Category Archives: Confederate

Virginia Ordinance of Secession

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Virginia Secedes From The Union

April 17, 1861

Secession fever hit the South after Abraham Lincoln was elected president. The South considered Lincoln’s Republican party victory in the 1860 presidential election as a sign that the North was now going to end the “peculiar institution” of slavery. For the South, the time of talk and compromise had ended. In December, 1860 South Carolina became the first state to secede from the Union. Secession of the rest of the states that would make up the Confederate States of America occurred in two waves.

The Confederacy -1864

The Confederacy -1864

By the first week in February, 1861 six more states joined South Carolina in secession. The first wave of states to secede from the Union were all states of the Lower South. These states included: Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina.

The second wave of states to secede from the Union consisted of states from the Upper South. These states were: Arkansas, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Virginia.

The Confederate States of America was made up of eleven states.

 

Order and Dates Of Secession of the Confederate States:

The First Wave – The Lower South

  • 1. South Carolina – December 20, 1860
  • 2. Mississippi – January 9, 1861
  • 3. Florida – January 10, 1861
  • 4. Alabama – January 11, 1861
  • 5. Georgia – January 19, 1861
  • 6. Louisiana – January 26, 1861
  • 7. Texas – February 1, 1861

The Second Wave – The Upper South

  • 8. Virginia – April 17, 1861
  • 9. Arkansas – May 6, 1861
  • 10. North Carolina – May 20, 1861
  • 11. Tennessee – June 8, 1861

Virginia was a very important state of the Confederacy. The capital of the Confederacy was first in Montgomery, Alabama, but Richmond, Virginia soon became the Confederate capital. Virginia had 40 percent of the Rebel manufacturing capacity and the Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond would produce most of the Confederate artillery during the Civil War. As part of the Upper South, Virginia was a resource of vital agricultural and industrial assets needed to supply the Confederate war effort.

Many of the South’s military leaders were of Virginia, such as: Robert E. Lee, Thomas J. Jackson, J.E.B. Stuart, Joseph E. Johnston, A. P. Hill, Richard S. Ewell, and others. The Virginia Military Institute (VMI) in Lexington provided many Rebel leaders of the Civil War. Along with North Carolina, and Tennessee, Virginia supplied most of the Confederacy’s soldiers. Richmond, Virginia is only 96 miles away from Washington D.C., and it was very important for the Confederacy to defend, and keep Richmond safe. Virginia was a hotspot of action during the Civil War. The First Battle of Manassas (First Battle of Bull Run was the name used for this same battle by the North) was the first major land battle of the Civil War, it was fought July 21, 1861, near Manassas, Virginia. General Robert E. Lee would surrender the Army of Northern Virginia to General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia on April 9, 1865.

The Winchester, Virginia area is rich in both Civil War and colonial history. Winchester is located in the north-western part of Virginia in Frederick County. This area is part of the Shenandoah Valley, and Winchester was an important transportation and commercial center. During the Civil War, from early 1862 to late 1864, Winchester changed hands between North and South no less than 70 times. Six major Civil War battles were fought in the Frederick County, Virginia area. These six major battles include the First, Second, and Third Battles of Winchester, the First and Second Battles of Kernstown, and Cedar Creek.

The Shenandoah Valley of Virginia was a place of much action during the Civil War. A curiosity of the geography of the Shenandoah Valley is that as you go down the valley from north to south, you actually go up in elevation. So, as you go “down” the valley, you actually go “up.” The Shenandoah Valley was an important route of invasion into the North for the Confederates, and was a source of much needed provisions. It was important for the North to prevent the South from using the Shenandoah Valley.

When Virginia seceded, it took over the United States armory located at Harpers Ferry, Virginia and the Gosport Naval Yard in Norfolk. The Gosport Naval Yard was the largest facility of shipbuilding and repair in the Confederate States of America.

The Virginia Ordinance of Secession

AN ORDINANCE to repeal the ratification of the Constitution of the United State of America by the State of Virginia, and to resume all the rights and powers granted under said Constitution.

The people of Virginia in their ratification of the Constitution of the United States of America, adopted by them in convention on the twenty-fifth day of June, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-eight, having declared that the powers granted under said Constitution were derived from the people of the United States and might be resumed whensoever the same should be perverted to their injury and oppression, and the Federal Government having perverted said powers not only to the injury of the people of Virginia, but to the oppression of the Southern slave-holding States:

Now, therefore, we, the people of Virginia, do declare and ordain, That the ordinance adopted by the people of this State in convention on the twenty-fifth day of June, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-eight, whereby the Constitution of the United States of America was ratified, and all acts of the General Assembly of this State ratifying and adopting amendments to said Constitution, are hereby repealed and abrogated; that the union between the State of Virginia and the other States under the Constitution aforesaid is hereby dissolved, and that the State of Virginia is in the full possession and exercise of all the rights of sovereignty which belong and appertain to a free and independent State.

And they do further declare, That said Constitution of the United States of America is no longer binding on any of the citizens of this State.

This ordinance shall take effect and be an act of this day, when ratified by a majority of the voter of the people of this State cast at a poll to be taken thereon on the fourth Thursday in May next, in pursuance of a schedule hereafter to be enacted.

[Adopted by the convention of Virginia April 17,1861.]

[Ratified by a vote of 132,201 to 37,451 on May 23, 1861.]

Up, men, and to your posts! Don’t forget today that you are from Old Virginia!

— General George E. Pickett, to his men just before Pickett’s Charge at the Battle of Gettysburg on July 3, 1863. Many of these men never returned to “Old Virginia.”

Civil War Mules

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Mules Are Sturdy, Hardy, And Durable Animals

A fine example of mule-flesh.

A fine example of mule-flesh.

Mules in the Civil War provided a lot of brute muscle to get the tough, backbreaking work done for both the North and the South. Their specialty was pulling wagons. It’s worth noting that a mule is a cross between a male donkey and a female horse. Mules are sterile and cannot reproduce, although there are exceptions. A hinny is the result of crossing a male horse with a female donkey. Mules are easier to produce.

In the 1800s United States, mules were very commonly used on the many farms of the country’s agricultural based society. Mules are sturdy, hearty, and durable, they can perform hard work under severe conditions that might injure or kill a horse. They can survive on the poorest of food. Before America become mechanized, the mule was a much needed draft animal.

At the start of the Civil War it is estimated there were more than a million mules in the country, and most of them were found in the South. The states producing the most mules were Kentucky, Missouri, and Tennessee. Kentucky in particular, was known for having the best quality and largest size of mules.

During the Civil War, mules would often be used to pull wagons full of supplies, forage, or ammunition. Mules would be worked in teams of six and hitched to a wagon in tandem. The mule driver would ride on the back of the mule nearest to the wagon and on the right side. The mule driver kept his authority over the mules, no small task as mules are often very uncooperative, with a whip called a “black snake.” The black snake would be cracked near or on the ears of a mule to gain its attention and cooperation.

The mule driver was often an expert at using oaths and streams of profanity to communicate his desires to his mules. A good mule driver was very valuable, as he would know all the tricks needed to get his mules to obey. Mule drivers had to be as tough as their mules. Mules were also used as pack animals, beasts of burden, and would carry regimental baggage, rations, and boxes of small arms ammunition with specially designed pack saddles strapped on their backs.

Mules Are Not Like Horses

Mules are not as workable and as cooperative as horses (As an aside, your BlogMaster has dealt with some very mean and nasty horses in his day, and finds it very scary to think that a mule could be worse than a bad horse!) and are known for having their own mind. Mules have the astonishing ability to kick very forcefully, accurately, and effectively. Mules were very nervous and skittish under the fire of a battlefield and could not be used for cavalry, artillery, or ambulance corps work. Mules could not be trusted with this work. Horses were used for these duties in the Civil War because they were more cooperative and easier to work with than mules.

Pulling supply wagons and working as a pack animal, is what mules were best at. Mules were used to get ammunition as close to the front lines of a battle as possible, but there was a limit as to how close, because they could not be trusted. It was just too dangerous to get mules too close to battle. Under battle fire, mules would probably become uncontrollable, would panic, and might even bolt towards enemy lines!

John D. Billings served in the Army of the Potomac. In his 1888 book Hard Tack and Coffee, he has a chapter devoted to the army mule. Billings’ words best describe what Civil War mules, and working with them, was like. Below are some chosen informative and entertaining excerpts about mules from Hard Tack and Coffee by John D. Billings:

Advantages of Mules

“Aside from this nervousness under fire, mules have a great advantage over horses in being better able to stand hard usage, bad feed, or no feed, and neglect generally. They can travel over rough ground unharmed where horses would be lamed or injured in some way. They will eat brush, and not be very hungry to do it, either. When forage was short, the drivers were wont to cut branches and throw before them for their refreshment. One m.d. (mule driver) tells of having his army overcoat partly eaten by one of his team — actually chewed and swallowed. The operation made the driver blue, if the diet did not thus affect the mule.”

Six-Mule Team

“In organizing a six-mule team, a large pair of heavy animals were selected for the pole, a smaller size for the swing, and a still smaller pair for leaders. There were advantages in this arrangement; in the first place, in going through a miry spot the small leaders soon place themselves, by their quick movements, on firm footing, where they can take hold and pull the pole mules out of the wallow. Again, with a good heavy steady pair of wheel mules, the driver can restrain the smaller ones that are more apt to be frisky and reckless at times, and, assisted by the brake, hold back his loaded wagon in descending a hill. Then, there was more elasticity in such a team when well trained, and a good driver could handle them more gracefully and dexterously than he could the same number of horses.”

Mule Driver and Mule Driving

“It was really wonderful to see some of the experts drive these teams. The driver rides near the pole mule, holding in his left hand a single rein. This connects with the bits of the near lead mule. By pulling this rein, of course the brutes would go to the left. To direct them to the right one or more short jerks of it were given, accompanied by a sort of gibberish which the mule drivers acquired in the business. The bits of the lead mules being connected by an iron bar, whatever movement was made by the near one directed the movements of the off one. The pole mules were controlled by short reins which hung over their necks. The driver carried in his right hand his black snake, that is, his black leather whip, which was used with much effect on occasion.”

The Black Snake

“[…] I have referred to the Black Snake. It was the badge of authority with which the mule-driver enforced his orders. It was the panacea for all the ills to which mule-flesh was heir. It was a common sight to see a six-mule team, when left to itself, get into an entanglement, seemingly inextricably mixed, unless it was unharnessed; but the appearance of the driver with his black wand would change the scene as if by magic. As the heel-cord of Achilles was his only vulnerable part, so the ears of the mule seemed to be the development through which his reasoning faculties could be the most quickly and surely reached, and one or two cracks of the whip on or near these little monuments, accompanied by the driver’s very expressive ejaculation in the mule tongue, which I can only describe as a kind of cross between an unearthly screech and a groan, had the effect to disentangle them unaided, and make them stand as if at a “present” to their master. When off duty in camp, they were usually hitched to the pole of their wagon, three on either side, and here, between meals, they were often as antic as kittens or puppies at play, leaping from one side of the pole to the other, lying down, tumbling over, and biting each other, until perhaps all six would be an apparently confused heap of mule. If the driver appeared at such a crisis with his black “ear-trumpet,” one second was long enough to dissolve the pile into its original mule atoms, and arrange them again on either side of the pole, looking as orderly and innocent as if on inspection.”

Unexpected, Instantaneous Mule Kicks

“I have stated that the mule was uncertain; I mean as to his intentions. He cannot be trusted even when appearing honest and affectionate. His reputation as a kicker is worldwide. He was the Mugwump of the service. The mule that will not kick is a curiosity. A veteran relates how, after the battle of Antietam, he saw a colored mule-driver approach his mules that were standing unhitched from the wagons, when, presto! one of them knocked him to the ground in a twinkling with one of those unexpected instantaneous kicks, for which the mule is peerless. Slowly picking himself up, the negro walked deliberately to his wagon, took out a long stake the size of his arm, returned with the same moderate pace to his muleship, dealt him a stunning blow on the head with the stake, which felled him to the ground. The stake was returned with the same deliberation. The mule lay quiet for a moment, then arose, shook his head, a truce was declared, and driver and mule were at peace and understood each other.”

All of the above quoted mule excerpts are from Hard Tack and Coffee by John D. Billings.

Twenty Mule Team pulling 100 year old wagons.


 

Jeff Davis rode a dapple gray,
Lincoln rode a mule,
Jeff Davis is a gentleman,
And Lincoln is a fool.
— A verse from a Confederate song.

“If you don’t have my army supplied, and keep it supplied, we’ll eat your mules up, sir.”
— William Tecumseh Sherman’s warning to an army quartermaster before the departure of Sherman’s army from Chattanooga toward Atlanta.

Learn Civil War History Podcast: Mules In The Civil War

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