CONCORD, NH—A mob led by former soldiers breaks into the newspaper offices of the Democratic Standard and burns the desks and papers on the sidewalk in retribution for the paper’s criticism of the war effort.
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RICHMOND, VA—The Confederate government authorizes the raising of troops in the border states of Kentucky, Missouri, Maryland, and Delaware.
WASHINGTON, DC—Congress appropriates $1,500,000 for further inquiry into building ironclad naval ships.
WASHINGTON, DC—Ulysses S. Grant is appointed brigadier general of Union volunteers in recognition of his excellence training an Illinois volunteer unit.
WASHINGTON, DC—The War Department commissions steamboat company J. B. Eads to build seven shallow-draft gunboats.
HAMPTON ROADS, VA—Confederate Gen. John B. Magruder orders locals to torch Hampton Roads, Virginia, lest it fall into the hands of former slaves freed by Union troops.
WHEELING, WV—The Second Wheeling Convention assembles to discuss how the 39 pro-Union western counties could separate from Confederate Virginia and form free West Virginia.
WASHINGTON, DC—Lincoln orders the seizure of personal property, which include slaves, “used for purposes of insurrection” by signing the First Confiscation Act.
The HMS Sultana was a Royal Navy schooner that patrolled the American coast from 1768 through 1772, collecting duties and thwarting smugglers. She was retired before the American Revolution as colonial unrest necessitated larger, better armed ships. Her assignment was to enforce the Townshend Acts by stopping smugglers; this mission took her everywhere from Rhode Island to New York, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, New Jersey, Delaware, Virginia, and many locations in the lower Chesapeake. Ultimately, the Sultana was sold at auction in England.
The new Sultana was launched in Chestertown, Maryland in 2001 to serve as an educational vessel as it travels the Chesapeake Bay. The last weekend in October is Chestertown’s Downrigging Weekend, where the Sultana and other historic tall ships are open to the public in Chestertown’s own harbor. The replica Sultana is not an exact reconstruction, as it has a diesel auxiliary engine and conforms to Coast Guard regulations so that it may carry passengers. However, she was built following traditional methods where possible.