Wilson was Staunton, Virginia born, central_va's country.
His Dad was a Confederate Army chaplain and young Woodrow's first memory was learning of Lincoln's election, and there would be war.
- "The young future President lived through the four years of the war in Augusta, watching as troops marched in streets and wounded Confederate soldiers were brought in by train for treatment in the local hospitals.
Like other local boys he undoubtedly marveled as the massive Confederate Powder Works was built and put into operation on the Augusta Canal.
He also probably listened with both fear and excitement as stories spread of Sherman's March to the Sea and watched as Confederate soldiers erected earthworks to defend the city, even loopholing the wall of nearby Magnolia Cemetery.
In 1865, as the war ended, young Woodrow Wilson saw an American President for the first time.
The leader was Confederate President Jefferson Davis, who was brought to Augusta following his capture by Federal troops at Irwinton, Georgia.
Rev. Dr. Wilson [Woodrow's father] and his family still lived in the Manse in 1870 when he took his thirteen year old son to see General Robert E. Lee, who was visiting Augusta on his final Southern tour.
It was a striking moment for the young future president."
Young Wilson was Southern bred & born, a child of the Confederacy whose early heroes were Davis & Lee.
And he was a Democrat, which then as now did not necessarily imply "conservative".