1861-A Timeline
January
1st. The first secession flag to fly from a public building in Virginia is raised in Philippi at the courthouse.
7th. Gov. Letcher calls a special session of the General Assembly which, on Jan. 14th, passes a bill to call a state convention.
24th. The last slave arrested under the Fugitive Slave Act, Sara Lucy Bagby, is returned to her owners, John and William Goshorn of Wheeling. John Goshorn is later arrested after the invasion of western Virginia.
February
4th Election of county delegates to Richmond Convention. 49 delegates are elected to represent the counties which would become West Virginia.
13th. First meeting of the Richmond Convention.
March
April
17th. Of the 49 delegates from north-western Virginia at the Richmond convention, 13 vote for the Ordinance of Secession, 32 vote against it, and 4 abstain. However, 16 of the negative votes and abstentions eventually sign the Ordinance, meaning that 29 western delegates support the Ordinance and 20 are against.
20th. The new state flag is raised above the Planters Hotel in Guyandotte, the only town on the Ohio River to vote for secession. Shots are fired from the Ohio side and strike the hotel.
26th. "To the Southern Rights Men of Harrison County". A secessionist convention is held at the Clarksburg Court House, the Chairman is former Governor Joseph Johnson.
29th. Gen. Lee appoints Maj. A. Loring to muster volunteer companies into state service at Wheeling. Recruits are few, though one company, Shriver's Grays, becomes part of the Stonewall Brigade.
29th. Monroe County levies 10,000 to raise militia for the defense of Virginia.
Hampshire County levies $10,000 to raise militia for the defense of Virginia.
May
4th. Gen. George B. McClellan dispatches his aide, Orlando Poe, on a fact finding tour of the borders of eastern Kentucky and west Virginia. He reports to McClellan that while the inhabitants of eastern Kentucky are eminently loyal, "the Western Virginians from the Kentucky line to Parkersburg are rotten, but loyal above the latter point."
13th. The First Wheeling Convention of Unionists meet with 420 men claiming to represent 24 counties but were mostly from the northern panhandle area. Most in attendance consider it a mass meeting. It ends on the 15th and agrees to elect members on the 4th of June for a new Convention if the Ordinance of Secession is passed by public vote.
13th. Fayette County levies $5000 to raise militia for the defense of Virginia.
14th. Col. George A. Porterfield arrives at Grafton to organize companies in the defense of Virginia. He finds his recruits scattered at various locations, and few arms or equipment available. 200 recruits are later dismissed for lack of supplies.
23rd. Public vote on the Ordinance of Secession, the 50 counties of the future West Virginia voted approximately 34,677 to 19,121 against the Ordinance. 24 Counties, approximately two-thirds the territory of the state, vote in favor of the Ordinance. In the 32 counties below the B&O Railroad lines there is a combined vote majority for secession.
27th. Ohio and Indiana State Militia invade western Virginia, landing at Parkersburg and Wheeling. Among the Indiana soldiers is the future author Ambrose Bierce, who would later write of his experiences in western Virginia.
29th. Captain Albert Gallatin Jenkins of Cabell County, with his command of Border Rangers from Cabell, Wayne, Fayette and Kanawha Counties, are sworn into the service of the Confederacy at Camp Tompkins in Kanawha County.
In Tucker County, Abraham Bonnifield raises the new State flag over the St. George courthouse. Born without legs, he joins the Confederate cavalry under Gen. John Imboden.
June
Jackson County levies $3000 to raise militia for the defense of Virginia.
Gilmer County levies $3000 to raise militia for the defense of Virginia.
Pocahontas County levies $15,000 to raise militia for the defense of Virginia.
1st. Raleigh County levies $3000 to raise militia for the defence of Virginia
3rd. Battle of Philippi, considered the first land battle of the war, results in a resounding Confederate defeat. Col. George A. Porterfield, with a regiment of only 775 men, was surprised by Union troops numbering nearly 4,000. The first shot of the battle was fired by Mrs. Humphreys at a Union soldier.
11th. The Second Wheeling Convention of Unionists meet supposedly representing 32 northwestern counties, though unelected by any public poll. On the 19th they declare all public offices of Virginia vacant and elect new officials. Francis H. Pierpont is selected as Governor, and Daniel Polsley as Lt. Governor.
14th. Henry A. Wise, former governor of Virginia and recently appointed Brigadier General, reaches Lewisburg on his way to the Kanawha Valley to raise troops and prevent Union occupation.
30th. Ohio troops in Weston seize Virginia state funds from the Weston Bank intended for the construction of a lunatic asylum, which is then used to support the Wheeling government.
Col. (formerly Judge) William L. Jackson of Parkersburg organizes the first Confederate regiment in northwestern Virginia, the 31st Virginia Infantry. A few days later, Col. Jonathan M. Heck of Monongalia County organizes the second, the 25th Virginia Infantry.
July
4th. Belle Boyd shoots and kills a Union soldier who invades her home in Martinsburg. She is acquitted of all charges.
8th. Gen. Wise reaches Charleston. He collects about 2600 volunteers from the Kanawha Valley. Later about 1400 men from eastern Virginia arrive and the combined force becomes known as "Wise's Legion".
11th. Battle of Rich Mountain. Gen. Rosencrans' forces outflank defending troops under the command of Lt. Col. John Pegram. Local resident David Hart is paid $100 in gold to lead Union forces behind Confederate lines. Pegram surrenders with around 500 of his men. Gen. Garnett retreats from Laurel Hill, and a few days later he is killed at Corrick's Ford. David Hart is forced to flee to Indiana with his gold when local residents learn of his actions.
August
3rd. The Wellsburg 'Herald' complains about low Union enlistment. "...after all the drumming and all the gas about a separate state she has actually organized in the field four not entire regiments of soldiers..." The majority of those soldiers were from Pennsylvania and Ohio. By this time more west Virginians are enlisted in Confederate or State service than in the Federal army.
20th. The Second Wheeling Convention of Unionists adjourns after passing an ordinance for dismemberment of Virginia by a vote of 50-28. A public referendum to be held on Oct. 24.
25th. Federal soldiers assault the Wayne County Courthouse at Trout Hill, which was defended by Hursten Spurlock, Jesse Spurlock, Mr. Adkins, Clerk of the Court, and Methodist preacher Rev. Johnson, and 9 other men, all were taken prisoner. Four Wayne citizens are killed. Burwell Spurlock, a member of the Richmond Secession Convention, was reported as taken prisoner. In November he will go to Richmond to sign the Ordinance of Secession.
26th. Cross Lanes
30th. The Pierpoint Guards arrest six men in the house of Dr. Alfred Hughes in Wheeling, suspected of preparing to
leave the city to join the Confederate army.
Brigadier Generals of Virginia Militia, Alfred Beckley of Raleigh County, and Augustus A. Chapman of Monroe County, commanding a combined force of 2000 militiamen, join forces with Wise's Legion.
September
10th. Carnifex Ferry
21st. In Grafton, Zach Cochran, the sheriff of Taylor County, is shot to death by a squad of soldiers under the command of Lt.-Col. Kelley.
October
23rd. Gauley Bridge
16th. In Roane County, Nancy Hart's brother-in-law William Price is murdered by Union soldiers. She begins her career as a guerrilla, joining Perry Connolly's Moccasin Rangers.
November
26th. The Constitutional Convention meets in Wheeling with 61 members, one-quarter of which are not native Virginians.
December
6th. Results from the Oct. 24 elections are read into the records of the Constitutional Convention. While the results are almost unanimous in favor of a new state, the turnout was very poor. In Wheeling's home county the turnout was 30%.
10th. Reviewing the Oct. 24 vote at the Constitutional Convention in Wheeling, delegate Chapman J. Stuart says that the vote shows that West Virginians never came out in favor of a new state.