Captain Napoleon L. Coste, commander of the eighty ton U.S. Revenue Cutter William Aiken, paid off his crew in Charleston Harbor, turned over his vessel to South Carolina authorities, and hoisted the Palmetto flag.  Lieutenant J. A. Underwood, who remained loyal, reported that Coste had previously told him that he would not serve in the Republican Administration and would resign.  He gave no indication, however, that he would make the Aiken, of limited value and powered only by sail, one of the first units of the Confederate Navy.  (By John Osborne) 

At dusk, Major Robert Anderson quietly evacuated Fort Moultrie in Charleston Harbor and occupied Fort Sumter nearby.  South Carolina authorities awoke the next morning to find that almost all federal forces in the area now concentrated at one strongpoint and seemingly preparing for a siege.  This dashed Southern hopes of a peaceful transfer of federal property to the newly independent state and further complicated the ongoing confusion and growing hostility between the secessionists and the Buchanan administration.  (By John Osborne) 

Godard Bailey, a clerk in the Department of the Interior and a relative of Secretary of War Floyd, admitted to ransacking the Indian Trust Fund of up to $870,000 to support the transportation business of William H. Russell, of the Pony Express.  Floyd, also financially involved with Russell, was forced to resign.  A District of Columbia grand jury indicted all three men but no-one was ever tried for the crime and the U.S. Government replaced the funds in 1862 at a cost to the taxpayer of an estimated $830,000. (By John Osborne)

Godard Bailey, a clerk in the Department of the Interior and a relative of Secretary of War Floyd, admitted to ransacking the Indian Trust Fund of up to $870,000 to support the transportation business of William Hepburn Russell, one of the founders of the Pony Express.  Alabamian Bailey admitted his guilt and was arrested. Russell was arrested in his New York office on Christmas Day.  Floyd, also financially involved with Russell, was forced to resign.  No-one was ever tried for the crime and the U.S. Government replaced the funds. (By John Osborne)   

Godard Bailey, a clerk in the Department of the Interior and a relative of Secretary of War Floyd, admitted to ransacking the Indian Trust Fund in the amount of around $870,000 to support the transportation business of William Hepburn Russell, one of the founders of the Pony Express.  Alabamian Bailey considered the bonds only as collateral and replaced them with assurances from both Russell and Floyd, who was involved financially with Russell.  Bailey and Russell were both arrested and Floyd forced to resign.  (By John Osborne)   

President James Buchanan nominated Edwin M. Stanton for Attorney-General to replace Jeremiah Black, who had moved on to become Secretary of State after Lewis Cass had resigned.  Stanton's confirmation further strengthened the view in Buchanan's changing cabinet that a state did not have the right under the Constitution to secede from the Union.  Though a Democrat, Stanton later served as Abraham Lincoln's Secretary of War and became a Republican.  (By John Osborne)

Senator Andrew Johnson of Tennessee had given a strong Unionist speech on the floor of the U.S. Senate that refuted any claims that the Constitution permitted secession and denounced the fanaticism of its supporters.  Three days later, in Memphis, a large secessionist meeting congratulating South Carolina on its leaving the Union, hanged Senator Johnson in effigy. (By John Osborne) 

Senator Andrew Johnson of Tennessee gave a strong Unionist speech on the floor of the U.S. Senate that refuted any claims that the Constitution permitted secession and denounced the fanaticism of its supporters.  Three days later, in Memphis, a large secessionist meeting congratulating South Carolina on its leaving the Union, hanged Senator Johnson in effigy. (By John Osborne) 

In New Orleans, a massive evening meeting of supporters of the "Southern Rights Party" was held at the Odd Fellow's Hall.  The raucous gathering endorsed candidates for the upcoming secession convention and newspapers reported the raising of the banner of a Southern Confederacy and repeated and prolonged cheering for South Carolina and Louisiana.  (By John Osborne)