February 1
1861- Texas secedes from the Union.
1865- Sherman begins his invasion of the Carolinas.
- Illinois is the first state to ratify the Thirteenth Amendment, abolishing slavery.
February 2
1863- Grant cuts the levee at Yazoo Pass, Miss., to open a passage for gunboats
to reach the rear of Vicksburg by way of the Yazoo River.
1864- U.S. Gunboat Underwriter is captured and set afire by Confederate navy men
near New Berne, N.C.
February 3
1807- Joseph E. Johnston (CSA) is born at "Cherry Grove," Prince Edward County,
Va.
1865- Lincoln and Seward meet the Confederate leaders Alexander H. Stephans,
R.M.T. Hunter, and J.A. Campbell in an unsuccessful peace conference at
Hampton Roads, Va., aboard the River Queen.
February 4
1861- Virginia's Peace Conference, boycotted by the Deep South, opens in
Washington.
1861- First session of the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States of
America is held in Montgomery, Ala.
February 5
1864- Sherman's Federal troops march into Jackson, Miss., in route to Meridan.
February 6
1833- James Ewell Brown ("Jeb") Stuart (CSA) is born in Patrick County, Va.
1862- Grant and Flag Officer Andrew Foote lead a successful joint army-navy attack
upon Fort Henry on the Tennessee River.
1865- Robert E. Lee is appointed commander in chief of the Confederate armies.
- John C. Breckinridge replaces James A. Seldon as Confederate Secretary of
War.
February 7
1862- A.S. Johnston orders a Confederate retreat from southwestern Kentucky.
February 8
1820- William Tecumseh Sherman (USA) is born in Lancaster, Ohio.
1861- The Constitution for a provisional Confederate government is adopted in
Montgomery.
1862- A Federal expedition under Brig. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside takes Roanoke
Island, N.C.
February 9
1861- Jefferson Davis and Alexander H. Stephens are elected provisional
Confederate President and Vice-President.
February 10
1862- Remainder of Confederate "Mosquito" fleet is destroyed at Elizabeth City,
N.C.
February 11
1812- Alexander Hamilton Stephens, Vice-President of the Confederacy, is born in
Wilkes (Taliaferro) County, Ga.
1861- Lincoln leaves Springfield for Washington.
February 12
1809- Abraham Lincoln, 16th U.S. President, is born in Hardin County, Ky.
February 13
1861- The electoral college confirms Lincoln's election.
1862- Federal forces, under Grant, attack Fort Donelson, Tenn., on the Cumberland
River.
February 14
1864- Sherman's Union troops capture Meridan, Miss.
February 15
1861- The Montgomery convention, acting as the provisional Confederate Congress,
passes a resolution to take Fort Sumter and Fort Pickens, Fla., by force if
necessary.
1865- Heavy skirmishing occurs as Sherman's Federals continue their march
toward Columbia, S.C.
February 16
1862- 15,000 Confederate are captured as Brig. Gen. Simon B. Buckner,
unconditionally surrenders Fort Donelson to Grant.
February 17
1864- The Confederate submarine Hunley sinks the U.S.S. Housatonic off
Charleston.
1865- Columbia, S.C., is captured and burned; Charleston is evacuated.
February 18
1861- Jefferson Davis is inaugurated at Montgomery as provisional President if the
Confederacy.
1865- After Fort Sumter is abandoned, Charleston surrenders to Union troops under
Brig. Gen. Alexander Schimmelfenning.
February 19
1862- New Confederate Congress orders release of 2,000 Federal prisoners of war.
February 20
1864- Union forces under Brig. Gen. Truman Seymour are defeated at the Battle of
Olustee, Fla.
- The Pomeroy circular, a letter by Senator S. C. Pomeroy of Kansas calling
for the nomination of Secretary of the Treasury Chase instead of Lincoln, is
published.
1865- Confederate House of Representatives authorizes the use of slaves as
soldiers.
February 21
1862- Confederates successfully engage Federal forces at Valverde, New Mexico
Territory.
February 22
1862- Jefferson Davis is inaugurated as permanent President of the Confederate
government in Richmond.
1864- Confederate cavalry under Forrest defeats Brig. Gen. William Sooy Smith's
cavalry at Okolona, Miss.
1865- Wilmington, N.C., surrenders to Schofield.
- Johnston is recalled to command of the Army of Tennessee to oppose
Sherman's advance in North Carolina.
February 23
1861- Lincoln arrives in Washington after a secret overnight trip from Harrisburg,
Pa., through Baltimore, due to an assassination attempt.
- Texas voters approve secession by a wide margin.
February 24
1862- Federal troops under Gen. Nathaniel Banks occupy Harpers Ferry, Va.
February 25
1862- Federal War Department takes control of all telegraph lines to facilitate
military moves.
- Confederates abandon Nashville, Tenn.
1863- The U.S. Congress authorizes a national banking system.
February 26
1863- Cherokee Indian National Council repeals ordinance of secession, proclaims
for the Union.
February 27
1862- Near Americus, Ga., Federal prisoners of war begin arriving at unfinished
Camp Sumter (Andersonville) prison camp.
February 28
1862- The Confederacy observes a day of fasting and prayer.
