An Encyclopedia of Early Civil War Virginia
One hundred sixty-five years ago, the Commonwealth of Virginia set itself on a course that would alter its history forever. The decision placed the state on the losing side of a devastating war that claimed hundreds of thousands of American lives, displaced families, split the commonwealth in two, and left farms, villages, and towns in…
In the spring of 1861, Virginia was in an ambiguous position. Although its Secession Convention had voted to secede, the state had not yet officially joined the Confederacy. During this period, volunteers rushed to form armed companies, regiments, and batteries, sometimes clashing with federal troops and naval ships. What, then, should we call these state…
Continue reading ➞ What’s in a Name? Secessionist, Southern, or Confederate?
In early June 1861, the Union blockade of Virginia escalated when the USS Harriet Lane exchanged fire with a newly built Confederate battery at Pig Point, across Hampton Roads from Newport News. This little-known naval skirmish revealed the strength of Southern defenses, thwarted Maj. Gen. Benjamin Butler’s plans, and underscored how quickly the Civil War…
Continue reading ➞ Fire Across Hampton Roads: The USS Harriet Lane at Pig Point
From firing one of the first naval shots of the Civil War off Charleston Harbor to helping secure a vital Union foothold on North Carolina’s Outer Banks, the USS Harriet Lane played an outsized role in the conflict’s opening months. Follow her journey from revenue cutter to warship, highlighting her actions at Fort Sumter, Pig…
Just days before Virginia’s secession vote, the Engagement at Sewell’s Point on May 18–19, 1861, saw Union gunboats exchange fire with a hastily constructed Confederate battery near Fort Monroe in Hampton Roads. Though the skirmish caused little damage and few injuries, it marked one of the earliest naval engagements of the Civil War in Virginia…
Small and lightly built with a teetotaling veteran captain, the USS Monticello (Star) became an early workhorse of the Union blockade, trading fire with Confederate batteries from the James River to Cape Hatteras. The USS Monticello was a schooner-rigged, wooden screw steamer constructed at Mystic, Connecticut, in 1859. The U.S. Navy chartered her in May…
Continue reading ➞ Captain Henry Eagle and the USS Monticello (Star)
Did Captain William C. Whittle really call the first shots fired in Virginia during the Civil War a “mistake”? A close reading of the primary sources shows how quoting a key document out of context creates a distorted picture of events. Let me begin with a caveat: I have been a member of the American…
Continue reading ➞ “This is an entire mistake”: When a Misquote Harms History
Before Virginia voters cast their ballots on secession, cannon fire echoed across the York River. In May 1861, at Gloucester Point, Virginia militia fired on the USS Yankee, marking the first shots of the Civil War in Virginia and an almost-forgotten opening clash between the state and the U.S. government. On April 17, 1861, the…
Continue reading ➞ Gloucester Point and the First Shots Fired by Virginia in the Civil War
A small, lightly armed tugboat doesn’t sound like the kind of vessel that makes history, until it does. In the Civil War’s opening weeks, USS Yankee, under Lt. Thomas O. Selfridge, Jr., became the Navy’s eyes on the Chesapeake, scouting hostile waterways and snapping up prizes. Notable for exchanging the first shots of the Civil…
Continue reading ➞ The Role of USS Yankee in Early Civil War Naval Operations
In July 1861, a series of sharp skirmishes between 90-day Union volunteers and J. E. B. Stuart’s cavalry outside the village of Bunker Hill convinced Federal commanders that Joseph E. Johnston still stood between them and Winchester. That misjudgment helped shape the movements that allowed Confederate reinforcements to reach Manassas in time. At the beginning…
Continue reading ➞ Ninety Days to Nowhere: Bunker Hill and the Lost Opportunity at Winchester
Spirit of '61 