenal Today

In an unusual move, Governor Moore wrote to President James Buchanan on the same day to inform him of his reasons for ordering the seizure (Abraham Lincoln had not yet taken office). Telling Buchanan that he had ordered the taking of the arsenal, Moore explained that he had received intelligence that U.S. forces were preparing to reinforce the arsenal and other forts in Alabama and willing to shed the blood of Alabama citizens in order to do it:

…The purpose with which my order was given and has been executed was to avoid and not to provoke hostilities between the State and Federal Government. There is no object, save the honor and independence of my State, which is by me so ardently desired as the preservation of amicable relations between this State and the Government of the United States. That the secession of the State, made necessary by the conduct of others, may be peaceful is my prayer as well as the prayer of every patriotic man in the State.

Alabama's Secession Convention would soon meet and vote to take the state out of the Union, but at the time of the seizure the state was still part of the United States.

The Mount Vernon Arsenal today forms a significant portion of the Searcy State Hospital. Many of the buildings and walls remain intact and the original form of the complex is still quite visible.