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Battle Of White Sulphur Springs
The Battle of White Sulphur Springs, also known as the Battle of Rocky Gap or the Battle of Dry Creek, occurred in Greenbrier County, West Virginia, on August 26 and 27, 1863, during the American Civil War. A Confederate Army force commanded by Colonel George S. Patton defeated a Union brigade commanded by Brigadier General William W. Averell. West Virginia had been a state for only a few months, and its citizens along the state's southern border were divided in loyalty to the Union and Confederate causes. Many of the fighters on both sides were West Virginians, and some were from the counties close to the site of the battle. The battle was a turning point for the first of three mounted expeditions into Confederate-held territory led by Averell in the latter half of 1863. The expedition had multiple targets, including a saltpeter works, a Confederate cavalry force in Pocahontas County, West Virginia, and the law books from the law library of the Virginia Supreme Court ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states that had seceded. The central cause of the war was the dispute over whether slavery would be permitted to expand into the western territories, leading to more slave states, or be prevented from doing so, which was widely believed would place slavery on a course of ultimate extinction. Decades of political controversy over slavery were brought to a head by the victory in the 1860 U.S. presidential election of Abraham Lincoln, who opposed slavery's expansion into the west. An initial seven southern slave states responded to Lincoln's victory by seceding from the United States and, in 1861, forming the Confederacy. The Confederacy seized U.S. forts and other federal assets within their borders. Led by Confederate President Jefferson Davis, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting against the United States forces to win the independence of the Southern states and uphold the institution of slavery. On February 28, 1861, the Provisional Confederate Congress established a provisional volunteer army and gave control over military operations and authority for mustering state forces and volunteers to the newly chosen Confederate president, Jefferson Davis. Davis was a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy, and colonel of a volunteer regiment during the Mexican–American War. He had also been a United States senator from Mississippi and U.S. Secretary of War under President Franklin Pierce. On March 1, 1861, on behalf of the Confederate government, Davis assumed control of the military situation at Charleston, South C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richmond In The American Civil War
Richmond, Virginia served as the capital of the Confederate States of America for almost the whole of the American Civil War. Notwithstanding its political status, it was a vital source of weapons and supplies for the war effort, as well as the terminus of five railroads, and as such would have been defended by the Confederate States Army at all costs. The Union made many attempts to invade Richmond. In the Peninsula Campaign of 1862, General George McClellan moved up the James River, almost to the suburbs of the city, but was beaten back by Robert E. Lee in the Seven Days Battles. In 1864-5, General U.S. Grant laid siege to nearby Petersburg. By April 1865, the Confederate government realized the siege was almost over and abandoned the city lest they be captured. The retreating Confederates chose to burn military supplies rather than let them fall into Union hands; the resulting fire destroyed much of central Richmond. Strategic and symbolic significance In the 1860 Unit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Echols
John Echols (March 20, 1823 – May 24, 1896) was a general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. Early and family life John Echols was born in Lynchburg, Virginia. He joined the Virginia Military Institute in 1840 and resigned in the next year; being made an honorary graduate in 1843. He received further education at Washington College and at Harvard College. A tall imposing man, standing 6 feet 4 inches tall, Echols quickly became a leader among his peers. Echols married twice. His first wife was a sister of Senator Allen T. Caperton (also of what became West Virginia). After she died, he married Mrs. Mary Helen Cochran Reid, a widow from New York City. Early legal and political career On becoming a lawyer in 1843 he settled in Union, Monroe County (now West Virginia). Echols represented Monroe County in the Virginia House of Delegates 1852–1853 and in the Virginia Secession Convention of 1861. Confederate service Both Echols and Al ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Virginia Central Railroad
The Virginia Central Railroad was an early railroad in the U.S. state of Virginia that operated between 1850 and 1868 from Richmond westward for to Covington. Chartered in 1836 as the Louisa Railroad by the Virginia General Assembly, the railroad began near the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad's line and expanded westward to Orange County, reaching Gordonsville by 1840. In 1849, the Blue Ridge Railroad was chartered to construct a line over the Blue Ridge Mountains for the Louisa Railroad which reached the base of the Blue Ridge in 1852. After a decision from the U.S. Supreme Court, the Louisa Railroad was allowed to expand eastward from a point near Doswell to Richmond. Renamed as the Virginia Central Railroad in 1850, the railroad bypassed the under construction Blue Ridge Railroad via a temporary track built over Rockfish Gap. This connected the railroad's eastern division with its expanding line across the Blue Ridge in the Shenandoah Valley. Having reac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Virginia And Tennessee Railroad
The Virginia and Tennessee Railroad was an historic gauge railroad in the Southern United States, much of which is incorporated into the modern Norfolk Southern Railway. It played a strategic role in supplying the Confederacy during the American Civil War. Founding and early history Built in the 1850s, the V&T ran completely through southwestern Virginia along a portion of the Great Valley of Virginia. The railroad extended westward from Lynchburg, through a gap in the Blue Ridge Mountains near the town of Big Lick (the present-day city of Roanoke); there, it turned southwestward and followed the Great Valley to Bristol, a total distance of . After the Virginia government refused to fund its construction (in part because it could adversely affect the James River Canal), the city of Lynchburg incorporated the railroad on March 24, 1848, as the Lynchburg and Tennessee Railroad. John R. McDaniel, who had previously put together the Lynchburg Gas Light Company and who had pledg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lewisburg, West Virginia
Lewisburg is a city in Greenbrier County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 3,930 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Greenbrier County. Geography Lewisburg is located approximately one mile north of the Greenbrier River. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water. Much of it is within the karst belt and a sinkhole is gated over at an intersection. It is part of the Davis Spring subwatershed. Lewisburg is part of the Southern West Virginia region. Transportation Historic Lewisburg is centered at the crossroads of U.S. Route 60, historically called The Midland Trail, and U.S. Route 219. Interstate 64's intersection with U.S. Route 219 near the northern border of the town has drawn most modern development into that area. Greenbrier Valley Airport supports a vibrant general aviation community, and also has direct daily flights on United Airlines to hubs in Washington DC (IAD) and Ch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Supreme Court Of Virginia
The Supreme Court of Virginia is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It primarily hears direct appeals in civil cases from the trial-level city and county circuit courts, as well as the criminal law, family law and administrative law cases that are initially appealed to the Court of Appeals of Virginia. It is one of the oldest continuously active judicial bodies in the United States. It was known as the Supreme Court of Appeals until 1970, when it was renamed the Supreme Court of Virginia because it has original as well as appellate jurisdiction. History of the Supreme Court of Virginia Colony of Virginia The Supreme Court of Virginia has its roots in the seventeenth century English legal system, which was instituted in Virginia as part of the Charter of 1606 under which Jamestown, Virginia, the first permanent English settlement in North America, was established. In 1623, the Virginia House of Burgesses created a five-member appellate court, which met quarte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Supreme Court Library Building
Supreme Court Library Building, now known as Greenbrier County Library and Museum, is a historic library building located at Lewisburg, Greenbrier County, West Virginia. It was built in 1834, and is a two-story building built of locally fired brick. It was constructed to serve as a law library and study for the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals. This was leased to the State of Virginia until the court sessions ended in 1864. During the American Civil War, it served as a military hospital. Inside the building, there is graffiti left by recovering soldiers. It was then occupied as a Masonic lodge until acquired by the Greenbrier College. In 1935, the college deeded it to the town for use by the Greenbrier County Library and Museum. Currently, the building is used as a library by the New River Community and Technical College New River Community and Technical College (New River) is a public community college in Beaver, West Virginia. It was founded in 2003 and is West Virginia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pocahontas County, West Virginia
Pocahontas County is a county located in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 7,869. Its county seat is Marlinton. The county was established in 1821. It is named after the daughter of the Powhatan chief of the Native Americans in the United States from Jamestown, Virginia. She married an English settler and their children became ancestors of many of the First Families of Virginia. Pocahontas County is the home to the Green Bank Observatory and is part of the National Radio Quiet Zone. History When Andrew Lewis, early American pioneer, surveyor, and soldier from Virginia, came to survey one of the land grants for the Greenbrier Company in 1751, he found Jacob Marlin and Stephen Sewell living where Marlinton later developed. They had come from Frederick, Maryland, in 1749 and are considered to be the first European settlers in this region of Virginia. They built their original cabin where Marlin Run met Knapp's Creek. Lewis had found Sewe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Niter
Niter or nitre is the mineral form of potassium nitrate, KNO3. It is a soft, white, highly soluble mineral found primarily in arid climates or cave deposits. Historically, the term ''niter'' was not well differentiated from natron, both of which have been very vaguely defined but generally refer to compounds of sodium or potassium joined with carbonate or nitrate ions. Characteristics Niter is a colorless to white mineral crystallizing in the orthorhombic crystal system. It is the mineral form of potassium nitrate, , and is soft (Mohs hardness 2), highly soluble in water, and easily fusible. Its crystal structure resembles that of aragonite, with potassium replacing calcium and nitrate replacing carbonate. It occurs in the soils of arid regions and as massive encrustations and efflorescent growths on cavern walls and ceilings where solutions containing alkali potassium and nitrate seep into the openings. It occasionally occurs as prismatic acicular crystal groups, and ind ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 which it became the only modern state to have declared its independence from the Confederacy. In the summer of 1861, Union troops, which included a number of newly formed Western Virginia regiments, 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 a functioning government of their own as a result of the Wheeling Convention. Prior to the admission of West Virginia the government in Wheeling formally claimed jurisdiction over all of Virginia, although from its creation it was firmly committed to the formation of a separate state. After Lee's departure, western Virginia continued to be a target of Confederate raids. Both the Confederate and state governments in Richmond refused to recognize t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
