Though seldom remembered today, former Virginia governor Henry A. Wise played a key role in aligning Virginia with the Confederacy. He served as a Confederate general throughout the war, lost his eldest son, and surrendered with Lee at Appomattox Court House. A (sometimes reluctant) secessionist, he was nevertheless not an enthusiastic supporter of slavery, despite…
Continue reading ➞ When and How Did Henry A. Wise Enter the Fight?
As secession divides West Point’s cadets, Class of ’61 follows fractured friendships from the academy to the battlefield at Bull Run. But how well does its sprawling fictional drama capture the historical upheaval of the Civil War’s opening months? Written by Jonas McCord, directed by Gregory Hoblit, and produced by Steven Spielberg, Class of ’61…
Continue reading ➞ Class of ’61: Civil War History Lost in a Tangled Drama
In July 1861, Francis H. Pierpont defended the Unionist government at Wheeling as Virginia’s lawful authority and denounced secession as a conspiracy that sacrificed the state to Confederate interests. His extraordinary-session address reveals how loyal Virginians made a constitutional, economic, and political case for restoring Virginia to the Union. On June 20, 1861, in Wheeling,…
Our previous map of the Chesapeake Front was, to put it bluntly, atrocious. But thanks to the National Historical Geographic Information System (NHGIS) and U.S. Census Bureau TIGER/Line files, I was able to obtain a shape file of Virginia with historical county boundary lines. I did have to do some editing, particularly around Sewell's Point,…
The release of Battlelog 1.7 represents a major milestone: narratives for all 39 military actions in Virginia and West Virginia from May through July 1861 have been completed and revised with the most accurate and up-to-date information on what happened, where, when, and why. So what's next for our encyclopedia? Well, we have the military…
Continue reading ➞ All 39 Battle Narratives Have Been Updated – Now What?
Welcome to version 1.7 of the Spirit of ’61 Battlelog! Over the past several months, we have focused on revising and updating our battle narratives for actions along the North Branch of the Potomac River around Romney, as well as the Skirmish at Glenville. With these updates completed, our Battlelog is now 90 pages and…
In July 1861, Henry A. Wise sent Confederate detachments north from Charleston toward Ripley and Glenville. One turned back without a fight; the other traded shots with Ohio troops and briefly drew Union reinforcements away from Rich Mountain. What did the Wise Legion hope to accomplish, and why did both expeditions come to so little?…
Continue reading ➞ The Wise Legion Moves North: Failed Expeditions to Ripley and Glenville
Captain Robert A. Caskie led his Mounted Rangers on a grueling expedition into Gilmer County in July 1861, where they spread alarm among local unionists and skirmished with Ohio troops outside Glenville. This overlooked episode of the Civil War in western Virginia reveals how this small company of Wise Legion cavalry gained its first campaign…
Continue reading ➞ Caskie’s Mounted Rangers in the 1861 Kanawha Campaign
Over the past several weeks, we have made substantive revisions to four battle pages related to events along the North Branch Potomac River in the Upper Potomac region in June and July 1861. Most of these were among the first additions to our site back in 2021 and were sorely in need of updating. First…
In July 1861, Union troops pushed south from Cumberland into Virginia to secure the vital B&O Railroad corridor around New Creek and Piedmont. Their advance erupted into a deadly clash at New Creek Station, where Confederate cavalry charged a fortified stone house before retreating into the mountains, setting off a pursuit that carried the fighting…
