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| The first cannon used to defend the Valley |
- Raphael Semmes in the CSS Sumter burns the Golden Rocket at Sea in the Gulf of Mexico. /1861
- Federal troops under Gen. Robert Patterson cross the Potomac River at Williamsport, Maryland, and head toward Harper’s Ferry and the Shenandoah Valley where they intend to curtail the movement of Confederate forces toward Manassas Junction, Virginia. In the process, they push Confederate troops under Thomas J. Jackson off the field at the Battle of Hoke’s Run in West Virginia. Also, Colonel Thomas J. Jackson fights an engagement at Hainesville near Martinsburg, West Virginia. At this battle the first hostile cannon shot is fired in the Defense of the Valley of Virginia./1861
- In Washington, Abraham Lincoln, in a letter to General of the Army Winfield Scott, expands the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus to areas between Washington and New York City. Previously he has already suspended it between Baltimore and Washington and in parts of Missouri. The Supreme Court has already ruled Lincoln’s suspension unconstitutional, but Lincoln ignores the ruling, extending his tyranny up the seaboard, taking away the rights of citizens to speak against the government or have some recourse against the military. The rights of habeas corpus are enshrined in the United States Constitution, and are so central to a civilized society that to suspend them strips the rights of every citizen. Habeas corpus (Latin for “bring forth the body") provides for a citizen's right to a fair trial, the right to face one's accuser, and force the accuser to prove the guilt of the accused. Habeas corpus protects against unlawful arrests and prevents unlawful imprisonment. It is a common feature of Western civilization. That is, until Lincoln arrived in town from Springfield, Illinois. In other business, General John Fremont meets with President Lincoln in Washington to discuss Fremont’s appointment to command US forces in Missouri where there have been crazy politics and violent unrest. Lincoln wants Missouri stabilized and forced by military might to stay in the Union. Never has a US President been so brazen./1861
- At Wheeling, in western “Federal” Virginia, a new legislature convenes with the backing of the Lincoln Administration./1861
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