The Commonwealth of Virginia became the Confederate ’s leading state during the Civil War . A secession meeting was convened on February 13, 1861, 9 days after the first seven states formed the Confederation. Federalist delegates dominated the meeting, so on April 4, the secession proposal was rejected. However, on April 15, after the battle of Fort Sumter , President Lincoln declared war on the South. On April 17, the assembly voted in favor of the secession. On May 23, the secession decree was officially ratified, and a few days later Richmond became the capital of the Confederation. President Jefferson Davis settled in the White House of the Confederation, near the Capitol. In those days, the federal army occupied the city of Alexandria .
The civil war in the Eastern Theater was reduced mainly to the attack of the northerners on Richmond, so the main battles took place precisely on the territory of Virginia.
Content
- 1 Pre-war conflicts
- 2 Secession
- 3 war
- 4 Famous Virginians Generals
Pre-war Conflicts
Secession
On November 15, 1860, Virginia Governor John Letcher called for the convening of a special session of the Virginia General Assembly to decide, among other things, the convening of a meeting on secession issues. On January 7, the Legislative Assembly appointed the convocation of the meeting on January 14. On January 19, the General Assembly called for a national Peace Conference to be led by former president, Virginian John Tyler . This conference convened in Washington on February 4, the same day as the Virginia Secession Meeting.
145,700 people took part in the Virginia vote, who elected 152 representatives to the Meeting. A fifth of them were supporters of secession from the Union, a fifth were federalists, and the remaining 92 representatives did not decide on the position. Yet secessionists were in the minority. On the same day, the Confederation Congress in Montgomery announced the formation of the Confederate States of America .
The meeting opened on February 13 at the Richmond Institute of Mechanics (at the corner of Ninth and Main Street in Richmond). The first step was the creation of the Federal Relations Committee, which was to come to a compromise on the issue of secession. This committee included 4 co-workers, 7 federalists and 10 undecided. The meeting was in no hurry to make decisions: time worked for them, moreover, they expected the Washington Peace Conference to settle the crisis. However, after the failure of the peace conference at the end of February, undecided delegates began to lean toward federalism. The situation changed after Lincoln's inaugural speech - now secessionist sentiments began to grow.
War
Famous Virginians Generals
Robert Lee Thomas jackson Jeb Stewart Joseph Johnston E.P. Hill Richard Ewell Jubal Airlie George Pickett Lewis Armisted