On this date 150 years ago, a meeting was held by secessionists in Baltimore, Maryland. Missouri and Tennessee decided against meeting Lincoln's request for volunteers, and at Richmond, Virginia, the State Convention passed a secession ordinance, 85-55. A public referendum was to be held in that state on May 23 for a final decision on the secession question. For all intents and purposes, Virginia was now viewed by the rest of the nation as a part of the Confederacy.

Confederate President Jefferson Davis announced that the Confederate government would accept applications for letters of marque, a move which would permit privateering, a practice that to many seemed little better than legalized piracy.

At Indianola, Texas, the steamer "Star of the West" was taken in Gulf waters by Confederate troops under General Van Dorn; the ship would later become a receiving vessel in the Confederate Navy.