By 1860, the population of Virginia had reached over one and a half million including 490,865 slaves and 58,042 free Negroes. From 1851 to 1861, four counties were added: Craig (formed from Botetourt, Giles, Monroe and Roanoke Counties and named for Robert Craig, a Virginia Congressman), Wise (formed from Lee, Scott and Russell Counties and named for Henry Alexander Wise, Governor of Virginia, 1856-1860), Buchanan (formed from Tazewell and Russell Counties and named in honor of President James Buchanan) and Bland (formed from Giles, Wythe and Tazewell Counties and named for Richard Bland, a Virginia statesman during the Revolutionary War Period).
After Virginia had furnished many leaders for the First Continental Congress, another special Virginia convention was held in Richmond where a resolution for military preparedness was passed and delegates were elected to the Second Continental Congress. Three additional special conventions were later held in the Virginia colony alone which resulted in the abdication of the last colonial Governor of the colony, the declaration of Virginia as a free and independent State, the writing of the Virginia Declaration of Rights, the adoption of an official State seal and motto, the creation and adoption of a State Constitution establishing the Commonwealth of Virginia, the adoption of the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom and the eventual ratification of the United States Constitution. In the political field, the names of Patrick Henry, Peyton Randolph, George Washington, George Mason, George Wythe, Edmund Pendleton, James Madison, Edmund Randolph, Archibald Cary, Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe suggest numerous contributions made by Virginians during the period, 1775-1860.
Virginians also had major roles in the military history of our country during this same period: George Washington, John Mühlenberg, Henry Lee, Jack Jouett, Andrew Lewis, Daniel Morgan, John Paul Jones, Samuel Houston, William Henry Harrison, Zachary Taylor, Winfield Scott and Robert E. Lee. In the meantime, the capital had been moved from Williamsburg to Richmond, Virginia had ceded its Northwest Territory to the new national government and Yorktown had become internationally famous as the area where the British had surrendered to the Americans. It is a unique historical fact that the site where the British armies were forced to surrender in 1781 was located only a few miles from the site where the first permanent English settlement in America was established.
The Presidency of George Washington started the so-called "Virginia Dynasty" of Presidents. By 1861, the Commonwealth had furnished the United States with seven Virginia-born Presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, William Henry Harrison, John Tyler and Zachary Taylor. For this achievement, Virginia has earned the title of "Mother of Presidents."
During the period of 1775 to 1860, many significant activities of Virginians took place at both the state and federal levels of government: the "Leopard-Chesapeake" Affair, Jeffersonian Democracy, John Marshall's role as Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, the consent of Virginia allowing Kentucky County to become an independent state in the Union, the Lewis and Clark Expedition to the Northwest, the role of Norfolk, Hampton and Falls Church during the War of 1812, the Monroe Doctrine, the efforts of Henry Clay ("The Great Compromiser"), the historical connotation of the capital city, Monrovia, in Liberia, the creation of a non-sectarian state university and of the first state military school in the country, the attitude of Virginians toward the sectional issues of tariff, secession and slavery, the inventions of the McCormick Virginia Reaper and the Willcox-Gibbs Sewing Machine and the active participation of Virginians in the Texan Revolt and the Mexican War. John Brown's Raid at Harper's Ferry increased sectionalism and intensified the slavery problem. By 1860, the population of Virginia had reached over one and one-half million people, including approximately 500,000 slaves.
In November 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected President of the United States. He represented the Republican Party which strongly opposed slavery, and he had made numerous speeches stating his personal opposition to it. Although Lincoln had declared that he had no desire to interfere with slavery in the states where it already existed, he also had made the following statement: "A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved: I do not expect the house to fall; but I do expect that it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other." Thus, on December 20, it was not a complete surprise that a special convention held at Charleston, South Carolina, resulted in the secession of South Carolina, a strong pro-slavery state, from the Union. By February 1861, six other southern states had acted likewise. The Confederate States of America was organized at Montgomery, Alabama, with Jefferson Davis as its President.
Until this time, Virginia had not declared herself. Like her neighboring states, she had to make the momentous decision. The Governor of Virginia at this time was John Letcher, later known as the "War Governor" of Virginia. The people of Virginia did not enthusiastically favor secession, that is, they did not have an ardent desire to leave the Union as South Carolina had had. Neither did Virginia believe in the national policy of coercion of a state to return to the Union. In an attempt to bring the seceded states back into the Union and to try to find some solution to the slavery problem, the Virginia legislature invited delegates from all the states to attend a national "Peace Conference" at Washington on February 4. Virginia appointed John Tyler (ex-President), Judge John Robertson, James A. Seddon, William C. Rives and George W. Summers to attend this conference. There was so much sectionalism bitter with political and economic rivalries at the conference that it was unsuccessful.
On February 13, 1861, a special state convention was held in Richmond to discuss the possibility of secession. When the counties elected the 152 delegates to this special state convention, their choice resulted in several pro-Union, anti-secession residents of the state. John Janney was the presiding officer of the convention. It was evident that the majority of the delegates hesitated to leave the Union because they had very strong ties with the Federal government. Virginia had played an important role in creating the Union and had furnished one-third of all the Presidents, numerous cabinet members, a Supreme Court Chief Justice who held this position for thirty-four years (John Marshall), and other less important Federal officials. The convention delegates sent a committee consisting of William B. Preston, George W. Randolph and Alexander H. H. Stuart to President Lincoln to plead for a peaceful solution to the slavery and secession problems.
On March 10, 1861, the Committee on Federal Relations at the Richmond convention submitted reports consisting of fourteen resolutions to the convention. These resolutions expressed the doctrine of states' rights, criticized slavery interference, advocated the right of secession and resolved that Virginia would be justified in seceding only if the Federal government usurped state powers or if it attempted to force the payment of tax duties from the seceded states or if it recaptured certain Southern forts. The first twelve resolutions had been adopted at the time of the unofficial firing on Fort Sumter, near Charleston, South Carolina on April 12th and the forced surrender of the Federal garrison. The Federal government had sent arms, troops and provisions to the aid of Colonel Robert Anderson at Fort Sumter. The Confederate government had considered the action a hostile act and had acted accordingly. The actual signal for the attack was given by Roger Pryor, a strong secessionist from Virginia; furthermore, the actual shot was fired by another Virginia secessionist, Edmund Ruffin. The ultimate surrender of Fort Sumter to the Confederates resulted in an immediate call from President Lincoln for volunteers to save the Union.
Even as late as April 4, the Richmond convention had rejected secession by a vote of two to one. Some of the minority were strong in their wishes to secede immediately and to join the Confederacy, and they used the issues of self-government, states' rights and slavery as their points of variance with the national government. Furthermore, these advocates believed that an alliance with the Confederacy would at least remove them from the direct influence of high protective tariffs since a clause prohibiting protective tariffs had been included in the Constitution of the Confederacy. Two days after the firing on Fort Sumter, April 15, President Lincoln called on all the states in the Union to send volunteers, numbering 75,000 total, to invade the seceding states and to coerce them back into the Union.
Two days later, April 17, 1861, the Virginia Convention passed an ordinance of secession by a vote of 88 to 55. Many pre-Union Virginians at this convention preferred to choose secession rather than to send troops to fight against their southern neighbor states. In the previous election, the Virginia people voted overwhelmingly to have the convention submit its results for their voting approval or disapproval via referendum. On May 4, a large majority of the Virginia citizens voted their approval of secession. Nevertheless, although eastern Virginia voted almost solidly for secession, western Virginia voted almost as solidly against secession. Governor John Letcher of Virginia sent the following reply to the United States Secretary of War, Simon Cameron: "In reply to this communication I have only to say that the militia of Virginia will not be furnished to the powers at Washington for any such use of purpose as they have in view. Your object is to subjugate the Southern States, and a requisition made upon me for such an object—an object, in my judgment, not within the purview of the Constitution, or the Act of 1795—will not be complied with. You have chosen to inaugurate civil war, and having done so, we will meet it in a spirit as determined as the Administration has exhibited towards the South."
On April 25, the same convention members passed an act which provided for the adoption of the Constitution of the Provisional Government of the Confederate States of America, and Virginia became the eighth state of the Confederate States of America. Although Montgomery, Alabama, had been the capital of the Confederacy, one month after Virginia joined, Virginia invited the Confederacy to make Richmond its capital. The offer was accepted on May 21. Virginia thus became the focus of major battles of the War between the States during the four-year period: 1861-1865.
Colonel Robert E. Lee was a United States Army officer at this time and had one of the most difficult decisions to make. He was recognized as a man of great military ability, and the high regard which the Federal government had for him was expressed in the tremendously responsible position offered to him by President Lincoln. Lincoln was familiar with his great military strategy which had been followed in the Mexican War, his efficient administration as Superintendent of West Point, his excellent cavalry supervision on the frontier and his carefully planned capture of John Brown and his raiders at Harper's Ferry. Consequently, on April 18, President Lincoln had offered him the command of the Union forces. Lee realized the wonderful honor for which he had been selected and was deeply appreciative. However, he was a Virginian, and, after his state had seceded from the Union, he believed that there was no choice in the matter. His love of country was great, but the love of his state and his fellowmen was greater. Therefore, he sadly declined Lincoln's offer and stated that "though opposed, to secession and deprecating war, I could take no part in an invasion of the Southern States." Thus, as soon as Virginia seceded from the Union, he resigned his United States Army Commission on April 20 with the words: "Sir: I have the honor to tender the resignation of my commission as Colonel of the first regiment of cavalry. Very respectfully, your obedient servant—Robert E. Lee."
Lee then went to Richmond at the invitation of the convention and was made Major-General and Commander-in-Chief of the Virginia forces on April 23. It should be noted here that Virginia did not have an aggressive, warlike attitude toward the Union. Governor John Letcher is quoted as speaking to Robert E. Lee in the convention itself in the following manner: "Yesterday, your mother, Virginia, placed her sword in your hand upon the implied condition that we know you will keep to the letter and in spirit, that you will draw it only in her defense, and that you will fall with it in your hand rather than that the object for which it was placed there shall fail."
For the first three and a half years of the War between the States, the military actions took place simultaneously in two different areas: a small area in northern and northeastern Virginia and a western area in the region bounded by the Mississippi River, the Cumberland River, and the Appalachian Mountains. For most of the war, the Confederate forces were on the defensive side. With General Robert E. Lee as Commander-in-Chief, the Confederates had unity of command whereas the Union forces actually had five successive generals before appointing Ulysses S. Grant as the supreme commander. Many of the best military minds were fighting on the Confederate side, and it is believed by several historians that only their great strategic ability and planning against larger military forces with better equipment and clothing kept the war from being concluded at a much earlier date.
The major objective of the Federal government became a clearcut one, namely, to capture Richmond, the capital of the Confederacy. Thus, a chief aim of the military forces in Virginia was the protection and defense of Richmond at all times. Virginia lost Accomack and Northampton Counties on the Eastern Shore at the beginning of the war and was unable to obtain control of Union Fort Monroe.
On May 24, 1861 the Fire Zouaves, a unit of the United States Army, marched from Washington to Alexandria, the first point of invasion in Virginia in the War between the States. They took possession of Alexandria in the name of the United States and found no organized opposition because there were no Southern troops here. Virginia had not been ready for war and had made no preparations for war. The only standing army in the state at the time of her secession was a group of soldiers whose duty had been to guard public property in Richmond. Several volunteer companies had organized in various parts of the state for the first time after John Brown's Raid. One of the first immediate tasks to be done was the training of soldiers in Virginia and the acquiring of cannon and fire-arms. Consequently, it was not unusual for Alexandria not to have had an organized force by May 24, awaiting Federal invasion. As these Fire Zouaves entered Alexandria, they noticed a Confederate flag flying from the top of a small hotel called the Marshall House. Colonel Elmer Ellsworth, the Federal commander, decided to obtain this flag. He entered the hotel, ran up the stairs to the roof and grabbed it. He had started to descend the stairs with his trophy when, at the first landing, he met the hotel owner, James W. Jackson, who had been curious to know who had been rushing up the stairs and invading his hotel. When he saw the Confederate flag in the hands of the Federal officer, he shot him in the breast. Ellsworth died instantly and Jackson was immediately killed by bullets and bayonets used by Ellsworth's troops. This was the first blood shed in Virginia in the War between the States.
A skirmish took place at Fairfax Court House on June 1, 1861, which caused the death of Captain John Quincy Marr of the Warrenton Rifles. His death is considered the first Confederate battle death.
In the same month, the first land battle of the War between the States took place around and near the town of Philippi located in western Virginia (today, in West Virginia). On June 3, Union troops led by Colonel B. F. Kelly clashed with Confederate troops led by Colonel George A. Portfield. This fighting was not only a victory for the Union forces, but the retreat of the Confederates from the surprise Union attack on a dark, rainy night was exceedingly rapid. The Confederates fled more than thirty miles in one day to a town called Beverly, thereupon earning for their action the title, the "Philippi Races."
On July 21, along a creek called Bull Run, near Manassas, approximately twenty-five miles from Washington, some Union forces under the leadership of General Irvin McDowell met Confederate forces under the leadership of General Pierre G. T. Beauregard. Manassas was the site of a key railroad junction, an important line of supply and communication. Although the Union forces were at first successful, the firm stand taken by the Confederate forces on Matthews Hill and on Henry Hill led by General Thomas Jonathan Jackson and a counter-attack led by Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston's forces resulted in chaos in the Union army and a panicky retreat to Washington. This was a most unexpected defeat for the Union forces. "J. E. B." Stuart served under Joseph Johnston at this time and led a successful mounted charge against the Federal infantry. He also helped create disorder and panic in their lines. This first Battle of Bull Run or Battle of Manassas was the occasion for T. J. Jackson's famous nickname: "Stonewall." General Bernard E. Bee, a South Carolinian, headed some troops which had become panicky, and, as he saw T. J. Jackson's brigade in correct line formation, he is said to have made the following comment to his group: "Look! There is Jackson and his brigade standing like a stone wall. Rally behind the Virginians." From that time on, T. J. Jackson was called "Stonewall" Jackson. As the Union forces neared Manassas, Captain Alexander, a Confederate officer, spotted their coming from his lookout station. He relayed their approach by wigwagging signals with flags. This action is believed to be the origin of semaphoring. This battle caused the North to realize that the conquering of the South was not the easy task that it had predicted or had assumed. Their military slogan "On to Richmond" became a military challenge rather than an accepted conclusion.
President Lincoln had declared a blockade of the Southern ports as soon as the war had started. The Federal Navy Yard at Norfolk was captured by the Confederates without resistance. The United States ships were only twelve in number at the beginning of the war, but others were quickly constructed. The Confederates hoped to keep the James River open at all times. They needed ships badly, having had no navy to draw upon for ships. When the Federal employees had abandoned the Norfolk Navy Yard, they had sunk a wooden frigate called the "Merrimac." Governor Letcher of Virginia ordered that this ship be raised and be converted into an effective, usable frigate. Lieutenant John M. Brooke, John L. Porter, W. P. Williamson and others planned together for a converted ship. Finally, the hull of the old ship was covered with pine, oak and iron plates from the famous Tredegar Iron Works of Richmond. It was equipped with ten guns and an inexperienced crew under the ex-United States Naval Commander, Franklin Buchanan. This iron-clad vessel was renamed the "Virginia," and it traveled to Hampton Roads to attack the Federal fleet on March 8, 1862. When it first received gunfire from a Federal ship, the shots surprisingly glanced off its sides. The vessel moved very slowly. When at close range, it pierced the "Cumberland" with its iron ram causing it to sink. The next day, much to its surprise, it was matched by a Union ship, the "Monitor," designed by John Ericsson, which was ironclad, smaller, more agile and newly constructed throughout. The ships fired upon each other, but they could not inflict serious damage. The Battle of the "Monitor" and the "Virginia" (formerly "Merrimac") was a draw or indecisive from a victory point of view. However, it is important historically as the first battle of ironclad vessels in the United States. The "Virginia" was later blown up when the Confederates evacuated Norfolk.
On March 23 of the same year, "Stonewall" Jackson became the aggressor and attacked a Union force at Kernstown, near Winchester. However, when one of his brigade became short of ammunition, he had to retreat southward. This battle was the beginning of Jackson's "Valley Campaign."
Beginning on April 5 and continuing for approximately one month, an important siege took place at Yorktown. After a line of fortifications had been erected across the Peninsula from the Warwick River to Yorktown by the Confederate Commander John B. Magruder, General Joseph E. Johnston entrenched his army here. Union General George B. McClellan coming from Fort Monroe besieged the area for weeks and finally mounted his large size guns. With this action, Johnston withdrew since he was not equipped for such heavy fighting. As General Johnston's forces were retreating from Yorktown, they met an advance section of McClellan's army about one mile east of Williamsburg. Johnston was forced to fight at this time because he did not want them to capture his wagon train. Both armies fought valiantly, and neither side could get the advantage of the other. When night came, after a rainy day of fighting, Johnston retreated westward toward Richmond under cover of darkness. Two days later, Union General W. B. Franklin attempted to intercept Johnson on his retreat toward Richmond by landing just south of West Point on the eastern bank of the York River. However, General G. W. Smith came to Johnston's rescue and successfully drove Franklin forces back to the York River in order that Johnston could continue on his way to Richmond.
On May 8, 1862, "Stonewall" Jackson decided to prevent two Union generals, John C. Fremont and Nathaniel P. Banks, from combining their forces. He selected a position on a mountain top near McDowell, a village in Highland County. When Fremont's troops arrived under the leadership of General R. H. Milroy, they rushed up the sides of the mountain, only to be attacked by the Confederate forces under Jackson and driven back to a retreating position.
On May 23, Jackson successfully captured the town of Front Royal located in Warren County—an important area which had been held by Union forces under General Banks. This was a great blow to Banks as well as to his troops who rapidly retreated to Winchester. A unique feature of this battle was that among the opposing forces was the First Maryland Regiment, U. S. A. being attacked by the First Maryland Regiment, C. S. A. (Confederate States of America).
Two days later, Jackson rushed Banks at Winchester and surprised his troops to such an extent that they were routed from the town and driven across the Potomac in panic. Jackson who had been ordered by Lee to strike at Banks unexpectedly and to create the impression that it would be utterly impossible for him to converge with Fremont had carefully and painstakingly carried out such an order. Jackson is considered by many as second in military stature only to Lee himself.
On May 31-June 1, 1862 the Battle of Seven Pines or Fair Oaks took place. The left wing of the Union army under McClellan was attacked by Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston at Fair Oaks Station and Seven Pines, located just east of Richmond. The Confederates won at Seven Pines but were driven back at Fair Oaks. The Battle of Seven Pines was considered indecisive. General Johnston was wounded seriously in this battle, and, at this time, General Robert E. Lee was put in command of the Army of Northern Virginia.
On June 8-9, Jackson was slowly retreating up the Shenandoah Valley when he decided to prevent two Union generals, John C. Fremont and James Shields, from combining forces by checking or holding back Fremont and then attacking Shields. He sent part of his troops under General Richard S. Ewell to attack the forces under Fremont at Cross Keys in Rockingham County. General Ewell defeated the forces of Fremont very badly and kept Fremont's help completely away from Shields. Jackson then led his remaining forces north of Port Republic and encountered Shields there. Bitter fighting followed. Shields was eventually defeated and driven down the Shenandoah Valley. This was the final engagement of the so-called Valley campaign. Jackson had proven himself a great military man who had fought on both sides of the Shenandoah Valley and who had marched approximately 700 miles in seven weeks in almost continuous fighting with one or more of the Federal fighting forces. This campaign included five major engagements: Kernstown, McDowell, Front Royal, Winchester and Port Republic. Jackson suffered defeat only at Kernstown by the Union General James Shields. Jackson then proceeded toward Richmond to prevent General McClellan from entering there.
On June 11, General Lee dispatched General James Ewell Brown ("J. E. B.") Stuart with 1200 cavalry and infantrymen from Richmond to obtain information behind the lines of the enemy concerning the specific position of McClellan. In three days, Stuart and his contingent had courageously ridden completely around the army of McClellan, acquiring much valuable information for General Lee. Only one of Stuart's men was killed during the assignment. Based upon the information furnished by General "J. E. B." Stuart, General Lee decided to advance his army on June 26. The Union forces under General Fitz-John Porter had outposts near Richmond just north of the Chickahominy River in the town of Mechanicsville. Confederate General Ambrose P. Hill successfully occupied Mechanicsville and then continued to attack General Fitz-John Porter's troops along Beaver Dam Creek where he severely defeated them.
From June 26 to July 2, the Seven Days' Battle occurred. This included the fighting at Mechanicsville and at Gaines' Mill. In these two skirmishes, Lee, after severe fighting, drove the right wing of McClellan's army under General Porter across the Chickahominy River. At Glendale, Confederate Generals James Longstreet and Ambrose Hill fought terrific hand-to-hand skirmishes with gun butts and bayonets against the rearguard of the forces under McClellan. At nightfall, the Confederates retreated to Malvern Hill. On the following day, the forces under McClellan set up infantry fire with cannon fire just preceding it at the top of the hill. As the separate Confederate detachments charged up the steep hill, they were literally mowed down by the thousands. McClellan retreated during the night to Harrison's Landing. In spite of these military maneuvers, the army under McClellan was finally forced to retreat at the end of the Seven Days' battle, and Richmond, the "City of Seven Hills," still remained in Confederate control.
On August 9, as Jackson was on his way to encounter the Union General, John Pope, who had started southward, he unexpectedly met Union General Nathaniel P. Banks near Cedar Mountain (later called "Slaughter Mountain"), located just south of Culpeper. Severe fighting resulted, and the forces under Jackson had almost been annihilated when they received reinforcements which pushed the Union forces back. Since the number of casualties was extremely high during this battle, Jackson allowed Banks to bury his dead the following day.
On August 30, the Union troops made a second attempt to capture Manassas. Jackson defeated Union General Pope in the Second Battle of Manassas or Second Battle of Bull Run, after destroying large quantities of his supplies. When the Confederate troops had used all their available ammunition, they used stones until reenforcements under General James Longstreet arrived. These soldiers forced the Union troops under Pope to retreat to Centerville and eventually to Alexandria.
On September 5, 1862, General Lee, believing the time was suitable for invading the North, advanced across the Potomac River into Maryland. As they approached Frederick, they sang and marched to "Maryland, My Maryland" but this gesture did not result in large numbers of Marylanders joining the Confederate armed troops as they had hoped. After Jackson had successfully captured Harper's Ferry, Lee moved his remaining troops to Antietam Creek near Sharpsburg, Maryland. Severe fighting with McClellan's troops resulted and the Confederate forces in this area finally were forced to recross the Potomac River into Virginia.
On December 13, the Battle of Fredericksburg took place between Confederate forces under General Lee and Union forces under General Ambrose Burnside. Burnside had supplanted General McClellan. The town itself was used as a battlefield and many of the individual houses were completely destroyed. The city had been evacuated when it was first bombarded by Burnside on December 11. He proceeded to use five pontoon bridges to get his troops across the Rappahannock River. Although this battle resulted in some of the heaviest losses of the war, Burnside with his remaining forces was finally driven back across the Rappahannock River with the Union casualties twice as many as the Confederates.
On March 8, 1863, an unusual incident occurred. At midnight, a group of Confederate raiders, led by Colonel John S. Mosby, made a raid on the Fairfax Court House which had become federally occupied. Noted for its ruthless guerilla actions, this group of raiders then made a daring invasion of the Union lines and continued to the headquarters of Union Brigadier-General Edwin H. Stoughton. After cleverly getting past Stoughton's guards in the middle of the night, Mosby himself quickly captured Stoughton as a choice Confederate prisoner.
On April 30, 1863, the Union army under General Joseph E. Hooker, Burnside's successor, crossed the Rappahannock River again, this time at Chancellorsville, approximately ten miles north of Fredericksburg. "Stonewall" Jackson was in charge of the attack on Hooker at Chancellorsville and his troops were forcing back the troops under Hooker when fate seemed to take a hand. On May 2, "Stonewall" Jackson had ridden beyond his own line of battle and was returning at dusk when he was mistaken for one of the enemy and was fired upon by a group of his own soldiers. He was wounded in the left shoulder, forearm and right hand and had to have his left arm amputated the next day. He was mortally wounded and died on May 10. His death was a great shock to the Confederate forces. General A. P. Hill had also been wounded at Chancellorsville. "J.E.B." Stuart voluntarily took command of the corps originally under Jackson and by his own audacious actions successfully led them in pursuit of the Union forces under Hooker, as Jackson had originally planned. Attacked by troops from the west under Stuart and by forces from the east under Lee, Hooker and his army were finally driven back across the Rappahannock River.
On June 9, the famous Confederate cavalry leader, "J.E.B." Stuart, met in combat the great Union cavalry leader, General Alfred Pleasanton at Brandy Station, near Culpeper. Stuart had been on a scouting trip between the Union forces and Washington, seeking information for the proposed advance of Lee to Gettysburg; Pleasanton had been seeking Confederate information for General George G. Meade, who had succeeded Hooker in command of the Union Army. Both cavalry groups consisted of approximately 10,000 troops each. Excellent horsemanship was displayed in this action with sabers as the chief weapons. Pleasanton and his men inflicted much damage and then left in orderly fashion. Stuart withstood the surprise attack very well and did not retreat in a panic, as might have been expected. Since the Unionists lost more men than did the Confederates in this practically evenly-matched fighting, the Battle of Brandy Station is considered as a notable victory for "J.E.B." Stuart and his men because Pleasanton had a highly skilled group of infantrymen. This battle was the first real cavalry battle of the War between the States. It is considered by many military strategists as the greatest cavalry battle of the nineteenth century. As soon as his battle ended, Stuart made another famous ride directly behind the Federal fighting lines. He was later criticized for this trip, however, because he had not been ordered to make such a trip and was badly needed by Lee at this time to screen planned operations and to keep Lee informed of the activities of Meade and his troops.
From June 13 to June 15, 1863, a second Battle of Winchester occurred. Union General R. H. Milroy was forced to evacuate Winchester and retreat across the Potomac due to the hard fighting of Confederate General Richard S. Ewell whose troops had captured not only valuable cannon and wagons but also approximately 4,000 Union soldiers.
At the beginning of the War between the States, forty western counties of Virginia preferred not to secede from the Union. Consequently, when Virginia joined the Confederacy, a majority of the residents of the western counties voted to secede from Confederate Virginia at a special Wheeling convention. They formed a separate Unionist Virginia government and selected Francis H. Pierpont as their Governor. They had already chosen two United States Representatives from their Virginia government and they proceeded to elect two United States Senators. State officers of the Unionist Virginia government were required to take an oath of allegiance to the federal government. This Pierpont government was accepted by the President of the United States and Congress as the official government of Virginia. Three months later, at a second Wheeling convention, the strong desire on the part of many residents of this area to become a separate state in the Union resulted in Pierpont's calling together his legislature which gave the necessary consent for the creation of an independent state from within the original state of Virginia government boundaries. The new area was first called "Kanawha" but later the name was changed to West Virginia. On June 20, 1863, West Virginia was admitted as the thirty-fifth state to the Union. Although this procedure was apparently illegal and unconstitutional because the United States Constitution provides that no new state can be formed within the jurisdiction of any other state without the consent of the state legislature so involved, President Lincoln and the United States Congress overlooked this technicality because of a need for military and political expediency in wartime. Governor Pierpont and his Unionist government in August 1863 changed the location of his "restored" or "reorganized" government from Wheeling to Alexandria, which he termed the West Virginia capital city at that time. Alexandria maintained this West Virginia capital city status until the end of the war and the residents of Alexandria were forced to live under the provisions of a Pierpont-drafted "state" constitution. Later, Berkeley County and Jefferson County were annexed to West Virginia by November 1863 and became an official part of the state of West Virginia. Eventually, Virginia lost fifty counties altogether to West Virginia, approximately one-third of its total land area, with their human and natural resources as well as their financial support.
After the victories of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, Lee decided to cross the Potomac again and invade the north once more. When Lee found out that a large Union force under the command of General George G. Meade, who had replaced General Joseph Hooker, was at Frederick, Maryland, Lee decided to center his forces at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. On July 1, 1863, the Confederate forces attacked Meade's forces and made temporary gains. Two days later, three Confederate brigades commanded by General George E. Pickett advanced to the Federal cannon center, now called Cemetery Ridge, where mass slaughter of the Confederates took place. On July 4, the remaining Confederates returned sadly across the Potomac River into Virginia. Approximately two weeks after the Gettysburg defeat, a surprise attack on Wytheville, Virginia, was thwarted by the courageous efforts of Molly Tyres who rode rapidly over forty miles of mountain road between Tazewell and Wytheville to warn the inhabitants of the coming attack. Thus, did Virginians—military and civilian—strive to help the Confederate cause in which they so strongly believed.
On May 5 and 6, 1864 the so-called Battle of the Wilderness was fought in the heavily forested terrain of Spotsylvania County. As General R. S. Ewell was returning his forces from Fredericksburg to Orange, he encountered General Ulysses S. Grant who had become commander of the Union army. At the same time forces under General Ambrose P. Hill encountered the left wing force under Grant which resulted in terrific fighting within the dense woods of the wilderness. As the left wing force under Grant was breaking through the forces under Hill, General James Longstreet approached and forced the Union troops back to Spotsylvania Courthouse, southwest of Fredericksburg. Grant retreated in this direction in an attempt to keep Lee away from Richmond. However, Lee was ahead of Grant. Although Grant tried repeatedly from May 8 to May 18 to break through the Confederate lines at Spotsylvania with exceptionally heavy musketry fire causing thousands of casualties, he was unable to penetrate Lee's lines. Therefore, he moved southward to the North Anna River.
In the meantime, on May 10, when General Philip Sheridan tried to make an unexpected rush on Richmond, "J.E.B." Stuart, with only part of his cavalry, blocked Sheridan's way at Yellow Tavern and saved the Confederate capital. Stuart was mortally wounded by a close pistol shot in this fighting and he died on May 11, 1864 in Richmond. He is considered by many military strategists as the greatest cavalryman in United States history.
On May 15, General Franz Sigel, a Union leader, decided to capture Staunton in order to ruin the communication system there which Lee had used to be kept informed about activities in the Shenandoah Valley. He arrived as far as New Market, in Shenandoah County, when he met Confederate General John C. Breckinridge who had a comparatively small army consisting mostly of young Virginia Military Institute cadets. They showed the benefits of their military training and successfully captured a Union battery. After this had been done, General Breckinridge advanced, defeated Sigel and drove him down the Shenandoah Valley.
On May 23-27, 1864, the North Anna River in Hanover County became the next area of military concentration. General Lee and General Grant were on opposite sides of the river. Although the forces led by Grant were able to cross the river at various intervals, they were unable to penetrate the forces led by Lee. Consequently, Grant turned southwest and proceeded to march to Cold Harbor, approximately ten miles north of Richmond. When Grant arrived at Cold Harbor, he decided to have an all-out offensive against the forces of Lee at this location. His attempt was in vain, however, and he received very heavy losses on June 3. This caused him to retreat to the James River south of Richmond.
On June 11, 1864 there was an important cavalry battle at Trevillians Station, in Louisa County, between Union General Philip Sheridan and Confederate cavalrymen led by Wade Hampton and Fitzhugh Lee. Sheridan had been trying to reach Union General Hunter who was on his way to Lynchburg. After heavy fighting on both sides, Sheridan was defeated and retreated eastward.
In the meantime, after General Grant had found it impossible to penetrate the lines established by Lee north of Richmond, he had crossed the James River south of Richmond and had set up camp on the outskirts of Petersburg. On June 15, 1864, Confederate General Beauregard held the forces under Grant back for three days until reenforcements under Lee arrived. Fighting continued between these two groups until April of the following year. During this siege, the Union forces decided to make a tunnel under the Confederate defenses which surrounded the city of Petersburg and to blow up the fortifications via a mine blast. Some Pennsylvania coal miners in one Union regiment were assigned the task of making the tunnel and laying the mine. On July 30, 1864 the mine was exploded, and the shape of the area after the explosion resembled a huge crater of a volcano. For this reason, this action is often referred to as the Battle of the Crater. Two hundred Confederate soldiers lost their lives due to the explosion. However, as the Union soldiers were ordered to charge up the sides of the recently carved crater, they found them too steep and while they were struggling to get out of the crater, about 4,000 Unionists lost their lives. The Union men could not see from behind the lines and continued to advance according to their orders into the crater until the crater was practically filled with struggling Union soldiers. The remaining Unionists were driven at the point of bayonets out of the crater back to their own lines.
While the Petersburg siege was taking place, Lynchburg became the next objective of the Union forces. When General Jubal Early reached Charlottesville on his mission to block Union General Hunter, he learned that Hunter was heading for Lynchburg, the chief center of supplies of the Army of Northern Virginia and its center of communications. Early's forces in this battle consisted of two extremes in age: very young men cadets from the Virginia Military Institute and older men whose hair locks were so white that they were nicknamed "Silver grays." The fighting lasted from the afternoon of the 17th to the end of the next day when Hunter withdrew unexpectedly to the west. Early pursued him down the Shenandoah Valley and across the Potomac River to the outskirts of the Federal capital. Since Early, however, was not prepared for a fight on Washington, D. C., he returned to Winchester.
At approximately noon, on September 19, 1864, General Early survived a surprise attack by General Sheridan and his forces near Winchester. Early, in a victorious mood, even turned the tables on the attackers and attacked them. Much to his surprise at three o'clock of the same day, Sheridan returned and badly defeated Early, driving him back to Winchester and eventually to a retreat up the Shenandoah Valley. Sheridan, whose forces had been savagely attacked by some Confederate guerilla bands, now retaliated by destroying houses, barns and foodstuffs and by capturing or killing livestock. The valley was completely devastated by his destructive campaign.
One month later, however, Early made a surprise crossing of a branch of the Shenandoah River and drove the forces of Sheridan northward from Cedar Creek in Frederick County. As Sheridan and his forces were fleeing, Union reenforcements arrived under the leadership of General Horatio Wright. The combined forces of Sheridan and Wright attacked the troops of Early and drove them from the area in great chaos. This victory was the shortest victory in the War between the States.
During the war, several attempts had been made by the Union forces in the Shenandoah Valley to capture and destroy the Salt Works at Saltville, located in southwestern Virginia. In 1864, the Confederate General John H. Morgan with a small cavalry force successfully repulsed a Union force under General William Averell. On December 18, 1864, however, the salt mines and the Salt Works were destroyed by a small detachment of Union forces who were ordered to Saltville while the Confederates were engaged in severe fighting with the major Union troops at nearby Marion. The destruction of the Salt Works was significant because this location had furnished the principal source of salt supply for the Confederacy.
In spite of the many Unionist casualties at the Crater in 1864, Grant continued to keep his army near Petersburg. Finally, both sides made their camp there for the winter. General William Mahone was the Confederate general in charge of the Petersburg defense at this time. While the winter passed, the Union forces kept receiving enforcements while the Confederate forces had no reenforcements. As the Union forces were increased over a large area, the Confederates were forced to station their meager forces farther apart. There was a scarcity of food and clothing for the Confederates; the cold climate was most uncomfortable and demoralizing for them. On April 2, General Grant succeeded in breaking through the Confederate lines. Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy, was informed while attending services at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Richmond that Petersburg could be held no longer by the Confederate forces. The Virginians knew that, if and when Petersburg fell, Richmond would fall next because Petersburg was the key to Richmond. The next day, April 3, Richmond fell. As General Richard S. Ewell and his Confederate troops evacuated the city, they burned bridges and large tobacco and cotton warehouses to prevent the Union forces from receiving beneficial goods. However, a surprising wind spread the flames rapidly and resulted in approximately thirty million dollars worth of damage to the City of Richmond.
Three days later, the final battle of the Army of Northern Virginia occurred at Sailor's Creek near Farmville. The rearguard of Lee's Army on the way to Lynchburg was completely surrounded and attacked by Unionists. The Confederates lacked equipment, especially cannon, and were quickly overpowered by artillery fire. In the mass surrender which resulted, two generals were captured: R. S. Ewell and Custis Lee, son of General Robert E. Lee.
While the rearguard of Lee's army was retreating toward Lynchburg, the rest of his army was retreating from Petersburg. On April 8, 1865, two Confederate corps consisting of starved, poorly equipped soldiers under General John B. Gordon and General James Longstreet arrived at a village called Appomattox Court House. When General Lee arrived, he noticed that his men were actually surrounded and far outnumbered by General Grant's Army of the Potomac. He had been corresponding with Grant concerning a surrender ever since the fall of Petersburg. Lee, realizing the futility of the comparatively small group of poorly equipped troops which he now commanded against Grant's large army, asked for an official meeting at Appomattox Court House. The meeting took place at noon on April 9, 1865, on Palm Sunday in the parlor of Wilmer McLean's House. General Lee and Colonel Charles Marshall, one of Lee's staff members and a most distinguished officer, represented the Army of Northern Virginia at the meeting while General Grant and fourteen federal officers including General George A. Custer and Major General Philip H. Sheridan constituted the remaining membership of the famous meeting.
The contrasting appearance of the two leaders was very noticeable: Grant, the victor, appeared straight from the battlefield in a dusty, fatigue uniform of a private without side arms and Lee, the vanquished, appeared in a new dress uniform of a Confederate general—the only one he owned after his personal effects had been burned in a wagon raid during an earlier retreat. Although the two leaders had had only casual meetings in their earlier years, their previous acquaintance seemed to lighten the tenseness of the situation. After an exchange of formal greetings and general conversation, the talks gradually shifted to a discussion of peace terms of surrender.
The terms have been described as most fair and generous and they included the following: parole was given to the Confederate officers and soldiers with the understanding that they were not to take up arms against the United States during the period of exchange, military weapons were to be relinquished to Union military officers with the exception of the side-arms belonging to the Confederate officers and baggage and privately-owned animals were to be kept for the spring plowing. Thus, after four years of brave fighting, General Robert E. Lee, in the name of the Army of Northern Virginia, graciously accepted with dignity the surrender terms of General Ulysses S. Grant and stated that the terms "will do much toward the conciliation of our people." General Grant then proceeded to furnish food for the starving Confederate forces. The formal surrender took place the next day. When the Union forces began to cheer during the surrendering of Confederate arms, Grant immediately ordered the cheers to cease with the remark: "The war is over; the rebels are our countrymen again." Thus, Virginia, where the first blood of the War between the States was shed, was also the scene where the final negotiations for the conclusion of the war were made.
From April 3 to April 10, 1865, Danville was the capital of the Confederacy. As the evacuation of Petersburg and Richmond took place, Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy, and his cabinet moved to Danville. The present Danville Public Library occupies the building known as the Confederate Memorial Mansion where Jefferson Davis held his last cabinet meeting, making Danville the Confederate capital for a few days. At the time of the meeting, this beautiful building was the home of Major W. T. Sutherlin. Governor William Smith of Virginia also evacuated from Richmond to Lynchburg where the state archives had been sent earlier.
After the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia, Jefferson Davis and his cabinet fled to Greensboro, North Carolina, and eventually, to Washington, Georgia, where they finally dispersed. Davis was later confined for two years at Fort Monroe, Old Point Comfort, Virginia, from May 10, 1865 to May 15, 1867. He was finally released on bail furnished surprisingly by Horace Greeley and other individuals who had strongly opposed Davis and his Confederate ideas a few years previously.
All the remaining Confederate troops had surrendered by the first week of June, and the War between the States had ended. Since a majority of the battles had been fought in Virginia, tremendous damage had been inflicted upon Virginia during the war. The state had been a constant battleground. Virginia troops, however, had distinguished themselves in their excellent fighting tactics, and the most brilliant military leaders of the Confederacy were Virginia-born.
Not only from a military viewpoint had the Confederacy welcomed the addition of Virginia within its membership, but also from an economic viewpoint. War munitions had been manufactured in huge quantities for the Confederate forces by the Tredegar Iron Works of Richmond. Richmond was also the home of the country's largest flour mills at that time. Because of its plentiful farm products, particularly wheat and corn, the Shenandoah Valley was called the "Granary of the Confederacy."
Even in defeat, the courageous spirit of the Virginians continued. The rôle of women in Virginia as well as in the entire South cannot be overemphasized. They had suffered physically, emotionally and economically during the war. They made military uniforms by hand, stood by helplessly as their homes and, often, life fortunes were burned to the ground, experienced certain types of deprivation such as a lack of proper food (particularly sugar, salt and meat), clothing, shelter and medicinal needs and performed numerous physical household tasks previously done by the Negro slaves although many of these women were unaccustomed to such hard labor.
Individual examples of bravery and courage, far too numerous to mention, were common throughout the entire war. A most unusual contribution of the women was their continuous experimentation in the discovery of food substitutes: the use of blackberry and sassafras leaves for tea; parched wheat, rye and corn for coffee beans; sea water for salt; and corncob ashes for cooking soda. A lack of processed candles and kerosene oil left only grease and wax to be utilized for making handmade candles. Wood was frequently substituted for leather and seeds for buttons. Formal education, of necessity, was almost non-existent; with a few exceptions, like the Virginia Military Institute, education became solely one of family training.
An incident of special interest was the activity of Sally Tompkins of Gloucester who was eventually commissioned by President Jefferson Davis as a Captain in the Confederate Army. She had charge of Robertson Hospital located in Richmond after she had previously used her own money and efforts to get this hospital established because of the urgent need for a hospital in the Richmond area. She influenced Judge Robertson to lend his house as a hospital headquarters. Later, after the government of the Confederacy assumed control of all the hospitals in the Confederacy, President Davis appointed an army officer as a director for each one. Recognizing the conscientious efforts of Sally Tompkins in establishing this hospital at Richmond, President Davis commissioned her as Captain, the only woman to be commissioned by the Confederate government.
At the end of the war, Virginia was in a devastated condition: private property as well as public property had in many cases been completely destroyed by fire or by ammunition. Practically all the livestock had been carried away. Family members had been decreased in number, and disease and starvation conditions were common throughout the state. Politically, economically, geographically, historically and socially, the South had been affected: Virginia, in the heart of the most severe battleground area, seemed to base its existence for the future upon the "survival of the fittest" theory.
Returning Virginia soldiers found some houses completely destroyed and large sections of land completely laid to waste. With little, if any, livestock left and with farm tools missing, the serious problem of reconstruction and rehabilitation can be easily understood. Railroad tracks and bridges had been demolished; transportation facilities in some areas were almost non-existent. Even fences, so important to livestock raising, had been entirely demolished in most instances. So hopeless did a recovery appear to many Virginians that a few men proposed migration to Mexico rather than to start anew with such poor living conditions.
General Robert E. Lee still showed his leadership qualities when he beseeched several Virginians, including Matthew Fontaine Maury, the brilliant marine cartographer, not to abandon Virginia when the state needed all her sons so badly. Maury was so impressed by the plea of Robert E. Lee that he rejected offers of employment from foreign countries which were familiar with his broad, oceanographic knowledge. Instead, he accepted the chairmanship of the Meteorology Department of the Virginia Military Institute. Robert E. Lee, himself, had been offered various employment opportunities but the honor which he deemed the highest of all was the position offered to him as President of Washington College at Lexington. Lee's financial gain from this position was to be a sum of $1500 per year plus a house and a garden. He humbly accepted the position and was allowed to keep his faithful horse, "Traveler," with him in a stable built adjacent to the President's house. From September 1865 until October 1870, Robert E. Lee served as President of Washington College.
Lee had two objectives which he hoped personally to achieve: (1) the lessening of the hatred which then existed between the North and the South so that all Americans might work together in unity for peace and progress, and (2) the education of youth in such a manner as to make them capable of living as successful citizens of the United States. With his deep idealism, Lee was also a practical man. When he recognized the interest of many young men in writing, editing and publishing newspapers, he included a course in journalism at Washington College. This was the first college journalism class offered in the United States. He was also responsible for the origin of the honor system whereby a student is on his personal honor to refrain from cheating and is also honor-bound to report any individual seen violating such code; this system is now used in numerous institutions of learning. Many of the current attributes of this college are traceable to the administration of Robert E. Lee. In 1871, the name of the college was changed to Washington and Lee University in honor of two Virginians who made numerous contributions to American culture.
After the war had ended, a most unusual situation existed in Virginia. The "Restored Government" under Governor Francis Harrison Pierpont claimed to be the official government of Virginia although he and his cohorts were responsible for dividing the State of Virginia and actually had set up an illegal Unionist Virginia government at Wheeling. President Lincoln, however, had at one time stated that "The government that took Virginia out of the Union is the government that should bring her back." He suggested that the present Governor of Virginia at that time, William Smith, should be present to ratify such procedure. However, U. S. Secretary of War Edwin Stanton persuaded Lincoln to withdraw this offer. Lincoln's untimely death on April 14, 1865, when he was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth at the Ford Theater in Washington, was a real blow to the South in general because he was much more conciliatory toward the South than the majority members of the Congress who were radical about their military victory over the South. It is interesting to note that, fifteen days later, John Wilkes Booth was shot to death in a burning barn on the Garrett Farm near Port Royal, Virginia. On May 9, 1865, President Andrew Johnson officially recognized the "Restored Government" of Virginia, which had relocated in Alexandria, and also recognized Pierpont as the Provisional Governor.
On June 15, 1865, a Freedman's Bureau headed by General Orlando Brown was established in Virginia. The Bureau was supported by the United States Government and had charge of the interests, aid, protection and guidance of the Negroes. This bureau distributed food rations and clothing to the Negroes and provided educational opportunities for them. Originally founded to help newly freed Negroes, the Freedmen's Bureau soon became overshadowed with political activities and severe radicalism with strong racial prejudices resulted.
From June 19 to June 23, 1865, Governor Pierpont had changed his headquarters from Alexandria to Richmond and his "General Assembly" of twelve representatives held meetings there. They endorsed Lincoln's plan of reconstruction and were rejoicing at the comparatively easy way in which Virginia was going to be restored to the Union. In the meantime, the radical Congress in Washington believed that the Confederate States had left the Union voluntarily and should not be allowed to return until they had fulfilled specific conditions. When the State of Virginia sent her officially-elected representatives to Congress, they were refused admission. Nevertheless, Congress did allow the Virginia General Assembly to meet in regular session, and one of the measures passed by this group consisted of a formal appeal to West Virginia to reunite with the original State of Virginia.
On March 2, 1867, Congress under the Reconstruction Act of 1867, divided the ex-Confederate states (with the exception of Tennessee which had ratified the Fourteenth Amendment providing citizenship for the Negroes) into five military districts, each of which was under the command of a Major-General of the United States Army. Later, on March 23, the Commonwealth of Virginia became Military District No. 1, and General John M. Schofield became the first military Governor of District No. 1 in 1867. Since Pierpont had been reelected Governor of Virginia in 1864 for a four-year term, he was accepted as the civilian Governor by the radical Congress, but subject to the authority of the military commander.
On December 3, 1867, a convention was held in Richmond for the purpose of writing a state constitution which would be accepted by the Federal Congress. A large majority of the representatives attending were radicals. Membership included twenty-five Negroes, individuals of foreign birth who had drifted into the State of Virginia after the War between the States, many northerners who had come South to enter politics and a few eligible white men who had changed to Republicanism. White men of the South who had held high public office before the War between the States and those who had helped or participated in the Confederacy in any way were barred from voting or taking part in the Constitutional Convention. Since the chairman or president of this convention was Federal Judge John C. Underwood, the convention is sometimes referred to as the Underwood Convention. The measures passed by these members were so radical that even General Schofield himself appeared personally before the convention and pleaded with the members to repeal a clause, drafted by the convention delegates, which disfranchised approximately 95% of the male white population of Virginia and disqualified them from holding office and from serving on juries. His plea, however, was ignored.
At this time, a Committee of Nine Virginians was formed at the suggestion of Alexander H. Stuart. The chief objectives of this committee were to observe political developments in Virginia and to determine the appropriate time to report to Washington on the state of events in order to obtain a more favorable method for Virginia to re-enter the Union. They bluntly stated that the Virginians were definitely opposed to full Negro suffrage and declared that many states other than the southern states, such as Kansas, Ohio, Minnesota, Michigan and Connecticut, had refused to enfranchise the Negro.
General Schofield prevented the planned election of the Underwood Convention from taking place in June by refusing to appropriate money for election expenses. Such postponement gave the Committee of Nine an opportunity to obtain public opinion backing before the Senate voted for the Underwood Constitution. The House of Representatives had already voted in favor of it immediately before the Christmas recess occurred. A representative of the Committee of Nine stated before Congress that the Committee advocated the acceptance of full Negro suffrage as inevitable in order that constitutional representative government might be restored at once. Chairman Stuart had already successfully achieved the support of the Boston "Advertiser," the Chicago "Tribune," the New York "Times" and the New York "Tribune." President Grant, who had succeeded President Johnson, suggested that, when the election took place in Virginia, the Underwood Constitution be voted upon first and then the test oath. As a result of the test oath, only individuals who had never taken arms against the Union and had never given aid or comfort to the Confederacy would be eligible to vote or to hold office. Likewise, it was suggested that the extension of the white disfranchisement be voted separately. When the election took place on July 6, 1869, the Underwood Constitution was adopted, but the two separate items mentioned above were defeated.
Gilbert C. Walker, a conservative Republican from New York and Pennsylvania, was appointed on September 21, 1869 as Governor of Virginia by General Canby, a successor of General Schofield. On October 8, 1869 the newly-elected General Assembly ratified the Fourteenth Amendment—"All persons born or naturalized in the United States are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside ..." and the Fifteenth Amendment—"The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude." Congress then approved the new state constitution, and Virginia was officially re-admitted into the Union on January 26, 1870.
One of the biggest problems facing Governor Walker was the extremely high debt of approximately forty-five million dollars which faced the state. The Underwood Constitution had provided for numerous additional office positions in an attempt to force the New England Township plan upon the Virginia County plan and to create positions for the many "Carpetbaggers" (northern politicians who came south to gain control of the local governments) and "Scalawags" (southern politicians who helped the "Carpetbaggers" get control). This increased the cost of state government. To remedy this situation, the General Assembly decreased its total membership approximately one-fourth to help reduce expenses.
Prior to the war, Virginia had embarked upon an extensive program of internal improvements which under normal circumstances would have paid for itself eventually and which during the war had accumulated much unpaid interest on the bonded debt. This financial burden would seem secondary to the tremendous poverty of the Virginians themselves at the end of the war. However, the General Assembly which had met prior to the adoption of the Underwood Constitution pledged the payment of all the ante-bellum debt plus the interest, even though Virginia had lost one-third of its taxable assets because of the separation of West Virginia. Some of the members still hoped and actually believed that West Virginia might return to the fold of Virginia after the war had ended. At the Governor's suggestion, in order to obtain revenue, the state sold its railroad holdings at a great reduction. Another method was the exchange of certain bonds for new ones at six per cent interest for two-thirds of the amount of the old bonds. For the additional third, certificates were issued endorsed against future settlement with West Virginia. Although these attempts were made to obtain necessary revenue, the amount received was very insufficient, and the state actually became more indebted because of them.
Another grave problem which faced the state at this time was the establishment of a state system of free public schools. This action was based upon a provision of the Underwood Constitution of 1869 and although having a most worthy purpose, the action was a costly one. Schools were to be furnished for the Negroes (approximately 30% of the total Virginia population) as well as for the whites, and this condition made the problem more difficult since there was a large number of illiterate Negroes. Dr. William H. Ruffner of Lexington, the first State Superintendent of Public Instruction, was elected by the General Assembly when the new state public school system was organized in 1870. The formidable task facing him can be better appreciated when one considers the creation of an entire public school system with very little money and few trained teachers available. The interest from the Literary Fund, all the capitation or poll tax, a new state property tax and a new one dollar annual tax on each male citizen twenty-one years and older were to constitute the financial support of the public school system. Local school and capitation taxes were optional with each county and public school district. Dr. Ruffner received much help from Dr. Benjamin Mosby Smith who helped him formulate a program and at the end of the first year, twenty-nine hundred schools were in operation with three thousand teachers employed to teach one hundred and thirty thousand students. From time to time, the schools were seriously threatened when the interest on the state debt was so high that there was little surplus left for educational purposes. Dr. Ruffner fought not only to keep the school funds from being used for other state activities but also to encourage Virginians themselves to favor a free public school system.
In 1868, General Samuel Chapman Armstrong was responsible for the founding of the Hampton Institute at Hampton, an educational institution whose primary objective was the education of the ex-slaves. The American Missionary Society, at the suggestion of General Armstrong, purchased a farm in Hampton where the Federal Government had established a hospital during the War between the States. The school began with General Armstrong as the principal, two additional teachers and fifteen students. Two years later, it became the Hampton Normal and Industrial Institute. Since General Armstrong believed in education of the "head, the heart, and the hands," training of the mind, character training, and vocational training were emphasized with the over-all objective of preparing the students to earn a living. The now-famous Hampton singers, originally led by General Armstrong, made their first tour through England and New England in 1870.
In the same year, Richmond was the scene of a dreadful disaster. When a sensational political case was about to be tried by the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals which held its sessions above the Old Hall in the State Capitol, the gallery in the court room collapsed due to the weight of the spectators. It crashed so hard that it broke through the ceiling of the Old Hall of the House of Delegates causing the death of sixty-two persons and injury to two hundred and fifty-one other individuals. This tragic incident focused attention on the need for more careful supervision of the construction and maintenance of buildings, especially where crowds are likely to congregate.
In the following year, the United States Supreme Court, which has original jurisdiction in the settlement of disputes between two or more states of the Union, was asked to settle a controversy between Virginia and West Virginia concerning the joint boundary line. The Supreme Court held that the new State of West Virginia was valid and agreed with West Virginia as to the territory within her jurisdiction. At the same time, the Virginia General Assembly passed an act whereby the state debt of approximately forty-five million dollars was to be funded. West Virginia was to be responsible for funding one-third of this amount since she had helped accumulate this debt before her separation from Virginia.
In 1872, the Virginia General Assembly appropriated money to establish an agricultural college at Blacksburg. This college was created as a result of the Morrill Act of Congress whereby federal funds were appropriated by Congress and awarded to colleges which emphasized the teaching of agriculture and of mechanical arts. The federal funds were received from the money collected from the sale of public lands. Therefore, such colleges were called "land-grant" colleges. The college of Blacksburg, originally known as Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College, was the first land-grant college in Virginia and is now known as the Virginia Polytechnic Institute.
The recessions which took place in the United States in 1867 and in 1869 and the Panic of 1873 indirectly helped Virginia because, instead of devoting much time and effort to Virginia's internal problems as had been planned upon its re-admission to the Union, the Congressmen at Washington were busy with the national problem of getting the United States in a more prosperous economic condition.
When the political parties held their gubernatorial conventions in Virginia in 1873, the Conservatives nominated General James L. Kemper and the Republicans nominated Robert W. Hughes. Kemper won, and the chief issue in the election was the debt problem. The Conservatives had advocated payment of the debt in order to maintain the credit of Virginia in the eyes of the public and to assume what they considered a proper obligation. However, some of the Conservatives believed that the debt would have to be lowered somewhat if it were ever to be paid in full and that, from a practical standpoint, it would have to be adjusted to the ability of the state to pay. This group of Conservatives was called the "Readjusters." In 1870, the state had been gerrymandered (districted politically) in an effort to create Negro majorities which would guarantee "carpetbagger" rule because the "carpetbaggers" seemingly had been very helpful to the Negro. The Conservatives who had won the election then enacted some reapportionment laws which resulted in the restoration of white rule in the cities. They also took it upon themselves to abolish approximately one-third of the local jobs created by the Underwood Constitution. In 1876, a law was passed which required the payment of a poll tax before voting in the state of Virginia. Although originally this tax was levied for revenue purposes, it automatically kept some of the Negroes from the voting polls because they could not afford to pay this tax. At the same time another law was passed, disfranchising all voters who had been found guilty at any time of petty larceny. Since this method had been commonly used by the Negroes directly after their emancipation, this law was criticized by some individuals as discriminatory toward the Negroes and contrary to the Fourteenth Amendment.
As time passed, the old question of the state debt loomed more important and more controversial than ever. The problem had two types of backers: one group called the "Readjusters" who believed that the debt should be drastically reduced or practically repudiated; the other group called the "Funders" who believed that Virginia was honor-bound to pay the original debt in full. The "Funders" surprisingly enough consisted of the planter and merchant class men whose financial losses had been the greatest during the war. The "Readjusters" persuaded the Negroes to adhere to their ideas primarily for political reasons. The arguments centered around such issues as: (1) whether the interest on the debt should have been cumulative during the War between the States, (2) whether Governor Walker had greatly over-estimated the potential resources of Virginia in considering the capacity of the ability of the people to pay, (3) whether the payment of a debt primarily because the honor of a state is involved is a major factor in an economic world, (4) whether the Federal government had regarded the State of Virginia as "conquered territory" and hence should assume the ante-bellum debts of this "conquered territory," (5) whether the debt itself should be reduced in all fairness because of the severe war property destruction in Virginia and because one-third of Virginia's entire state area had been reduced by the creation of West Virginia as a separate and permanent state, (6) whether Virginia had been forced by the Federal government to have the status of Military District No. 1 from 1865 to 1870 and hence would the state be held responsible for debts incurred during this period, and (7) whether local state government debts should be paid before payment should be made to outside debtors such as those in New York and London. In 1877 Colonel Frederick W. M. Holliday, the Conservative or "Funder" candidate, defeated General William Mahone, the "Readjuster" candidate for the Governorship.