Spirit of ’61 Roundup for October 2026

Welcome to the monthly recap of blog posts for Spirit of ’61, a digital encyclopedia of early Civil War Virginia. We explore the first half of 1861, from Secession Winter to just before Bull Run. Before the first large battles were fought, Virginia was already living through a political, military, and social crisis that would shape the course of the war. Spirit of ’61 exists to document that story.

This month marked the conclusion of a multi-year effort to update all of our battle pages with fresh sources, important context, and more detailed and corrected information. This culminated in the release of Version 1.7 of our Battlelog, a downloadable compendium of narratives for all military actions in Virginia and West Virginia, May – July 1861, meticulously indexed with a comprehensive bibliography, free for the public to download.

In October, we released a new version of our map of military activity around the Chesapeake in the summer of 1861, and explored how and when former Virginia governor Henry A. Wise was commissioned a brigadier general and formed the Wise Legion. We also examined Virginia’s secession through the eyes of Francis H. Pierpont, Unionist governor of the Restored Government of Virginia. And more!

Remember, we are always looking for contributions from the public, so if you have written an article pertaining to our specific area of study, or are considering it, please contact us via the form on our site. Both military and civilian subjects are welcome.

Revised Map of the Chesapeake Front

Thanks to the National Historical Geographic Information System (NHGIS) and U.S. Census Bureau TIGER/Line files, I was able to obtain a shape file of Virginia with historical county boundary lines. I did have to do some editing, particularly around Sewell’s Point, where the shoreline has changed considerably since 1861. Overall, I think this is a marked improvement over the previous version.

Pierpont’s Case Against Secession

In July 1861, Francis H. Pierpont defended the unionist government at Wheeling as Virginia’s lawful authority and denounced secession as a conspiracy that sacrificed the state to Confederate interests. His extraordinary-session address reveals how loyal Virginians made a constitutional, economic, and political case for restoring Virginia to the Union.

Class of ’61: Civil War History Lost in a Tangled Drama

As secession divides West Point’s cadets, Class of ’61 follows fractured friendships from the academy to the battlefield at Bull Run. But how well does its sprawling fictional drama capture the historical upheaval of the Civil War’s opening months?

When and How Did Henry A. Wise Enter the Fight?

Though seldom remembered today, former Virginia governor Henry A. Wise played a key role in aligning Virginia with the Confederacy. He served as a Confederate general throughout the war, lost his eldest son, and surrendered with Lee at Appomattox Court House. In the summer of 1861, he organized the “Wise Legion,” an unusual combined-arms force that operated in western Virginia. Sources are often vague, however, about how Wise obtained his commission and the authority to raise this unit.

Letter from Henry A. Wise to Thomas P. McCandlish, May 26, 1861

Out of context, historians have cited this letter from Henry A. Wise to Thomas P. McCandlish, a professor at the College of William and Mary, as proof that Jefferson Davis authorized what became known as the Wise Legion as early as May, when, in fact, it wasn’t until early June that Wise received his commission and permission to raise his brigade.