Learn about Civil War battle-ridden Virginia, home of top generals and the Confederate capital, and the state's split with West Virginia
Overview of Virginia's role in the American Civil War.
© Civil War Trust (A Britannica Publishing Partner)
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© William J. Clinton Presidential LibraryU.S. Pres. Bill Clinton delivering his first inaugural address, Washington, D.C., January 20, 1993.
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Transcript
I have the honor to be here today on the Manassas battlefield, here in my home state, the Old Dominion, the Commonwealth of Virginia. Virginia was the epicenter of the Civil War here in the Eastern Theater.
With so many of the war's most famous battles, in fact, three of the five bloodiest battles during the Civil War were fought in one county in Virginia, Chancellorsville, the Wilderness, and Spotsylvania. Forty-three percent of all battles during the entire Civil War were fought here in the Commonwealth from the Peninsula Campaign, in the On To Richmond effort, through the Overland campaign, the Petersburg campaign, the Appomattox campaign, the entire Commonwealth of Virginia at one time or another was a battlefield.
Well a big part of that has to do, of course, with the fact that the Confederate capitol was moved to Richmond. And On To Richmond was a very early rallying cry for the Union war effort. The major generals who fought here for the Confederacy are well-known, Robert E Lee, of course, being the primary one, with Stonewall Jackson Jeb Stuart, Joseph Johnston, Jubal Early, AP Hill, and of course, John Mosby, who operated on the ground not very far from here.
But not every Civil War general from Virginia was Confederate. The two biggest ones that come to mind are general Winfield Scott, commander of the Union armies at the outset of the war, as well as George Thomas, the Rock of Chickamauga.
In the Western counties of Virginia, those counties actually seceded from Virginia, much like Virginia seceded from the Union to form the union state of West Virginia. And while Virginia sent 155,000 of its sons off to fight for the Confederacy, West Virginia sent 30,000 of its sons to fight for the Union.
As a son of Virginia, myself, I would encourage you, come to Virginia. Walk some of our 165 Civil War battlefields. Learn from these beautiful and historic places. It might just change your life.
With so many of the war's most famous battles, in fact, three of the five bloodiest battles during the Civil War were fought in one county in Virginia, Chancellorsville, the Wilderness, and Spotsylvania. Forty-three percent of all battles during the entire Civil War were fought here in the Commonwealth from the Peninsula Campaign, in the On To Richmond effort, through the Overland campaign, the Petersburg campaign, the Appomattox campaign, the entire Commonwealth of Virginia at one time or another was a battlefield.
Well a big part of that has to do, of course, with the fact that the Confederate capitol was moved to Richmond. And On To Richmond was a very early rallying cry for the Union war effort. The major generals who fought here for the Confederacy are well-known, Robert E Lee, of course, being the primary one, with Stonewall Jackson Jeb Stuart, Joseph Johnston, Jubal Early, AP Hill, and of course, John Mosby, who operated on the ground not very far from here.
But not every Civil War general from Virginia was Confederate. The two biggest ones that come to mind are general Winfield Scott, commander of the Union armies at the outset of the war, as well as George Thomas, the Rock of Chickamauga.
In the Western counties of Virginia, those counties actually seceded from Virginia, much like Virginia seceded from the Union to form the union state of West Virginia. And while Virginia sent 155,000 of its sons off to fight for the Confederacy, West Virginia sent 30,000 of its sons to fight for the Union.
As a son of Virginia, myself, I would encourage you, come to Virginia. Walk some of our 165 Civil War battlefields. Learn from these beautiful and historic places. It might just change your life.
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