Several Federal command changes took place, and Ulysses S. Grant’s Federals saw combat in Missouri. The first Confederate elections were held, and the Federals scored a coastal victory. An incident on the high seas threatened to spark war between the U.S. and Great Britain.
Winfield Scott retires to West Point and George B. McClellan becomes general-in-chief of all Federal armies.
John C. Fremont finally gets the order removing him from command of the Federal Army of the West and replacing him with David Hunter.
Ulysses S. Grant receives orders to stop Confederates at Columbus, Ky. from reinforcing the Missouri State Guards.
A massive Federal armada begins arriving off Port Royal, S.C., with plans to bombard the forts guarding the port into submission.
Elections take place throughout the Confederacy to replace the provisional national government with a permanent one.
Ulysses S. Grant’s Federal army narrowly escapes destruction in southwestern Missouri but gains important battle experience.
After struggling through a horrific storm on the Atlantic, the Federal naval squadron attacks and captures a vital Confederate port.
Captain Charles Wilkes of the U.S.S. San Jacinto halts the neutral British steamship R.M.S. Trent on the open sea and seizes two Confederate envoys under dubious circumstances.
William Nelson’s Federals win a minor victory in eastern Kentucky but fail in their ultimate goal of destroying the enemy.
The U.S. War Department issues General Orders No. 97, which authorizes a major military reorganization.
The feud that had begun in October between Jefferson Davis and one of his top generals continues into this month.
Jefferson Davis threatens to execute Federal prisoners if the Federals go through on their threat to execute the crew that had captured the U.S.S. Enchantress as pirates.
Abraham Lincoln calls upon new General-in-Chief George B. McClellan, who refuses to see him. This symbolizes the evolving relationship between Lincoln and McClellan.
News of the capture of Confederate envoys James Mason and John Slidell spreads throughout America and is met with mixed reactions in North and South.
The war threatens to divide the Native American tribes just as it divides North and South, with Unionist Natives fleeing toward Kansas and Confederate allies of the Five Civilized Tribes in pursuit.
Harvey Brown directs a preemptive attack on Confederates looking to take back Fort Pickens on Florida’s Gulf Coast.
Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson developed a plan to join forces with William Loring’s Confederate army and conduct a winter offensive in the Shenandoah Valley.
News of the U.S. seizure of Confederate envoys James Mason and John Slidell aboard the British steamer Trent officially reaches Great Britain, where it is met with immediate outrage.
Confederate officials hang two men as part of an effort to stop Unionists from sabotaging the Confederacy by burning bridges in eastern Tennessee.
Last Updated: 12/1/2021