Richmond in the American Civil War
Richmond, Virginia, served as the capital of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War from May 8, 1861, hitherto the capital had been Montgomery, Alabama. Notwithstanding its political status, it was a vital source of weapons and supplies for the war effort, as well as the terminus of five railroads, and as such would have been defended by the Confederate States Army at all costs.
View of Richmond above the Canal Basin, after the Evacuation Fire of 1865
Lithograph depicting the Evacuation Fire (Currier & Ives, 1865)
Virginia State Capitol, used as the Confederate Capitol. To the left is the Customs House, used by the Confederate Department of the Treasury and the offices of the President and Vice President.
Libby Prison in 1865, viewed from Dock Street
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States (C.S.), the Confederacy, or the South, was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confederacy comprised eleven U.S. states that declared secession and warred against the United States during the American Civil War. The states were South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina.
Alexander H. Stephens, Confederate Vice President and author of the Cornerstone Speech
William L. Yancey, Alabama Fire-Eater, "The Orator of Secession"
William Henry Gist, Governor of South Carolina, called the Secessionist Convention
The inauguration of Jefferson Davis in Montgomery, Alabama
