University of Virginia Library

THIRD PERIOD — FROM THE CIVIL WAR
TO THE PRESENT TIME

CHAPTER XXII

APPROACH OF THE CIVIL WAR

The Constitution Ambiguous. — The Constitution of the
United States was the result of a series of compromises;
and at the time of its adoption, was not entirely satisfactory
to any one. No sooner had it been ratified by the
states than the people became divided into two parties,
one holding that the language of the Constitution should
be construed strictly so that the sovereignty of the states
would never be impaired, the other claiming that the
powers of the Federal government ought to be enlarged,
and that the Constitution should be interpreted so as to
allow this to be done. Out of these antagonistic views
there grew, as time passed, two opposing theories of the
nature of the Union. These must now be stated in order
to make clear the cause of the secession movement, which
involved Virginia and all the other states in a long and
bloody war.

The State-Rights Theory. — On this theory the Union
which the states created was one of limited powers, all
powers not named in the Constitution as specially surrendered
to the Federal government being reserved by the

states. Accordingly, the United States was not a nation
like England, but a league or confederacy between thirteen
separate peoples. The Union being thus in the nature of
a partnership, not limited in time, it followed, by the law
governing such agreements, that the right to withdraw
remained with each state.

The National Theory. — The advocates of the second
theory, called the National theory, held that the states in
ratifying the Constitution had surrendered their statehood
and had formed a nation. According to this view, the
Union was indissoluble, and no state had a right to withdraw
without the consent of the other states.

Which was the True Theory? — The interpretation that
was given to the Constitution at the time of its formation
is not historically uncertain. The evidence, if carefully
examined, is convincing that the Union was regarded as a
league. Mr. Lodge, a Northern writer, who has made a
careful study of the subject, says: "When the Constitution
was adopted by the votes of States at Philadelphia,
and accepted by the votes of States in popular conventions,
it is safe to say that there was not a man in the country,
from Washington and Hamilton on the one side to George
Clinton and George Mason on the other, who regarded
the new system as anything but an experiment entered
upon by the States, and from which each and every State
had the right peaceably to withdraw, a right which was
very likely to be exercised." The above quotation states
correctly the view taken of the Union when it was made.
It was considered a league formed by independent states,
each one of which retained the attribute of sovereignty.[32]

The First Threats of Secession. — The first threats of
secession came, not from the South, but from New England;
and during the latter part of the eighteenth century
and early in the nineteenth, movements were projected to
bring about the withdrawal of New England from the
Union. In 1796 Governor Wolcott of Connecticut declared
that he wished the Northern states, the moment
Jefferson was elected President, would separate from the
Southern. The War of 1812 was very unpopular in New
England, and while it was going on secession from the
Union was openly urged in public meetings by prominent
men.

Virginia and the South. — From the beginning Virginia
had adopted the State-Rights theory of the Union, and
she held to it unwaveringly. She formed no new political
theories, but continued to look upon the Union as a league

between independent states. The South, without exception,
under the teaching of John C. Calhoun, held to the
same conception of the Federal tie. To Virginia and the
South, therefore, the right to withdraw from the Union
was one of the reserved rights of the states. Indeed,
Virginia adopted the Constitution with the express understanding
that she could reassume the powers she had
delegated to the Federal government whenever these
powers should be perverted to the injury or oppression of
her people. Thus before she entered the Union she made
clear her right to leave it.

The North and the West. — As times changed, the North
changed its conception of what the Union was, and gave to
the Constitution a meaning which no one attached to it in
the early days of the republic. At first those who wished
a strong government only held that the United States
ought to be a nation. But under the influence of Daniel
Webster the people of the North adopted the belief that
the United States was a nation. Thus they changed the
original conception of the Federal tie, and held that the
states, in ratifying the Constitution, had formed a Union
that could not be broken. The people of the West generally
held the same political belief. It was natural that
they should do this; for the Western states were created
out of the public domain by the government of the United
States, and for this reason, in them state lines did not have
the same meaning as they did in the South, nor did state
pride have the same influence. There was, it is true, much
difference of opinion at the North and West upon the
question of state sovereignty, many eminent statesmen
and jurists viewing the matter as the South did; but on
the whole the mass of the people at the North and West,
under the influence of the new theory they had formed,

regarded secession as unlawful and as constituting rebellion.

Reasons why the South wished to Secede. — The South
and the North had not only grown apart in their political
beliefs, but their interests had become different. The South
was agricultural, while the North was largely engaged in
manufacturing. Laws that suited one section did not suit
the other, and this led to much irritation. The great cause
of difference, however, was slavery, which had made the
sections hostile to each other. The South, since slavery
had become her peculiar institution, demanded that property
in negroes should be as securely guaranteed as other
forms of property, and desired to have slavery further
extended. Adequate protection for this form of property
the North was unwilling to give, as was shown in the way
some of the states refused to allow the execution of the
Fugitive Slave Law. This rendered the South uneasy.
The Federal government had been created by the states
to give security against domestic, as well as foreign dangers.
But the time had come when it no longer brought
domestic peace. The rights, guaranteed to the South in
regard to her slaves, had already been violated, and were
threatened with further invasion in the future. It could
no longer be said that the Constitution was a Magna
Charta that preserved rights. The realization of this
made the South desire to leave the Union. Under the
same government, the people of the South and of the
North had lived together as brothers for many years;
but the state of feeling between them had now become
very different from what it was in the days of the Revolution.
It must ever be considered most deplorable that the
people of the two sections should have become enemies
ready to take each other's lives.

QUESTIONS

• 1. Was the Constitution of the United States satisfactory to all?

• 2. What two parties sprang up, and what was the result?

• 3. Give the State-Rights theory of the Union.

• 4. The National theory.

• 5. Which was the true one?

• 6. What does Mr. Lodge say on the subject?

• 7. From what section did the first threats of secession come?

• 8. What did the governor of Connecticut declare?

• 9. Which theory did Virginia hold of the Union?

• 10. With what express understanding had she adopted the Constitution?

• 11. By whose influence did the North change the original conception
  of the Federal tie?

• 12. Why did the people of the West hold the same opinion as the
  North?

• 13. In what ways were the interests of the North and South opposed?

• 14. What was the chief cause of the difference in the sections, and
  what is said of it?

• 15. Why did the South now feel uneasy in the Union?

• 16. What is said of the Constitution?

CHAPTER XXIII

THE BEGINNING OF THE CIVIL WAR

Secession of the Cotton States. — In 1860 Abraham Lincoln[33]
was elected President by the Republican party, which
was opposed to any extension of slavery, and whose extreme
members wished to abolish it in the territory where
it then existed. When this occurred, the cotton states
gave up hope of enjoying longer fraternal union with the
North, and decided to exercise their reserved right of
secession, thinking that this course of action was best for
their peace and prosperity. South Carolina acted first,
passing an ordinance of secession on December 20, 1860.
She was followed by Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia,
Louisiana, and Texas. The movement proceeded
quietly, due observance being paid to legal form. The
seceded states then formed a new union, called the Confederate

Abraham Lincoln

States of America, with Jefferson Davis[34] of Mississippi
as president.

Virginia's Effort for Peace. — For a time there was a
prospect of bringing the sections together again, and Virginia
earnestly desired to do this. She believed in the right
of secession, but she doubted the expediency of the act.
In addition to this, she was deeply attached to the Union
for whose establishment she had done so much. Animated
by her love for it, she, through her General Assembly,
recommended the holding of a Peace Conference to be
participated in by all the states, to settle "the present unhappy
controversy in the spirit in which the Constitution
was originally formed." This convention met in Washington,
but failed in its efforts to restore harmony.

Diplomacy — After the inauguration of President Lincoln,
the Confederate government sent commissioners to
Washington to arrange for a peaceable settlement of all
questions at issue between the two governments. One
thing asked for was the evacuation of all the forts in the
territory of the seceded states that were still in possession
of the United States. Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor
was one of these; and Mr. Seward, Secretary of State
under Lincoln, gave assurance[35] that the fort would be

speedily given up. But this was not done; and after some
delay Governor Pickens of South Carolina was notified
from Washington that the fort would be reenforced
"peaceably if permitted, forcibly if necessary," by a fleet
that was then on its way.

Capture of Fort Sumter. — The Confederate government,
accepting the message to Governor Pickens as a
declaration of war, ordered General Beauregard, who was
in command of the Southern troops at Charleston, to demand
the surrender of Fort Sumter. Major Anderson,
the commander of the Federal garrison, refused to evacuate

the fort; and thereupon Beauregard bombarded it and
captured it on April 14, 1861.

War now Inevitable — The crisis had at last come. The
Confederates held that the North had acted in regard to
Fort Sumter so as to render the use of force by the South
necessary, and was for this reason the real aggressor,
while the North contended that the South had by firing on
the fort begun the war. Thus each section charged the
other with bringing on the conflict. The cotton states had
already made some preparations for war; and now all over
the South the cry, "To arms! To arms!" was heard. The
people of the North on their part came strongly to the support
of the new Republican administration, and responded

Jefferson Davis

with alacrity to a call made by President Lincoln, during
the excitement following the bombardment, for seventy-five
thousand troops to reestablish the Federal authority
in the Southern states.

Secession of Virginia. — When President Lincoln called
for troops, Virginia had to decide whether she would remain
in the Union or join the Southern Confederacy. Up
to this time she had steadily refused to secede. A convention,
which had been called in view of the impending crisis,
had refused to pass an ordinance of secession by a vote of
eighty-nine to forty-five; but two days after Lincoln called
for troops, this same convention passed the ordinance by a
vote of eighty-eight to fifty-five. When the ordinance was
submitted to the people, it was ratified by a large majority,
and the state took her place in the Southern Confederacy.

Her Heroic Action. — This was Virginia's decision when
called upon to help make war upon the states further south.
She took her action deliberately, well knowing that she
would be attacked on the north, east, and west, and would
be the battlefield of a war which, if long continued, would
be most destructive to her prosperity, let the end be what
it might. There is recorded in history no greater act of
self-sacrifice than that of Virginia in withdrawing from
a Union she did not wish to leave, in order to help other
states defend what she had always maintained was her
right and theirs.

Actions of Other States. — Virginia's example in leaving
the Union was followed by Arkansas, Tennessee, and
North Carolina Kentucky wished to remain neutral, but
was overrun by Federal troops. So altogether eleven states
seceded and twenty-three remained in the Union.

Return of Virginians. — In the Federal army and navy
there were a number of distinguished Virginia officers,

who, at the opening of the war, had to determine to which
side they should render allegiance. There were but few

Joseph E. Johnston

who did not decide that
after their state had left
the Union they no longer
owed fealty to the United
States. So there was a
return of Virginians to defend
their native land.
Some had already distinguished
themselves in the
service of the United
States, but were destined
to win yet greater military
renown in the Civil War.

Distinguished Leaders
who came to Virginia. —
Among those who resigned
commissions in the United States army were General
Albert Sidney Johnston,[36] the commander of the military
district of the Pacific, and that able and cautious soldier,
General Joseph E. Johnston,[37] who became the first commander

of the Confederate army in Virginia. But the
greatest of all the men who came to the help of Virginia
in her hour of need was Colonel Robert E. Lee, a son of
Light Horse Harry Lee of Revolutionary fame. In resigning
his commission in the United States army, he
used the often-quoted expression, "Save in the defense
of my native state, I never desire again to draw my
sword." In speaking of his decision in a letter, written
to his sister, he says, "With all my devotion to the Union
and the feeling of loyalty and duty as an American citizen,
I have not been able to make up my mind to raise my
hand against my relatives, my children, my home." When
Colonel Lee reached Richmond, he was at once made commander
of the Virginia forces.

Military Ardor. — All through the part of Virginia east
of the Alleghany Mountains the people gave themselves up
to preparations for war. Everywhere military companies
were organized and equipped. Drill masters soon became
so much in demand that Major Thomas J. Jackson, a professor
in the Virginia Military Institute, was ordered to
bring a number of cadets to Richmond to assist in the
work of drilling recruits at Camp Lee. Jackson never
returned to his quiet professorial duties. He was appointed
a colonel of volunteers by the governor of Virginia and
soon after entered upon a career of fame second only to
that of General Lee.

Virginia Dismembered. — Western Virginia was opposed
to leaving the Union, and refused to be bound by the action

of the convention that passed the ordinance of secession.
So the people of this section in a convention held on June
11, 1861, organized a government of their own; and at a
later period this part of the Old Dominion was admitted
by Congress into the Union as a separate state, though
a strained interpretation[38] had to be put upon the Constitution
to bring this about. Thus the Virginia that took part
in the War of Secession was in area about the same as the
Virginia that helped to carry on the Revolution.

QUESTIONS

• 1. Who was elected President by the Republican party in 1860?

• 2. Give the leading facts of his life, and state the policy of his party.

• 3. After his election, what did the cotton states decide to do?

• 4. What union did they form, and whom did they elect president?

• 5. Give the leading facts in the life of Jefferson Davis.

• 6. Why did Virginia earnestly desire peace, and what action did she
  take to bring it about?

• 7. For what purpose did the Confederate government send commissioners
  to Washington after Lincoln's inauguration?

• 8. What particular request did they make? Was it granted?

• 9. What notification was sent to Governor Pickens in regard to Fort
  Sumter?

• 10. How did the Confederate government accept this notification, and
  what happened?

• 11. On what grounds did each section charge the other with beginning
  the war?

• 12. Why did Lincoln issue a call for seventy-five thousand troops?

• 13. Why did Virginia secede?

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• 14. What is said of her heroic action in so doing?

• 15. Name the states that followed her example.

• 16. What is said of the return of Virginians?

• 17. What distinguished generals of the Federal army came to Virginia?

• 18. Give the leading facts in the life of Albert Sidney Johnston.

• 19. Of Joseph E. Johnston.

• 20. What did Robert E. Lee say on resigning his commission in the
  Federal army?

• 21. Describe the military ardor throughout Virginia.

• 22. When and why was the state of West Virginia formed?

CHAPTER XXIV

THE FIRST MOVEMENT AGAINST RICHMOND

Events that will be Recorded. — The military operations
in the Civil War were on a very extensive scale. The
struggle was prosecuted vigorously on both sides, not only
in Virginia, but also in the South and West. In this short
history, only a brief account of the leading military operations
that took place in Virginia can be given.

"On to Richmond!" — On May 21, the capital of the
Southern Confederacy was moved from Montgomery, Alabama,
to Richmond; and at once in the North the cry
of "On to Richmond!" was raised. The formation of
Federal armies for the invasion of Virginia went on at
different points. One gathered at Washington under
General Scott, with General McDowell in immediate command,
a second at Chambersburg under General Patterson,
a third in West Virginia under General McClellan, and
a fourth at Fortress Monroe under General Butler. To
capture Richmond and bring the war to a speedy end
was the plan of the Federals.

Preparations for Defense. — The Confederates collected
troops for the protection of Virginia, and able plans for
defense were adopted. General Beauregard[39] organized an

army at Manassas Junction to guard the direct approach
from Washington to Richmond; General Joseph E. Johnston
a second at Harper's Ferry to cover the Shenandoah
valley; Generals Huger and Magruder a third to bar the
route to Richmond by way of the peninsula between the
James and the York rivers, while General Garnett was
sent with troops to West Virginia to operate against the
Federals in that part of the state.

Opening of Hostilities in Virginia. — The first invasion of
the state occurred on May 24, 1861, when Federal troops
took possession of Alexandria, where there were a number
of strong secessionists. For some days before the occupation,
a Confederate flag flying from the top of a hotel had
been plainly seen from the President's house in Washington.
This, Colonel Ellsworth of the Fire Zouave Regiment,
U. S. A., hastened to take down with his own hand.
But as he descended from the top of the building, holding
the flag, he was shot dead by the owner, Mr. Jackson, who
was himself killed a moment later by Ellsworth's soldiers
This was the first bloodshed in Virginia, and the next took
place in a skirmish at Big Bethel, near Fortress Monroe,
on June 10, when fourteen hundred Confederates under
General John B. Magruder defeated three thousand Federals,
belonging to the army of General Butler. These
events mark the opening of the great struggle that took
place in Virginia.

Battle of Manassas. — But the first important battle of
the war took place at Manassas, where an army of thirty
thousand Federals under General McDowell, which had
set out from Washington for Richmond, encountered the
Confederate army under General Beauregard. As the left
wing of the Federal army attempted to cross Bull Run,
a little stream that flows along the plains of Manassas, a

skirmish occurred in which the Federals were driven back.
This was but the forerunner of a general engagement
which took place on July 21, 1861. In this battle success
was at first with the Federals. Their right wing drove
back the left wing of the Confederates, which rendered

Stonewall Jackson in the Battle of Manassas

the situation full of peril. Seeing this General Bee of
South Carolina rushed up to General Thomas J. Jackson,[40]
and exclaimed, "General, they are beating us back!" "Sir,
we will give them the bayonet," was Jackson's prompt
reply. Bee went back to his men and rallied them, saying,
"Look, there is Jackson standing like a stone wall. Let
us determine to die here, and we will conquer." From that
day General Jackson became known to fame as Stonewall
Jackson.

The Confederates rallied after the day seemed about
lost, and checked the advance of the Federals till Kirby
Smith, who had been sent by General Johnston from the
Valley, arrived with reenforcements which made Beauregard's
army nearly equal in numbers to McDowell's.
Then the tide of battle turned, and the Federals began a
retreat which ended in a rout and a panic. The soldiers
threw away their arms and fled toward Washington.

The Victory not Followed up. — The Confederates did
not follow up their great victory. Indeed, they did not
realize its completeness till the day after the battle. Had
they pushed on with all speed after the terror-stricken
Federals, they might perhaps have followed them over the
bridge across the Potomac, for the destruction of which no
preparations had been made, and taken possession of
Washington. In not doing this, they lost an opportunity
which never came to them again.

Situation at the End of 1861. — As the year drew to a
close, it became evident that the war would not end in a
short time as many had supposed. Both sides now prepared

for a prolonged contest. The Federal army at
Washington, which was known as the Army of the Potomac,
was greatly increased. General George B. McClellan
was made its commander in place of General Scott; and
during the autumn and winter his forces numbering nearly
two hundred thousand lay around Washington. He was
confronted by the Army of Northern Virginia about sixty
thousand strong under General Joseph E. Johnston. After

Gen. George B. McClellan

Manassas the Confederates
had advanced as far
as Fairfax Courthouse,
and the flags at their
outposts were visible in
Washington.

Resources of the Two
Sections. — A brief comparison
of the resources
of the two sections is
necessary to show the unequal
character of the
struggle in which the
South was engaged. In
round numbers the states
that remained in the
Union had a population of twenty-three millions, while
the territory of the Confederacy contained only nine
millions, of which three and a half millions were negroes.
So the North could put in the field more than three times
as many soldiers as the South. Besides this, the North
had factories of all kinds, and could manufacture all the
war supplies, arms, and clothes that the soldiers would need.
The South was almost without factories; and soon after
the opening of hostilities, her ports were blockaded by the

North. Thus all help from abroad was cut off. But the
victory at Manassas made the South believe that, in spite
of her inferior resources, success would crown her arms.
She had faith in her own prowess; and she hoped too that
she would not have to contend against the United States
unaided. England and France had promptly accorded her
belligerent rights; and it seemed probable, early in the
war, that these powers might even acknowledge her independence.

QUESTIONS

• 1. What action on the part of the Confederacy caused the cry of "On
  to Richmond!" to be raised by the North?

• 2. What preparations did the Federals make to invade Virginia?

• 3. How did the Confederates prepare to defend the state?

• 4. What incident caused the first bloodshed on her soil?

• 5. When and where did the first skirmish take place?

• 6. Give an account of the battle of Manassas.

• 7. How did Jackson receive the name of Stonewall?

• 8. Give the leading facts in the life of Stonewall Jackson.

• 9. What was the result of the battle of Manassas?

• 10. Had the Confederates followed up this victory, what might have
  been the result?

• 11. What was the condition of the two armies at the end of 1861?

• 12. Compare the resources of the two sections.

CHAPTER XXV

CAMPAIGNS OF 1862

The Virginia. — After the secession of Virginia, the
Federal navy yard at Norfolk fell into the hands of the
Confederates. Before the Federals left it, however, they
burned and sunk a number of vessels. Among these was
a frigate, called the Merrimac, which was only partly
destroyed. This the Confederates raised and covered
heavily with iron, thus converting the wooden ship into a
most formidable ironclad, the first that was ever made.
On March 8, 1862, just before the land campaign opened,
this strange-looking craft, which had been renamed Virginia,
steamed into Hampton Roads and attacked the
Federal fleet. The heaviest guns were brought to bear
upon her, but they produced no impression whatever on
her iron sides. She speedily sunk the Cumberland and
the Congress, while the Minnesota, in trying to escape,
ran aground. The rest of the fleet scattered.

Battle between the Virginia and the Monitor. — The
Virginia, having won a complete triumph, went back
to Norfolk when night came on, returning the next day
to renew her attack on the Minnesota. But this time
she was met by a formidable enemy that had arrived
in the night. This was Ericsson's Monitor, an ironclad
gunboat that looked like "a cheese box on a raft." A
fierce engagement took place between the ironclads, but
neither could seriously damage the other, and so the battle

The Cumberland and the Virginia

was a drawn one. The appearance of the Monitor,
however, was most opportune for the Federal cause; for
had the Virginia been unopposed for a short time, she
might have ascended the Potomac and destroyed Washington.

A little later the Confederates evacuated Norfolk; and
the Virginia was blown up to keep her from falling into
the hands of the Federals. Thus her career came to an
end. The battle between the Virginia and the Monitor
showed that in the future naval conflicts would be decided
by ironclads, and it caused all the great powers to reconstruct
their navies, thus producing a revolution in naval
warfare.

Plan of the Peninsular Campaign. — When the spring
opened, instead of attacking Johnston where he was,
McClellan decided to transport his army by water to the

peninsula between the James and the York rivers, and to
approach Richmond from that direction. He was to be
supported by reenforcements that were to proceed by
land from Washington. The Confederates on their part
arranged to have General Johnston march down from
Manassas to oppose McClellan.

Jackson's Valley Campaign. — But Stonewall Jackson
was left in the Valley of Virginia, where he carried on a
campaign which for daring and brilliancy is surpassed by
none recorded in history. He proved himself so active
that he completely disarranged the Federal plans. His
presence in the Valley put Washington in danger; and the
Lincoln government decided that it was necessary to dislodge
him or capture him before reenforcements could be
sent to McClellan. But victory remained with Jackson.
In three months — from the last of March to the last of
June — he defeated and scattered four Federal armies under
Milroy, Fremont, Banks, and Shields, winning every battle
except one at Kernstown. With an army that never numbered
more than seventeen thousand, he threw the whole
North into a panic, and kept sixty thousand men from
joining McClellan down on the peninsula. All this he
accomplished with a total loss of less than two thousand.
Jackson's exploits in this campaign won for him the admiration
not only of America, but also of Europe.

Battle of Seven Pines. — While Jackson was operating
in the Valley, McClellan started on his peninsular campaign.
With a magnificent army of one hundred and ten thousand,
a large number of transports, men-of-war, and vessels loaded
with supplies, he landed at Old Point. General Magruder,
with an army of eleven thousand, delayed his progress till
Johnston came down from Manassas and threw his army
between McClellan and Richmond. On May 31, 1862, at

Seven Pines, while the two wings of the Federal army
were separated by the Chickahominy River, Johnston
attacked McClellan, and defeating the left wing of his
army, drove it back with heavy loss. The right wing of
the Federal army held its ground, and this rendered the
battle indecisive; but McClellan's advance was for the
time stopped. In this engagement, Johnston was severely

The Seven Days' Battles

wounded; and he was succeeded by General Lee, who
remained at the head of the Army of Northern Virginia
till the end of the war.

The Seven Days' Battles. — General Lee called Jackson
and his men who were flushed with their victories in the
Valley to his aid, and from June 26 to July 2 fought the
series of battles known as the Seven Days' Battles, in
which he struck McClellan blow after blow. As a result
of these engagements, the Federal commander was forced

to withdraw his army from the vicinity of Richmond to
the James River. The last of these battles was fought at
Malvern Hill, where McClellan had taken a strong position.
Here on July 1, the Confederates rashly attacked
him, and were repulsed with heavy loss. They did not
retire, however, when night came on, but remained close
to the Federal fortifications, intending to renew the battle
in the morning; but two hours after the Confederates had
withdrawn from the attack, the Federals, under cover of
darkness, made a hasty retreat to Harrison Landing, where
the presence of their fleet rendered them safe from attack.
In this campaign Lee's effective strength was eighty thousand,
and McClellan's one hundred and five thousand.
The result was a complete Confederate triumph. Richmond
was saved and the North discouraged.

Second Manassas. — The peninsular campaign having
proved a failure, the Federal army was transferred to
Acquia Creek, and joined with the army in front of Washington.
General Pope was put in command of the whole.
He, when he entered upon his campaign, issued a proclamation
in which he announced that success and glory were
in the front, and that "his headquarters would be in the
saddle." He did not, however, make much progress in his
effort to capture Richmond. At Manassas, on August 2930,
he was defeated by Lee, and his army retreated in confusion
to the defenses of Washington. The unfortunate
Federal general was, after his defeat, sent off on an expedition
against the Indians, and McClellan was restored to
the command of the Federal army.

Invasion of Maryland. — While McClellan was engaged
in reorganizing his army, Lee moved north into Maryland.
When he reached Frederick, he divided his army and sent
Jackson back to capture Harper's Ferry, which was strongly

garrisoned by the Federals. Unfortunately, a lost copy of
Lee's orders, directing the movements of the Confederates
on the Maryland campaign, fell into McClellan's hands,
who, with the information he thus obtained, moved rapidly
in the hope that he could crush Lee's forces while they
were divided. But Jackson promptly captured Harper's

Harper's Ferry

Ferry and rejoined General Lee before McClellan could
carry out his plan.

Battle of Sharpsburg. — At Sharpsburg, on September
17, 1862, the Confederate army, numbering less than forty
thousand, was attacked by McClellan with eighty-seven
thousand men. The Confederates fought magnificently,
and throughout the entire day repelled every attack made
upon them. They maintained a defiant front all the next

day, but neither side renewed the conflict, and when night
came General Lee recrossed the Potomac into Virginia.
Some Federal brigades followed the Confederates across
the river, but these were attacked by General A. P. Hill,[41]
who commanded Lee's rear guard, and driven back.
Sharpsburg, or Antietam, as the engagement is named by

A. P. Hill

Northern writers, is frequently
called a drawn battle, but it had
the effect of bringing the Confederate
invasion of Maryland
to an end, and of relieving the
Federal authorities of the fears
they entertained for the safety
of Baltimore and Washington.
The Confederates had crossed
the Potomac singing "Maryland,
my Maryland," and Lee expected
that the Marylanders
would come to him in large
numbers, but in this he was
disappointed, for but few recruits joined his standard.

Distinguished Englishmen Visit Lee. — General Lee remained
for a few days in the neighborhood of Shepherdstown,
and then took a position near Winchester, where he
allowed his war-worn army to rest for a few weeks. During
this period several distinguished British officers, among
whom was Lord Wolseley, visited him at his headquarters.

Battle of Fredericksburg. — Toward the end of October,
General McClellan crossed the Potomac and began another
invasion of Virginia. But he had not given satisfaction
to the government at Washington, and so he was retired
and General Burnside succeeded him. The new commander,
at the head of one hundred and thirteen thousand men, made
his advance toward Richmond by way of Fredericksburg,
where he encountered Lee's army, numbering sixty-five
thousand. On December 13 he attacked the Confederates
and sustained a crushing defeat. In the "Horror of
Fredericksburg," as the battle was called, the Federals lost
nearly thirteen thousand and the Confederates about five
thousand men. Burnside was now replaced by General
Hooker, "Fighting Joe Hooker" he was called, and the
Federals went into winter quarters at Falmouth.

QUESTIONS

• 1. Give the early history of the ironclad Virginia.

• 2. Describe the battle between the Virginia and the Monitor.

• 3. What was the fate of the Virginia?

• 4. What radical change in the navies of the world did this battle
  produce?

• 5. Give the plan of the Peninsular Campaign.

• 6. Give an account of Jackson's Valley Campaign.

• 7. How did Johnston check McClellan's advance at Seven Pines?

• 8. Who succeeded Johnston after this battle?

• 9. Describe the Seven Days' Battles.

• 10. What was the effective strength of the two armies?

• 11. What was the result of this campaign?

• 12. What proclamation did General Pope make?

• 13. What was the result of the second battle of Manassas?

• 14. What state did Lee now invade?

• 15. Describe the battle of Sharpsburg, and give its result.

• 16. Who visited Lee while his army was encamped near Winchester?

• 17. Describe the battle of Fredericksburg.

REVIEW QUESTIONS

• 1. What two theories were held in regard to the Constitution?

• 2. From what section did the first threats of secession come?

• 3. How did Virginia and the South look upon the Union?

• 4. How did the North and West regard it?

• 5. Give the reasons that made the South desire to leave the Union.

• 6. Who was elected President in 1860, and what followed his election?

• 7. What efforts did Virginia make for peace?

• 8. What request did the Confederate States make of the Federal government?

• 9. Give an account of the capture of Fort Sumter, and of the effect it
  had in the North and South.

• 10. What caused Virginia to secede, and what states followed her
  example?

• 11. Name some of the distinguished officers who resigned their commissions
  and came to Virginia.

• 12. What led to the formation of West Virginia?

• 13. What plans did the Federals make for invading Virginia, and how
  did the Confederates prepare to defend her?

• 14. Give an account of the opening of hostilities in Virginia.

• 15. Describe the battle of Manassas.

• 16. What was the situation in 1861, and how did the North and South
  compare in resources?

• 17. Describe the battle between the Virginia and the Monitor.

• 18. Give an account of Jackson's Valley Campaign.

• 19. Tell of the battle of Seven Pines.

• 20. Describe the Seven Days' Battles.

• 21. Tell of the second battle of Manassas.

• 22. What is said of Lee's invasion of Maryland?

• 23. Describe the battle of Sharpsburg or Antietam.

• 24. Give an account of the battle of Fredericksburg.

CHAPTER XXVI

FROM CHANCELLORSVILLE TO GETTYSBURG

Chancellorsville. — Not till April, 1863, was General
Hooker ready to begin his campaign. Then he put in

Stonewall Jackson

motion his army, numbering
one hundred and
thirty-two thousand men,
"the finest army on the
planet," he called it. He
crossed the Rappahannock
about twenty-five
miles above Fredericksburg.
Lee opposed him
with sixty thousand men,
and the two armies met
at Chancellorsville on the
2nd of May. Jackson
marched rapidly across
the front of the Federal
army, and falling unexpectedly upon Hooker's right wing,
drove it back in utter rout to Chancellorsville. The next
day Lee forced Hooker back over the Rappahannock, and
then turning on General Sedgwick, who with twenty-five
thousand men had captured Marye's Heights, drove him
likewise across the river. The result of the operations
of four days from May 2 to May 5 was a total defeat of
the Federal army, with a loss of seventeen thousand to
twelve thousand of the Confederates.

Death of Stonewall Jackson. — But Chancellorsville was
a dearly won victory to the Confederates, for on May 2,
Stonewall Jackson, at the moment of victory, was accidentally
shot by his own men as he returned from a
reconnoissance. His injuries were so serious as to render
the amputation of his arm necessary. After this had been
done, pneumonia set in, and he died on May 10. "Let us
cross over the river and rest in the shade of the trees,"
were the last words of this renowned soldier. "I have
lost my right arm!" General Lee exclaimed, when he
learned that Jackson was dead. For daring, swiftness
in execution, untiring energy, and moral influence, Jackson
stood preeminent. Never for a moment did he doubt
that the Southern cause was righteous, or lose faith

J. E. B. Stuart

in its ultimate triumph.
In his death the Confederates
sustained an irreparable
loss. His place
could not be supplied.
There was but one Stonewall
Jackson.

Brandy Station. — When
Lee's army began to move
after the battle of Chancellorsville,
Hooker sent
his cavalry across the Rappahannock
River to penetrate
the designs of the
Confederates. At Brandy
Station, where the Federals
encountered General Stuart,[42] the fiercest cavalry battle

of the whole war took place. Each side was about ten
thousand strong. The engagement lasted all day, but
ended in the defeat of the Federals, who, after sustaining
a heavy loss, were forced to recross the river.

Battle of Gettysburg. — After the victory at Chancellorsville,
Lee assumed the offensive and invaded Pennsylvania
with an army seventy thousand strong. The Federal
army, numbering one hundred and two thousand, under a
new commander, General Meade, followed the Confederates.
The foremost divisions of the opposing forces
came together at Gettysburg. The Federals secured a
position on some hills called Cemetery Ridge, where they
fortified themselves strongly. Here General Lee attacked
them, and for three days (July 1-3) a fierce battle raged.
The turning point came on the third day when three Confederate
divisions, Pickett's, Pettigrew's, and Pender's,
numbering fifteen thousand in all, made a desperate charge
on the Federal left center under a fire more severe than
that which opened on the Old Guard at Waterloo. The
divisions of Pettigrew and Pender recoiled under the terrible
cannonade to which they were subjected; but Pickett's
division, composed mostly of Virginians, kept on as steadily
as men on parade, broke through the Federal lines and
planted their colors within them. Had they been properly
supported, they would have won a decisive victory. But
no support came, and the gallant division, after holding
on alone for ten minutes, was cut to pieces and forced to
retire, after having made a charge that surpassed that of
the famous Light Brigade at Balaklava. Both armies

suffered severely, the Confederate loss being twenty thousand
and the Federal twenty-three thousand men. General
Lee, having failed in his attempt to drive the Federals
from their fortified heights, took a position a few miles
from Meade's army, where he remained for ten days, and
then retired across the Potomac into Virginia.

The Turning Point in the War. — Gettysburg, though not
a decisive victory like Waterloo, marks the turning point
in the Civil War. Had Lee been able to overthrow
the Federal army on that hard-fought field, it might
have brought peace. Gregg, the English historian, says
he was assured on what seemed to be sufficient authority,
that if Lee had been victorious at Gettysburg, the government
of England was prepared to join with France in
recognizing the Confederate States as an independent
power. There was now, however, but little hope of foreign
intervention. Serious disasters had already befallen the
Confederate armies in the South and West. The day after
Gettysburg the fall of Vicksburg gave the Federals control
of the Mississippi River, and by the end of the year,
1863, much of the territory of the Confederacy had fallen
into the hands of the Federals. Still there was hope of
ultimate success as long as the Army of Northern Virginia
was in the field. By this time Lee had become the
idol of the South. He had won the confidence and love
of the people, and to him and his army they looked for
deliverance.

QUESTIONS

• 1. Describe the battle of Chancellorsville.

• 2. Why was it a dearly won victory for the Confederates?

• 3. Give an account of the death of Stonewall Jackson.

• 4. What did General Lee exclaim on hearing of it?

• 5. What is said of Jackson?

---

218





• 6. Who was J. E. B. Stuart, and what fierce cavalry battle did he win?

• 7. What Northern state did Lee invade after the battle of Chancellorsville?

• 8. By whom was he followed, and what was the relative strength of
  the two armies?

• 9. Describe the battle of Gettysburg.

• 10. What is said of Pickett's division at Gettysburg?

• 11. What was the result of this battle?

• 12. Why is Gettysburg regarded as the turning point of the war?

• 13. What disasters had befallen the Confederacy in the South and West?

• 14. To whom did the South look for ultimate success?

CHAPTER XXVII

LEE AND GRANT

The Raid of Kilpatrick and Dahlgren. — In March 1864,
the Federal authorities dispatched General Kilpatrick with
four thousand cavalry on a raid around Lee's lines, the
object of which was to capture Richmond by a dash, and
to release the prisoners confined there. Kilpatrick planned
to make his attack from the north, and he sent Colonel
Ulric Dahlgren with a detachment of his troops to approach
the city from the south. But the expedition came
to nothing. Dahlgren[43] was killed by the Confederates,
and his command scattered, while Kilpatrick was forced
to retreat. This bold attempt was made just before the
opening of the spring campaign, in which Virginia was
destined to become the battle ground of one of the most
remarkable series of engagements recorded in history.

General Grant[44] — During the first years of the war General
Ulysses S. Grant, a resident of Illinois, rose to distinction

in the operations that were carried on in the West
and South. He was noted for his great ability to handle
armies under difficult circumstances, and for the energy
with which he threw himself into the contest. In March,
1864, he was put in command of all the forces of the
United States, and took charge in person of the military
operations in Virginia.

The "Hammering Campaign." — Grant became commander
in chief of the Federal army at a time when the
strength of the South was nearly exhausted. Realizing
this, he decided to adopt the method of continuously hammering
at the Confederates and their resources till the
South should be compelled to submit. Thus his policy
was to trust to force rather than to strategy. The Hammering
campaign for Virginia, planned by Grant, was very
extensive. The Army of the Potomac was to advance
from the north on Richmond. General Butler was to
move up the James with a fleet and some thirty-five
thousand men, capture Petersburg, and attack Richmond
from the south, while Generals Crook and Sigel were to
operate in the Valley, and, after taking Staunton and
Lynchburg, to attack the Confederates in the rear. The
movements of the Army of the Potomac General Grant
directed himself, though General Meade was left in immediate
command.

Battles of the Wilderness. — When the campaign opened,
the Army of the Potomac numbered one hundred and

U. S. Grant

eighteen thousand, and it was opposed by General Lee
with about sixty-four thousand, according to the highest
estimates. Grant crossed the Rapidan on his march
southward, and entered a region of country covered with
scraggy oak and pine trees and full of tangled underbrush,
known as the Wilderness. Here, not far from
Chancellorsville, the hostile armies came into collision,
and for five days a terrible contest went on; but Grant
was unable to drive Lee back. By moving to the left,
however, he reached Spottsylvania Courthouse where
much heavy fighting took place. A flank movement
brought Grant to Cold Harbor, where, early in June, in
attempting to carry the Confederate works by assault, he
lost thirteen thousand men in a half hour, and his men
refused to renew the attack. Grant again moved to the
left and crossed the James, having resolved to lay siege to
Petersburg.

Lee's Generalship. — General Lee's management of this
campaign alone would have rendered him famous. In the
long series of engagements that took place from the Wilderness
to the James, he had defeated his powerful antagonist
again and again, and inflicted on him a loss that
exceeded the total number of his own forces. Not only did
he do this, but in spite of all the difficulties that surrounded
him, he succeeded in keeping the expeditions that
were to cooperate with the Army of the Potomac from
rendering any very effective aid. The chief results of
these minor campaigns were as follows.

Butler Imprisoned. — Butler landed at Bermuda Hundred,
a bottle-shaped piece of land made by a bend in the
James. This he fortified and made the base of his operations.
But the Confederates under Beauregard defeated
him at Drury's Bluff, and forcing him within his defenses

R. E. Lee

imprisoned him by building a line of strong fortifications
across the neck of his bottle, thus for the time
rendering him harmless. General Grant said that "his
army was as completely shut off as if it had been in a
bottle strongly corked."

Defeat of Sigel at New Market. — Early in May, General
Sigel with seven thousand men advanced up the Valley;

but at New Market, General John C. Breckenridge defeated
him and forced him to retreat. Just before the
battle, a battalion of cadets from the Virginia Military
Institute, two hundred and thirty strong, came under the
command of Colonel Ship to aid the Confederates in driving
Sigel back, and in the engagement behaved with distinguished
gallantry. The cadets occupied a position in
the Confederate line just in front of Sigel's artillery battery,
which they charged with the steadiness of old veterans
and captured, bayoneting some of the cannoneers who
stood to their guns. When the battle was over, forty-six
of the brave boys lay upon the field wounded and eight
were dead. This incident shows that even the boys were
filled with the determination to fight the war out to its
bitter end.

Early defeats Hunter and threatens Washington. — On
the first of June, 1864, General David Hunter, who after
the battle of New Market had succeeded Sigel, was commanded
by the Federal authorities to begin another campaign
in the Valley, the special object of which was to
capture Lynchburg. Near Port Republic he defeated
General W. E. Jones, whom General Lee had ordered from
southwest Virginia to defend the Valley. After doing this
he was reenforced by cavalry under Generals Crook and
Averill, which raised his force to eighteen thousand, and
now for a time he went his way without serious opposition.
His march was marked by the most wanton destruction of
property. At Lexington he burned the Virginia Military
Institute, the residence of Governor Letcher, and other
private property. On reaching Lynchburg he encountered
General Early,[45] whom Lee, after defeating Grant at
Cold Harbor, had sent with a detachment of troops to defend
the city. Hunter now retreated precipitately towards
West Virginia. In July, Early marched into Maryland,
and, though he had but twelve thousand men, he approached
within cannon shot of Washington, but found
the city too strongly garrisoned to venture to attack it
with his small force. Later he made a raid into Pennsylvania

and burned Chambersburg in retaliation for Hunter's
vandalism in the Valley.

Sheridan's Devastation of the Valley. — Early's operations
in the Valley proved so troublesome to the Federals that,
in August, General Grant sent Sheridan with forty thousand
men to dislodge him. After much maneuvering,
Sheridan finally defeated Early, and then by Grant's
orders he laid the Valley waste, killing cattle and sheep,
carrying off horses, and burning barns, mills, farming implements,
grain, and hay. The work of destruction was
so complete in this most fertile part of Virginia, that
Sheridan, it is said, asserted that "a crow, flying across
the Valley, must carry its own rations."

Siege of Petersburg — Grant crossed the James the middle
of June and hoped to capture Petersburg before Lee's
army could come to its defense. But in this he was disappointed.
The first assaults that were made were repulsed
by Beauregard's troops, who succeeded in holding the city
for three days; and then the torn battle-flags of the Army
of Northern Virginia were seen floating above the hastily
constructed fortifications. Lee's army had arrived. On
the very day that Lee's veterans reached Petersburg,
Grant made two desperate attempts to take the Confederate
works by storm; but his troops were driven back
with a loss of nine thousand. Lee continued to improve
the defenses of the city till they were impregnable from
assault. A separate chain of fortifications provided for the
defense of Richmond; but General Grant's main efforts
were directed against Petersburg, as a capture of this city
would lead to the fall of Richmond.

Battle of the Crater — The first attempts to capture
Petersburg having ended in failure, Grant now tried to
get possession of the beleaguered city by a novel expedient.

Burnside's Ninth Corps lay intrenched within
one hundred and fifty yards of an angle in the Confederate
works, which was covered by a fort. Under this
point General Grant, at a suggestion of Burnside, had a
mine dug in which was stored eighty hundredweight of gunpowder.
On July 30 the mine was exploded, blowing the
fort and its garrison of two hundred and fifty-six men high

Battle of the Crater

into the air, and leaving a crater thirty feet deep, sixty feet
wide, and one hundred and seventy feet long. The Federal
batteries at once opened on the Confederate works, while
an assaulting column moved up to storm them. But the
Confederates speedily regained their self-possession, and
turned their guns upon the besiegers, who, having rushed
through the opening, found themselves enfiladed from the
right and the left by artillery and fusilladed from the front
by musketry. The end came when Lee sent General
Mahone with two brigades of Hill's corps, who drove
the stormers back and retook the whole line. The crater
was for the Federals a hideous slaughter pen. Their loss
was four thousand, and Grant said the affair was a
"stupendous failure."

Situation at the End of 1864. — In November, 1864,
President Lincoln was elected for a second term, which
showed that the North intended to continue to carry on
the war vigorously. By the end of the year, the power of
the Confederacy in the West had been almost entirely
destroyed. The eleven states she started with had been
practically reduced to three — Virginia, North Carolina,
and South Carolina. Sherman had marched through
Georgia, and was preparing to cross the Carolinas and
enter Virginia with an army of sixty thousand men. Lee,
it is true, had defeated Grant again and again; but his
victories had been fruitless; for he had not been able, with
the slender resources at his command, to destroy the Federal
army, nor to drive it out of Virginia. The Confederacy
had about come to the end of her resources. Her money
was nearly worthless,[46] and her credit was gone. The brave
men that had fallen in battle she could not replace. The
soldiers that remained in her armies were veterans that
could be relied on; but they were opposed by four times
as many men on the Federal side. The course of events

had been such as to indicate the speedy collapse of the
Confederacy from exhaustion; but neither the South nor
the North realized how near this was at hand, so wonderful
had been the defensive warfare waged by General Lee.

QUESTIONS

• 1. Describe the raid of Kilpatrick and Dahlgren.

• 2. Who was Ulysses S. Grant, and for what was he noted?

• 3. What was Grant's "Hammering Campaign"?

• 4. Describe the battles of the Wilderness. Give relative strength of
  the two armies.

• 5. What occurred at Cold Harbor?

• 6. What is said of Lee's generalship?

• 7. How did Beauregard render Butler harmless?

• 8. What did Grant say of Butler's army?

• 9. Describe the gallant conduct of the cadets of the Virginia Military
  Institute, at New Market.

• 10. Describe Hunter's campaign in the Valley.

• 11. What vandalism did he commit at Lexington?

• 12. By whom was he met, and defeated?

• 13. Why did not Early continue his march, and attack Washington?

• 14. Whom did Grant send to defeat Early, and with how many men?

• 15. What did Sheridan do in the Valley, and what assertion did he
  make?

• 16. What did Grant hope to do on crossing the James?

• 17. How were his first assaults repulsed?

• 18. Give an account of the Petersburg mine.

• 19. How did it recoil upon the Federals?

• 20. What did Grant say of it?

• 21. What did the reelection of Lincoln show the South?

• 22. To what limits had the Confederacy been reduced at the end of
  1864?

• 23. What was Sherman now preparing to do?

• 24. What is said of the resources of the Confederacy?

CHAPTER XXVIII

END OF THE WAR

Evacuation of Richmond and Petersburg. — During the
autumn and winter (1864-'65) General Grant fortified his
position; and, while his cavalry laid waste the country that
furnished supplies to the Confederates, his infantry gradually
extended their lines westward, till Lee was forced to
guard fortifications thirty-five or forty miles in length. To
do this, in March, 1865, he had about forty thousand half-starved
and half-clothed men, while in front of him lay
Grant's well-equipped army of three or four times that number.
Grant received a continual stream of reenforcements
to make good any losses he might sustain. Lee could get
none. The crisis came in the spring of 1865. On April 2,
Grant pierced Lee's thin lines in several places, and thus
rendered the evacuation[47] of Richmond and Petersburg

necessary. On the night of the 2nd, General Lee withdrew
his troops from the fortifications they had so long and so
gallantly defended, and began to retreat toward Danville,
his plan being to reach North Carolina and unite his army
with that of General Joseph E. Johnston.

The Conflagration in Richmond. — On the morning of
April 3 the Federals took possession of Richmond, which
they found to be on fire, the conflagration having its origin
in the burning of some public buildings by the Confederates
as they retreated. The city presented a scene of the
wildest confusion. Bands of men were plundering the
stores, while the streets were full of homeless people,
whose cries of distress were heard on all sides. Nearly
one third of the city was laid in ruins before the progress
of the flames could be arrested, but this was finally done
by the combined efforts of the citizens and Federal
authorities.

Surrender of General Lee. — Lee had ordered rations to
be sent to Amelia Courthouse for his army; but, owing to
some mistake, this was not done. His forces reached this
point on April 4. They were without food, and in endeavoring
to get provisions from the country they lost
nearly twenty-four hours. On the evening of April 4th,
Sheridan's cavalry reached Jetersville on the Richmond
and Danville railroad, which caused Lee, when he resumed
his retreat, to leave the line of the railroad and turn toward
Lynchburg. When he reached Appomattox Courthouse,
he found Sheridan's cavalry in his front and also an infantry
line of battle, while the main body of the Army of the
Potomac was in his rear. His forces were surrounded, and
he realized that further resistance would but lead to the
sacrifice of the remnant of the brave army, which under
his leadership had proved itself invincible on so many hard-fought

fields. Accordingly on the 9th of April he surrendered
to General Grant the shattered remnant of his
noble army, numbering about twenty-eight thousand men,
but of these only eight thousand bore arms.

Grant's Generous Spirit. — General Grant in this hour of
triumph showed no disposition to exult over his great
antagonist. Instead of this he treated him with the most

delicate consideration. He did not demand Lee's sword,
and it was not offered to him. He only required that the
men should lay down their arms. Those that had horses
were allowed to retain them. "They will need them for
their spring plowing," General Grant said.

General Lee taking Leave of his Army. — It was a sad
sight when General Lee took leave of his army. His soldiers
crowded up to him, anxious to touch him, or even his
horse. In bidding them farewell their great commander

said: "Men, we have fought through the war together; I
have done my best for you; my heart is too full to say
more."

Downfall of the Confederacy. — The surrender of Lee
was followed by that of General Joseph E. Johnston to
General Sherman, which took place in North Carolina on
April 26. Then in rapid succession the Confederate
armies in other parts of the South laid down their arms.
The South was fighting for independence, and the overthrow
of the Army of Northern Virginia convinced her that
she could not succeed. When this became evident, the
Confederacy went down at once; and the great contest
came to a sudden end.

No Trials of Confederate Leaders. — President Davis was
captured on May 10, in Georgia, and imprisoned in Fortress
Monroe. Mr. Stanton, Secretary of State under President
Lincoln, endeavored to bring the illustrious captive to trial
for cruelty to Federal prisoners, who had suffered at Andersonville
for supplies which the South was unable to give
them; but in this effort he failed. For two years, however,
Jefferson Davis remained a prisoner, and was then released
on bail; but neither he nor any other Confederate
leader was ever tried for taking part in the secession
movement.

Supremacy of the Nation. — The war accomplished the
object for which the North fought — the restoration of
the Union. The result proved that a majority of the citizens
of the United States had decided that the Union
should be a nation and not a confederacy of sovereign
states as it was when the Constitution was adopted. No
amendment embodying this was made to the Constitution;
but the right of secession had been submitted to the arbitrament
of arms and the decision had been that it must be

given up, and thus the supremacy of the nation was established.

Abolition of Slavery. — The course of events was also
such as to bring about the abolition of slavery.[48] President
Lincoln, in 1863, issued an emancipation proclamation as
a war measure to help bring about the defeat of the South;
and while this was immediately effective only in territory
occupied by the Federals, yet once published, it was never
recalled; for, as time passed, it became a settled conviction
all through the North and the West that slavery should
not survive the war. Accordingly, after the struggle was
over, amendments, which gave the negro his freedom,
made him a citizen, and secured to him his rights, were
made to the Constitution.

The Army of Northern Virginia. — The rank and file of the
Army of Northern Virginia was made up largely of gentlemen
of birth, fortune, and education. In the Rockbridge
artillery there were twenty-eight college graduates, and in
a company of infantry that went from the Northern Neck
of Virginia, there were sixteen graduates of the Virginia
Military Institute. The heroic deeds of the army were due
to the fact that each private soldier, whether rich or poor,
of high or low estate, felt that he was fighting for a principle,
and so each one entered into the contest with the
spirit that animated the European noblesse in the wars of
the Middle Ages.

A Northern Tribute to Virginia. — During the war the
Washington Republican, an organ that advocated the abolition
of slavery, published the following handsome tribute
to Virginia: "If there has been any decadence of the
manly virtues in the Old Dominion, it is not because the
present generation has proved itself either weak or cowardly
or unequal to the greatest emergencies. No people
with so few numbers ever put into the field, and kept
there so long, troops more numerous, brave, or more
efficient, or produced generals of more merit in all kinds
and grades of military talent.[49] It is not a worn-out and
effete race that has produced Lee, Johnston, Jackson,
Ashby,[50] and Stuart. It is not a worn-out and effete race

which for two years has defended its capital against the
approach of an enemy close upon their borders and outnumbering
them thirty to one. It is not a worn-out and
effete race which has preserved substantial popular unity
under all the straits and pressure and sacrifice of this
unprecedented war."

QUESTIONS

• 1. What did Grant do in the autumn and winter of 1865?

• 2. What was the condition of Lee's army at this time, and what were
  its numbers?

• 3. Give the steps that led to the evacuation of Richmond and
  Petersburg.

• 4. Describe the conflagration in Richmond.

• 5. Give an account of the surrender of Lee. When did it take
  place?

• 6. What was the respective strength of the two armies at the time?

• 7. How did Grant show a generous spirit?

• 8. Describe Lee's farewell to his army.

• 9. What followed Lee's surrender?

• 10. When and where was President Davis imprisoned?

• 11. Was he or any other Confederate leader ever tried?

• 12. What did the war establish in regard to the nation?

• 13. Why had Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863?

• 14. After the war, what amendments were made to the Constitution?

• 15. What was the character of the men that composed the Army of
  Northern Virginia?

• 16. Give the tribute paid to Virginia by the Washington Republican.

• 17. What do European critics say of Jackson's Valley Campaign and
  the Army of Northern Virginia?

• 18. Who was Turner Ashby, and what is said of him?

REVIEW QUESTIONS

• 1. Describe the battle of Chancellorsville.

• 2. Give an account of the death of Stonewall Jackson.

• 3. Describe the cavalry battle of Brandy Station.

• 4. Tell of the battle of Gettysburg, and what is said of this battle.

• 5. What plan did Grant form for subjugating the South?

• 6. Describe the battles of the Wilderness.

• 7. What is said of Lee's generalship?

• 8. Describe Butler's imprisonment.

• 9. Tell of the bravery of the cadets at New Market.

• 10. Give an account of Hunter's march through the Valley, and Early's
  defeat of him.

• 11. Of Sheridan's devastation of the Valley.

• 12. Describe the siege of Petersburg.

• 13. The battle of the Crater.

• 14. What was the situation at the end of 1864?

• 15. Tell of the evacuation of Richmond and Petersburg.

• 16. When and where did General Lee surrender, and what was the
  respective numbers of the two armies?

• 17. What is said of Grant's generous spirit?

• 18. Give Lee's farewell words to his army.

• 19. Tell about the downfall of the Confederacy, and the results of the
  war.

• 20. Describe the Army of Northern Virginia, and give the tribute paid
  to the state by a Northern paper.

CHAPTER XXIX

RECONSTRUCTION AND RESTORATION

Condition of Virginia after the War. — Virginia had
poured out her resources in a lavish stream to meet the
ever-increasing needs of the Confederate government.
She had borne the brunt of the war; and great was the
devastation brought upon her by the conflict through which
she had passed. When the end came, her condition was
deplorable. Her slaves had been forcibly freed, and, all over
her territory, houses had been burned, fences destroyed,
cattle killed, and farms devastated. Worse than all this,
her fields had been drenched with blood; and the land was
filled with mourning for fathers, brothers, husbands, and
sons, who had gone forth to battle and had never returned.

Suspension of Civil Government. — When Richmond was
evacuated, the state government, as it existed under the
Confederacy, came practically to an end. Governor Smith,
it is true, moved the seat of the government to Lynchburg;
but, becoming convinced after the surrender of General
Lee that any further effort on the part of the state to continue
the war would be useless, he gave himself up to the
Federal authorities and received his parole.

On April 6 President Lincoln issued an order which authorized
the legislature to assemble at Richmond, but this
he recalled[51] before a formal meeting of the body was held.

Provisional Government Established. — Unfortunately
for Virginia, President Lincoln was assassinated[52] by John
Wilkes Booth soon after the evacuation of Richmond. Had
Lincoln lived, the people believed that the state would have
been speedily restored to her place in the Union, and this
his successor, President Johnson, tried to bring about, but
he was unable to control the dominant party in Congress.
One month after Lee's surrender, Johnson, in following
out his plan for the restoration of the state, appointed
Francis H. Pierpont provisional governor.

Refused Readmission into the Union. — Governor Pierpont,[53]
in taking charge of affairs, showed a patriotic

spirit in his efforts to reestablish the state government.
On October 12, 1865, elections were held for members of
the General Assembly and of Congress. But when the
representatives of Virginia appeared in Washington, Congress
refused to allow them to take their seats, and, before
its adjournment, decided not to readmit into the Union any
state that had formed a part of the Confederacy, till it
would ratify the fourteenth amendment to the Federal
Constitution. This made the negro a citizen and put the
political and military leaders of the Confederacy under
disability to hold office. Virginia refused to take the action
required of her, and so was not readmitted. Governor
Pierpont continued to administer the provisional government
established by President Johnson, and the people
displayed a law-abiding spirit. The state government was
theoretically independent, but the military authorities frequently
interfered with the operations of the civil law.

Under Military Rule. — Finally, in 1867, Congress passed
over the President's veto the Reconstruction Acts, which
put Virginia under military rule. By these measures the
government existing in the state was made entirely subordinate
to a military commander, who had authority to administer
all the powers of the state, life and liberty being
subject to such military commissions as he might create.
The courts of the state could sit, but only by permission of
the commander. During this period no one was allowed
to vote or hold office unless he could take an oath[54] that he

had never borne arms against the United States, and had
never given aid to the Confederacy, nor held an office
under its authority.

The Rule of "Carpet-baggers"[55] and "Scallawags"[56] . —
Under the test oath required but few white men could take
part in politics, and so the government of the state fell into
the hands of "Carpet-baggers," "Scallawags," and negroes.
For a time there was a reign of ignorance, fraud, and robbery,
during which the state debt, already a very heavy
one, was increased over thirteen millions. Two of the
military commanders complained to the authorities at
Washington that it was impossible, under the test oath
required, to find enough competent persons to fill the
offices in the state.

In the Union again. — In 1870 the state was readmitted
into the Union under a constitution which accepted all the
legislation that had been made in regard to the negro, but
without any clause disfranchising the citizens who had
taken part in the War of Secession. After this the government
came into the hands of those competent to administer
it, and soon law and order prevailed throughout the
commonwealth. President Grant aided in rescuing the
state from the rule of the "Carpet-baggers" and "Scallawags,"
by using his influence in getting the disfranchising
clause submitted to a separate vote which resulted in its
rejection.

The Freedmen's Bureau. — An account of the Reconstruction
period would be incomplete without a notice of
the Freedmen's Bureau. As the war drew to an end, the
number of negroes dependent upon the Federal government
had become so great that Congress established in
connection with the War Department a bureau, which was
to have control of all matters relating to refugees and
freedmen from the territory that had been in the Confederacy.
It was authorized to issue provisions, clothing,
fuel, and medical supplies to the destitute. It had power
also to take charge of abandoned or confiscated land, and
to rent it to refugees and freedmen in forty-acre tracts for
a term of three years. At the end of this time, the bureau
could sell the land to the occupants. This provision gave
rise to a widespread belief among the negroes that it was
the purpose of the government to give each one of them
"forty acres and a mule." The hope of this expected
legacy, which was for a long time cherished, had the effect
of increasing idleness. It was used, too, by unscrupulous
adventurers from the North to extort money from the
negroes, on the promise that the land would be divided
out among them as soon as they all paid a small fee.

The establishment of the Freedmen's Bureau was due
to sectional prejudice, which ran high in 1865, and to a
mistaken idea that it would prove a benefit to the negro
race. In Virginia and elsewhere its operations ended in
failure.

Wreck of the Plantation System. — The plantation system
that had existed from the earliest period came to a sudden
end with Lee's surrender. After this event, the conditions
of country life were practically revolutionized. The obligation
that had rested upon a master to feed, clothe, take
care of, and protect his slaves for life-time services was

changed at once to a business contract between master
and servant, which could be easily terminated. For a
short time, in most parts of the state, the negroes remained
upon the land of their former masters. Then the desire
to enjoy their newly acquired freedom caused them to
move from place to place, and to seek busy centers.
Soon the deserted and roofless cabins that were seen all
over the country were unmistakable and melancholy signs
that the plantation system, as it existed in the olden times,
was no more.

Spirit of the People. — The Virginians have always been
known as a sanguine people; and this phase of their character
came out prominently in the way they accepted the
issues of the war without repining. They addressed themselves
resolutely to the difficult task of restoring their
ruined homes, when they were without capital, without
credit, and in many cases hopelessly involved in debt.
Men, who had never done a day's work in their lives but
had lived in comfort upon the labor of their slaves, began
at once to cultivate the land with their own hands; and
fair women, brought up in luxury and accustomed to all
the refinements of life, performed without a murmur household
drudgery, to which they had been strangers. The
heroic spirit the people had displayed when tried in the
fiery ordeal of war was not more admirable than the patient
endurance and self-control they manifested in adjusting
themselves to the new conditions that confronted them.

QUESTIONS

• 1. Describe the condition of Virginia after the Civil War.

• 2. What is said of the suspension of civil government?

• 3. Give an account of President Lincoln's assassination.

• 4. What did President Johnson wish to do for the state, and what
  kind of governor did he appoint?

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• 5. Give the history of "Restored Virginia"

• 6. What happened when Virginia's representatives appeared in
  Washington?

• 7. Why was she refused readmission into the Union?

• 8. Describe the military rule under which the state was put by Congress.

• 9. Who were the "Carpet-baggers" and "Scallawags"?

• 10. What was the ironclad oath?

• 11. When and under what conditions did Virginia enter the Union
  again?

• 12. What was the Freedmen's Bureau?

• 13. How did it prove an injury to the negro?

• 14. When and in what way was the plantation system wrecked?

• 15. Describe the spirit of the people in adjusting themselves to the
  changed condition of affairs.

CHAPTER XXX

RECENT TIMES

Capitol Disaster. — A few months after the civil government
of Virginia had been restored, an unexpected catastrophe
spread sorrow throughout the state. A great crowd
had assembled in the chamber of the Court of Appeals to
hear a decision which would determine whether Ellyson,
who had been elected mayor of Richmond, had a right to
the office, or Chahoon, who had been appointed under the
military authorities. While the people were waiting for
the verdict, which was in favor of Mayor Ellyson, the floor
gave way, and the crowd was precipitated into the legislative
hall below. Sixty-five persons were killed and more
than two hundred sustained injuries. A number of the
most prominent citizens were among the killed and
wounded.

Last Days of General Lee. — General Lee spent his last
days in Virginia, which he loved so well. After the war
was over he believed that it was the duty of all who wished
to take part in the restoration of their state to render
allegiance to the Federal government; and so he applied
to President Johnson for amnesty under the terms of the
proclamation issued by him. His example kept many
Virginians from hastily abandoning their state in the hour
of defeat. In the autumn of 1865 Lee accepted the presidency
of Washington College, where for the remainder of
his life he devoted himself as conscientiously to the work

of education, as he had formerly done to the prosecution
of the war. He died in 1870, at the age of sixty-three.
His ability, with the high and noble virtues of his character,
mark him as one of the greatest Americans that the nineteenth
century has produced. Lord Wolseley says he has
met but two men who filled his ideal of what a true hero
should be, and one of these was Robert E. Lee.

Public School System. — Virginia has had much to contend
with in regard to public schools. In colonial days
education was not encouraged except among the higher
classes, Governor Berkeley going so far as to say: "I
thank God there are no free schools nor printing, and
I hope we shall not have these hundred years; for learning
has brought disobedience and heresy and sects into
the world, and printing has divulged them, and libels
against the best government. God keep us from both."
After the Revolution much interest was manifested by
Thomas Jefferson and others in public education; but the
state did not make adequate provision for its maintenance
till 1870, when the present public school system was
established. This system, since it went into operation,
has, year by year, grown in favor and in usefulness. The
people value the public schools highly, and are thoroughly
alive to the importance of sustaining them.

Higher and Technical Education. — Among the institutions
for higher and technical education that have contributed
greatly to the literary advancement of the state
are the University of Virginia, Washington and Lee University,
Randolph-Macon, Hampden Sidney, Roanoke
College, Richmond College, Emory and Henry, College
of William and Mary, Virginia Military Institute, Virginia
Polytechnic Institute, Randolph-Macon Woman's College,
State Female Normal School. In addition to the institutions

named above, in every part of the state are to be
found high schools, academies, and female colleges of high
grade which are doing excellent work.

Yorktown Centennial. — The hundredth anniversary of
the surrender of Cornwallis was celebrated at Yorktown
in 1881, and the occasion brought to Virginia visitors from
all over the country and from Europe. The United States
sent a large number of soldiers to Yorktown; and her war
ships gathered in the neighborhood, while from Europe
came representatives of France and Germany and descendants
of the foreign officers who were with the Americans
when the surrender took place. The celebration lasted for
six days, and was characterized by military and naval reviews,
which were witnessed by thousands of the inhabitants
of the state.

The State Debt. — The public debt at the close of the
Reconstruction period was over forty-five million dollars,
one third of which was set aside to West Virginia. The
remainder proved a heavy burden to the state in her
impoverished condition, and was the cause of much discussion
and division among the people. But, happily, in
1892 an agreement was reached between the legislature
and the bondholders by which the debt was adjusted, and
the matter is not likely again to disturb the politics of the
state.

Virginia at the World's Fair. — At the great Columbian
Exposition held in Chicago in 1893 to commemorate the
four hundredth anniversary of the discovery of America,
the Virginia exhibit was displayed in a building which was
an exact representation of the home of Washington at
Mount Vernon, and contained much of the furniture of
that historic structure. It was filled with a rare collection
of relics of the colonial and Revolutionary periods. The

novelty of the building and interesting character of its
contents caused it to attract greater attention than many
others that were far more costly and magnificent.

The White House of the Confederacy. — The mansion in
Richmond formerly occupied by President Davis, and
known as the White House of the Confederacy, is now a
museum for the preservation of Confederate relics, and also
the repository of the records of the Southern Historical
Society. Each state that belonged to the Confederacy has
a separate room in which it places its valued relics. In the
Virginia room are to be found memorials of Lee, Jackson,
Johnston, Pickett, Stuart, A. P. Hill, and of other illustrious
sons too numerous to be mentioned here. Among
the documents, preserved in the building by the Southern
Historical Society, are valued autograph letters of the
leading Confederate generals and the copy of the "Paroles
of the Army of Northern Virginia" that was made out for
General Lee. This museum of Confederate relics is not
designed either to arouse or to keep alive sectional feeling,
but to perpetuate the deeds, the hardships, and the self-denial
of a patriotic people. Virginia is thoroughly loyal
to the restored Union, but at the same time she is true
to her past and cherishes tenderly the memory of the
Confederacy.

Patriotism of Virginia Women. — No history of Virginia,
which does not chronicle the influence women have exerted
in shaping the destiny of the state, would be complete.
During the uncertain years of the Revolution and also in
the trying days of the Civil War, they sent their loved
ones to battle for their country with the same heroic spirit
that animated the Spartan mother when she bade her son
farewell with the injunction, "Come back with your shield
or upon it." Nor did they remain inactive at home, but

ministered to the sick and wounded with the most unremitting
care, taking charge of hospitals and sustaining them
largely by their own contributions. At the same time they
encouraged those who were bearing arms in the field, and
rendered them aid in every way that ingenuity could devise.
When all this is taken into consideration, it is evident that
they deserve a share in the state's heroic achievements as
truly as do the most valiant soldiers.

Patriotic Societies. — Such patriotic societies as the
"Colonial Dames," "Daughters of the American Revolution,"
and "Daughters of the Confederacy" are enthusiastically
sustained by Virginia women, who thus in times
of peace keep alive in the memory of the people the
deeds of their forefathers. Though Virginia is the oldest
settlement of English people outside of England, she for
a long time did but little toward saving from destruction
relics of her early history. But in recent years the women
of the state have become interested in the matter, and have
formed a "Society for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities,"
which is doing much valuable work.

Governors since the War. — The first governor elected by
the people after the war was Gilbert C. Walker, of New
York. Then Governors Kemper, Holliday, Cameron, Fitzhugh
Lee, McKinney, O'Ferrall, Tyler, Montague, and
Swanson have been successively the executive heads of the
Old Dominion. Andrew J. Montague was the first governor
under the present constitution, which went into effect in 1902.

Resources. — The resources of the state, if developed,
would produce wealth enough to enrich an empire. The
Alleghany region abounds in gold, silver, copper, granite,
marble, and coal. Iron ore is found in at least half the
counties, and zinc, lead, and tin exist in quantities that indicate
profitable investment for capital. These are but a

few of the state's mineral resources, which appear to be
almost boundless. The climate and soil present conditions
favorable to the production of nearly all the useful and
profitable agricultural crops of the world. Matthew Fontaine
Maury, Virginia's great scientist, who was well acquainted
with her resources, said: "The more I search the
old state, the more she reminds me of the magic sheaf of
wheat, which the more it was threshed the more it yielded;
for the longer I study her valleys and mountains, her
waters, climate, and soils, the more I am astonished and
impressed at the variety, abundance, and value of her undeveloped
treasure. And the vastness of the wealth which
lies dormant in her borders, waiting for capital and labor
to develop and utilize it, fairly dazzles the imagination."

Progress. — The people are still mainly engaged in
agriculture, but at the same time they realize that this is
not the only source of wealth and advancement, and so
they are paying attention to other branches of industry.
Manufactures are being established, factories are springing
up, blast furnaces are being reared, and mines developed.
Cattle raising and fruit growing are becoming profitable
pursuits, and the newly developed business of truck farming
is giving most encouraging results. Virginia wheat is
of such excellent quality that flour made from it is in great
demand outside of the state, which renders the milling
interest a flourishing one. Many of the cities and towns
have large tobacco factories, the products of which are to
be found in nearly all civilized countries. The machine
shops at Richmond and Roanoke are equal in capacity and
in the work done to any in the United States. Newport
News has unsurpassed facilities for shipbuilding, as was
amply proved in March, 1898, when the Kearsage and the
Kentucky, two formidable battle ships for the United

States Navy, were launched from her shipyard. Small
industries, such as the making of staves, tubs, etc., are
steadily increasing. The shipment of furniture and ornamental
woods is rendering the products of the forests
valuable. All these and many other industrial enterprises
that are being developed mark a new era of progress for
the Old Dominion.

Development of Literature. — American literature had its
beginning in accounts of travel and adventure written by
Captain John Smith and other early settlers. But during
colonial days, and indeed up to the time of the Civil War,
the conditions of life in Virginia were not favorable to the
development of literary activity. The plantation system,
which rendered personal effort unnecessary, encouraged
the educated classes to lead lives of leisure and to regard
literature as an accomplishment rather than as a serious
calling. There was, too, a lack of towns and cities to furnish
centers of literary life, and without these writing as
a profession is never profitable. The ambitious turned to
law and politics as offering easier avenues to distinction.
"Literature stood no chance, because the ambition of
young men of the South was universally turned in the
direction of political distinction, and because the monopoly
of advancement held by the profession of law was too well
established and too clearly recognized to admit of its claim
being contested."[57] The eloquent orations of Patrick
Henry, the able state papers of Washington, Jefferson,
and Madison, the writings of Chief Justice Marshall,[58] and

other productions that might be cited, prove that the lack
of progress in literature was not due to want of intellectual
ability.

The Civil War brought changes in the social, industrial,
and educational conditions. Hardly had the state solved
the most difficult problems that followed the breaking down
of the old régime than it became apparent that literature
had experienced a quickening impulse. One by one Virginia
writers obtained a hearing from the public and won
distinction. The time has not yet come to make an estimate
of the work of these writers, most of whom are still
living. But indications are that as a result of the new
movement the Virginia of the past will be seen again in
memory's soft light, and that the Virginia of the future will
not lack for literary representatives.

Virginia honors her Great Men. — Virginia does not forget
her distinguished men as is shown by the large number
of monuments that have been erected in the state. In
the Capital Square at Richmond there is an equestrian
statue of Washington, and upon its pedestal are grouped
statues of the leaders of the Revolutionary period — Mason
holding the Bill of Rights, Jefferson with the Declaration
of Independence, Thomas Nelson as the representative of
finance, John Marshall, the great jurist with a book of law,
Patrick Henry with his sword drawn, and Andrew Lewis,

rifle in hand. A little distance from this group there is a
statue of Stonewall Jackson, which was presented to the
state by his English admirers; and, in other parts of the
city, an equestrian statue of Lee, a statue of A. P. Hill,
also one in honor of the soldiers and sailors of the Confederacy.
A monument to Stuart stands at Yellow Tavern
where he fell, and in many other parts of the state memorials
have been erected to our heroic dead. The private
soldiers, who are in need, the state pensions as liberally
as her revenue will permit.

Conclusion. — While but few stirring events have occurred
since Virginia resumed her place in the sisterhood
of the states, yet during this period the commonwealth
has been steadily increasing in prosperity. In character
the people are unchanged. They continue to display the
same devotion to duty and principle that has ever characterized
them, and they cherish their rights as strongly
as they did in former years. Whatever changes may
come, it is safe to predict, in the light of the past, that,
when the future history of the free, noble, high-minded
people of the Old Dominion is written, it will contain a
record of deeds that will be worthy of the countrymen
of Washington and Lee.

QUESTIONS

• 1. Describe the Capitol disaster.

• 2. What did General Lee believe to be the duty of all who wished to
  take part in the restoration of the state?

• 3. What position did he accept at the close of the war?

• 4. When did he die, and what is said of him?

• 5. Was education encouraged in colonial days?

• 6. What did Governor Berkeley say in regard to free schools?

• 7. When was the present public school system established, and what
  is said of it?

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• 8. Mention some of the schools and colleges for higher education.

• 9. What was the Yorktown Centennial, and when was it held?

• 10. What is said of the state debt?

• 11. How was Virginia represented at the World's Fair?

• 12. What was the "White House of the Confederacy," and for what is
  it now used?

• 13. What is said of the patriotism of Virginia women?

• 14. Name the patriotic societies that are sustained by them.

• 15. Give the names of the governors since the war.

• 16. Mention some of the resources of the state.

• 17. What does Matthew Fontaine Maury say of the state?

• 18. Mention some of the branches of industry which indicate her
  progress.

• 19. What is said of the development of literature?

• 20. How did the plantation system retard its growth?

• 21. To what professions did the young men turn, and why?

• 22. What proves that there was not a want of intellectual ability?

• 23. When did Virginia receive a quickening impulse as to literature,
  and what is said of it?

• 24. Who was John Marshall?

• 25. How does Virginia show that she holds her great men in remembrance?

• 26. Mention the names of some of these to whom monuments have
  been raised.

• 27. What can be safely predicted in regard to the future history of
  Virginia?

REVIEW QUESTIONS

• 1. Give an outline of the condition of Virginia after the Civil War,
  and of the steps that led to the appointment of a provisional
  governor.

• 2. Why was she refused readmission into the Union, and under what
  rule was she placed by Congress?

• 3. Why did the administration of the government fall into the hands
  of "Carpet-baggers" and "Scallawags," and what is said of their
  rule?

• 4. When did Virginia reënter the Union, and what change did this
  bring in the administration of her government?

• 5. What object did the United States government have in establishing
  

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  the Freedmen's Bureau, and what false expectation did it
  cause among the negroes?

• 6. How long had the plantation system existed, and what caused its
  destruction?

• 7. What spirit have the Virginians always shown, and how did it
  manifest itself during the Reconstruction period?

• 8. How did General Lee, by his example, keep many Virginians from
  leaving the state? How and where did he spend his last years?

• 9. Give an outline of the progress of education from colonial days to
  the present time.

• 10. What did the state debt cause among the people, and when was it
  finally settled?

• 11. Give the history of the present Confederate museum at Richmond.

• 12. Give the resources of the state, and tell what Matthew Fontaine
  Maury says.

• 13. In what ways is the progress of the state shown?

• 14. Explain the reason why literature did not flourish before the Civil
  War, and give its present outlook.

• 15. In what does the Old Dominion especially honor some of her
  distinguished sons?

• 16. What qualities do the Virginians continue to display, and what is
  predicted of their future?

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF IMPORTANT EVENTS (1860-1898)

                                                                                                     

1860.	Abraham Lincoln elected President.
1861.	Southern Confederacy formed at Montgomery, February 8.
1861.	Jefferson Davis inaugurated President of the Confederacy, February 18.
1861.	Lincoln inaugurated President of the United States, March 4.
1861.	Fort Sumter captured by the Confederates, April 14.
1861.	Lincoln's call for 75,000 volunteers, April 15.
1861.	Secession of Virginia, April 17.
1861.	Confederate capital changed from Montgomery to Richmond.
1861.	Battle of Big Bethel, June 10.
1861.	West Virginia organized a separate government, June 11.
1861.	Confederate Congress assembled at Richmond, July 20.
1861.	First battle of Manassas, July 21.
1862.	Battle between the Virginia and the Monitor, March 9.
1862.	Jackson's Valley Campaign, March-June.
1862.	Battle of Seven Pines, May 31-June 1.
1862.	General Lee made commander of the Army of Northern Virginia in June.
1862.	The Seven Days' battle around Richmond, June 25-July 1.
1862.	Second battle of Manassas, August 29-30.
1862.	Harper's Ferry captured by Jackson, September 15.
1862.	General Lee invaded Maryland in September.
1862.	Battle of Sharpsburg, or Antietam, September 17.
1862.	Battle of Fredericksburg, December 13.
1863.	Emancipation Proclamation, January 1.
1863.	Battle of Chancellorsville, May 2-3.
1863.	Death of Stonewall Jackson, May 10.
1863.	West Virginia admitted into the Union, June 20.
1863.	Battle of Gettysburg, July 1-3.
1864.	Battles of the Wilderness, May 5-6.
1864.	Battle of Spottsylvania Courthouse, May 8-12.
1864.	Battle of New Market, May 15.
1864.	Battle of Cold Harbor, June 3.
1864.	Siege of Petersburg begun, June 15.
1864.	Invasion of Maryland and Pennsylvania by Early in July.
1864.	Mine explosion at Petersburg and battle of the Crater, July 30.
1865.	Richmond evacuated, April 2.
1865.	General Lee surrendered, April 9.
1865.	Provisional government established in Virginia, May 9.
1865.	Assassination of President Lincoln, April 14.
1865.	President Davis taken prisoner, May 10.
1865.	Slavery abolished in the United States.
1866.	Memorial Day instituted.
1867.	Reconstruction Acts passed by Congress.
1870.	Virginia readmitted into the Union.
1870.	The Capitol disaster.
1870.	Public school system established.
1870.	Death of General Robert E. Lee.
1881.	Yorktown Centennial.
1892.	State debt adjusted.
1893.	World's Columbian Exposition, May-October.
1898.	Kearsarge and Kentucky launched at Newport News, March 25.
1902.	New Constitution adopted.