On November 6, 1860, when Abraham Lincoln was elected President of the United States. South Carolina seceded from the Union. Followed by six more Southern states, on February 18, 1861, at Montgomery, Alabama they formed the Confederate States of America. Their elected president, Jefferson Davis, called for 100,000 volunteers to serve for one year. In less than six weeks, other Southern states seceded. The Confederates seized federal property in the South including several military posts. The exceptions were Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina and Fort Pickens near Pensacola, Florida.