Gene Schmiel

Civil War Virginians Gene Schmiel

Virginia's reputation as the most important and influential state began during the American Revolution. Virginians like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson led the way toward independence. Four of the first five presidents were Virginians. The nation looked to Virginia as its intellectual touchstone; and Virginians looked upon themselves as a key unifying link between North and South, even as sectionalism grew in the mid-19th century. When the secession crisis reached its peak after Lincoln's 1860 election, Virginians were active in searching for ways to avoid Civil War. The state's legislators were at first disinclined to secede, in great part because sentiment among voters was divided. It was only after the attack on Fort Sumter and Lincoln's call for volunteers to put down the rebellion that Virginia voted to secede. Even then the vote was subject to a statewide referendum. And whereas the referendum in May 1861 endorsed the secession decision, it also led to a decision by anti-secession western Virginians to begin the process to, in effect, "secede from the secession." The result was the division of Virginia into two via the creation of the state of West Virginia. The four years of Civil War, 1861-5, saw Virginians take leadership roles on both sides. Virginian Winfield Scott was the Union's General-in-Chief, and Virginian Robert E. Lee would be the same for the Confederacy. Virginian Francis Pierpont would lead the effort to create West Virginia, and Virginian Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson would fight valiantly to hold the allegiance of that region for the Confederacy. This book takes a look at those people and 46 others who played key roles in many fields during the war. The historical influence of Virginia likely multiplied their influence and example as they engaged in the "American Iliad." Like their counterparts whom I discussed in Civil War Ohioans, they were difference-makers. In many cases we are still dealing with their legacies.