Lee to command western Virginia; Petrel sinks

USS Lawrence sinks the Petrel off the SC coast

• West Texas troops under command of Lieutenant Colonel John R. Baylor, on their “buffalo hunt” to sweep out Union presence from the New Mexico Territory, take the fort at St. Augustine Springs without firing a shot./1861
• Confederate troops occupy New Madrid, Missouri, an important choke point on the Mississippi River./1861
• In another Confederate victory, US Maj. Gen. George McClellan is officially named to command the new Army of the Potomac./1861
• In an announcement at Richmond, General Robert E. Lee is assigned command of the western Virginia forces. He will arrive August 1. /1861 
• The schooner Petrel which slipped out of Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, the night of the 27th, bumps into the U.S.S. Lawrence at dawn. The Petrel runs but is chased down by 10am. As a matter of honor, the captain of the Petrel takes on the 52-gun frigate with her two guns. One shot from the Lawrence sinks her, and the Petrel’s crew surrenders--four drowned /1861 

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• Lincoln Talks to the Troops; CSA Invades the North (Sort Of) (civilwardailygazette.com)