Seceding from Secession: The Civil War, Politics, and the Creation of West Virginia

by Eric J. Wittenberg, Edmund A. Sargus, Penny L. Barrick

Overview

A “thoroughly researched [and] historically enlightening” account of how the Commonwealth of Virginia split in two in the midst of war (Civil War News).

“West Virginia was the child of the storm.” —Mountaineer historian and Civil War veteran Maj. Theodore F. Lang

As the Civil War raged, the northwestern third of the Commonwealth of Virginia finally broke away in 1863 to form the Union’s 35th state. Seceding from Secession chronicles those events in an unprecedented study of the social, legal, military, and political factors that converged to bring about the birth of West Virginia.

President Abraham Lincoln, an astute lawyer in his own right, played a critical role in birthing the new state. The constitutionality of the mechanism by which the new state would be created concerned the president, and he polled every member of his cabinet before signing the bill. Seceding from Secession includes a detailed discussion of the 1871 U.S. Supreme Court decision Virginia v. West Virginia, in which former Lincoln cabinet member Salmon Chase presided as chief justice over the court that decided the constitutionality of the momentous event.

Grounded in a wide variety of sources and including a foreword by Frank J. Williams, former Chief Justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court and Chairman Emeritus of the Lincoln Forum, this book is indispensable for anyone interested in American history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781611215076
Publisher:	Savas Beatie
Publication date:	07/01/2021
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	289
Sales rank:	25,635
File size:	16 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Eric J. Wittenberg is an accomplished American Civil War cavalry historian and author. An attorney in Ohio, Wittenberg has authored over 21 books on various Civil War subjects, with particular focus on cavalry operations, as well as three dozen articles in popular magazines such as North & South, Blue&Gray, America’s Civil War, and Gettysburg Magazine. His first book, Gettysburg’s Forgotten Cavalry Actions (Thomas Publications, Gettysburg PA, 1998) won the prestigious 1998 Bachelder-Coddington Literary Award. The second edition won the Army Historical Foundation’s Distinguished Writing Award, for Reprint, 2011. His 2014 book, “The Devil’s to Pay”: John Buford at Gettysburg. A History and Walking Tour, was awarded the Gettysburg Civil War Roundtable’s 2015 Book Award. Wittenberg is a favored speaker at Civil War Roundtables, and conducts tours of various Civil War battlefields and related sites. He was instrumental in saving important battlefield land at Trevilian Station and Brandy Station, Virginia, and wrote the text for the historical waysides located at Trevilian Station. He lives in Columbus with his wife Susan and their beloved dogs. Visit Eric J. Wittenberg's website: http://www.ericwittenberg.com

Table of Contents

Foreword vii

Preface xiii

Introduction 1

Chapter 1 Sectional Differences 5

Chapter 2 The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad: Catalyst to Statehood 11

Chapter 3 Western Virginia and the Response to the Secession of Virginia 22

Chapter 4 The First and Second Wheeling Conventions 35

Chapter 5 Creating the "Restored Government of Virginia" 62

Chapter 6 Congress Debates Statehood 76

Chapter 7 Lincoln and the Cabinet Debate the Constitutionality and Expediency of Admitting the New State 90

Chapter 8 Establishing the New State 112

Chapter 9 Post-Civil War Virginia 125

Chapter 10 Virginia Files Suit 143

Chapter 11 The Supreme Court Settles the Issue 163

Conclusion 181

Appendix A The Letters to Abraham Lincoln From His Cabinet Regarding the Question of Whether to Admit West Virginia to the Union 187

Appendix B The Complaint in State of Virginia vs. State of West Virginia 206

Appendix C The Supreme Court's Decision in Virginia vs. West Virginia 216

Appendix D The Supreme Court's 1911 Decision in Virginia vs. West Virginia 234

Appendix E Current Events Prove that These Questions Live On 244

Bibliography 249

Index 260

Editorial Reviews

Eric Wittenberg, Federal District Judge Edmund A. Sargus, Jr. and Penny Barrick have made an enduring contribution to American political history with this book. Engaging, thoroughly researched and powerfully recounted, this story adds a new perspective to the Civil War era and the birth of a state that helped build a new Union.

Ken Gormley

An exemplary study, prodigiously researched, profusely illustrated, and masterfully crafted will prove useful to individuals interested in West Virginia’s formation, Civil War era political history, and how the United States government attempted to balance constitutional questions with the Union’s restoration.

The Civil War Monitor

Seceding from Secession masterfully describes the birth of West Virginia. The new state forcibly withdrew from the Commonwealth of Virginia as the Civil War began. When the guns finally fell silent, a new battle started—this time in the United States Supreme Court. Virginia demanded a return of at least a portion of its lost territories and raised many of the issues that had ignited the cataclysmic war. An evenly split Supreme Court could not decide the issue, leaving the fate of West Virginia in limbo during the tumultuous Reconstruction Era. The lawsuit languished for five years as a newly empowered Congress passed legislation limiting the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction to hear major Constitutional issues dividing a now-reunited nation. In undisguised court packing, Congress reduced the size of the Supreme Court, hoping to prevent new appointments by a despised president. It was not until 1871, with a new president in office, that a reconstituted Supreme Court gave legal approval to the present-day West Virginia. The state—and the Supreme Court—survived its greatest existential threat.

William Suter

"This monograph offers a thorough analysis of the often overlooked, remarkably controversial process of West Virginia statehood, which occurred during the throes of the Civil War. After providing historical context for the divisions that precipitated this secession movement within the Old Dominion, the authors, all of whom have professional legal backgrounds, focus specifically on the complications and occasional speciousness of the constitutional legitimacy of West Virginia’s creation. [...] Concise, but remarkably detailed, this work arguably stands as one of the most authoritative on the topic and offers value to any scholar of 19th-century US politics and constitutional history. Recommended. General readers through faculty."

CHOICE, March 2021 Vol. 58 No. 7 - B. A. Wineman

Thoroughly researched, legally sound, and historically enlightening. Any Civil War scholar should add this book to their library.

Civil War News

"Seceding from Secession's greatest value lies in its lucid summaries of the social, political, economic, and legal contexts surrounding the formation and early history of West Virginia. The new standard treatment of the subject, this volume is a highly recommended resource for general and specialist readers alike."

Civil War Books and Authors

Anyone interested in Civil War political history or the development of constitutional interpretation would do well to read this exceptional study.

On Point: The Journal of Army History

"An informative book . . . representing a significant contribution to the growing historiography surrounding West Virginia's role in the Civil War."

Journal of the Shenandoah Valley During the Civil War Era

Seceding from Secession traces the fascinating and little-known saga of how the state of West Virginia was carved from Virginia during the Civil War, and the legal battles over the constitutionality of that division that continued for the ensuing decade. This engaging narrative delves into the personalities and war-time currents that spurred West Virginia’s secession from the Confederacy and the thorny legal issues raised by the creation of this new state. As a historian and practicing attorney, I give this book five out of five stars for shedding new light on a momentous but neglected chapter in our nation’s history.

Gordon C. Rhea