BECOMING CONFEDERATES · 2019. 12. 11. · THE WAR IN VIRGINIA:1861 Once Virginia seceded,the Confederate government moved its capital from Montgomery,Alabama, to Richmond.This fateful

BECOMING CONFEDERATES

Civil War watercolor of the battle of Savage’s Station, 1862, by Robert Knox Sneden

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BECOMING CONFEDERATES

On April 4, 1861, the Virginia state convention voted eighty-eight toforty-five against secession, even though seven southern states hadalready separated themselves from the United States. The majority ofVirginians were pro-Union until the attack on Fort Sumter and PresidentLincoln’s call for volunteers. Once the fighting began,Virginians voted tosecede—becoming Confederates.

STANDARDS OF LEARNINGK.1, 1.2, 2.5, 2.11,VS.7, US1.8,US1.9,VUS.7,VUS.14

KEY POINTS

• The Civil War began as a struggle between those who believed in secession and those who sought to preserve the Union.As the war progressed, however, the existence of slavery itself, a “right” demanded by southern states, became the major issue of the war.

• Both sides claimed to be the real Americans and heirs of the American Revolution. During the war, the South compared its struggle to that of the colonies in 1776, while the North emphasized the rhetoric of equality as presented in the Declaration of Independence.

• When emancipation became a Union war goal, the presence of the Union army became a principal agent in the liberation of slaves.Although black Virginians fought on both sides,the vast majority served in the Union forces.

• The majority of eligible white men served in the Confederate armies, leaving the home front largely to be managed by women.

• The decision to make Richmond the Confederate capital dictated that much of the war would be fought in the one hundred miles between Richmond and Washington, D. C. More battles were fought in Virginia than anywhere else, and the most prominent southern lead-ers were Virginians.

• Northern superiority in manpower, raw and manufactured materials, and the lack of foreign intervention were the decisive factors in the Confederate defeat.

BECOMING CONFEDERATES • 73

SECESSIONDuring the secession winter of 1860–61, white Virginians struggled with their competing alle-giances.They were proud of being Americans but for decades had also thought of themselves assoutherners. In the end, most believed that they would stay with the Union if it did not attackthe seceded states.Thus, the elected convention that met in Richmond in early 1861 was over-whelmingly Unionist. But, within days of the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter on April 12, andAbraham Lincoln’s call for troops to suppress the rebellion,Virginia voted to secede.

CONFLICTING VIEWSRRoobbeerrtt EEddwwaarrdd LLeeee wrote, “If Virginia stands by the oldUnion, so will I. But, if she secedes (though I do notbelieve in secession as a constitutional right, nor thatthere is sufficient cause for revolution), then I will still fol-low my native State with my sword, and if need be with mylife.” On April 17, 1861, the Virginia state convention, by avote of 88 to 45, voted to secede. On April 20, Col. R. E.Lee resigned his U.S. Army commission, and on April 22he was give command of the Virginia state forces.

GGeeoorrggee HHeennrryy TThhoommaass, a career army officer, was award-ed this sword (pictured below) from his fellow citizens ofSouthampton County for gallantry in the Mexican War. In1861, he refused an offer to become Virginia’s chief of ord-nance to remain in the U.S. Army. Promoted to general,he earned the nicknames the “Rock of Chicka-mauga” and“Sledge of Nashville” for his actions in Ten-nessee.Whenhe chose to side with the Union, his sisters in Virginia dis-owned him and refused to return his sword. They even-tually donated it to the VHS.

74 • BECOMING CONFEDERATES

Critical Thinking

Robert E. Lee and George H.Thomas

Discuss the decisions made by Robert E. Lee and George H.Thomas.Why would these have beensuch difficult decisions? What other examples can you find that show friends and family fighting onopposing sides of the Civil War?

THE WAR IN VIRGINIA: 1861Once Virginia seceded, the Confederate government moved its capitalfrom Montgomery, Alabama, to Richmond.This fateful decision deter-mined that much of the war would be fought between Washington,D.C., and Richmond.The first attempt by the Union army to captureRichmond met defeat near Manassas on July 21, 1861. But theresources of both sides were sufficient to survive a single defeat.TheUnion occupied Alexandria. It wrested control of Unionist counties inthe West, which then seceded from Virginia and formed West Virginia.Some Confederates, and later some historians, believed that makingRichmond the capital was a mistake because it placed too muchemphasis on defending Virginia.

The battle of Dranesville, drawn by Robert Knox Sneden, a topographical engineer with the 40th New York Volunteers


With all my devotion tothe Union, and the feel-ing of loyalty and duty ofan American citizen, Ihave not been able tomake up my mind toraise my hand againstmy relatives, my children,my home.

—R. E. Lee, 1861

THE WAR IN VIRGINIA: 1862During 1862,Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson led a successful campaign in the Shenandoah Valley.In a second attempt to capture Richmond, the Union waged the Peninsula campaign from thesoutheast. Here generals Lee, Jackson, Joseph E. Johnston, Richard S. Ewell, and J. E. B. Stuart out-maneuvered the larger Union force under the command of General George McClellan. The vic-torious Confederates then advanced into Maryland but were stalemated at Antietam.This gavePresident Abraham Lincoln the opportunity to issue a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation,thus redefining the war’s purpose as a campaign to end slavery.The year ended with the oppos-ing armies facing each other across the Rappahannock River at Fredericksburg.

Above: McClellan's headquarters drawn by Robert Knox Sneden; Below: Sneden’s sketch of a street in Fredericksburg in December 1862


Primary Source

Robert Knox Sneden

People often ask how the VHS acquires the objects, manuscripts, and books that make up its collec-tions. Most materials are donated; others are purchased from dealers or from individuals. Often, theSociety is aware of the existence of significant items for years and patiently works to acquire them.Other times, these items seem to come to the Society by chance.

An example of this last sort of acquisi-tion is the set of scrapbooks of RobertKnox Sneden, whose illustrations appearin this chapter. Sneden was a draftsmanand topographical engineer attached toUnion Brigadier General Samuel P.Heintzelman’s Third Corps. Born in NovaScotia, Sneden grew up in New York City,where he eventually enlisted in theUnion army. Much of his wartime serv-ice took place in Virginia. He also spenttime in seven southern prisoner of warcamps.These scrapbooks include morethan 400 drawings and 100 maps execut-ed by Sneden of his wartime experi-ences.

After the war, Sneden assembled hiswork into four volumes and probablyintended to have them published. Hedied in 1918, and the scrapbooksdescended unpublished through his fami-ly. During the Depression, an heir usedthem as collateral for a loan.The bor-rower defaulted, and the scrapbooksremained secluded in a Connecticut bankvault until 1994.That year, they were dis-covered and acquired by the VHSthrough the generosity of Mr. and Mrs.Floyd D. Gottwald.The scrapbooks are consideredone of the most significant Civil War collections tobe rediscovered in recent years.

The discovery of the scrapbooks led historians atthe Society on a search for more information aboutthis elusive artist.The trail led these historicaldetectives from Virginia to New York, and from NewYork to Arizona, to recover five volumes of mem-oirs compiled by Sneden after the Civil War.Thisadditional material consisted of approximately 5,000pages of handwritten text and 900 watercolordrawings and maps.


Above: The titile page of Sneden’s “Army Diary of the War of the Rebellion,1861–5”; Below: selections of Sneden’s work are part of the display in The Story ofVirginia.

THE WAR IN VIRGINIA: 1863During 1863, the southern economy deteriorated.The Union blockade obstructed the export ofcotton, which was the basis of much of the southern economy. Price inflation and material short-ages led to food riots in several cities, including Richmond in April when angry housewives brokeinto a number of shops around Capitol Square. The economy was further damaged as 38,000Virginia slaves escaped to Union armies in 1863.The Confederate victory at Chancellorsville inMay was Robert E. Lee’s greatest triumph, but it was here that Lee’s most valuable subordinate,Stonewall Jackson, was mortally wounded. The last Confederate offensive was the failedGettysburg campaign in July.

Above: Quarters of U.S. Sanitary Commission at Brandy Station, November 1863, drawn by Robert Knox Sneden; Below: a sketch of Petersburg, June 1864,by Sneden.


THE WAR IN VIRGINIA: 1864A new Union commander, Ulysses S. Grant, decided that the destruction of Lee’s Army of North-ern Virginia, not Richmond, was his goal. He determined to remain almost perpetually engaged incombat because he knew the Confederates could not replace their losses. Lee fought off Grant’sadvances in a deadly series of battles: the Wilderness, Spotsylvania Court House, and ColdHarbor. In June, Grant’s army laid siege to Richmond and Petersburg. Meanwhile, Confederates in

the Shenandoah Valley,under Jubal A. Early, slowlygave way to Philip H.Sheridan's army. In thecourse of the campaign,Union troops devastatedthe Valley render it inca-pable of supplying much-needed foodstuffs to thearmies defending Rich-mond.

Left: Libby Prison, 1864, drawn by RobertKnox Sneden

Right: On display in the Becoming Confederates Gallery is the uni-form worn by J. E .B. Stuart when he was mortally wounded atYellow Tavern.


In the Classroom

Military Strategies

Divide the class into two groups and have each group study the military strategy of either theUnion or Confederate army. Research troop movements during 1864–65 and plot them on a cur-rent Virginia road map. Keep a journal covering the last year of the war from the viewpoint of a par-ticipant in the conflict.

THE WAR IN VIRGINIA: 1865The Confederate armies defending Petersburg and Richmond weakened as provisions dwindledand casualties and desertions mounted during the nine-month siege. Union forces were contin-ually strengthened from their supply base at City Point.The Federals moved west to break Lee’sdefensive line.The break occurred at Five Forks in Dinwiddie County on April 1. Lee sent wordto President Jefferson Davis that the army must abandon Petersburg and Richmond to avoidentrapment. Union forces entered Richmond on April 3. On April 9, Lee surrendered to Grant atAppomattox Court House.

Above: The ruins of Richmond, drawn by Robert Knox Sneden, shows the devastated city after the evacuation fire of April 2, 1865.


Critical Thinking

Ending Slavery

The Civil War ended slavery in the United States.Would it have been possible to end slavery withoutviolence and bloodshed? If so, how?

In the Museum

The War in Virginia: 1865

Find the broadsidepictured far right.What would it havebeen like to live inRichmond in April1865?

Find the Union flag(right) that was raisedover Richmond in 1865.

THE CIVIL WAR & AFRICAN AMERICAN SOLDIERSBlack Virginians fought on both sides as soldiers and sailors. Of the 29,000 Confederates who sur-rendered at Appomattox, only thirty were black. By contrast, 5,723 black Virginians were recruit-ed in Virginia as Union soldiers, and many others enlisted from northern states.

Despite their good record of service in 1776 and 1812, little effort was made to enlist AfricanAmericans in the Confederate cause.When it became clear the war was being lost, Robert E. Leeurged Jefferson Davis to free slaves who would fight for Confederate independence.A few AfricanAmerican companies were recruited in March and April 1865, just before the war ended.

“Arlington, Va. Band of 107th U.S. Colored Infantry at Fort Corcoran,”November 1865 (Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Callno. LC-B817-7861)


In the Museum

Examine a recruitment poster

What were the benefits for enlisting in theUnion army.What might some other benefitsbe? Why was this poster printed inAlexandria?

WOMEN ON THE HOME FRONT“The women were, by all odds, far worse rebelsthan men,” wrote an observer during the Penin-sula campaign. Most white Virginia women sup-ported the Confederate cause, and manybecame volunteers for the war effort.Others formed a new working class in warindustries or assumed control of planta-tions and farms in the absence of men.Women became government clerks andfactory workers for the first time. Butthere were dangers as well as opportuni-ties. The home front and war front wereoften one and the same. Fear of maraudingsoldiers and ever-worsening living condi-tions tested even the strongest of wills. Manywhite women sewed uniforms, flags, tents, andbandages. Others became nurses and hospitalmatrons like Sally Tompkins (right).

Tompkins was the first American woman commis-sioned a regular military officer. A native of MathewsCounty, she funded and operated Robertson Hospital in Richmond during the war. Only 73 of1,333 patients died in her hospital, an exemplary record for the time.When the Confederate sur-geon general wanted to stop using private hospitals, Tompkins was made a captain in theConfederate cavalry so that her hospital might remain open as a military facility.

Other women such as Annie E. Johns of Danville were revered as hos-pital matrons.Virginia women supported the war effort by working

as laundresses, scouts, and spies. Belle Boyd, who engaged in spyingfrom Front Royal, was known as the Rebel Spy, and Nancy Hartserved as a scout for Stonewall Jackson. On the other hand,some women worked against the Confederate cause. ElizabethVan Lew (left), a Richmond abolitionist, took food to Union pris-oners at Libby Prison, feasted on Confederate fast days, andplaced a black servant, Mary Elizabeth Bowser, as a spy in theWhite House of the Confederacy.

By 1863, conditions on the home front taxed even the most patri-otic of Confederate women. With rising inflation, Confederate

money became nearly worthless, and women faced shortages in basicnecessities.

Elizabeth Van Lew

Sally Tompkins


Critical Thinking

How did the status of women change during the Civil War? Have similar changes occuredin other wars?

Primary Source

By the President of the United States of America: A Proclamation

Whereas on the 22nd day of September,A.D. 1862, a proclamation was issued by the President of the UnitedStates, containing among other things, the following, to wit:

“That on the 1st day of January,A.D. 1863, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of aState the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States shall be then, thenceforward, andforever free; and the executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authoritythereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons and will do no act or acts to repress suchpersons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom.

That the executive will on the 1st day of January aforesaid, by proclamation, designate the States or parts ofStates, if any, in which the people thereof, respectively, shall then be in rebellion against the United States; andthe fact that any State or the people thereof shall on that day be in good faith represented in the Congress ofthe United States by members chosen thereto at elections wherein a majority of qualified voters of suchStates shall have participated shall, in the absence of strong countervailing testimony, be deemed conclusiveevidence that such State and the people thereof are not then in rebellion against the United States.”

Now, therefore, I,Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested asCommander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States in time of actual armed rebellion against theauthority and government of the United States, and as a fit and necessary war measure for suppressing saidrebellion, do, on this 1st day of January,A.D. 1863, and in accordance with my purpose so to do, publicly pro-claimed for the full period of one hundred days from the first day above mentioned, order and designate asthe States and parts of States wherein the people thereof, respectively, are this day in rebellion against theUnited States the following, to wit:

Arkansas,Texas, Louisiana (except the parishes of St. Bernard, Plaquemines, Jefferson, St. John, St. Charles, St.James,Ascension,Assumption,Terrebonne, Lafourche, St. Mary, St. Martin, and Orleans, including the city ofNew Orleans), Mississippi,Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, NorthCarolina, and Virginia (except the forty-eight counties designated as WestVirginia, and also the counties of Berkeley,Accomac, Northhampton,Elizabeth City,York, Princess Anne, and Norfolk, including the cities ofNorfolk and Portsmouth), and which excepted parts are for the pres-ent left precisely as if this proclamation were not issued.

And by virtue of the power and for the purpose aforesaid, I doorder and declare that all persons held as slaves within the designat-ed States and parts of States are, and henceforward shall be, free;and that the Executive Government of the United States, includingthe military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintainthe freedom of all said persons.

And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free and toabstain from all violence, unless in necessary self-defense; and I recom-mend to them that, in all cases when allowed, they labor faithfully for rea-sonable wages.

And I further declare and make known that such persons of suitable condition will be received into the armedservices of the United States to garrison forts, positions, stations, and other places, and to man vessels of allsorts in said service.

And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution upon militarynecessity, I invoke the considerable judgment of mankind and the gracious favor of Almighty God.



In the Classroom

The Emancipation Proclamation

The Emancipation Proclamation was an important statement of Union war aims.With the issuing of theproclamation on January 1, 1863, northern armies were fighting both to preserve the Union and to end slav-ery.

Lincoln believed that, under normal conditions, Congress did not have the right to free slaves in any state, anaction that was also contrary to the Republican party platform. But in war, the president, as commander inchief, had greater authority. Slaves who came under the control of Union armies were considered “contrabandof war”—an internationally recognized status that justified the seizure of any property that could be used tobenefit an enemy.

Lincoln justified emancipation in terms of policy, not principle.The Second Confiscation Act, passed on July 17,1862, identified individuals who supported the Confederacy as traitors and ordered the confiscation of theirproperty and slaves. Lincoln’s preliminary emancipation order, issued on September 22, 1862, reflected theintent of this act. Lincoln warned the South that he would declare its slaves free if the Confederate statesremained “in rebellion against the United States.” This message was repeated in the EmancipationProclamation—hence the quotation marks around the second and third paragraphs. In the fourth paragraph,Lincoln cited his authority as commander-in-chief and put emancipation into effect “as a fit and necessary warmeasure for suppressing said rebellion.” The fifth paragraph exempts those areas under Union control fromthe emancipation order. (The proclamation affected only those areas under Confederate control.) The finalparagraph, added on December 30, 1862, at the request of Lincoln’s secretary of the treasury, Salmon P.Chase, reiterates the military necessity of emancipation but also declares it “an act of justice.”

Activities

• We say the Civil War was about states’ rights and preserving the Union, but it was also about slavery. The states’ right of seccession never would have been exercised or challenged had it not been for the issue of slavery. Do you agree or disagree? Write a paper supporting your position.

• One theme we explore in this section is the effect of geography on the war. Use maps showing political boundaries, topography, and roads and railroads to determine geography’s role in eventsfrom secession through Appomattox.

• Research the Civil War in your community.Were there battles nearby? How did women and slaves respond to the war? Are there statues, markers, historic buildings, or other monuments?

• Using Dudley T. Cornish’s The Sable Arm and Joseph Glathaar’s Forged in Battle, research African American soldiers in the Civil War. Compare their struggles with those of the Tuskegee Airmen,who fought during World War II.

• Like many other southerners, white Virginians romanticized the Confederacy long after the war.This glorification of the war has been called the Lost Cause. In what ways did the perpetua-tion of the Lost Cause influence the future progress of the commonwealth?

• Research Confederate and Union generals.Write a biographical sketch of several leaders on opposing sides. Compare their careers and academic and military training before 1861.

• Economics: discuss supply and demand and inflation using examples from the war.

Documents

BECOMING CONFEDERATES · 2019. 12. 11. · THE WAR IN VIRGINIA:1861 Once Virginia seceded,the Confederate government moved its capital from Montgomery,Alabama, to Richmond.This fateful