Virginia Vignettes

Richmond, Virginia, was the capital of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War (1861–1865). It also served as the capital of Virginia, although when the city was about to fall to Union armies in April 1865, the governor and General Assembly moved their offices to Lynchburg for five days. Besides being the political home of the Confederacy, Richmond was a center of rail and industry, military hospitals, and prisoner-of-war camps and prisons, including Belle Isle and Libby Prison. It boasted a diversified economy that included grain milling and iron manufacturing, with the keystone of the local economy being the massive Tredegar Iron Works. From the start of war, Confederate citizens flocked to the capital seeking safety and jobs, leading to periodic civil unrest, manifested most notably in the Bread Riot of April 1863. Because of its economic and political importance as well as its location near the United States capital, Richmond became the focus for most of the military campaigns in the war’s Eastern Theater. In a sense, its success—especially in mobilizing, outfitting, and feeding the Confederate armies—predestined it to near-destruction in 1865. Images of the city’s ruins have become iconic representations of the cost of war.

Further Reading

• DeLeon, Thomas Cooper. Four Years in Rebel Capitals: An Inside View of Life in the Southern Confederacy from Birth to Death, From Original Notes, Collated in the Years from 1861 to 1865. Reprint ed., Spartanburg, SC: The Reprint Co., 1975.
• Kimball, Gregg D. American City, Southern Place: A Cultural History of Antebellum Richmond. University of Georgia Press, 2003.
• Lankford, Nelson. Richmond Burning: The Last Days of the Confederate Capital. New York: Viking Press, 2002.

This Vignette Provided By

This Vignette is drawn from an Encyclopedia Virginia entry by Mary A. DeCredico, a professor of history at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland