Martinsburg, Virginia, During the Civil War

During Virginia's secession crisis in 1861, the citizens of Martinsburg watched as delegates to a secession convention in Richmond debated Virginia's fate. When, after months of stalling, the delegates finally voted to secede on April 17, 1861, most Shenandoah Valley residents—opposed to secession until that point—became caught up in the fever for war and enthusiastically supported the new Confederate States of America. Martinsburg, however, stubbornly remained Unionist, largely because the U.S. government offered the best protection for the railroad's interests and the railroad supported the local economy.

Title: Harpers Ferry
Source: the Library of Congress,
Prints and Photographs
Division,
[LC-DIG-ppmsca-12547]
More informationWithin a week of the convention's vote, Confederate troops, including Virginia militia units from the southern Shenandoah Valley, entered Martinsburg en route to the U.S. armory at Harpers Ferry. On May 23, the date set aside for a statewide referendum on secession, residents staged a public protest of secession and the Confederate presence. Tensions became so heated that the Confederate commander, Colonel Thomas J. Jackson, dispatched additional troops to Martinsburg from Harpers Ferry to quell any violence. In the meantime, Martinsburg residents voted three-to-one against secession that day—the only locale in the Shenandoah Valley to oppose secession during the referendum.

Additional Confederate troops under Jackson's command entered Martinsburg on June 20 and set about dismantling the railroad, further outraging Unionist residents. In addition to the tracks, the Confederates destroyed the round house, various railroad buildings, fifty-six locomotives, and at least 305 cars. Thirteen locomotives were spared by Jackson and seized for use by the Confederacy.

Title: Belle Boyd, ca. 1865
Source: the Library of Congress Prints
and Photographs Division,
[LC-BH82–4864 A-1]
More informationAfter more than two months of Confederate presence, Union soldiers under General Robert Patterson occupied Martinsburg on July 3. As Patterson's men entered town they noted "a strong Union sentiment," as a Union chaplain observed. Although most citizens enjoyed the Union presence, some of Martinsburg's Confederate minority did not—among them the self-promoting spy Belle Boyd. When, on July 4, a Union soldier swore at Boyd's mother in the course of an argument, Boyd drew a pistol and shot him to death. She was cleared of any wrongdoing, but the incident may have inspired her to begin a long and legendary career in espionage.

Patterson's army departed on July 17, but there would be many more occupations over the war's remaining years. Numerous skirmishes and two battles were fought in the area, and its buildings served as makeshift hospitals at various times for both armies. The first battle, fought on June 14, 1863, was part of the Gettysburg Campaign. The Army of Northern Virginia, preparing to invade the North for a second time, set its sights on the town's ample food stores, but at the end of a day's hard fighting came away with not much more than several thousand bushels of grain. The second battle, fought on July 25, 1864, was part of Confederate general Jubal A. Early's summer campaign of strategic diversion
Title: Shenandoah Valley
Source: Virginia Historical Society
More informationin the Shenandoah Valley. Early's hope was to threaten the disjointed Union command in the Valley and, eventually, to threaten Washington, D.C., itself, while also pulling troops away from Union general Ulysses S. Grant's lines around Petersburg. Less than two months later, on September 18, Martinsburg changed hands for the last time as Union general Philip H. Sheridan's Army of the Shenandoah occupied the town.

Although the scars of war would eventually heal, occupations and battles left a once-thriving Martinsburg devastated by war's end. "Its situation has rendered it a peculiarly undesirable place of residence," observed a Northern reporter in December 1864. "Its streets have been trampled … the ruins of the depot buildings, and of houses burned in former attacks upon the town, give the usual air of desolation seen in border towns."

Time Line

• April 17, 1861 - Delegates at the Virginia Convention in Richmond pass an Ordinance of Secession by a vote of 88 to 55. Thirty-two of the "no" votes come from trans-Allegheny delegates, who are more firmly Unionist than representatives from other parts of the state.
• May 23, 1861 - A statewide referendum overwhelmingly ratifies the Virginia Convention's vote to secede. Berkeley County and the town of Martinsburg are the only locales in the Shenandoah Valley to vote against secession. Colonel Thomas J. Jackson sends troops to Martinsburg from Harpers Ferry to quiet Unionist protesters.
• June 20, 1861 - Confederate troops under Colonel Thomas J. Jackson enter Martinsburg and begin destroying railroad line, locomotives, and associated buildings.
• July 3, 1861 - Union forces under General Robert Patterson occupy Martinsburg.
• July 4, 1861 - Confederate sympathizer Belle Boyd, a Martinsburg resident, is arrested for shooting and killing a Union soldier whom she claims insulted her mother. A Union inquiry into the incident finds that her actions were justified and she is cleared of any wrongdoing.
• July 17, 1861 - Union troops under General Robert Patterson leave Martinsburg for Charles Town. Martinsburg will remain in Confederate hands until March 2, 1862.
• March 3, 1862 - Union forces under General Nathaniel P. Banks occupy Martinsburg.
• May 25, 1862 - Union forces are defeated at the First Battle of Winchester, part of Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's Shenandoah Valley Campaign. As a result, Union soldiers evacuate Martinsburg.
• September 18, 1862 - Following the Battle of Antietam in Maryland and the subsequent Confederate retreat south, Martinsburg is transformed into a makeshift hospital for use by the Army of Northern Virginia.
• January 1, 1863 - The Union's Emancipation Proclamation goes into effect, declaring free all slaves in Confederate-controlled regions and authorizing the enlistment of black men in the Union Army.
• June 14, 1863 - The First Battle of Martinsburg is fought. The Confederate Army of Northern Virginia uses the Shenandoah Valley as its pathway north into Pennsylvania.
• July 6, 1863 - Wounded Confederate soldiers arrive in Martinsburg following the Army of Northern Virginia's defeat at the Battle of Gettysburg.
• July 15, 1863 - Approximately 4,000 Union soldiers, captured during the Gettysburg Campaign, are marched through Martinsburg by the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia.
• July 23, 1863–July 2, 1864 - Union forces occupy Martinsburg. The town remains in Union hands until July 2, 1864.
• July 3, 1864 - Confederate troops under General John B. Gordon occupy Martinsburg.
• July 11, 1864 - Union forces under the command of General David Hunter occupy Martinsburg.
• July 25, 1864 - The Second Battle of Martinsburg is fought as part of Confederate general Jubal A. Early's Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1864. Confederate forces under General John C. Breckinridge win a victory and seize Martinsburg.
• August 8, 1864 - Union forces under General William W. Averell occupy Martinsburg.
• August 18, 1864 - Union cavalry are driven from Martinsburg and Confederates occupy the city.
• August 21, 1864 - Martinsburg changes hands between Union and Confederate forces three times in a single day. Confederates begin and end the day in control of the city.
• September 1, 1864 - Union forces under General William W. Averell occupy Martinsburg.
• September 18, 1864 - Confederate forces under General John B. Gordon occupy Martinsburg but later that day are driven out by Union general Philip H. Sheridan's Army of the Shenandoah. Martinsburg remains in Union hands for the remainder of the Civil War.

Further Reading

Categories

• Civil War, American (1861–1865)
• Cities and Counties

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