| Civil
War Virginia
Virginia was initially reluctant to secede from the
Union. When the men who attended its convention voted
for secession in April 1861, it was the third time
they had brought the issue to a vote. And they voted
to secede only after Lincoln issued a call to arms
to suppress the secessionist tendencies in the Southern
states. In doing so, Virginians brought upon themselves
four years of constant hardship and devastation.
Much of the war was fought in Virginia. The state
was the focal point for a number of reasons. First,
it had more manufacturers and more mines than any
other state. It had nearly 20% of the railroad track
of the Southern states. Its state capital, Richmond,
was also the Confederacy's capital and was only 90
miles away - a four day march - from the Union's capital
at Washington, D.C. Because armies focus on capturing
the enemy's capital, the Federals concentrated on
capturing Richmond. The Confederates in turn worked
to capture Washington D.C. The counties in between
were doomed to suffer the devastation that follows
in the wake of armies. By 1865, the state's handsome
towns were wrecked, its manufacturing centers destroyed,
its farms ruined. Virginians starved and found themselves
prey to foraging soldiers, looters and lawless bands.
And a half million men became casualties within its
borders.
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