Virginia

Headnote
Virginia is now divided into 119 counties. Its seat of government is the city of Richmond, and its greatest commercial port is Norfolk. There are many other cities and populous towns in the state, more particular descriptions of which will be found in their proper order in this volume. Within even its present boundaries flow some of the finest rivers in America, the most important of which are the Potomac, Rappahannock, James, and Kanawha Rivers. It is also watered by the Ohio and its tributaries on the west. The surface of the state is greatly diversified; insomuch that those familiar with its topography have considered its soil and climate under several distinct zones or divisions. (Gazetteer of the United States of America, 1854)
    Place Unit Type
    State or Province
    Containing Unit
    Date Type
    Alleged fugitive slave arrested in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and sent that evening to Philadelphia Slavery/Abolition
    Governor Chase of Ohio responds to Virginia Governor Wise's accusations against his northern neighbors Legal/Political
    Governor Wise takes over the Winchester and Potomac Railroad in preparation for the execution of John Brown Lawmaking/Litigating
    - Grant's Overland Campaign against the Army of Northern Virginia continues Battles/Soldiers
    In Philadelphia, the U.S. Commissioner frees Harrisburg alleged fugitive slave Daniel Dangerfield Slavery/Abolition
    In Virginia, the Union Army crosses the Rapidan River and begins Grant's Overland Campaign Battles/Soldiers
    President Buchanan rejects Virginia's call for federal forces to police neighboring states Legal/Political
    Richmond newspaper editorial defends slavery as a vital financial need for Virginia Slavery/Abolition
    Robert E. Lee appointed commander of all Confederate troops in Virginia Battles/Soldiers
    - The fugitive slave case of Daniel Dangerfield from Harrisburg causes popular excitement in Philadelphia Legal/Political
    The Ladies' Mount Vernon Association acquire Mount Vernon from the Washington family Cultural
    The moderate Constitutional Union ticket of Bell and Everett narrowly carries Virginia Campaigns/Elections
    The troops of the Pennsylvania Reserve present General George Meade with a valuable sword in recognition of his leadership Personal
    The Union Army crosses the James River, ending Grant's Overland Campaign and besieging Petersburg Battles/Soldiers
    - The Virginia Convention on secession is meeting in Richmond Lawmaking/Litigating
    The Virginia Republican State Convention meets in Wheeling, Virginia Campaigns/Elections
    Virginians elect delegates to their secession convention Lawmaking/Litigating
    Name Type
    Accomack County, VA County
    Albemarle County, VA County
    Alexandria County, VA County
    Alleghany County, VA County
    Amelia County, VA County
    Amherst County, VA County
    Appomattox County, VA County
    Arlington County, VA County
    Augusta County, VA County
    Barbour County, VA County
    Bath County, VA County
    Bedford County, VA County
    Berkeley County, VA County
    Bland County, VA County
    Boone County, VA County
    Botetourt County, VA County
    Braxton County, VA County
    Brooke County, VA County
    Brunswick County, VA County
    Buckingham County, VA County
    Cabell County, VA County
    Campbell County, VA County
    Caroline County, VA County
    Carroll County, VA County
    Charles City County, VA County
    Charlotte County, VA County
    Chesterfield County, VA County
    Clarke County, VA County
    Craig County, VA County
    Culpeper County, VA County
    Cumberland County, VA County
    Cumberland Gap, VA Location or Site
    Dinwiddie County, VA County
    Doddridge County, VA County
    Elizabeth City County, VA County
    Essex County, VA County
    Fairfax County, VA County
    Fauquier County, VA County
    Floyd County, VA County
    Fluvanna County, VA County
    Franklin County, VA County
    Frederick County, VA County
    Giles County, VA County
    Gilmer County, VA County
    Gloucester County, VA County
    Goochland County, VA County
    Grayson County, VA County
    Greenbrier County, VA County
    Greene County, VA County
    Greensville County, VA County
    Halifax County, VA County
    Hampshire County, VA County
    Hancock County, VA County
    Hanover County, VA County
    Hardy County, VA County
    Harrison County, VA County
    Henrico County, VA County
    Henry County, VA County
    Highland County, VA County
    Isle of Wight County, VA County
    Jackson County, VA County
    James City County, VA County
    James River Continent
    Jefferson County, VA County
    Kanawha County, VA County
    King & Queen County, VA County
    King George County, VA County
    King William County, VA County
    Lancaster County, VA County
    Lee County, VA County
    Lewis County, VA County
    Logan County, VA County
    Loudoun County, VA County
    Louisa County, VA County
    Lunenburg County, VA County
    Madison County, VA County
    Marion County, VA County
    Marshall County, VA County
    Mason County, VA County
    Mathews County, VA County
    Mecklenburg County, VA County
    Mercer County, VA County
    Middlesex County, VA County
    Monongalia County, VA County
    Monroe County, VA County
    Montgomery County, VA County
    Morgan County, VA County
    Nansemond County, VA County
    Nelson County, VA County
    New Kent County, VA County
    Newport News, VA City or Town
    Nicholas County, VA County
    Norfolk County, VA County
    Northampton County, VA County
    Northumberland County, VA County
    Nottoway County, VA County
    Ohio County, VA County
    Orange County, VA County
    Page County, VA County
    Patrick County, VA County
    Pendleton County, VA County
    Pittsylvania County, VA County
    Pleasants County, VA County
    Pocahontas County, VA County
    Powhatan County, VA County
    Preston County, VA County
    Prince Edward County, VA County
    Prince George County, VA County
    Prince William County, VA County
    Princess Anne County, VA County
    Pulaski County, VA County
    Putnam County, VA County
    Raleigh County, VA County
    Randolph County, VA County
    Rappahannock County, VA County
    Richmond County, VA County
    Ritchie County, VA County
    Roanoke County, VA County
    Rockbridge County, VA County
    Rockingham County, VA County
    Russell County, VA County
    Scott County, VA County
    Shenandoah County, VA County
    Smyth County, VA County
    Southampton County, VA County
    Spotsylvania County, VA County
    Stafford County, VA County
    Surry County, VA County
    Sussex County, VA County
    Taylor County, VA County
    Tazewell County, VA County
    The Great Dismal Swamp, VA Location or Site
    Tyler County, VA County
    Upshur County, VA County
    Warren County, VA County
    Warwick County, VA County
    Washington County, VA County
    Wayne County, VA County
    Westmoreland County, VA County
    Wetzel County, VA County
    Wirt County, VA County
    Wood County, VA County
    Wyoming County, VA County
    Wythe County, VA County
    York County, VA County
    Date Title
    Recollection by Noah Brooks, April 1863, Army of the Potomac
    Spencer Fullerton Baird, Report of the Curator of the Musuem, July 11, 1848
    David Wilmot’s Speech in the House of Representatives, Washington, DC, August 3, 1848
    (Columbus) Ohio State Journal, “New Law about Fugitive Slaves,” April 30, 1850
    John Henry Hill to William Still, October 4, 1853
    John Clayton to William Still, March 6, 1854
    Boston (MA) Herald, “Fugitives,” March 20, 1854
    Richmond (VA) Dispatch, "Underground Operations," April 29, 1854
    Richmond (VA) Dispatch, "The Virginia Springs," July 1, 1854
    John Henry Hill to William Still, January 7, 1855
    Richmond (VA) Dispatch, "The Underground Railroad," November 7, 1855
    Richmond (VA) Dispatch, "Runaways Returned," November 29, 1855
    Charleston (SC) Mercury, "Return of Fugitives," December 5, 1855
    Richmond (VA) Dispatch, "The Underground Railroad," December 6, 1855
    New York Herald, "Threatened Civil War Between Virginia and Pennsylvania," January 31, 1856
    New York Herald, “Law to Protect Slave Property in Virginia,” March 22, 1856
    Thomas Garrett to William Still, July 19, 1856
    N. Coryell to William Still, August 18, 1856
    New York Times, “Free Negroes and Free Slaves In Virginia,” January 8, 1857
    New York Herald, "The Decision in the Dred Scott," March 9, 1857
    New York Times, “Virginia Frightened,” April 7, 1857
    New York Times, “A New Kink in the Southern Mind,” May 7, 1857
    New York Times, “Sensible Southern Sentiments,” May 11, 1857
    Washington (DC) National Era, "The Administration," June 25, 1857
    New York Times, “A Nice Distinction,” August 4, 1857
    Washington (DC) National Era, “Virginia and the South,” October 22, 1857
    New York Times, “Virginia Politics,” October 26, 1857
    New York Herald, "Kansas as a Slave State," January 7, 1858
    Boston (MA) Liberator, "The Beauties of Personal Liberty Laws," January 8, 1858
    Boston (MA) Herald, "Rescue of a Slave from the U.S. Marshal at Blairsville, PA," April 9, 1858
    John Henry Hill to William Still, June 5, 1858
    New York Herald, "Found At Last," June 13, 1858
    New York Herald, "The Late Meeting of Maryland Slaveholders," July 23, 1858
    New York Herald, “Political Joking," August 15, 1858
    Boston (MA) Liberator, “Underground Railroad,” August 27, 1858
    Boston (MA) Liberator, “The Underground Railroad,” October 8, 1858
    New York Herald, “The Struggle Among the Virginia Democracy,” December 5, 1858
    New York Herald, “The Presidential Question,” January 24, 1859
    New York Herald, “The Presidential Question,” January 29, 1859
    New York Times, “Extension of the Southern Revolt Against the Cuban Scheme,” February 8, 1859
    Louisville (KY) Journal, “‘U. G.’ Railroad Statistics,” March 14, 1859
    New York Times, “An Elevated Struggle,” March 23, 1859
    San Francisco (CA) Evening Bulletin, “Filibusterism and Disunion,” April 1, 1859
    New York Herald, “The Gubernatorial Contest in Virginia,” April 3, 1859
    New York Herald, “The Late Scattering Elections,” April 6, 1859
    New York Herald, “Does Mr. Crittenden Back Out?,” May 22, 1859
    New York Times, “The Virginia Election,” May 30, 1859
    Chicago (IL) Press and Tribune, “Republicanism in Virginia,” June 7, 1859
    Chicago (IL) Press and Tribune, “Another Dred Scott Decision,” June 8, 1859
    Charleston (SC) Mercury, “Virginia Will Lead,” June 22, 1859
    New York Herald, “The Spoils,” July 20, 1858
    Stepney Brown to William Still, August 27, 1859
    Chicago (IL) Press and Tribune, “New Danger To Douglas,” September 29, 1859
    Richmond (VA) Dispatch, "Northern Impertinences with Regard to the Late Affair at Harpers Ferry," October 24, 1859
    Fayetteville (NC) Observer, "How Shall Brown Be Punished?," November 7, 1859
    Eliza Margaretta Chew Mason to Lydia Maria Child, November 11, 1859
    New York Herald, “The South and Southern Safety,” December 4, 1859
    Chicago (IL) Press and Tribune, “The Beginning of Sorrows,” December 5, 1859
    Atchison (KS) Freedom’s Champion, “Paying the Piper,” January 28, 1860
    New York Times, "Senator Brown on International Law," March 8, 1860
    New York Times, “Disunion Plots,” May 10, 1860
    Chillicothe (OH) Scioto Gazette, “Can Locofocos Explain It?,” June 5, 1860
    Richard W. Thompson to Abraham Lincoln, June 12, 1860
    Chicago (IL) Press and Tribune, “What the South Really Fears,” July 25, 1860
    Chicago (IL) Press and Tribune, “Result of Freedom,” August 3, 1860
    Charlestown (VA) Free Press, "Precipitate A Revolution," August 9, 1860
    Charlestown (VA) Free Press, “A Broken Platform,” August 30, 1860
    New York Times, “When to Secede,” September 28, 1860
    New York Herald, “What are the Southern States Going to Do?,” October 12, 1860
    David Hunter to Abraham Lincoln, October 20, 1860
    New York Herald, “Helper and His Black Republican Endorsers,” October 28, 1860
    New York Herald, “The Disunion Question,” November 19, 1860
    William T. Sherman to Ellen Sherman, November 23, 1860
    Chicago (IL) Tribune, "The Prime Cause," December 8, 1860
    Lowell (MA) Citizen & News, “A British Opinion of American Disunion,” December 12, 1860
    Charlestown (VA) Free Press, “The Clouds Lowering,” December 27, 1860
    Cleveland (OH) Herald, “Letter From Virginia,” January 2, 1861
    Charlestown (VA) Free Press, “A Forgeone Conclusion,” January 3, 1861
    Cleveland (OH) Herald, “The Fugitive Case,” January 24, 1861
    Charlestown (VA) Free Press, “Let the People Consider,” January 31, 1861
    Chicago (IL) Tribune, “Bad For Virginia,” February 20, 1861
    New York Times, “A Bloody Programme,” March 6, 1861
    Charlestown (VA) Free Press, “Pryor Rampant,” March 21, 1861
    Fayetteville (NC) Observer, “Virginia Still for the Union,” March 28, 1861
    Savannah (GA) News, “The Tribune on Virginia,” April 6, 1861
    New York Times, “Wise Rampant,” April 9, 1861
    New York Herald, “Apprehensions of an Attack on Washington,” April 14, 1861
    Richmond (VA) Dispatch, “Retaliation,” April 15, 1861
    Richmond (VA) Dispatch, “Another John Brown Raid,” April 16, 1861
    Entry by George Templeton Strong, April 17, 1861
    The Virginia Ordinance of Secession, April 17, 1861
    Boston (MA) Liberator, “An Ancient and A Modern Compromise,” April 19, 1861
    New York Times, “The Position of Maryland,” April 20, 1861
    Charleston (SC) Mercury, “Reorganization,” April 22, 1861
    Virginia Governor John Letcher’s Proclamation, April 24, 1861
    Fayetteville (NC) Observer, "What We Have To Expect," May 6, 1861
    Boston (MA) Advertiser, “Not Quite a Unit,” May 9, 1861
    New York Times, “Not a War against the South,” May 10, 1861
    New York Times, “The Reward of Treason,” May 16, 1861
    New York Times, “A Halter with Two Nooses,” May 20, 1861
    Richmond (VA) Dispatch, “The Day of Election,” May 22, 1861
    Cleveland (OH) Herald, “Virginia Playing the Foot,” June 4, 1861
    Fayetteville (NC) Observer, “The Mothers and Wives,” June 6, 1861
    New York Times, “The Bitter Fruits,” June 10, 1861
    Charles B. Calvert to Abraham Lincoln, July 10, 1861
    Raleigh (NC) Register, “Arrest of a Traitor,” August 14, 1861
    Charleston (SC) Mercury, “Spies and Traitors,” February 15, 1862
    Joseph Hooker to Abraham Lincoln, Friday, April 17, 1863
    Abraham Lincoln to Joseph Hooker, June 10, 1863
    Abraham Lincoln to Salmon Portland Chase, September 2, 1863
    General Alfred H. Terry, General Order Number Four, Headquarters, Department of Virginia, January 17, 1866
    How to Cite This Page: "Virginia," House Divided: The Civil War Research Engine at Dickinson College, https://hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu/node/8986.