A letter from the President of the VHS
The Civil War was a turning point in American history, indeed, in world history. On its outcome hinged the perpetuation
of the nation, the maintenance of majority rule, and the success
of the ongoing American experiment in liberty and equality. The war originated in the issue of
slavery, and because of the war, slavery was extinguished, setting in motion profound social,
political, and economic changes that affect us even today. The cost of the war was horrific.
More than 600,000 Americans lost their lives in the conflict. Were we to erect an equivalent to
the Vietnam Memorial Wall for those who died from 1861 to 1865, it would stand sixty-seven
times higher than the monument honoring those who fell from 1964 to 1973.
Of all states, none was as profoundly affected by the war as Virginia. Described by many
people as the "Mother State of the Nation," the Old Dominion had played a leading role in the
birth and infancy of the American republic. Then in 1861, Virginia was caught in the middle of
approaching conflict between the North and South. As the states of the Deep South seceded and
formed the Confederate States of America, Virginia sympathized with them, but its attachment
to the Union was strong.
After Confederate forces fired on Fort Sumter and President Abraham Lincoln called for
volunteers to put down the southern insurrection, however, Virginia finally joined the
Confederacy. As a result, nowhere in the nation was the full fury of the Civil War felt as it was
in the Old Dominion. Its geography, its wealth, and its role as the capital of the Confederacy
doomed it to the fate it suffered. For four years, Virginia was the main target of the Union war
effort. Its farms and communities, its fathers and sons, and its women and children suffered a
terrible toll of death and devastation. More battles and skirmishes were fought on Virginia soil
than any other state. As Civil War historian James I. Robertson, Jr., has noted, "the Confederacy
experienced defeat [only] after Virginia experienced destruction."
The generation that experienced the war firsthand and those that followed have realized
its great historical significance. For more than a century, the Virginia Historical Society has
made a concerted effort to collect materials related to our country's greatest conflict. As a result,
the Society has under its roof one of the largest and richest collections of Civil War material to
be found anywhere. Its collection of Confederate weaponry and accoutrements is unsurpassed.
Its graphic materials, including photographs, prints, maps, drawings, paintings, and portraits, are
unusually strong. It has a large and fine holding of printed materials, including an exceptional
collection of Confederate imprints. But the centerpiece of the Society's Civil War collection is
its manuscripts. This collection is a gold mine of information for anyone conducting research in
almost any aspect of Civil War history. It is very strong in military history, from key documents
of Lee and his lieutenants to the letters of lowly privates in the ranks. Just as rich, however, is
the large body of material that tells the story of life behind the lines and on the home front.
Thousands of letters describe the unraveling of the institution of slavery, the destruction of
property, the shortage of staples, the terror of enemy foraging parties, and the numbing sadness
of the death of loved ones.
The Society's Civil War collections have attracted large numbers of scholars for decades.
Although these researchers have been aware of the significance of these holdings, our staff realized
that the publication of a collections guide would provide enhanced descriptions based on the most recent
scholarship of the period. I have no doubt that this guide will stimulate
additional research and provide fresh perspectives on the Civil War experience in Virginia.
This important project would not have been possible without the help of many people.
First and foremost, I want to acknowledge the generous financial support of the Roller-Bottimore Foundation. Mrs. Elizabeth Roller Bottimore was a dedicated supporter of the
Society during her lifetime, and the foundation set up after her death has continued the tradition
of her beneficence. We are most grateful to the foundation for making this project possible.
Charles F. Bryan, Jr.
President and CEO
President's letter |
How to use this guide |
Buy the guide |