Why did Virginia reject secession in early 1861, only to join the Confederacy weeks later? Addresses by Governor John Letcher and his unionist rival, governor of the Restored Government of Virginia, Francis H. Pierpont, reveal how the outbreak of the Civil War divided Virginians over whether loyalty to their state meant leaving the United States…
Continue reading ➞ Letcher and Pierpont on Virginia’s Road to Secession
On January 7, 1861, with South Carolina declaring itself out of the Union and Abraham Lincoln not yet in office, Virginia Governor John Letcher addressed the General Assembly on the growing sectional crisis. He blamed Northern hostility to slavery for undermining constitutional obligations and destroying trust between the sections. “For the present condition of public…
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?
