West Virginia in The American Civil War

West Virginia In The American Civil War

The U.S. state of West Virginia was formed out of western Virginia and added to the Union as a direct result of the American Civil War (see History of West Virginia). In the summer of 1861, Union troops under General George McClellan drove off Confederate troops under General Robert E. Lee. This essentially freed Unionists in the northwestern counties of Virginia to form their own government as a result of the Wheeling Convention. After Lee's departure, western Virginia continued to be a target of Confederate raids, even after the creation of the new state in 1863. These actions focused both on supplying the Confederate Army with provisions as well as attacking the vital Baltimore and Ohio Railroad that linked the northeast with the midwest, as exemplified in the Jones-Imboden Raid. Guerrilla warfare also gripped the new state, especially in the Allegheny Mountain counties to the east, where loyalties were much more divided than in the Unionist northwest part of the state.

Read more about West Virginia In The American Civil War:  History, Guerrilla War, Soldiery, Nursing During The Civil War, Civil War Battles in West Virginia, Notable Figures

Famous quotes containing the words civil war, west, american, civil and/or war:

    One of the greatest difficulties in civil war is, that more art is required to know what should be concealed from our friends, than what ought to be done against our enemies.
    Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl Chesterfield (1694–1773)

    Personality is the most important thing to an actress’s success.
    —Mae West (1892–1980)

    The Oregon [matter] and the annexation of Texas are now all- important to the security and future peace and prosperity of our union, and I hope there are a sufficient number of pure American democrats to carry into effect the annexation of Texas and [extension of] our laws over Oregon. No temporizing policy or all is lost.
    Andrew Jackson (1767–1845)

    Come, come, my boy, say “Good morning” to your creator. Speak! You’ve got a civil tongue in your head, I know you have because I sewed it back myself.
    Kenneth Langtry, and Herbert L. Strock. Prof. Frankenstein (Whit Bissell)

    There is something to be said for government by a great aristocracy which has furnished leaders to the nation in peace and war for generations; even a Democrat like myself must admit this. But there is absolutely nothing to be said for government by a plutocracy, for government by men very powerful in certain lines and gifted with the “money touch,” but with ideals which in their essence are merely those of so many glorified pawnbrokers.
    Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919)