July 1861

Robert W. Sing Enlists

Thirteen weeks following the bombardment of Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, seventeen-year old Robert W. Sing of Bucksville, South Carolina, joins the cause of Southern independence by enlisting in Company A of the Tenth South Carolina Volunteer Infantry Regiment. This is the beginning of a four-year, 3700-mile odyssey through six states of the southern Confederacy for Robert as he participates as an infantry private in the bloodiest conflict ever fought in North America.

The Reason We Fight (For Now)

In a bid to appease the South one more time, the U.S. Congress belatedly passes the Crittenden Resolution, which proclaims the current conflict between the North and the South is not about slavery, nor will it ever be about slavery, nor is there any plan for slavery to ever be abolished. This position would remain the policy of the United States until President Lincoln issues his Emancipation Proclamation in the fall of 1862.

Battle of Manassas (First Manassas, Bull Run, First Bull Run)

General-in-Chief Winfield Scott orders an untested Federal army under Brigadier General Irvin McDowell to advance on an equally unprepared Southern army under Brigadier General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard at Manassas Junction, Virginia. McDowell pushes a good portion of the Confederate troops from the field until an unlikely Virginian general standing like a “stonewall” amidst the fleeing Confederates holds off the advancing Federals long enough for reinforcements under General Joseph E. Johnston to arrive. Panicked Federal troops flee for Washington City, overrunning picnicking politicians and their families who had come out this festive Sunday afternoon to watch what was suppose to be the first and last battle of the war. In addition to Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, several other prominent future field commanders are present that day, including Confederate cavalry officer James (Jeb) Stuart and Union Brig. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman. (V.C. Jones in McPherson, Battle Chronicles 1:58-96; Wagner 246-47)

General McDowell is Replaced

Following the rout of Union forces at Manassas, Lincoln taps the fastidious, detail-oriented General George Brinton McClellan to organize and train Union army in Virginia. (Bowman 61)

Blockade

To blockade the coast of the Confederacy effectively, the Federal navy had to supplement its prewar fleet of only 90 ships of which only 14 were available for duty at the start of the war. Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles rose to the challenge of building a blockade squadron by buying, chartering and building ships, and enlisting over 18,000 men to man them. By July, the effort at improvement had made a difference and an effective blockade had begun, at least on paper, for the efforts of the Federal navy gave notice to foreign nations that a state of war existed with the Confederacy and any attempt by them to challenge the blockade would be seen as an act of war against the United States. To meet the challenge the blockade, the South responded by building small, fast ships that could outmaneuver Union vessels. (Wagner 543-47)