Download The Cultural Landscape of the Colony of Virginia

Virginia’s Role
in the Civil War
Interactive Notes
VS. 7bc
On the morning of April 12, 1861,
Confederate cannons fired on
the flag of the United States as it
flew above Fort Sumter in the
harbor of Charleston, South
Carolina. As the North and
South prepared for the bloodiest
and most tragic war ever fought
by American soldiers, Virginia’s
men and women took sides in
the fighting.
The First Battle of Fort Sumter opened
on 12 April 1861, when Confederate
artillery fired on the Union garrison.
These were the first shots of the war,
and continued all day, watched by
many civilians in a celebratory spirit.
The fort had been cut off from its
supply line, and surrendered next day.
The Second Battle of Fort Sumter (8
September 1863) was a failed attempt
by the Union to re-take the fort.
Although the fort was reduced to
rubble, it remained in Confederate
hands until it was evacuated.
Most white Virginians supported
the Confederacy. Enslaved
African Americans raised crops
and provided labor for the
Confederacy in many different
ways. Some free African
Americans felt their limited rights
could best be protected by
supporting the Confederacy.
Most American Indians,
however, did not take sides
during the Civil War.
During these four bloody
years, Virginia became a
major battleground between
Union and Confederate
troops.
The First Battle of Bull Run (or
Manassas) was the first major
battle of the Civil War.
First Battle of Bull
Run
1st major land
battle of the Civil
War
Confederate
Victory
Confederate General Thomas
“Stonewall” Jackson played a key
role in this battle. Thomas
“Stonewall” Jackson earned his
nickname when he was shot in the
hand but continued to shout orders
as the firing continued. Another
Confederate general who was
retreating with his men under the
heavy Union fire called out, “Look
yonder! There’s Jackson standing
like a stone wall!”
Like Thomas “Stonewall”
Jackson, Robert E. Lee was a
general in the Confederate
army. Before the fighting
started, he was asked to lead
Union forces against the South
but refused. Even though he
was against slavery, he said, “I
could take no part in an invasion
of the Southern States.”
Lee took command of the
Army of Northern Virginia and
defeated Union troops at
Fredericksburg, Virginia. In
February 1865, he was named
general-in-chief of all
Confederate armies.
Union Army of the
Potomac vs.
Robert E. Lee’s
Army of Northern
Virginia
Confederate
Victory
The Union Army's
futile frontal
attacks on
December 13
against entrenched
Confederate
defenders on the
heights behind the
city is
remembered as
one of the most
one-sided battles
of the American
Civil War, with
Union casualties
more than twice as
heavy as those
suffered by the
Confederates.
The Union had its share of war
heroes. One such hero was
Ulysses S. Grant. President
Lincoln gave General Grant
command of all Union troops.
Near the end of the war, the
Confederates evacuated
Richmond, the capital of the
Confederacy. Grant led the
Union army into the burning city.
Orders to destroy all liquor; all
tobacco, foodstuffs, and cotton; and
weapons before the Yankees could get
them. Riots occurred and Richmond’s
own people set the city on fire. The
Union cavalry pulled in and took the
city.
Important battles also occurred
at sea. President Lincoln used
the Union navy to blockade
Southern ports. A major sea
battle between two ironclad
ships, the Monitor (Union) and
the Merrimack (Confederate),
took place in Virginia waters
near the present day cities of
Norfolk and Hampton. He battle
was fought to a draw.
During the Civil War, Union forces established a
blockade of Confederate ports designed to prevent
the export of cotton and the smuggling of war
materiel into the Confederacy. The blockade was an
important economic policy that successfully
prevented Confederate access to weapons that the
industrialized North could produce for itself.
The Civil War ended at Appomattox
Court House, Virginia in April of 1865.
Confederate General Robert E. Lee
sadly surrendered his beloved Army of
Northern Virginia to Union General
Ulysses S. Grant. When Grant heard
the artillery booming to salute the
victory over Lee, he sent orders for it to
stop saying, “The rebels are our
countrymen again. We can best show
our joy by refusing to celebrate their
downfall.”