May 7, 1861---Tennessee secedes; the Confederacy fights the Union Blockade

MAY 7, 1861: 

The Battle of Gloucester Point, Virginia. An inconclusive exchange of cannon fire between a Virginia shore battery on the York River and the gunboat U.S.S. YANKEE marks the beginning of Confederate resistance to the Union’s announced sea blockade of the C.S.A. 

On this same day, Tennessee secedes from the Union.