Davis makes Cabinet appointments

Confederate Cabinet

• Jefferson Davis begins to form a Cabinet in Montgomery. Robert Toombs will become Secretary of State. Leroy P. Walker will be Secretary of War. Christopher G. Memminger will head Treasury. Judah P. Benjamin will be Attorney General, the first Jewish Cabinet member in the history of North America. Stephen Mallory will be Secretary of the Navy, and John Reagan will become Postmaster General, a position he will hold throughout the life of the Confederacy./1861

Lincoln at Astor House, NYC

• President-elect Abraham Lincoln, using his trip to his inauguration to an advantage, is greeted by an estimated 250,000 well-wishers in New York City. According to the Morning Courier and New York Enquirer, Lincoln was greeted by “thunders of applause . . . deafening cheers, waving of handkerchiefs.” Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, however, stated that while the crowd showed “much respect” there was “little enthusiasm.”/1861

• Louisiana state militia takes control of the US paymaster’s office in New Orleans./1861