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

* 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States government levies the first income tax as part of the Revenue Act of 1861 ( 3 % of all incomes over US $ 800 ; rescinded in 1872 ).

* Joseph B. Smith ( 1826 – 1861 ), US Naval officer

* 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: The " Trent Affair " – The stops the United Kingdom mail ship Trent and arrests two Confederate envoys, sparking a diplomatic crisis between the UK and US.

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States government issues the first income tax as part of the Revenue Act of 1861 ( 3 % of all incomes over US $ 800 ; rescinded in 1872 ).

A few years later, in 1861 the US Army killed some of Cochise ’ s relatives near Apache Pass, in what became known as the Bascom Affair.

In 1861 the US abandoned Fort Washita, leaving the Chickasaw and Choctaw Nations defenseless against the Plains tribes.

In Toronto, Canada the gauge for TTC subways and streetcars was chosen in 1861, years after the establishment of ' standard gauge ' in Britain, but well before ' standard gauge ' in the US and Canada.

* Joseph Trumbull ( 1782 – 1861 ), state governor, later Connecticut representative to the US Congress.

File: US Navy Medal of Honor ( 1862 original ). png | 1861 – 1912 Navy Medal

In order to help pay for its war effort in the American Civil War, the United States government imposed its first personal income tax, on August 5, 1861, as part of the Revenue Act of 1861 ( 3 % of all incomes over US $ 800 ; rescinded in 1872 ).

* Trent Affair, an incident in 1861 during the US Civil War

This opera was first seen in New York its US premiere on 11 February 1861 and in the UK on 15 June of that year.

The use of the small sword for infantry is covered in the US manual of 1861 titled " The Militiaman's Manual ".

In 1861, American President Abraham Lincoln ordered his Secretary of State, William Henry Seward ( who was later to purchase the Russian Territory of Alaska for the US in 1867 ), to meet with the Mexican charge d ’ affaires Matias Romero to explore the possibility of purchasing the island of Cozumel for the purpose of relocating freed American slaves offshore.

Main Building, built in 1861 by renowned architect James Renwick, Jr., had the most interior space of any building in the United States, until the US Capitol was completed in 1868.

At the time of the American Civil War ( 1861 – 65 ) silk sashes in crimson were authorized for officers and red woolen sashes for non-commissioned officers of the regular US Army ( Army Regulations of 1861 ).

In 1861, the American Civil War began and the US Navy fought the smaller Confederate Navy with both sailing ships and ironclad ships while forming a blockade on the confederacy.

Perhaps the most disastrous lame duck period in US history was the 1860 – 1861 transition from the administration of James Buchanan to that of Abraham Lincoln.

Jefferson Davis resigned from the US Senate in 1861 when Mississippi seceded.

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.

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 – President of the United States Abraham Lincoln suspends the writ of habeas corpus.

* 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: 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.