VIRGINIA
The secession of Virginia was vital for the Confederacy. Virginia was populous and industrious, and lent its prestige as the home of American democracy and father of Presidents (Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, as well as the less-imposing Harrison, Tyler, and Taylor).
There were almost 1,600,000 people living in Virginia in 1860, of which about 490,000 were slaves, and about 58,000 free blacks. (The concentration was highest in the old tobacco country south and east of the James River; Petersburg had many, enough to support several newspapers aimed at free blacks.) The Old Dominion was the most populous state in the South, and the most industrialized; over 5,000 manufacturing establishments, also most in the South. Among them were the US Arsenal at Harper's Ferry, the Norfolk Navy Yard, and the Tredegar Works in Richmond.
These factors meant the South had to have Virginia, but Virginia was not united. The western part of the Commonwealth was less prosperous, mainly small farmers who had no economic or social ties to slave-holding. These counties would vote against secession in 1861, but would themselves secede from Virginia in 1863. (Their excuse was that they had the legitimate government of Virginia.) This schizophrenia and a generally moderate view of slavery meant that Virginia supported the lackluster John Bell in the election. Virginia also did not rush into secession; the firebrands were voted down until after Lincoln called for volunteers to invade the lower South.
Then on April 17, 1861, the Secession Convention voted 88-55 to leave the Union, and militia regiments quickly seized both Harper's Ferry and Norfolk. This was not the only prize that Virginia brought; people like Robert E. Lee, JEB Stuart, Thomas Jackson, and Joe Johnston followed their state. Virginia eventually mobilized 64 infantry and 26 cavalry regiments, plus artillery and partisans for the Confederacy, and virtually nothing for the Union.
The Confederate capital was moved up to Richmond, which ensured that most of the war would be fought between Richmond and Washington. Notable campaigns were fought in northern Virginia (three years running), the James-York peninsula, the Shenandoah (twice), and the prolonged siege of Richmond and Petersburg. The crushing blow for the Confederacy was Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House.
|
