Virginia by Abby Lockwood

The State of Virginia

abigaillockwood — 2025-01-03 16:33:47 UTC

The state of Virginia, home to the Confederate Capital, Richmond. The city of Richmond was founded in 1737. In 1780, it became the state capital. It grew into a small city under 40,000 people. The population doubled once politicians, and civil servants were established. Several battles took place in Virginia, such as The First Bull Run, Hampton Roads, Fair Oaks, Seven Days, Second Bull Run, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, and Petersburg. As you can see, this state was very involved in the civil war. Additionally, this state encountered the most battles during the time of the Civil War. After multiple battles, the city of Richmond eventually fell apart and they had to reconstruct the city, which took a very long time.

First Bull Run - July 21, 1861

abigaillockwood — 2025-01-03 16:40:29 UTC

This battle was the first battle that took place in Virginia. It took place outside of D.C. Abraham Lincoln (union) called for an army of 75,000 volunteers willing to serve for 90 days. His plan was to attack the Confederate Capital and have one decisive battle that would win the war. They did attack twice. Over time the outcome of the battle was pretty balanced however the Union Army gave ground and the Confederates were in control of the battlefield, taking the victory. It was apart of the Manassas Campaign in 1861. This was an early battle in the Civil War but certainly not the last.

Industrial Contributions

abigaillockwood — 2025-01-05 22:07:08 UTC

Virginia was a large agricultural state. Factories included several woollen mills and wood yards. The most successful factory was Tredegar Iron Works (located on James River). This factory was the largest iron foundry in the Confederacy. It provided guns, munitions, locomotives, rolling stock, and iron plate for ironclad worships. The iron works remained until Richmond fell to Union forces in April 1865.

Henry A. Wise - 1806-1876

abigaillockwood — 2025-01-05 22:07:22 UTC

Wise was the 33rd Governor of Commonwealth, Virginia. Wise did support slavery. He supported secession and lead multiple proponents of secession. Additionally, he signed the death warrant of John Brown.

Major General McDowell

abigaillockwood — 2025-01-05 22:07:30 UTC

McDowell was the commander of the Union Army in July of 1861. He led the attack on the Confederates in the First Bull Run. He had 35,000 men stationed around Washington D.C. with 18,000 men occupying Harpers Ferry. He was under Lincoln's demand. He soon got replaced by General McClellan, after being defeated in the First Bull Run.

Chancellorsville - April 28, 1863

abigaillockwood — 2025-01-07 01:37:18 UTC

In the very beginning of 1863, the Union Army occupied Northern Virginia. The Confederate Army were behind the Rappahannock River which was between the Union Army and Richmond. Union commander General Hooker led his troops across the river. The Union outnumbered the Confederates with 104,000 men to 57,000 men under Robert E. Lee's command. Lee split up his troops so they had defenses everywhere possible in the area which ended up with a Confederate victory after multiple days of fighting. The Union was trapped in an unexpected attack by the Confederate Army. Their army advanced on the Union Army forcing them back to the river away from Chancellorsville.