The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church met in Philadelphia with few representatives of the southern synods attending.  The simmering divisions over slavery came to the fore and the vote of the Assembly, 156-66, on May 29, 1861, to "declare our obligations to promote and perpetuate ... the integrity of these United States" meant that the long-promised division of the Church between North and South became an immediate reality. (By John Osborne)

The Pennsylvania state legislature passed a measure to compensate widows of soldiers killed in the current war in the service either of the United States or Pennsylvania, if they had children.  Widows of residents with children under fourteen years old were to receive eight dollars a month till that child turned fourteen.  (By John Osborne)

A devastating explosion at Professor Samuel Jackson's munitions factory at Reed and 10th Street, near Moyamensing Avenue in Philadelphia killed Jackson's son and fifteen others.  Four women workers loading cartridges were among the dead and several others suffered serious injuries.  The factory, along with at least one neighboring house, was completely demolished.  (By John Osborne) 

The sidewheeler Nevada left Sacramento for San Francisco with two hundred passengers aboard at two in the afternoon.  By five p.m., she was holed and taking on so much water that she was deliberately run up on the eastern bank of the Sacramento River near Rio Vista. There was no panic and four hours later the steamer Chrysopolis rescued all from the shore and returned them to Sacramento.  No serious injuries were reported. (By John Osborne) 

Kentucky's year-long effort to maintain its neutrality ended when both Confederate and Union forces invaded the state.  The pro-Unionist Kentucky house of representatives then voted 77 to 20 to hoist the Union flag over the State Capitol in Frankfort. Four days later, it passed a resolution ordering Confederate troops to leave Kentucky.  Still seeking neutrality, Governor Beriah Magoffin vetoed the resolution as one-sided.  When his veto was over-ridden, Magoffin resigned and, to the relief of the North, Kentucky lined up behind the Union.  (By John Osborne)

Kentucky's year-long effort to maintain its neutrality in the war had ended when, three days before, Confederate General Gideon Pillow occupied the western Kentucky town of Columbus, and stretched a steel chain across the Mississippi River to Belmont, Missouri.  In response, two thousand Union troops under General U.S. Grant, with support from gunboats, occupied Paducah, Kentucky on the Ohio.  The next day, the state legislature voted 77 to 20 to hoist the Union flag over the Kentucky Capitol.  (By John Osborne)

Kentucky's year-long effort to maintain its neutrality in the war came to a sudden end when General Gideon Pillow advanced from Tennessee on orders from General Leonidas Polk, occupied the western Kentucky town of Columbus, and stretched a steel chain across the Mississippi River to Belmont, Missouri.  Two days later Union forces under General U.S. Grant occupied Paducah, Kentucky on the Ohio.  The day after that, the state legislature voted 77 to 20 to hoist the Union flag over the Kentucky Capitol.  (By John Osborne)