740 



VIRGINIA, 



that the loyal citizens of your rich county will be glad 

 to have an opportunity thus to furnish supplies for our 

 army, which has so gloriously maintained the inde- 

 pendence and sovereignty of Virginia, and driven back 

 in ignominious flight the invaders of her soil. But, at 

 the same time, all classes of your citizens must con- 

 tribute their quota; therefore, if necessary, it is ex- 

 pected that constraint must be employed with all who 

 are forgetful of their obligations. 

 By order of Gen. Beauregard. 



Kespectfully, Colonel, your obedient servant, 



THOS. JORDAN, A. A. Adj't-General. 

 To Col. A. T. M. BUST, 



Commandant Militia Loudon County. 



A flood of paper money was now issued 

 throughout the seceded portion of the State. 

 Every bank, every town and village corpora- 

 tion, even the State itself, and private bankers, 

 deluged the State with currency in notes from 

 five cents to one dollar. Gold and silver were 

 eagerly bought at eight per cent, premium for 

 these notes, and carefully hoarded away. In 

 North and South Carolina these notes were 

 often printed on coarse brown paper, without 

 any pretensions to a bankable appearance. Such 

 was the amount of this species of currency 

 thrown upon the community in Eastern Vir- 

 ginia, that alarm was excited among the peo- 

 ple. In Lynchburg the notes of numberless de- 

 funct Southern banks were long imposed on the 

 ignorant and unsuspecting; and finally, indi- 

 vidual notes of denominations of ten, twenty, 

 and twenty-five cents made their appearance. 

 This " rag currency " passed off readily with 

 the ignorant, and soldiers who were strangers. 



The entire military strength of Virginia was 

 now required in the field. In some counties, in 

 which the militia refused to turn out, force was 

 used, and if this was ineffectual, orders were 

 given to treat those who refused as deserters, 

 or alien enemies. All between the ages of 

 eighteen and forty-five were required to enlist, 

 and not such only as a draft would call into 

 the field. The extreme measures often used 

 were proof of a degree of desperateness and ur- 

 gency hardly to be believed. 



For this struggle, so suddenly commenced, 

 Virginia had for some time been making such 

 preparations as her means enabled her, and al- 

 though she was not so well provided as the se- 

 cessionists desired, still, she was better pre- 

 pared than most of her Southern sisters bet- 

 ter, perhaps, than any one of them. For some 

 time anterior to the secession she had been en- 

 gaged in the purchase of arms of different kinds, 

 ammunition, and other necessary articles, and 

 in mounting artillery, in anticipation of the 

 event which subsequently occurred. A large 

 portion of the ammunition which was used 

 during the year was captured at Norfolk, 

 and the heavy guns supplied to the Southern 

 States for coast, river, and land defence, were 

 captured at the same time with the navy yard. 

 All the field artillery issued belonged exclu- 

 sively to the State of Virginia, and much the 

 larger part of it had been in her possession 

 for half a century. The small arms were all 

 her own exclusive property, save 7,500 altered 



percussion muskets, furnished by Governor 

 Ellis, of North Carolina. 



On the 30th of June, in compliance with the 

 request of the Confederate Government, Vir- 

 ginia paid off her troops. The report of the 

 paymaster-general states that at that time he 

 had paid seventy-eight companies of cavalry, 

 fifty-two companies of artillery, four hundred 

 and two companies of infantry, one company 

 of cadets and seven companies of militia, while 

 there remained to be paid six companies of in- 

 fantry and one of cavalry ; making 547 com- 

 panies of all arms, and comprising on June 30 

 41,885 men. The precise number of troops 

 which the State had in the field near the close 

 of the year was not known, owing to the fact 

 that the mustering officers at Norfolk, Lynch- 

 burg, Abingdon, Staunton, "Winchester, Har- 

 per's Ferry, the Potomac division, and other 

 places had not made their returns. The num- 

 ber was estimated at not less than seventy 

 thousand by Governor Letcher. There were 

 fifty -nine regiments of infantry, and a consid- 

 erable number of infantry battalions and com- 

 panies not organized into regiments ; also eight 

 organized regiments of cavalry, and a number 

 of companies attached to different commands, 

 sufficient for three regiments. Three hundred 

 and fifteen pieces of artillery were issued, and 

 nearly all in service in the field, and one artil- 

 lery regiment was organized. The expenditures 

 of the State for war purposes subsequently to 

 the 17th of April, up to the close of the year, 

 exceeded six millions of dollars. The military 

 operations of the year took place in Eastern 

 and "Western Virginia. (For the latter, see 

 VIRGINIA, "WESTERN.) The term Eastern Vir- 

 ginia as here used, is intended to include that 

 portion of the State adjacent to the Potomac 

 River, at and below Harper's Ferry, to the 

 mouth of that river, and thence along the shore 

 to Norfolk. Below Washington, on the Poto- 

 mac, the skirmishes which took place were 

 chiefly between Federal gunboats and batteries 

 on the shore ; the latter being placed for the pur- 

 pose of stopping the passage of Federal vessels 

 engaged in carrying supplies to "Washington. The 

 blockade thus attempted was never effective. 

 During the months of September and October, 

 when the number of batteries was the largest, 

 many vessels came up to Washington, and it was 

 seldom that one was injured. No lives were lost. 

 In the neighborhood of Fortress Monroe, noth- 

 ing of special moment occurred, except the bat- 

 tle at Great Bethel, after the troops were es- 

 tablished in their positions. Newport News 

 was occupied by a Federal force, and Yorktown 

 by a considerable Confederate force. The latter 

 position was the proper landing point for an 

 army destined to attack Richmond. The occu- 

 pation of Manassas by the Confederate army 

 was intended to prevent an advance of Fed- 

 eral troops into Virginia, or rather to defend the 

 territory of the State, and to threaten Washing- 

 ton. The flank of this force on the left was 

 posted at Winchester, to defend the valley of 



