page_title: Confederate government of West Virginia
section_title: Secession sentiment in West Virginia
hierarchical_section_title: Confederate government of West Virginia / Secession sentiment in West Virginia
caption_attribution_description: English: The Civil War era courthouse in Barbour County, West Virginia, in the town of Philippi.
context_page_description: On June 20, 1863 the U.S. government created a new state from 50 western counties of Virginia to be named "West Virginia". This was done on behalf of a Unionist government in Wheeling, Virginia, approved by Congress and President Lincoln, though it was done with a low participation of the citizens within the new state. There remained a large number of counties and citizens who still considered themselves as part of Virginia and the Confederacy which, in turn, considered the new state as part of Virginia and the Confederacy. In 1861 the 50 counties contained a population of 355,823 whites, 2,782 freemen, 18,371 slaves, 79,515 voters and 67,721 men of military age. West Virginia was the 6th most contested state during the war, with 632 battles, engagements, actions and skirmishes.
  Although considered a loyal Union state by the Federal government, the new state nevertheless gave half of its soldiers to the Confederacy and was the only border state which did not give the greater portion of its men to the Union. While the Union army held much of the territory of the new state, large sections remained in the hands of guerrillas and bushwhackers.
context_section_description: West Virginia was created out of three regions of Virginia; the Northwest, the Shenandoah Valley, and the Southwest. When secession from the United States became an issue for Virginia, there was little support for it in the counties bordering the states of Ohio and Pennsylvania, but there was more support in the central and southern counties of what became West Virginia.
  In January 1861 the first secession flag in West Virginia flew above the courthouse in Philippi, Barbour County. Described as a "palmetto" flag, it was captured in the Battle of Philippi on June 3, 1861. A secession flag also flew above the courthouse in neighboring Tucker County, and another was raised in Guyandotte, Cabell County, which was termed a "secession hole" by Union newspapers in Wheeling, and was later burned by Union troops. On May 14, the "stars and bars" was raised above the courthouse in Logan County.
  
  There were public meetings of "Southern Rights" supporters in at least 21 Northwestern counties. On April 26, 1861, former governor Joseph Johnson chaired such a meeting in Clarksburg. Secessionists were active in Jackson, Ritchie, Harrison, Wood, Wayne, Kanawha, Cabell, Taylor, Upshur, Marion, although these counties voted against the secession ordinance. Altogether 24 of the 50 counties in the new state voted in favor of secession. The secession counties held 40% of the population and two-thirds of the territory of the new state. Results of the May 23, 1861 vote on Virginia's secession ordinance has been estimated at 19,121 to 20,031 in favor of secession and 33,565 to 34,677 against secession.
  
  This resulted in a large area of West Virginia that was supportive of the Richmond government and the Confederacy. Union support eroded in some border counties when Union troops invaded western Virginia on May 26, 1861, just days after the vote on the secession ordinance. In the northwestern counties of West Virginia most enrolled 25% of their eligible men in Confederate units, many in excess of 50%. Putnam County, for example, was reported to have voted 944 to 202 against the secession ordinance, but when recruitment began it gave half of its soldiers to the Confederacy. A similar situation occurred in the counties of Cabell, Kanawha and Wayne. One factor hindering Unionism was "state pride" and resistance to outside interference in Virginia's affairs. One Ohio newspaper observed-
  "There still remains that old 'State pride' which has been the vain-glorious boast of the Old Dominion...Western Virginia has too many Union men, and is too near Ohio, to actively join in such a resistance, but still, that impulse and State pride will be against us and we must expect to be hampered with it."
  County courts in Jackson, Fayette, Hampshire, Monroe, Gilmer, Pocahontas, and Raleigh levied funds to arm militia for the defense of Virginia. When Gov. Letcher called out the militia there was no response from the counties along the northwestern border. The 107th Regiment of Randolph and Tucker counties were under the command of Gen. Robert S. Garnett, but after his death it disbanded. Two companies of the 119th Regiment of Taylor County responded, and later became part of the 31st Virginia Infantry and the 25th Virginia Infantry. Various companies of the 186th Regiment of Calhoun County became guerilla units or companies of Partisan Rangers in 1862 under the enactment of the Partisan Ranger Act. When the 141st militia of Jackson County was mustered at the courthouse and was told by their colonel that he was recruiting for the Union two-thirds of the men refused the call. The militia in the southern and Valley counties mostly responded to the governor's call. During Brig. Gen. Henry A. Wise's Kanawha campaign of late 1861 a brigade of militia under the command of Brig. Generals Alfred Beckley and Augustus A. Chapman was reported at a strength of 2,000 men.
caption: The Civil War era courthouse in Barbour County, West Virginia, where the first secession flag flew in West Virginia
exif: {"Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image DateTime": "2018:08:29 03:02:10", "Image ExifOffset": "2142", "Image Padding": "[]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "0", "Thumbnail YResolution": "0", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "4316", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "18185", "EXIF ImageUniqueID": "F0AF36B28E1A4AD9BC1A9CB124D14E85", "EXIF Padding": "[]"}