An Encyclopedia of Early Civil War Virginia
Thursday, May 23, 1861, was a solemn day throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia. It was the day its white, male citizens over the age of 21 would decide whether to ratify an Ordinance of Secession adopted in Richmond on April 17th. Though U.S. President Abraham Lincoln and many throughout the North viewed secession as illegal,…
Continue reading ➞ 160 Years Ago Today: Virginia Voters Ratify Secession
160 years ago, May 19, 1861, a popular referendum to decide whether the Commonwealth of Virginia would secede from the United States was still four days away. Never-the-less, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln had extended the naval blockade of the seven original Confederate States to include the ports of Virginia and North Carolina. On May 6th,…
Continue reading ➞ 160 Years Ago Today: Engagement at Sewell’s Point
By mid-May 1861, the secession crisis in Virginia had reached a boiling point. In response to U.S. President Abraham Lincoln calling for a volunteer army to suppress the rebellion in the Deep South, on April 17th delegates at the Virginia Secession Convention in Richmond passed an ordinance of secession, pending the results of a popular…
Continue reading ➞ 160 Years Ago: The First Wheeling Convention
Lately I've been working on filling out the order of battle for George McClellan's Army of the West, and I added stub pages for nine Ohio regiments from his five brigades. Since McClellan oversaw the Department of Ohio, it makes sense that volunteers from Ohio would make up the bulk of his troops. The State…
On April 17, 1861, a majority of delegates at the Virginia Secession Convention in Richmond passed an ordinance of secession, pending the results of a popular referendum to be held on May 23. Virginia Governor John Letcher appointed Col. Robert E. Lee, recently resigned from the U.S. Army, as overall commander of the Virginia Provisional…
Continue reading ➞ 160 Years Ago: Engagement at Gloucester Point
There were ten volunteer Indiana infantry regiments that participated in the first three months of the Civil War, and in my latest update I added stub pages for all. These mainly fought in the Union Army of the West, with two exceptions: the 11th and 12th regiments, which were unattached. The 11th operated under the…
Continue reading ➞ Added Stub Pages for Ten Indiana Regiments
Accuracy and detail is what will set this encyclopedia apart from other early Civil War resources, and a big piece of that is detailed and accurate casualty lists. Books and articles often cite figures from other works that are not primary sources. Even official reports and contemporaneous newspaper articles tend to exaggerate or downplay casualties.…
Continue reading ➞ Detailed Casualties Added for Indiana Units
While I was browsing the Ohio muster rolls for detailed casualty lists, I came across a previously un-reported engagement near the Greenbrier River between a Union scouting party from Burdsall's Dragoons and Confederate guerillas in present-day Pocahontas County, West Virginia. The Union patrol was ambushed and suffered one killed, one mortally wounded, and two wounded.…
Continue reading ➞ Page Added for Action at Greenbrier River
With his upturned mustache, large mutton chops, and plumed hat, “Prince John” Bankhead Magruder (1807-1871) cut a dashing figure. He was a veteran of the Mexican War and amateur actor with unconventional views on warfare for the time period. On April 21, 1861, four days after the Virginia Secession Convention formally adopted articles of secession,…
Accuracy and detail is what will set this encyclopedia apart from other early Civil War resources, and a big piece of that is detailed and accurate casualty lists. Books and articles often cite figures from other works that are not primary sources. Even official reports and contemporaneous newspaper articles tend to exaggerate or downplay casualties.…
Spirit of '61 