This volume is the first of a projected five that will deal with each year of the Old Dominion's life as a Confederate state. Edited by the two principal figures involved in the Virginia Center for Civil War Studies at Virginia Tech, it consists of eight essays on what was happening in the commonwealth in 1861, plus the 1861 portion of the diary of a prominent Virginia lady.
James I. "Bud" Robertson leads off with an informative piece on the Virginia secession convention. As in the other upper-South states, the convention was originally dominated by moderates, with Unionists and secessionists each claiming about a fifth of the delegates. Events in February, March and early April saw a gradual shift toward secession.
Virginia, like other border states, regarded President Lincoln's call for 75,000 troops to put down a rebellion after the fall of Fort Sumter as an unwarranted infringement on state sovereignty. On April 17, the convention voted 88-55 (later adjusted to 103-46) for secession, a decision confirmed by the electorate on May 23 by a vote of 125,950 to 20,373.
Interestingly, a majority of the counties in what would become West Virginia favored secession, while the Shenandoah Valley voted almost 2-1 to remain in the Union.
Craig L. Symonds contributes an essay on land operations in Virginia in 1861. He identifies four lines for invasion of the state: the Allegheny west, the Shenandoah Valley, the Manassas front and the Virginia peninsula. Symonds' summation of the fighting in the Allegheny region is succinct and informative, as are his accounts of the Battles of Big Bethel, First Manassas and Ball's Bluff.
Joseph T. Glatthaar's piece on Confederate soldiers in Virginia in 1861 focuses on the supposed distinction between urban and rural troops in adaptability to army life. Glatthaar provides an interesting overview of the health, social and behavioral problems facing the recruits of 1861, concluding that there was not very much difference between country and city dwellers overall.
John M. Coski breaks new ground in chronicling the short but important history of the Virginia State Navy, which lasted from roughly April 20 until June 10, 1861. It is interesting that the Lincoln administration waited until the day after the Virginia electorate voted for secession, May 24, to send land forces into Virginia, but the U.S. Navy began hostile operations against Virginia on April 20 with an attempt to destroy the facilities of Gosport Navy Yard, which state authorities did not occupy until after the Navy had withdrawn.
During its brief existence, the Virginia State Navy acquired vessels and established artillery batteries along rivers to protect the state from incursions by U.S. naval vessels. Most of the state navy's departments and personnel were taken over intact by the Confederate Navy in June.
Ervin L. Jordan's piece on Afro-Virginians' attitudes toward secession and the Civil War reveals that Virginia's slaves and free blacks held different opinions on such matters. The commonwealth held over 490,000 slaves in 1861, more than any other Southern state. When faced with opportunities to leave their masters for freedom within the Union lines, Virginia's slaves generally voted with their feet.
On the other hand, some free blacks served in Virginia military units. A black member of the Wythe Rifles allegedly shot the first Union officer killed in the Civil War at Big Bethel. But Virginia whites had trouble trusting free blacks, as evidenced by the nearly 40 laws restricting their activities passed by the General Assembly in the course of the war.
William C. Davis' contribution describes the process by which Richmond became the Confederate capital. Political machinations governed both the Virginia secession convention's offer of Richmond as the nation's capital and the Confederate Congress' acceptance. The move to Richmond was approved on May 20, before Virginia's electorate had confirmed the convention's decision to secede.
Michael Mahon's article notes that the Shenandoah Valley was predominately unionist prior to Fort Sumter, but reluctantly agreed that Virginia must join the other Southern states after Lincoln's call for troops. On May 23, all of the valley counties except Berkeley voted to confirm secession.
The Confederacy quickly discovered that the valley was a source of provisions, but those valley residents who could not profit from the war effort began to suffer deprivations along with their compatriots throughout the South. The Lower Valley counties of Berkeley, Clarke, Frederick and Jefferson remained heavily unionist in sentiment, largely because of wartime economic disruption.
C. Stuart McGehee's little gem of an essay on West Virginia's creation manages to cover not only the process by which a group of Ohio Valley Virginians with close ties to the B&O Railroad established the Restored Government of Virginia in Wheeling in May 1861, but the downfall of the state's founders after 1870, when West Virginia's southern counties, filled with ex-Confederates, "redeemed" state government and undid most of the pro-Union wartime enactments.
McGehee also traces the development of a mythology, taught in state schools, according to which West Virginia's breaking away from the Old Dominion parallels the commonwealth's revolutionary separation from Great Britain. His is a fascinating story, too briefly told.
The final effort in this volume is Robertson's edited version of the 1861 portion of the diary of Judith Brockenbrough McGuire, wife of the headmaster of Alexandria's Episcopal High School. The McGuires became refugees in May 1861 after Federal forces occupied Alexandria; they spent most of the rest of 1861 living with friends and family in the Shenandoah Valley. Mrs. McGuire's diary provides a fascinating window into daily life among elements of Virginia's upper class in the war's first year.
Virginia at War, 1861 is a useful volume that will expand the knowledge of most readers. It deserves a home on the bookshelf of anyone who wants to know more about Virginia's role in the War Between the States.
Dane Hartgrove, formerly of Stafford County, is a freelance writer living in Salisbury, N.C. Send e-mail to his attention to gwoolf@freelance star.com.
Copyright 2006 The Free Lance-Star Publishing Company
