Arkansas votes against secession

• In Arkansas, a state convention called to consider secession votes down the proposal 39-35, but instead agrees to a public referendum in August on the secession question./1861
• While hoping that the Lincoln Administration would peacefully withdraw Major Robert Anderson and his garrison from Fort Sumter and negotiate a financial settlement to compensate the United States for the property, President Jefferson Davis is skeptical. In a communiqué concerning the fortification of Charleston Harbor, Davis tells South Carolina Governor Francis Pickens that it is unlikely “the enemy would retire peacefully from your harbor.”/1861