Confederate President Jefferson Davis had named Louisianian Judah P. Benjamin as Acting Secretary of War on September 17, 1861, replacing LeRoy Pope Walker.  He remained in his post as C.S.A. Attorney General at the same time.  On this day, Davis appointed Benjamin as War Secretary permanently, relieving him of the Justice Department and appointing North Carolina's former governor Thomas Bragg to that post.  Benjamin served at the War Department until he became Confederate Secretary of State in March 1862.  (By John Osborne) 

The U.S. Navy purchased an 80 by 15 foot coal barge in August 1861 and later modified it to carry one of the balloons of Thaddeus S.C. Lowe, then serving as a Union colonel in charge of aerial observation.  Renamed the U.S.S George Washington Parke Custis, she was towed down the Potomac to a position off Mattawoman Creek and there the next day launched a tethered balloon with Lowe and General Daniel Sickles aboard to an altitude of 1000 feet to observe Confederate movements.  Navy historians credit her as America's first aircraft carrier.  (By John Osborne)

The U.S. Navy purchased an 80 by 15 foot coal barge in August 1861 and later modified it to carry one of the balloons of Thaddeus S.C. Lowe, then serving as a Union colonel in charge of aerial observation.  Renamed the U.S.S George Washington Parke Custis, she was towed down the Potomac to a position off Mattawoman Creek the day before and there launched a tethered balloon with Lowe and General Daniel Sickles aboard to an altitude of 1000 feet to observe Confederate movements.  Navy historians credit her as America's first aircraft carrier.  (By John Osborne)

Young Men's Christian Associations in various northern cities had been active since the start of the war in providing comforts and religious support for the growing Union forces.  A convention was held in New York City with delegates from fifteen YMCAs to regularize this aid and the United States Christian Commission was founded.  Philadelphian George H. Stuart was elected as president and the Reverend William E. Boardman was named as general secretary when a headquarters was set up in Philadelphia.  It served Union soldiers throughout the war. (By John Osborne)