The Truth About The Confederate Battle Flag

The Confederate Battle Flag has been under the gun of groups that tend to lead people in the wrong way to its inception. These groups, which place forth, the ideas that the flag represents hate and slavery cannot produce a single document to support these ridiculous claims. In fact all the documents found show the contrary to be true. I must point out that the Confederate Battle Flag never flew as a State Flag since its sole purpose was to distinguish the two armies from each other. It has become the most misunderstood and abused symbol in our great nation.

These groups that claim the Confederate Battle Flag to be a flag aligned with such “HATE” groups as the KKK, Neo Nazis, Skin Heads, and others really do not know what they are talking about. To them they can only remember what happened back in the 50’s and 60’s. They cannot fathom the facts when presented about the truth of the flag as it was born in 1861. Many people call the Confederate Battle Flag the “Stars and Bars”. The Stars and Bars came to be on March 4, 1861 when the Committee on a Proper Flag for the Confederate States of America wrote;

“That the flag of the Confederate States of America shall consist of a red field with a white space extending horizontally through the center, and equal in width to one-third the width of the flag. The red space above and below to be the same width as the white. The union blue extending down through the white space and stopping at the lower red space. In the center of the union a circle of white stars, corresponding in number with the States in the Confederacy.”

This can be found in the Journal of the Congress of the Confederate States of America, 1861-1865. Volume 1(Washington: Government Printing Office, 1905) pp.101-102. The story goes that the flag was flown over the capitol building in Montgomery, Alabama. It was raised up the staff by the granddaughter of John Tyler, the 10th President of the United States, Miss L.C. Tyler. This was presented by Ben LeBree ed., The Confederate Soldier in the Civil War, 1861-1865(Louisville: The Courier-Journal Job Printing Company, 1895) p.2 As can be seen, nowhere in this description of the “Stars and Bars” is there any mention of it being done for the protection of slavery or hate. As a matter of fact, none of the flags of the Confederacy were ever described in their placement to represent anything other than the Confederate States of America. And the Stars and Bars represented the flag of the Confederacy; the Confederate Battle flag was used extensively in the Battles.

The Confederate Battle Flag which has stirred so much controversy was designed by General P.G.T. Beauregard, who was born and raised in the Parish of St. Bernard, Louisiana, just over 12 miles from New Orleans. The Confederate Battle Flag was conceived AFTER, (I emphasize “after” because in many pictures of the battles, the Battle flag is shown when it was not even used.) the battle of First Bull Run (Manassas). It was during the battle that General Beauregard realized that a “battle” flag was needed. The General was expecting troops to come into battle from the right; instead they came in from the left. He could not distinguish the flag of the troops coming in from the left through the dust and smoke. Just before he was about to send a column to attack the advancing troops, a wind blew and unfurled the flag, he then noticed it was the First National Flag and it was his reinforcements he was waiting for. It was then that General Beauregard decided that a distinct flag was needed during the battles yet to come so as not to be confused again. General Beauregard’s design was a blue field, crossed red bars and gold stars. It was only after much discussion that it was changed into what it is today, a red field crossed blue bars with white stars.

The first flag of this design was called the Battle Flag of the Army of the Potomac. The flag was approved in September of 1861 by commanding General Joseph E. Johnston. The pattern was then submitted to and approved by the War Department. From that point through out the war the Battle Flag was carried by Confederate troops.

This can be found in Materials Relating to Flags, (New Orleans: Tulane University Special Collections), Louisiana Historical Association Collection. In United Confederate Veterans, The Flags of the Confederate States of America (Baltimore:A. Hoen & Co.1907) it is described as follows; “The Battle flag is square, with a Greek Cross of blue, edged with white, with thirteen equal five-pointed stars, upon a red field; with the whole banner bordered in white. The Infantry, Artillery, and Cavalry all used the Battle Flag, but in different sizes. Infantry being 48 inches square; Artillery 36 inches square and the Cavalry 30 inches square. The proportions of the Infantry flag are: 48 in. by 48 in. (exclusive of the border); the blue arms of the cross, 7.5 in. wide; the white border around the flag proper 1.5 in. wide. Total outside measurement is 51 in. square. The stars are five-pointed, inscribed within a circle 6 in. in diameter, and are uniform in size. There should be 5 eyelet holes in the hoist next to the staff. The Artillery and Cavalry flags are designed upon the same proportions, but the overall measurements are reduced.”

As can be seen by this description, nowhere in any of the designs or ideas is there any mention of slavery or hate. The flag design was done to keep the loss of lives down and as a rallying point that could be distinguished during battle. The Sons of Confederate Veterans adopted the Confederate Battle Flag as part of their logo in 1896, long before any “hate” group began to abuse the flag. They did this to honor all the men who died while fighting behind the Confederate Battle Flag. To these men and women, this is a tribute to their ancestors. They, like many others, do not like the wrongful abuse of the Confederate battle Flag by the “hate” groups that use it to promote their wrongful ideas.

It wasn’t until the late 1950’s and 1960’s that the Confederate Battle Flag was used by the KKK and other “hate” groups. Those that use the flag to honor their ancestors do not promote the hate and stupid ideas that those who abuse it do. They have many blacks that also respect the flag due to the fact that their ancestors served with the Confederate Army. The Confederate Battle Flag was designed to save lives in July of 1861; it was approved for use in September of 1861. What is brought forth when a person or group condemns the Confederate Battle Flag is the total ignorance of the history behind the flag and the facts, which surround it. It is these misunderstood facts, which have tempered an otherwise honorable flag into a flag of controversy by those who have been fed this misinformation and ignorance of facts about the flag.

In an opinion in the Houston Chronicle, Jerry Patterson puts forth a very good argument about the abuse of symbols. Mr. Patterson stated; “Since the KKK has adopted the cross for use in its burnings, should churches across the country remove this symbol of Christianity from all places of worship? Should we not begin to tear down monuments to the Buffalo Soldiers (Black U.S. Cavalry troops of the late 1800’s), since those soldiers were an integral part of a war that subjugated and enslaved a whole race of people, the American Plains Indians?”

In this Mr. Patterson brings forth the question of where do we stop the displacement of history for the sole purpose of being “politically correct”? Also, this shows that if we can tolerate these instances whether right or wrong, why can we not tolerate the Confederate battle Flag? Not only has the Confederate Battle Flag been wrongly and falsely accused of being racist, but recently even pictures of Southern generals have been assailed for just being Southern. These actions are reminiscent of Stalin and Hitler as they did the same thing to histories that they did not want. The Confederate Battle Flag is considered as a flag of hate and slavery, albeit wrongly, yet it flew for only four years.

The one flag that flew the longest and was actually the founder of slavery was the British Flag. The British Flag flew over slavery for 167 years before the United States became the United States. Under the United States flag slavery grew for 89 years. Neither of these flags is hated, as much as the Confederate Battle Flag, why is this? One reason is that through misinformation and prejudice, it has been cast as such.

Former President of the Asheville, North Carolina Branch of the NAACP has stated without restriction,

“Protection of Confederate symbols is THE civil rights issue of the new millennium, and this debate is long overdue. We must address this issue with peaceful, non-violent means like debate before agitation over the flag gets out of hand.”

Mr. Edgerton is a black man and a life member of the NAACP. His views are very different from the majority of the NAACP membership but he is proud to defend the Confederate Battle Flag. Look through any documentation that you can find and I am very sure that no one will ever find a document, which clearly states that, the Confederate battle Flag was designed specifically for the purpose of slavery and hate. Those who harbor these ideas are ignorant of the FACTS as the FACTS are written. The people who promote this ill-founded idea do so not to heal, but to obtain money for their cause. If they could find a better way to raise money, they would not worry about the Confederate Battle Flag.

To those groups of people who have brainwashed the masses to thinking that the Confederate Battle Flag was designed or even represents slavery and hate, I say unto you, “Let you be the first to condemn me and I shall show you how wrong you are with documented FACTS. Facts that you cannot accept because they are so very true. Many of these same groups make statements like; “We do not accept or encourage stereotyping of anyone.” Yet in this arena, they are the first to STEREO TYPE the Confederate Battle Flag.

The Confederate Battle Flag is an honorable symbol of those many men who died fighting for what they believed in. They came from every walk of life and from every culture in the North and South. Not to honor them with the Confederate Battle Flag would be like not even acknowledging that the War for Southern Independence ever happened. This should never happen. Many people who have been misled and misinformed have the idea that the Confederate Battle Flag was raised in the early 1960’s due to the civil rights movement. This is a misconception, which now will be looked at through the use of documents and facts.

Early in 1956 the Southern states began planning on how to observe the 100th anniversary of the “War for Southern Independence” from hereon known as the “Civil War”. Some of these states decided to use the flag in their state flag or to raise it below the United States flag. Others decided to obtain a proclamation to observe the 100th anniversary of the Civil War.

A joint resolution was placed upon the floor of both houses of Congress to study and coordinate the observance of the 100th anniversary of the Civil War. Both houses passed the resolution on September 7, 1957 to establish the Civil War Centennial Commission to coordinate the observance.

Many people have ignored these facts as documented in the Congressional records. Some have gone so far as to place a fictional idea that the Confederate Battle Flag was raised in defiance of the civil rights movement. Maybe the civil rights movement actually used the Centennial to promote their activities. These very same people also presented the fictional idea that the South had invented segregation when in fact segregation was a Federal Law established by U.S. Congress as a result of the “Jim Crow” case. This was nothing more than an extension of reconstruction.

Not one single person that says the Confederate Battle Flag was used in defiance of the civil rights activities will ever admit that it was done as an observance of the 100th anniversary of the Civil War. To admit this fact would be to admit that they are wrong in assuming otherwise. Their information and stories are blown apart by the facts and documents that prove what they have said about this wrong.

On December 6, 1960, a little more than three years after the first indication of an attempt to organize an observance by Congress, President Dwight D. Eisenhower did something that has been overlooked when discussion of the Confederate Battle Flag comes up. It was on this day that President Eisenhower issued a proclamation declaring observance of the 100th anniversary of the Civil War. It was labeled Civil War Proclamation No. 3882. In this proclamation, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, “…invited all of the people of our country to take a direct and active part in the Centennial of the Civil War.”

This took effect on December 6, 1960, just as the civil rights activities were starting, coincidence or perfect planning? The proclamation and observance originated in late 1956. It was done to observe and honor those who fought on both sides and to better understand what had happened. In the South it was a chance to raise the Confederate Battle Flag, not in defiance of the civil rights movement, but to honor the men and women who died fighting under the flag for what they believed.

By bringing the civil rights into question, many reflected upon slavery and these same people also condemned and planted the seed that the South fought to preserve slavery. The civil rights activities also drew attention away from the Presidential Proclamation to observe the centennial of the Civil War. All these activities came together at the same time. President Eisenhower even stated that we should recognize the spirit of America after such a crucial war. President Eisenhower asked Federal, state, and local officials to carry out their own appropriate observance of the Centennial during the years of 1961 to 1965.

With these facts so presented, it becomes clear that the Confederate Battle Flag was raised in observance of the Presidential Proclamation to observe the Civil War not to fight and defy the civil rights movement. It is amazing how the truth can be totally forgotten and covered up just to perpetuate what has now become “Political Correctness.” How can we as a people stand by and allow our history to be dictated by any group for the sake of an idea? Our country was not formed to fall into this madness of Political Correctness. The Confederate Battle Flag is just as its name implies, a BATTLE flag, used to rally the troops of the South and distinguish the men fighting nothing more. To state that it represents slavery and hate shows the total ignorance and stupidity of those making the statement.

The Confederate Battle Flag has come under tremendous action in the last ten years. Some of those actions to replace the flag from sight have the same earmarks as the beginnings of the Nazi era. The attacks upon the Battle Flag have come from only a few groups who make their money from certain actions they take. It comes as no surprise that these same groups have come to be known affiliates to or with people that have communistic ideals and such ideals cannot continue with acts of freedom and expression that are associated with the Confederate battle Flag.

It is a shame that our once great country has fallen down to accept the actions of the few even over the voice of the majority. In all too many cases, the few have yelled so loud that they get what they want even when the majority feels otherwise. Now our country makes decisions based upon who is offended rather than what was once based upon Constitutional rights. Germany was much the same way in the late 30’s and early 40’s.

Settle down. The scale of the taking of POWs during the Civil War was unprecedented in the history of warfare and neither side was prepared for it.

The large number of Union troops taken at First Manassas were held in various prisons until they could be exchanged (usually by late 1861). Large numbers of Confederate prisoners weren't taken until the fall of Fort Donelson and Fort Henry. They were held primarily at Camp Douglas and were gradually exchanged or paroled as battlefield conditions warranted. Federal quartermasters did provide Confederate prisoners with new uniforms (the production schedules at both the Cincinatti and St. Louis arsenals show periodic runs of Confederate uniforms "for prisoners.") Odd color and odd material, such as felt great coats, items that were produced in the early War period and not meeting regulation US Army specs were issued to Confederate POWs. A friend of mine in Missouri who reenacts with the 16th Missouri (CS) has quite a collection of original Confederate items, and one he is quite proud of is a black with red lining foot pattern greatcoat with pewter eagle buttons. It's a Federal manufacture item that was issued to a Tennessee soldier being held at Camp Douglas. The Federals were able to issue clothes and other personal needs to captured Rebs because they had the production capacity to do so, and in general did.

The problems in the camps on both sides came from different sources. At the top, the Commissary Generals of both armies (Winder on the Confederate side, Hoffman on the Federal) were notorious penny pinchers. Hoffman, it was said, took pride in being able to return money to the Federal Treasury at the end of every fiscal year....most of which came out of allotments for care of POWs. Winder was just cheap and had a tendency to ignore requests from camp commanders (Belle Isle and Andersonville in particular) for additonal supplies. I'm certain that if Winder hadn't died close to the end of the War, he, and not Wirz, would have faced a war crimes trial. By ignoring requests for supplies from his camp commanders, a case could be made for Winder acting with malice, but I'll leave that for someone else to decide.

Another problem in the camps was with the guards. Neither side had a dedicated corps of Military Police. Both had Provost Marshal Generals, and Provost Guards at divisional and Army headquarters, but no permanently assigned MPs who would handle the prisoners. This resulted in widely ranging treatment of POWs at the hands of guards.

In general, on both sides, guards who were from veteran infantry regiments treated prisoners better than those who were from green regiments or "home guard" units. In some camps (Andersonville, for instance) guards were given a thirty-day furlough if they shot a prisoner for attempting escape. The intent of the order was to make the guards more vigilant, but it had the effect of getting green guards to just engage in random gunfire at the expense of the prisoners. Members of Confederate line infantry regiments who did tours as prison guards were less prone to that sort of activity (shooting for a leave), as were members of the US Army Veteran Reserve Corps. The worst seemed to be Georgia Home Guard troops (again, Andersonville) and members of the USCTs (Camp Lookout). Combat soldiers had a high degree of mutual respect for each other, and that led to line infantry doing a more humane job of guarding than REMFs.

When the US House passed it's resolution to treat Confederate prisoners severely, that was after accounts of Federal prisoners being treated badly at the hands of the Confederates had made it north. Let's not forget that the Confederate House passed a resolution calling for the execution of US black soldiers and white officers in command of black troops immediately upon capture. Civilian poltitical leadership can often cause more trouble than it's worth in wartime.

Fifteen thousand Union troops are buried at Andersonville....the equivalent of a division. Similar numbers died at Belle Isle, VA. Those were purpose built-POW camps, and had no barracks or shelter for the prisoners. Elmyra had just a stockade, but Camp Douglas and most other Union POW camps had formerly been training camps, and did have barracks. The barracks were cheaply constructed, and poorly heated, but the barracks I was in when I was in basic training was equally cheaply constructed and poorly heated (not like it would have mattered, I went through basic in summer), so little has changed since then. The difference is that the Union had space for POWs, the Confederacy didn't.

The true test of which side's captives were better cared for is how many returned to fight after parole or exchange: The majority of Confederates held in northern camps returned to fight after parole (and often before formal exchange). There are accounts of Reb prisoners who were captured three times and released twice. Most Federals held captive by the Confederates had to be discharged as no longer fit for service. It was the fact that paroled Confederates were returning to the line in no time at all that prompted Grant to cease paroling and exchanging POWs after he became commander of all the Union armies. He knew the Confederates couldn't make up the losses from captures, but the Union could. Very effective policy, although Federal prisoners in Andersonville and Belle Isle would suffer much longer because of it.

Hyperbole aside, the condition of POWs in the Civil War was pretty bad for both sides, but not because of stated policies. Poor supply and logistical systems did more to harm prisoners than House resolutions ever could have. Say what you want, but them's the facts. History is what it is, and I will still compare Elmyra to Andersonville because it's a valid comparison, but concentration camps? Not hardly. Poor planning on both sides, political malice on both sides, and inexperience on both sides. Neither side has clean hands. To state otherwise is to deny the facts.

Impossibility, more like. Western Virginia didn't secede from anything. The recognized legislature of Virginia voted to split and Congress voted to allow them.

In response to a referendum, a convention gathered in Richmond on October 5, 1829, attended by such prominent Virginians as James Madison, James Monroe, John Marshall, and John Tyler, to develop a new constitution. Eastern Virginian conservatives defeated virtually every major reform, including the most significant issue of granting the vote to all white men regardless of whether they owned land, and the election of the governor and judges by the people.
Statewide, the new constitution was approved by a margin of 26,055 to 15,566, although voters in present-day West Virginia rejected it 8,365 to 1,383. Calls for secession began immediately, led by newspapers such as the Kanawha Republican. Over the next twenty years, the General Assembly eased some of this sectional tension. Nineteen new western counties were organized, granting greater representation. A number of internal improvements were made in the West, including the Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike and the Northwestern Turnpike.
In 1831, the issue of African Americans came to the forefront following Nat Turner's raid, which killed sixty-one whites in Southhampton County, Virginia. That same year, William Lloyd Garrison first printed his newspaper, The Liberator, marking the beginning of an organized national movement to end slavery, called abolitionism. Some abolitionists disapproved of slavery on a moral basis. Others, including prominent western Virginia political leaders, supported abolitionism because they felt slaves were performing jobs which white laborers should be paid to do. Washington College President Henry Ruffner, the son of Kanawha Valley salt industry pioneer David Ruffner and a slaveholder himself, wanted to end slavery in trans-Allegheny Virginia in order to provide more paying jobs for white workers. He outlined this theory in an address delivered to the Franklin Society in Lexington, Virginia, in 1847. His speech, later printed in pamphlets and distributed nationally, stated that slavery kept white laborers from moving into the Kanawha Valley. To prove this theory, Massachusetts abolitionist Eli Thayer established an industrial town at Ceredo in Wayne County, beginning in 1857. The laborers, white New England emigrants, were all paid for their work. The experiment failed when some of the investors were unable to contribute and a national economic depression restricted the availability of additional money.
In 1850, the year in which Congress adopted extensive compromises to ease the growing tensions between North and South in the country, Virginia delegates once again met in Richmond to settle problems between East and West in its own state. Eastern Virginian conservatives reached agreement with the West on the major issues remaining from the 1829 convention. All white males over the age of twenty-one were given the right to vote regardless of whether they owned property. The convention also approved the election of the governor and judges by the people. Delegates, including many from western Virginia, agreed to a provision allowing for property to be taxed at its total value, except for slaves, who would be valued at rates well below their actual worth. Many eastern Virginia slaveholders now paid less in property taxes than before, placing a greater burden on the western counties. At this Reform Convention, the West was represented by entirely new delegates, who had not participated in the 1829 convention. Several of these delegates to the Reform Convention rose to political prominence, including Joseph Johnson (the first Virginia governor from trans-Allegheny Virginia), Charles J. Faulkner, Gideon D. Camden, John Janney, John S. Carlile, Waitman T. Willey, Benjamin Smith, and George W. Summers.
Over the next few years, the state government tried to gain support from western Virginia by completing various internal improvements. However, the 1857 national depression defeated these efforts to improve the western Virginia economy. The salt industry in the Kanawha Valley gradually collapsed. Mills and factories throughout all of present-day West Virginia were forced to close. Yet, due to the new 1850 Constitution, eastern and western Virginians seemed closer politically than they had been at any time in history.
Everything changed with the approach of the Civil War. In November 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected president, with virtually no support from the South. His election resulted in the country's southernmost states leaving the Union. On April 17, 1861, days after Lincoln's order to seize Fort Sumter in South Carolina, a convention of Virginians voted to submit a secession bill to the people. Led by Clarksburg's John S. Carlile, western delegates marched out of the Secession Convention, vowing to form a state government loyal to the Union. Many of these delegates gathered in Clarksburg on April 22, calling for a pro-Union convention, which met in Wheeling from May 13 to 15. On May 23, a majority of Virginia voters approved the Ordinance of Secession. It is not possible to determine accurately the vote total from present-day West Virginia due to vote tampering and the destruction of records. Some argue that secessionists were in the majority in western Virginia, while others feel Unionists had greater support.
Following a Union victory at the Battle of Philippi and the subsequent occupation of northwestern Virginia by General George B. McClellan, the Second Wheeling Convention met between June 11 and June 25, 1861. Delegates formed the Restored, or Reorganized, Government of Virginia, and chose Francis H. Pierpont as governor. President Lincoln recognized the Restored Government as the legitimate government of Virginia. John Carlile and Waitman T. Willey became United States Senators and Jacob B. Blair, William G. Brown, and Kellian V. Whaley became Congressmen representing pro-Union Virginia.
On October 24, 1861, residents of thirty-nine counties in western Virginia approved the formation of a new Unionist state. The accuracy of these election results have been questioned, since Union troops were stationed at many of the polls to prevent Confederate sympathizers from voting. At the Constitutional Convention, which met in Wheeling from November 1861 to February 1862, delegates selected the counties for inclusion in the new state of West Virginia. From the initial list, most of the counties in the Shenandoah Valley were excluded due to their control by Confederate troops and a large number of local Confederate sympathizers. In the end, fifty counties were selected (all of present-day West Virginia's counties except Mineral, Grant, Lincoln, Summers, and Mingo, which were formed after statehood). Most of the eastern and southern counties did not support statehood, but were included for political, economic, and military purposes. The mountain range west of the Blue Ridge became the eastern border of West Virginia to provide a defense against Confederate invasion. One of the most controversial decisions involved the Eastern Panhandle counties, which supported the Confederacy. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, which ran through the Eastern Panhandle, was extremely important for the economy and troop movements. Inclusion of these counties removed all of the railroad from the Confederacy.
In terms of the constitution itself, the subject of slavery produced the most controversy. Delegate Gordon Battelle proposed the gradual emancipation of slaves already in the state and freedom to all children born to slaves after July 4, 1865. Although some delegates opposed Battelle's position, they knew they could not create a pro-slavery document and gain approval from Congress. Following much debate and compromise, the provision written into the constitution banned the introduction of slaves or free African Americans into the state of West Virginia, but did not address the issue of immediate or gradual emancipation.
The United States Constitution says a new state must gain approval from the original state, which never occurred in the case of West Virginia. Since the Restored Government was considered the legal government of Virginia, it granted permission to itself on May 13, 1862, to form the state of West Virginia.
When Congress addressed the West Virginia statehood bill, Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner demanded an emancipation clause to prevent the creation of another slave state. Restored Government Senator Carlile wanted a statewide election to decide the issue. Finally, a compromise between Senator Willey and Committee on Territories Chairman Benjamin Wade of Ohio, determined that, after July 4, 1863, all slaves in West Virginia over twenty-one years of age would be freed. Likewise, younger slaves would receive their freedom upon reaching the age of twenty-one. The Willey Amendment prohibited some slavery but it permitted the ownership of slaves under the age of twenty-one.
The United States Senate rejected a statehood bill proposed by Carlile which did not contain the Willey Amendment and then, on July 14, 1862, approved a statehood proposal which included the Willey Amendment. Carlile's vote against the latter bill made him a traitor in the eyes of many West Virginians and he was never again elected to political office. On December 10, 1862, the House of Representatives passed the act. On December 31, President Lincoln signed the bill into law, approving the creation of West Virginia as a state loyal to the Union without abolishing slavery. The next step was to put the statehood issue to a vote by West Virginia's citizens. Lincoln may have had his own reasons for creating the new state, knowing he could count on West Virginia's support in the 1864 presidential election. On March 26, 1863, the citizens of the fifty counties approved the statehood bill, including the Willey Amendment, and on June 20, the state of West Virginia was officially created.
In May 1863, the Constitutional Union party nominated Arthur I. Boreman to run for governor. Boreman ran unopposed, winning the election to become the first governor of West Virginia. The Restored Government of Virginia, with Pierpont continuing as governor, moved to Alexandria, Virginia and eventually to Richmond following the war. Pierpont ordered an election to allow the residents of Jefferson and Berkeley counties to determine whether their counties should be located in West Virginia or Virginia. Union troops were stationed outside polling places to intimidate those who might vote for Virginia. Despite local support for Virginia, residents who actually filled out ballots voted overwhelmingly to place both counties in West Virginia. In 1865, Pierpont's government challenged the legality of West Virginia statehood. In 1871, the United States Supreme Court awarded the counties of Jefferson and Berkeley to West Virginia.
The new state of West Virginia had sectional divisions of its own. While there was widespread support for statehood, public demands for the separation from Virginia came primarily from cities, namely Wheeling and Parkersburg. As a growing industrial region with improved transportation, northwestern Virginia businesses desired a more independent role in government. With the extension of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad to Wheeling in 1853 and Parkersburg in 1857, the northwest depended much less on Richmond and eastern Virginia markets.
Source: West Virginia Archives and History

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The Truth About The Confederate Battle Flag

Leon Puissegur