An Encyclopedia of Early Civil War Virginia
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…
Like many ex-Confederates, Thomas W. Colley wrote a memoir years after the war. And, like John Singleton Mosby, Colley enlisted in the Washington Mounted Rifles, a storied unit initially led by Capt. William E. “Grumble” Jones. He served with the company for the duration of the war and was wounded several times, ultimately losing a…
Continue reading ➞ Thomas W. Colley Recollects the Skirmish at Bunker Hill
During the American Civil War, John Singleton Mosby became a famous (or infamous) partisan leader in northern Virginia. The "Gray Ghost" vexed Union commanders and wreaked havoc behind the lines. But in the spring and summer of 1861, he was a private in the Washington Mounted Rifles, a cavalry company in J.E.B. Stuart's 1st Virginia…
Continue reading ➞ Mosby Sheds Light on What Happened Outside of Martinsburg on July 11, 1861
Spirit of '61 