The American Civil War - Chronologically

May 5, 1861 Baltimore, MD Thomas Viaduct and Camp Essex 8th NY and 6th MA Infantry, Cook's Boston battery of light artillery - Protecting the o nly rail link to DC from the North; "several other army regiments and batteries later occupied fortifications on both sides of the river, where they remained  until the end of the war" https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=150570 "On May 5, 1861, the 8th New York and 6th Massachusetts Infantry Regiments and Cook's Boston Battery of light artillery occupied the heights around you. Their mission was to prevent Confederate sympathizers from sabotaging the strategic Thomas Viaduct. This railroad bridge was considered the most important and vulnerable target for saboteurs in central Maryland because it was the only rail link to Washington, D.C., from the north. Several other U.S. Army regiments and batteries later occupied fortifications on both sides of the river, where they remained in the area until the end of the war. During the Ci...

May 1862 Union Camp Hamilton Opens (in Virginia) Hampton, VA  On my way to Fort Monroe from Maryland's Eastern Shore... https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=10479 Here stood the U.S. Army’s first camp on Virginia soil after secession , built in May 1861. Only the Veteran’s Cemetery on County Street remains of this entrenched camp. The influx of soldiers at Fort Monroe prompted the commander, Lt. Col. Justin Dimick, to secure a better water supply by dispatching elements of the 4th Massachusetts Infantry to Mill Creek Bridge as well as the Segar and Clark farms here. Outraged local Confederate volunteers  “swore vengeance on Massachusetts troops for the Invasion of Virginia.”  Cavalry picket Dr. William R. Vaughan confronted Dimick and demanded,  “By what right does your army cross that bridge and invade the sacred soil of Virginia?”  Dimick replied,  “By God, sir, might makes right!”  The local Confederate commander, Lt. Col. Richard S. Ewell, ordered his sma...

May 7, 1861 Battle of Gloucester Point (AKA Tyndall's Point)  Gloucester, VA Union Flag Officer Garrett J. Pendergrast > Navy Lieutenant Thomas O. Selfridge Jr.; Lieutenant Selfridge, in command of the USS Yankee vs. Lee appointed Colonel William B. Taliaferro commander of defenses at Gloucester Point and instructed him to cooperate with Virginia Navy Captain William C. Whittle ("This force had not yet been formally transferred to the Confederate States Army or Confederate States Navy, but the Virginians were acting in concert with the Confederacy and in its defense."); commanded by Lieutenant John Thompson Brown * USS Yankee and Confederate batteries exchange fire, briefly and uneventfully: " the first cannon shot of the war in Virginia." * "J ohn Thompson Brown ultimately became a colonel. He was commander of the artillery for the 2d Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia at the Battle of Gettysburg. Brown was in charge of a division of three battalio...

April 27, 1861 Frederick, MD Kemp Hall -  Gov Hicks calls a special session here instead of Annapolis; they adjourn in the fall lacking quorum, as the secessionist were arrested.  https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=67247

April 20, 1861 U.S. Arsenal > later a Confederate retirement home Pikesville, MD  "Used" during the "war between the states," eh? Go on... This one started out as a mystery that just got bigger. Why was there a Confederate rest home here ? (still relatively unanswered) And did something else happen here? Yes... According to unattributed information on Wikipedia, "Confederates lived at Pikesville Arsenal during and after the American Civil War." OK, but - during ? I found no historical evidence of that but would love to. And also, what does this mean: "The Army left Pikesville Arsenal in 1879. Confederate veterans lived at the former arsenal from 1888 until 1932." It raises some questions. What wartime actions--if any--did the army engage in here? The historical marker seems to suggest the site saw action, but is pretty vague about it. And what happened to the Confederates who allegedly lived at the Arsenal during between 1865 and 1888? Did the...