Abraham Lincoln ( February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865 ) was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865.

Their impolitic occupation of Columbus, Kentucky on September 3, 1861, two days before Johnston arrived in the Confederacy's capital, Richmond, Virginia, after his cross – country journey, drove Kentucky from its stated neutrality and the majority of Kentuckians into the Union camp.

* Connelly, Thomas L. Army of the Heartland: The Army of Tennessee 1861 – 1862.

The Civil War Day by Day: An Almanac, 1861 – 1865.

* Weigley, Russell F. A Great Civil War: A Military and Political History, 1861 – 1865.

The American Civil War ( 1861 – 1865 ), in the United States often referred to as simply the Civil War and sometimes called the " War Between the States ", was a civil war fought over the secession of the Confederate States.

Land warfare in the East was inconclusive in 1861 – 62, as the Confederacy beat back Union efforts to capture its capital, Richmond, Virginia, notably during the Peninsular Campaign.

* 1861 – First performance of Arthur Sullivan's debut success, his suite of incidental music for The Tempest, leading to a career that included the famous Gilbert and Sullivan operas.

* 1861 – Stanislas de Guaita, French occultist ( d. 1897 )

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

* 1796 – George N. Briggs, American politician, 19th Governor of Massachusetts ( d. 1861 )

* 1861 – Union forces attack Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.

* 1861 – The United Kingdom annexes Lagos, Nigeria.

* 1861 – Edith Roosevelt, American wife of Theodore Roosevelt, 27th First Lady of the United States ( d. 1948 )

* 1861 – Sammy Jones, Australian cricketer ( d. 1951 )

* 1811 – Elisha Otis, American inventor and businessman, founded the Otis Elevator Company ( d. 1861 )

This became poignantly true during the most serious test of American cohesion in the U. S. Civil War ( 1861 – 1865 ).

* 1861 – American Civil War: Maryland's House of Delegates votes not to secede from the Union.

* 1861 – First ascent of Weisshorn, fifth highest summit in the Alps.

* 1861 – American Civil War: Fort Sumter surrenders to Confederate forces.

* 1861 – Iván Persa, Hungarian-Slovene writer and catholic priest ( d. 1935 )

* 1861 – American Civil War: US Navy squadron captures forts at Hatteras Inlet, North Carolina.

The Robber Barons: The Great American Capitalists, 1861 – 1901 ISBN 99918-47-99-5

* 1766 – Collin McKinney, American surveyor, merchant, politician, and preacher, helped draft the Texas Declaration of Independence ( d. 1861 )

* 1861 – American Civil War: in order to help pay for the war effort, the United States government levies the first income tax as part of the Revenue Act of 1861 ( 3 % of all incomes over US $ 800 ; rescinded in 1872 ).

The Confederacy selected Jefferson Davis as its provisional President on February 9, 1861.

President Lincoln rejected two geographically limited emancipation attempts by Major General John C. Frémont in August 1861 and by Major General David Hunter in May 1862, on the grounds that it was not within their power, and it would upset the border states loyal to the Union.

* 1861 – Medal of Honor: Public Resolution 82, containing a provision for a Navy Medal of Valor, is signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln.

* 1944 – Pehr Evind Svinhufvud, President of Finland ( b. 1861 )

* 1861 – Jefferson Davis is notified by telegraph that he has been chosen as provisional President of the Confederate States of America.

* 1861 – American Civil War: Jefferson Davis is elected the Provisional President of the Confederate States of America by the Confederate convention at Montgomery, Alabama.

* 1861 – In Montgomery, Alabama, Jefferson Davis is inaugurated as the provisional President of the Confederate States of America.

* 1861 – American Civil War: at the order of President Abraham Lincoln, Union troops begin a 25 mile march into Virginia for what will become the First Battle of Bull Run, the first major land battle of the war.

On February 9, 1861, after Davis resigned from the United States Senate, he was selected to be the provisional President of the Confederate States of America ; he was elected without opposition to a six-year term that November.

Jefferson Davis is sworn in as President of the Confederate States of America on February 18, 1861, on the steps of the Alabama State Capitol.

The weapon was demonstrated to President Lincoln in 1861.

* 1861 – American Civil War: US President Abraham Lincoln appoints George B. McClellan as the commander of the Union Army, replacing General Winfield Scott.

* 1861 – American Civil War: Confederate President Jefferson Davis appoints Judah Benjamin secretary of war.

* 1861 – U. S. President Abraham Lincoln suspends the writ of habeas corpus in Washington, D. C., for all military-related cases.

When Virginia declared its secession from the Union in April 1861, Lee chose to follow his home state, despite his personal desire for the Union to stay intact and despite the fact that President Abraham Lincoln had offered Lee command of the Union Army.

In the spring of 1861, shortly before the beginning of the American Civil War, the government of San Marino wrote a letter ( in " perfect Italian on one side, and imperfect but clear English on the other ") to United States President Abraham Lincoln, proposing an " alliance " between the two democratic nations and offering the President honorary San Marino citizenship.

In 1861 President Lincoln instituted a naval blockade of Southern ports, which crippled the South's efforts to obtain war materials from abroad.

After President Lincoln relieved Frémont from command, Grant attacked Fort Belmont taking 3, 114 Union troops by boat on November 7, 1861, and initially took the fort, but his army was later pushed back to Cairo by the reinforced Confederate General Gideon J. Pillow.

* Taney Arrest Warrant, purported 1861 quashed secret order from President Lincoln to arrest the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court

Replacement of President of Mexico Benito Juárez ( 1861 – 1863 ) at first with Juan Nepomuceno Almonte ( 1863 – 1864 ) and then by Emperor Maximilian of Mexico ( 1864 – 1867 ) with the establishment of the Second Mexican Empire.

* American Civil War fought between the remaining United States of America under President Abraham Lincoln and the self-declared Confederate States of America under President Jefferson Davis ( April 12, 1861 — April 9, 1865 ) and Vice President Alexander Stephens.