150-Year Anniversary ยท December 1861
Through December the danger of war with Britain hung over Washington. At year's end the Lincoln administration agreed to release Mason and Slidell, conceding that their seizure had been improper and quietly averting a catastrophic second war.
On December 20 a sharp skirmish at Dranesville, Virginia, gave the Union a small but welcome victory in the otherwise quiet eastern theater as winter settled over the armies.
The newly formed Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War began its work, signaling that the politicians intended to keep a close and sometimes troublesome watch on the generals in the year to come.
The first wartime Christmas still left the outcome open. Later turning points are surveyed from the American Civil War front page.