Birthdays

George Gordon Meade
Turns 46 on this date

Jonathan Kenyon Peck
Turns 37 on this date

Noah Pinkney
Turns 15 on this date

Theodore Medad Pomeroy
Turns 37 on this date

Charles Shiels Wainwright
Turns 35 on this date

Alfred Newton Weir
Turns 21 on this date
Events
Battles/Soldiers | As the year closes, the armed forces of the United States reach a strength of more than 680,000 men | 12/31/1861 |
Lawmaking/Litigating | In Wheeling, the elected West Virginia convention is meeting to write a constitution for the new state |
11/26/1861 to 02/18/1862 |
Battles/Soldiers | On the Mississippi Gulf coast, U.S. Navy units based at Ship Island capture the town of Biloxi | 12/31/1861 |
Lawmaking/Litigating | The second session of the 37th Congress is sitting in Washington, DC |
12/03/1861 to 07/16/1862 |
Documents
Letter | Abraham Lincoln to David Hunter, December 31, 1861 | 12/31/1861 |