1.
Tennessee
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Tennessee is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th largest and the 17th most populous of the 50 United States, Tennessee is bordered by Kentucky and Virginia to the north, North Carolina to the east, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi to the south, and Arkansas and Missouri to the west. The Appalachian Mountains dominate the eastern part of the state, Tennessees capital and second largest city is Nashville, which has a population of 654,610. Memphis is the states largest city, with a population of 655,770, the state of Tennessee is rooted in the Watauga Association, a 1772 frontier pact generally regarded as the first constitutional government west of the Appalachians. What is now Tennessee was initially part of North Carolina, Tennessee was admitted to the Union as the 16th state on June 1,1796. Tennessee was the last state to leave the Union and join the Confederacy at the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, occupied by Union forces from 1862, it was the first state to be readmitted to the Union at the end of the war. Tennessee furnished more soldiers for the Confederate Army than any other state besides Virginia and this sharply reduced competition in politics in the state until after passage of civil rights legislation in the mid-20th century. This city was established to house the Manhattan Projects uranium enrichment facilities, helping to build the worlds first atomic bomb, Tennessees major industries include agriculture, manufacturing, and tourism. Poultry, soybeans, and cattle are the primary agricultural products, and major manufacturing exports include chemicals, transportation equipment. In the early 18th century, British traders encountered a Cherokee town named Tanasi in present-day Monroe County, the town was located on a river of the same name, and appears on maps as early as 1725. The meaning and origin of the word are uncertain, some accounts suggest it is a Cherokee modification of an earlier Yuchi word. It has been said to mean meeting place, winding river, according to ethnographer James Mooney, the name can not be analyzed and its meaning is lost. The modern spelling, Tennessee, is attributed to James Glen, the governor of South Carolina, the spelling was popularized by the publication of Henry Timberlakes Draught of the Cherokee Country in 1765. In 1788, North Carolina created Tennessee County, the county to be established in what is now Middle Tennessee. When a constitutional convention met in 1796 to organize a new out of the Southwest Territory. Other sources differ on the origin of the nickname, according to the Columbia Encyclopedia. Tennessee ties Missouri as the state bordering the most other states, the state is trisected by the Tennessee River. The highest point in the state is Clingmans Dome at 6,643 feet, Clingmans Dome, which lies on Tennessees eastern border, is the highest point on the Appalachian Trail, and is the third highest peak in the United States east of the Mississippi River
2.
White County, Tennessee
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White County is a county located in the U. S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2010 census, the population was 25,841, on September 11,1806, an act of the Tennessee General Assembly created White County out of Smith and Jackson counties, responding to a petition signed by 155 residents of the area. The countys original geographic area included all of what are now White and Warren counties, as well as parts of modern Cannon, Coffee, DeKalb, Franklin, Grundy, Putnam, the origin of the countys name is disputed. The county is held to be named for John White, a Revolutionary War soldier, surveyor. White had moved his family to the Cumberland Mountains from Virginia in 1789, however, some historians suggest the county was named for Revolutionary War soldier James White, the founder of Knoxville. A temporary county seat was established near Rock Island, now in Warren County, three years later a permanent county seat was established on the banks of the Calfkiller River and named Sparta. In 1840, White County became a destination for people all over the country when Christopher Haufmann erected a large hotel on Bon Air Mountain. The hotel was near some mineral springs as well as being at a high altitude, White County was the site of a very large saltpeter mining operation during the Civil War. The Cave Hill Saltpeter Pits, located on Cave Hill near the mouth of England Cove, were intensively mined, Saltpeter is the main ingredient of gunpowder and was obtained by leaching the earth from these caves. The Civil War deeply affected White County, although no battles were fought in the area. As it was on the border between the largely pro-Union East Tennessee and pro-Confederate Middle Tennessee, the county was the scene of bloodshed from partisans of both sides. One famous Confederate guerrilla operating in the area was Champ Ferguson, Ferguson was tried by a military court, convicted and executed by hanging, one of only two Confederates executed for war crimes. He is buried in France Cemetery near Sparta, over the subsequent decades, White County slowly rebuilt from the ashes of war. The county was connected to the world by railroad, mainly because of the booming coal mining industries being started on Bon Air Mountain. The mountain was rich in coal, and enterprising local businessmen were quick to realize the profit potential that represented. Several mining towns sprang up on the part of the county, including Bon Air, Eastland. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of 379 square miles. The eastern part of the county lies atop the Cumberland Plateau, while the portion is situated on the Highland Rim
3.
Confederate States of America
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The Confederate States, officially the Confederate States of America, commonly referred to as the Confederacy, was a breakaway country of 11 secessionist slave states existing from 1861 to 1865. It was never recognized as an Independent country, although it achieved belligerent status by Britain. A new Confederate government was established in February 1861 before Lincoln took office in March, after the Civil War began in April, four slave states of the Upper South – Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina – also declared their secession and joined the Confederacy. The government of the United States rejected the claims of secession, the Civil War began with the April 12,1861, Confederate attack upon Fort Sumter, a Union fort in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina. In spring 1865, after four years of fighting which led to an estimated 620,000 military deaths, all the Confederate forces surrendered. Jefferson Davis later lamented that the Confederacy had disappeared in 1865, Missouri and Kentucky were represented by partisan factions from those states, while the legitimate governments of those two states retained formal adherence to the Union. Also fighting for the Confederacy were two of the Five Civilized Tribes located in Indian Territory and a new, but uncontrolled, Confederate Territory of Arizona. Efforts by certain factions in Maryland to secede were halted by federal imposition of law, while Delaware, though of divided loyalty. A Unionist government in parts of Virginia organized the new state of West Virginia. With the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1,1863, the Union made abolition of slavery a war goal, as Union forces moved southward, large numbers of plantation slaves were freed. Many joined the Union lines, enrolling in service as soldiers, teamsters and laborers, the most notable advance was Shermans March to the Sea in late 1864. Much of the Confederacys infrastructure was destroyed, including telegraphs, railroads, plantations in the path of Shermans forces were severely damaged. Internal movement became increasingly difficult for Southerners, weakening the economy and these losses created an insurmountable disadvantage in men, materiel, and finance. Public support for Confederate President Jefferson Daviss administration eroded over time due to repeated military reverses, economic hardships, after four years of campaigning, Richmond was captured by Union forces in April 1865. Shortly afterward, Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant, President Davis was captured on May 10,1865, and jailed in preparation for a treason trial that was ultimately never held. The U. S. government began a process known as Reconstruction which attempted to resolve the political and constitutional issues of the Civil War. By 1877, the Compromise of 1877 ended Reconstruction in the former Confederate states, Confederate veterans had been temporarily disenfranchised by Reconstruction policy. The prewar South had many areas, the war left the entire region economically devastated by military action, ruined infrastructure
4.
Guerrilla warfare in the American Civil War
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Guerrilla warfare in the American Civil War followed the same general patterns of irregular warfare conducted in 19th century Europe. Structurally, they can be divided three different types of operations—the so-called Peoples War, partisan warfare, and raiding warfare. Each has distinct characteristics that were common practice during the Civil War years, the concept of a Peoples war, first described by von Clausewitz in his classic treatise On War, was the closest example of a mass guerrilla movement in the era. In general during the Civil War, this type of warfare was conducted in the hinterland of the Border States. It was marked by a vicious neighbor-against-neighbor quality as other grudges got settled and it was frequent for residents of one part of a single county to take up arms against their counterparts in the rest of the vicinity. Bushwhacking, murder, assault, and terrorism were characteristics of this kind of fighting, few participants wore uniforms or were formally mustered into the actual armies. In many cases, it was civilian against civilian, or civilian against opposing enemy troops, one such example was the opposing irregular forces operating in Missouri and northern Arkansas from 1862 to 1865, most of which were pro-Confederate or pro-Union in name only. They preyed on civilians and isolated military forces of both sides with regard for politics. From these semi-organized guerrillas, several groups formed and were given some measure of legitimacy by their governments, quantrills Raiders, who terrorized pro-Union civilians and fought Federal troops in large areas of Missouri and Kansas, was one such unit. Another notorious unit, with ties to the Confederate military, was led by Champ Ferguson along the Kentucky-Tennessee border. Ferguson became one of the few figures of the Confederate cause to be executed after the war, Partisan warfare, in contrast, more closely resembled commando operations of the 20th century. Partisans were small units of conventional forces, controlled and organized by a force for operations behind enemy lines. John Singleton Mosby formed a unit that was very effective in tying down Federal forces behind Union lines in northern Virginia in the last two years of the war. Lastly, deep raids by conventional forces were often considered irregular in nature. The Partisan Brigades of Nathan Bedford Forrest and John Hunt Morgan operated as part of the forces of the Confederate Army of Tennessee in 1862 and 1863. They were given missions to destroy logistical hubs, railroad bridges. Morgan led raids into Kentucky as well, in his last raid, he violated orders by going across the Ohio River and raiding in Ohio and Indiana as well, as he wanted to bring the war to the northern states. This long raid diverted thousands of Union troops and he captured and paroled nearly 6,000 troops, destroyed bridges and fortifications, and ran off livestock
5.
American Civil War
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The American Civil War was an internal conflict fought in the United States from 1861 to 1865. The Union faced secessionists in eleven Southern states grouped together as the Confederate States of America, the Union won the war, which remains the bloodiest in U. S. history. Among the 34 U. S. states in February 1861, War broke out in April 1861 when Confederates attacked the U. S. fortress of Fort Sumter. The Confederacy grew to eleven states, it claimed two more states, the Indian Territory, and the southern portions of the western territories of Arizona. The Confederacy was never recognized by the United States government nor by any foreign country. The states that remained loyal, including border states where slavery was legal, were known as the Union or the North, the war ended with the surrender of all the Confederate armies and the dissolution of the Confederate government in the spring of 1865. The war had its origin in the issue of slavery. The Confederacy collapsed and 4 million slaves were freed, but before his inauguration, seven slave states with cotton-based economies formed the Confederacy. The first six to declare secession had the highest proportions of slaves in their populations, the first seven with state legislatures to resolve for secession included split majorities for unionists Douglas and Bell in Georgia with 51% and Louisiana with 55%. Alabama had voted 46% for those unionists, Mississippi with 40%, Florida with 38%, Texas with 25%, of these, only Texas held a referendum on secession. Eight remaining slave states continued to reject calls for secession, outgoing Democratic President James Buchanan and the incoming Republicans rejected secession as illegal. Lincolns March 4,1861 inaugural address declared that his administration would not initiate a civil war, speaking directly to the Southern States, he reaffirmed, I have no purpose, directly or indirectly to interfere with the institution of slavery in the United States where it exists. I believe I have no right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so. After Confederate forces seized numerous federal forts within territory claimed by the Confederacy, efforts at compromise failed, the Confederates assumed that European countries were so dependent on King Cotton that they would intervene, but none did, and none recognized the new Confederate States of America. Hostilities began on April 12,1861, when Confederate forces fired upon Fort Sumter, while in the Western Theater the Union made significant permanent gains, in the Eastern Theater, the battle was inconclusive in 1861–62. The autumn 1862 Confederate campaigns into Maryland and Kentucky failed, dissuading British intervention, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which made ending slavery a war goal. To the west, by summer 1862 the Union destroyed the Confederate river navy, then much of their western armies, the 1863 Union siege of Vicksburg split the Confederacy in two at the Mississippi River. In 1863, Robert E. Lees Confederate incursion north ended at the Battle of Gettysburg, Western successes led to Ulysses S. Grants command of all Union armies in 1864
6.
War crime
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A war crime is an act that constitutes a serious violation of the law of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility. The concept of war crimes emerged at the turn of the century when the body of customary international law applicable to warfare between sovereign states was codified. Moreover, trials in national courts during this period further helped clarify the law, following the end of World War II, major developments in the law occurred. Numerous trials of Axis war criminals established the Nuremberg principles, such as notion that war crimes constituted crimes defined by international law, additionally, the Geneva Conventions in 1949 defined new war crimes and established that states could exercise universal jurisdiction over such crimes. The trial of Peter von Hagenbach by an ad hoc tribunal of the Holy Roman Empire in 1474 was the first international war crimes trial, and also of command responsibility. He was convicted and beheaded for crimes that he as a knight was deemed to have a duty to prevent, although he had argued that he was only following orders. In 1654 a Major Connaught was tried at Chester Assizes and hanged for his part in the massacre of villagers in the church at the village of Boughton, twelve villagers were smoked out, stripped naked and had their throats cut. He was hanged at the scene of the crime having been convicted of striking a blow to the head of John Fowler with an axe. The Geneva Conventions are four related treaties adopted and continuously expanded from 1864 to 1949 that represent a legal basis, accordingly, states retain different codes and values with regard to wartime conduct. Some signatories have routinely violated the Geneva Conventions in a way which either uses the ambiguities of law or political maneuvering to sidestep the laws formalities and principles. Three conventions were revised and expanded with the one added in 1949, First Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded. Second Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of Wounded, Sick, third Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War. Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, Protocol II relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts. Protocol III relating to the Adoption of an Additional Distinctive Emblem, a small number of German military personnel of the First World War were tried in 1921 by the German Supreme Court for alleged war crimes. The modern concept of war crime was further developed under the auspices of the Nuremberg Trials based on the definition in the London Charter that was published on August 8,1945. Along with war crimes the charter also defined crimes against peace and crimes against humanity, on July 1,2002, the International Criminal Court, a treaty-based court located in The Hague, came into being for the prosecution of war crimes committed on or after that date. Several nations, most notably the United States, China, Russia, the United States still participates as an observer. Article 12 of the Rome Statute provides jurisdiction over the citizens of non-contracting states in the event that they are accused of committing crimes in the territory of one of the state parties
7.
Kentucky
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Kentucky, officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state located in the east south-central region of the United States. Kentucky is one of four U. S. states constituted as a commonwealth, originally a part of Virginia, in 1792 Kentucky became the 15th state to join the Union. Kentucky is the 37th most extensive and the 26th most populous of the 50 United States, Kentucky is known as the Bluegrass State, a nickname based on the bluegrass found in many of its pastures due to the fertile soil. One of the regions in Kentucky is the Bluegrass Region in central Kentucky. In 1776, the counties of Virginia beyond the Appalachian Mountains became known as Kentucky County, the precise etymology of the name is uncertain, but likely based on an Iroquoian name meaning the meadow or the prairie. Kentucky is situated in the Upland South, a significant portion of eastern Kentucky is part of Appalachia. Kentucky borders seven states, from the Midwest and the Southeast, West Virginia lies to the east, Virginia to the southeast, Tennessee to the south, Missouri to the west, Illinois and Indiana to the northwest, and Ohio to the north and northeast. Only Missouri and Tennessee, both of which border eight states, touch more, Kentuckys northern border is formed by the Ohio River and its western border by the Mississippi River. The official state borders are based on the courses of the rivers as they existed when Kentucky became a state in 1792, for instance, northbound travelers on U. S.41 from Henderson, after crossing the Ohio River, will be in Kentucky for about two miles. Ellis Park, a racetrack, is located in this small piece of Kentucky. Waterworks Road is part of the land border between Indiana and Kentucky. Kentucky has a part known as Kentucky Bend, at the far west corner of the state. It exists as an exclave surrounded completely by Missouri and Tennessee, Road access to this small part of Kentucky on the Mississippi River requires a trip through Tennessee. The epicenter of the powerful 1811–12 New Madrid earthquakes was near this area, much of the outer Bluegrass is in the Eden Shale Hills area, made up of short, steep, and very narrow hills. The Jackson Purchase and western Pennyrile are home to several bald cypress/tupelo swamps, located within the southeastern interior portion of North America, Kentucky has a climate that can best be described as a humid subtropical climate. Temperatures in Kentucky usually range from daytime summer highs of 87 °F to the low of 23 °F. The average precipitation is 46 inches a year, Kentucky experiences four distinct seasons, with substantial variations in the severity of summer and winter. The highest recorded temperature was 114 °F at Greensburg on July 28,1930 while the lowest recorded temperature was −37 °F at Shelbyville on January 19,1994, due to its location, Kentucky has a moderate humid subtropical climate, with abundant rainfall
8.
East Tennessee
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East Tennessee comprises approximately the eastern third of the U. S. state of Tennessee, one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee defined in state law. East Tennessee consists of 33 counties,30 located within the Eastern Time Zone, East Tennessee is entirely located within the Appalachian Mountains, although the landforms range from densely forested 6, 000-foot mountains to broad river valleys. The region contains the cities of Knoxville, Chattanooga and Johnson City, Tennessees third, fourth and ninth largest cities. East Tennessee is home to the nations most visited national park— the Great Smoky Mountains National Park—, Oak Ridge was the site of the worlds first successful uranium enrichment operations which paved the way for the atomic age. Unlike the geographic designations of regions of most U. S. states, East Tennessee, along with Middle Tennessee and West Tennessee, comprises one of the states three Grand Divisions. According to the Tennessee State Constitution, no more than two of the Tennessee Supreme Courts five justices can come from any one Grand Division, the Supreme Court rotates meeting in courthouses in each of the three divisions. The Supreme Court building for East Tennessee is in Knoxville, a similar rule applies to certain other commissions and boards as well, to prevent them from showing a geographic bias. The Blue Ridge section comprises the section of the Blue Ridge Province. The Ridge-and-Valley section, often called the Tennessee Valley or Great Valley, is the regions largest and most populous section and it consists of a series of alternating elongate ridges and broad river valleys roughly oriented northeast-to-southwest. Other notable rivers in the upper Tennessee watershed include the Clinch, Nolichucky, Watauga, Emory, Little Tennessee, Hiwassee, Sequatchie, notable ridges in the Ridge-and-Valley range include Clinch Mountain, Bays Mountain, and Powell Mountain. The Cumberland Plateau rises nearly 1,000 feet above the Tennessee Valley, the Tennessee Divide runs along the western part of the plateau, and separates the watersheds of the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers. Plateau counties mostly east of this divide— i. e. Cumberland, Morgan, three counties— Bledsoe, Sequatchie, and Marion— are located in the Sequatchie Valley, a long narrow valley in the southern part of the Cumberland Plateau. These three counties were part of East Tennessee. However, Sequatchie and Marion counties were reassigned to the Middle Tennessee grand division circa 1932, Marion County was later returned to East Tennessee, but Sequatchie County officially remains part of Middle Tennessee. One notable detached section of the Plateau is Lookout Mountain, which overlooks Chattanooga, the major cities of East Tennessee are Knoxville, Chattanooga, and the Tri-Cities of Bristol, Johnson City, and Kingsport located in the extreme northeasternmost part of the state. The Blue Ridge section of the state is more sparsely populated, its main cities being Elizabethton, Gatlinburg. Crossville and Jasper are prominent cities in the Plateau region, at the 2010 census it had 2,327,859 inhabitants living in its 33 counties, which have a combined land area of 13,558.27 square miles. Its population was 37. 25% of the total
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John Hunt Morgan
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John Hunt Morgan was a Confederate general in the American Civil War. In April 1862, he raised the 2nd Kentucky Cavalry Regiment, fought at Shiloh, and then launched a raid in Kentucky. He also attacked the supply-lines of General William S. Rosecrans, in July 1863, he set out on a 1000-mile raid into Indiana and Ohio, taking hundreds of prisoners. But after most of his men had been intercepted by Union gunboats, Morgan surrendered at Salineville, Ohio, the legendary Morgans Raid, which had been carried out against orders, gained no tactical advantage for the Confederacy, while the loss of his regiment proved a serious setback. Morgan escaped from his Union prison but his credibility was low and he was killed at Greeneville, Tennessee in September 1864. Morgan was the brother-in-law of Confederate general A. P. Hill, John Hunt Morgan was born in Huntsville, Alabama, the eldest of ten children of Calvin and Henrietta Morgan. He was also the brother-in-law of A. P. Hill and he was said to be a direct descendant of Revolutionary War general and hero Daniel Morgan. Whose own great grand-uncle was perhaps historys most successful privateer, Henry Morgan, Morgans home was built in Lexington, Kentucky was built in 1814. Currently a historic landmark, and guided tours are available upon request, Morgans family is also known for John Wesley Hunt who became a leading landowner and businessman in Kentucky and one of the wealthiest men in the western part of the country. His business empire included interest in banking, horse breeding, agriculture, among his business associates were Henry Clay and John Jacob Astor. Which contributed for much of the familys longterm wealth, Morgans paternal grandparents were Luther and Anna Morgan. Luther Morgan had settled in Huntsville, but a downturn in the economy forced him to mortgage his holdings. His father, Calvin Morgan, lost his Huntsville home in 1831 when he was unable to pay the property following the failure of his pharmacy. The family then moved to Lexington, where he would one of his father-in-laws sprawling farms. Morgan grew up on the farm outside of Lexington and attended Transylvania College for two years, but was suspended in 1844 for dueling with a fraternity brother, in 1846, Morgan joined the Fraternal Order of Freemasons, at Daviess Lodge #22, Lexington, Kentucky. Morgan desired a career, but the small size of the US military severely limited opportunities for officers commissions. In 1846 Morgan enlisted with his brother Calvin and uncle Alexander in the U. S. Army as a private during the Mexican-American War. He was elected lieutenant and was promoted to first lieutenant before arriving in Mexico
10.
Joseph Wheeler
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Joseph Fighting Joe Wheeler was an American military commander and politician. For much of the Civil War he served as the cavalry general in the Army of Tennessee. Between the Civil War and the Spanish–American War, Wheeler served multiple terms as a United States Representative from the state of Alabama as a Democrat. Although of New England ancestry, Joseph Wheeler was born near Augusta, Georgia and his parents were Joseph Wheeler and Julia Knox Hull Wheeler. He was the grandson of Brigadier General William Hull, a veteran of the American Revolution who was court-martialed for surrendering at Detroit early in the War of 1812. Despite his northern upbringing, he was appointed to the United States Military Academy at West Point from the state of Georgia and always considered himself a Georgian, Wheeler entered West Point in July 1854, barely meeting the height requirement at the time for entry. He graduated on July 1,1859, placing 19th out of 22 cadets and it was while stationed in New Mexico and fighting in a skirmish with Indians that Joseph Wheeler picked up the nickname Fighting Joe. On September 1,1860, he was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant and his resignation from the U. S. Army was accepted on April 22,1861. He was ordered to Huntsville, Alabama, to command of the newly formed 19th Alabama Infantry Regiment and was promoted to colonel on September 4. Wheeler and the 19th Alabama fought well under Bragg at the Battle of Shiloh in April 1862, during the Siege of Corinth in April and May, Wheelers men on picket duty clashed repeatedly with Union patrols. Serving as acting commander, Wheeler burned the bridges over the Tuscumbia River to cover the Confederate withdrawal to Tupelo. Wheeler transferred to the branch and commanded the 2nd Cavalry Brigade of the Left Wing in the Army of Mississippi from September to October. During the Kentucky Campaign, Wheeler aggressively maintained contact with the enemy, Wheeler fought at the Battle of Perryville in October and after the fight performed an excellent rearguard action protecting the armys withdrawal. He was promoted to general on October 30 and led the cavalry belonging to the Second Corps of the Army of Tennessee from November to December. During action at La Vergne, Tennessee, on November 27 and he drove into the rear of the Union army, destroying hundreds of wagons and capturing more than 700 prisoners. Bragg recommended that Wheeler be promoted as a just reward and he became a general on January 20,1863. Wheeler led the armys Cavalry Corps from January to November 24, for his actions on January 12–13,1863, Wheeler and his troopers received the Thanks of the Confederate Congress on May 1,1863. In February, Wheeler and Forrest attacked Fort Donelson at Dover, Tennessee, Forrest angrily told Wheeler Tell that I will be in my coffin before I will fight again under your command
11.
Wytheville, Virginia
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Wytheville is a town in, and the county seat of, Wythe County, Virginia, United States. It is named after George Wythe, a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence, wythevilles population was 8,211 at the 2010 census. Located at the intersection of Interstate Highways 77 and 81, the town has long been a crossroads for travelers, during the American Civil War, Wytheville had a strategic importance, and was attacked in 1863 and 1865. The town is also the birthplace of Edith Bolling Wilson, wife of President Woodrow Wilson, Wythe County was created in 1789 and named for George Wythe, the father of American Jurisprudence and signer of the Declaration of Independence. In May 1790, Chris Simmerman donated 90 acres, along with John Daviss 10 acres, to establish a town, Robert Adams completed a town survey in November of that year, dividing the area into half-acre lots. The town didnt have a name yet, but was generally known as Wythe Court House. Two years later, in October 1792, the town was officially named Evansham, after a disastrous fire in March 1839, the town was renamed Wytheville. At that time, it was home to about 500 residents, what started off as a few cases of infantile paralysis during the summer of 1950 swelled into the hundreds. Out of the 5,513 inhabitants of the town,184 people contracted the disease with 17 fatalities, from the beginning of June until the end of August, parents kept children inside and large gatherings were cancelled to diminish the chance of infection. As the epidemic progressed, ambulances drove victims approximately 80 miles trip to Memorial Crippled Children’s Hospital in Roanoke, hearses from local funeral homes were used when ambulances were unavailable. Black patients with polio were repeatedly denied admission to Roanoke’s hospital and were forced to make the approximately 300 miles trip drive to St. Philip’s Hospital in Richmond. The Town Council erected billboards at all five entrances to the county warning potential visitors of the epidemic, by the end of the summer, unknown assailants stole or demolished all five billboards. Though the Town Council offered a reward for information, no one came forward, Wytheville is located at 36°56′52″N 81°5′13″W. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has an area of 14.3 sq mi. Wytheville is an important point on both I-77 and I-81 and lies amidst a wrong-way concurrency of I-77 and I-81 and it is located about halfway between Bristol, Tennessee/Virginia and Roanoke. On the I-77 corridor, it is located halfway between Charleston, West Virginia and Charlotte, North Carolina. The nearby community of Fort Chiswell is the city for the northbound traffic on I-77 coming from Charlotte, Statesville, Elkin. In the near future, Interstate 74 will go through Wytheville in addition to the two other interstates
12.
Virginia
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Virginia is a state located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, as well as in the historic Southeast. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are shaped by the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Chesapeake Bay, the capital of the Commonwealth is Richmond, Virginia Beach is the most populous city, and Fairfax County is the most populous political subdivision. The Commonwealths estimated population as of 2014 is over 8.3 million, the areas history begins with several indigenous groups, including the Powhatan. In 1607 the London Company established the Colony of Virginia as the first permanent New World English colony, slave labor and the land acquired from displaced Native American tribes each played a significant role in the colonys early politics and plantation economy. Although the Commonwealth was under one-party rule for nearly a century following Reconstruction, the Virginia General Assembly is the oldest continuous law-making body in the New World. The state government was ranked most effective by the Pew Center on the States in both 2005 and 2008 and it is unique in how it treats cities and counties equally, manages local roads, and prohibits its governors from serving consecutive terms. Virginias economy changed from agricultural to industrial during the 1960s and 1970s. Virginia has an area of 42,774.2 square miles, including 3,180.13 square miles of water. Virginias boundary with Maryland and Washington, D. C. extends to the mark of the south shore of the Potomac River. The southern border is defined as the 36° 30′ parallel north, the border with Tennessee was not settled until 1893, when their dispute was brought to the U. S. Supreme Court. The Chesapeake Bay separates the portion of the Commonwealth from the two-county peninsula of Virginias Eastern Shore. The bay was formed from the river valleys of the Susquehanna River. Many of Virginias rivers flow into the Chesapeake Bay, including the Potomac, Rappahannock, York, and James, the Tidewater is a coastal plain between the Atlantic coast and the fall line. It includes the Eastern Shore and major estuaries of Chesapeake Bay, the Piedmont is a series of sedimentary and igneous rock-based foothills east of the mountains which were formed in the Mesozoic era. The region, known for its clay soil, includes the Southwest Mountains around Charlottesville. The Blue Ridge Mountains are a province of the Appalachian Mountains with the highest points in the state. The Ridge and Valley region is west of the mountains and includes the Great Appalachian Valley, the region is carbonate rock based and includes Massanutten Mountain. The Cumberland Plateau and the Cumberland Mountains are in the southwest corner of Virginia, in this region, rivers flow northwest, with a dendritic drainage system, into the Ohio River basin
