On April 17, the Virginia convention voted to secede, pending ratification of the decision by the voters. With the entry of Virginia into the Confederacy, a decision was made in May to move the Confederate capital from Montgomery, Alabama, to Richmond, in part because the defense of Virginia's capital was deemed strategically vital to the Confederacy's survival regardless of its political status. Virginians ratified the articles of secession on May 23. The following day, the Union army moved into northern Virginia and captured Alexandria without a fight.
Virginia's ordinance of secession was ratified in a referendum held on May 23, 1861, by a vote of 132,201 to 37,451.[32] The referendum was a perfunctory endorsement of the state government's decision to join the Confederacy and was not a free and fair election. The Confederate Congress proclaimed Richmond to be new capital of the Confederacy and Confederate troops moved in to northern Virginia before the referendum was held.Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_in_the_American_Civil_War
Looks to me like Virginia declared war on the United States before and Union troops set foot on Virginia soil.
Quite the contrary. The Virginia delegation insisted that the Federal government withdraw from Ft. Sumpter. Lincoln did not. Lincoln then insisted that Virginia take up arms against South Carolina, and Virginia refused.
Virginia rejected the request as unconstitutional - that troops be levied in Virginia for attacks on another state.
Lincoln had already mobilized and with the attack on Ft. Sumpter, declared that he intended to attack South Carolina.
“Looks to me like Virginia declared war on the United States before and Union troops set foot on Virginia soil.”
Then why didn’t the Confederacy march on Washinton?