Title: Main Street in
Lexington, Virginia
Source: Virginia Military Institute
Archives
More informationThe town of Lexington is the
seat of Rockbridge County in
the Shenandoah Valley.
During the American Civil War
(1861–1865), it was home to Washington College (now Washington and Lee University) and the Virginia Military Institute. Although not
of great strategic importance, the town nevertheless smoldered in the atmosphere of
war long before many other Virginian communities felt the conflict. In November 1859,
a detachment of its resident corps of cadets from the Virginia Military Institute was
deployed to Charles Town (in what is now West Virginia) to provide security at the execution
of the infamous John Brown for his
raid on Harpers Ferry.
Unionist sentiments prevailed, however, until U.S. president Abraham Lincoln's call
for troops, when many of Lexington's male citizens enlisted in service of the
Confederate States of America. Events such as the burial of Confederate general Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson
and Union general David Hunter's fiery raid brought the quiet mountain town momentary
attention from the wider world, but the demands of the Civil War also siphoned its
resources on a daily basis.
Despite the cadets' involvement with the execution of John Brown, Lexington citizens edged toward secession with reluctance. A volunteer regiment called the Rockbridge Rifles formed late in 1859. Students at Washington College and the young ladies in town were the most prone to war fever and exhibited their symptoms by wearing secessionist badges and seeking to form military classes. It was Lincoln's call for troops that pushed many Lexingtonians in favor of secession. Before long "all except the old men of the town of Lexington were in the army," as resident poet Margaret Junkin Preston noted in her journal. By April 1862, only five students remained enrolled at Washington College, and VMI was also unnaturally vacant.
Title: Stonewall Jackson's
Grave
Source: The Museum of the Confederacy,
Richmond, Virginia
More informationLexington's role in the war was rarely enough
to make headlines until May 1863, when the body of Stonewall Jackson, who had died
following Chancellorsville, was brought home for burial amid what Preston described
as "the flowing tears of a vast concourse of people." In December of that year, the
war itself finally came to Lexington, as Confederate troops under John D. Imboden and Fitzhugh Lee joined with the
Lexington Home Guard and remaining VMI cadets to guard the town from a potential
attack by Union general William W. Averell. The Union threat headed south rather than
descending upon Lexington; but like many communities in the Civil War, it narrowly
escaped harm once, only to be scathed in a second encounter.
Union general David Hunter targeted Lexington in June 1864, as he marched his troops
south through the Shenandoah Valley. Rushing to its defense were Confederate forces
under John A. McCausland, who
gave enough notice for frantic Lexingtonians to hide their valuables in attics, under
floors, and in outhouses. On June 11, McCausland burned the bridge over the North
River (now Maury River) in an attempt to delay Hunter's advance, effectively cutting
it off from its main supply route. By mid-afternoon, Union shells were raining on the
town, followed by three days of Union troops raiding and looting virtually every
private home, business, and institution in Lexington. On June 12, Hunter
burned
Title: VMI After Hunter's Raid
Source: Virginia Military Institute
Archives
More information Virginia governor John Letcher's home, the Virginia
Military Institute, and several faculty houses. Hunter departed Lexington on June 14,
leaving it to face a long, hungry winter. Lexington's war-weariness was evident by
the spring of 1865, but there was also one striking sign that its characteristic
practical, energetic spirit was as lively as ever: a rebuilt bridge spanned the North
River.
The town was convulsed in violence during Reconstruction (1865–1877), beginning when William L. Coan, a representative of the American Missionary Association, opened a school for freed blacks in December 1865. Agents of the federal Freedmen's Bureau warned Coan that "General Lee's boys" would make Lexington "a hard place" for such work, and it was. Meanwhile, General Lee—former Confederate general Robert E. Lee—became president of Washington College and was interred there after his death in 1870. His remains are now in Lee Chapel on the campus of Washington and Lee University
First published: March 31, 2009 | Last modified: October 11, 2010
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