An Encyclopedia of Early Civil War Virginia
A wealth of primary sources exists concerning the Battle of Corrick's Ford, fought on July 13, 1861, in Tucker County, West Virginia, and its aftermath. Official reports from several Union commanders involved in the action, however, are conspicuously absent. It was customary for each colonel engaged in an action like this to submit a report…
Continue reading ➞ Colonel Ebenezer Dumont’s Report from Corrick’s Ford
On Tuesday, April 16, 1861, the Virginia Convention in Richmond entered secret session to debate secession and a potential alliance with the Confederate States. The next day, delegates voted 88 to 55 in favor of secession, pending a popular referendum set for May 23. Ten days into the session, on April 25, they approved ordinances…
Continue reading ➞ 165 Years Ago: Virginia Convention Calls for Alliance with the Confederate States
On Sunday, April 7, 1861, former congressman and outspoken Virginia unionist John Minor Botts met with President Abraham Lincoln in Washington, D.C., to discuss how to keep Virginia in the Union. Botts was a private citizen, not even a delegate to the Richmond Convention, and his account provides the only record of the meeting. Botts…
At the beginning of April, after only one month in office, President Abraham Lincoln (via Secretary of State William H. Seward) requested an urgent meeting with George W. Summers, a former Congressman from Kanawha County and leader among the unionists at the Virginia Convention in Richmond. Seward sent attorney Allan B. Magruder, brother of "prince…
The following story appeared in the book Camp-Fire Chats of the Civil War: Being the Incident, Adventure and Wayside Exploit of the Bivouac and Battle Field, as Related by Members of the Grand Army of the Republic, edited by Washington Davis. It was published in 1884, and is a collection of anecdotes told by Union…
As I began preparing to revise several of our entries on the Tygart Valley / Cheat River Campaign, I realized just how many new sources I uncovered over the past several years that never made it onto our website. For such an obscure campaign, an extraordinary amount has been written about it. As the “first…
Continue reading ➞ Tygart Valley / Cheat River Campaign Bibliography
Another eyewitness account of the Engagement at Sewell’s Point appeared in the book The History of Norfolk, Virginia by Harrison W. Burton (1840-1902), a journalist who served in the 1st Virginia Infantry and Otey's Battery during the Civil War. It was simply identified as being written by "a Georgia gentleman" shortly after the fight concluded, dated…
The following eyewitness account of the Engagement at Sewell’s Point appeared in the book The History of Norfolk, Virginia by Harrison W. Burton (1840-1902), a journalist who served in the 1st Virginia Infantry and Otey's Battery during the Civil War. It was written anonymously by a member of the Norfolk Light-Artillery Blues. There is no date…
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
It was the first time Virginia militia opened fire on federal forces during the American Civil War, weeks before the state’s secession referendum. One private left behind a detailed recollection of this fateful moment, but there is reason to question its accuracy. It serves as a cautionary tale about why all sources should be carefully…
Spirit of '61 