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LOUISA, Virginia in the 1860s: 1 through 4 of 4

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  1. David Watson Prepares for Battle
    date December, 1860 to January, 1861map LOUISA, Virginiatags Economy, Government, War

    From December, 1860 to January, 1861 David Watson of Louisa County, Virginia wrote a series of letters back home to his mother. Watson enlisted in the Virginia militia and was writing from several locations, including Charleston, South Carolina at Fort Sumter. Built after the War of 1812 as one of a series of fortifications linking the southeastern coast, Fort Sumter fell on April 13, 1861 to Confederate...

  2. Working Women
    date August 26, 1866map LOUISA, Virginiatags Agriculture, Economy, Women

    Anne Watson was part of a wealthy Virginia plantation family that flourished in the 19th century in Louisa County. She lived a life of luxury and refinement until tragedy struck and she lost several children and her husband, all by 1853. After her husband's death, she was forced into a dominant role in the running of the household, in both the domestic and business spheres. This new role meant that...

  3. Brazil as the New South
    date June 8, 1867map LOUISA, Virginiatags African-Americans, Agriculture, Economy, Government, Politics, Migration/Transportation, Race-Relations, War

    For southern whites, the end of the Civil War ushered in a period of poverty, dependence, and hate. The Union soldiers had confiscated or destroyed much of the plantation owners' valuable property, and without property or the system of slavery that had sustained the South for so many generations, the agricultural economy plummeted and became extremely vulnerable to carpetbaggers and scalawags. Those...

  4. Freedmen and Union Soldiers
    date January 13, 1868map LOUISA, Virginiatags African-Americans, Law, Race-Relations

    Marcus Hopkins worked as a lawyer for the Bureau of Freedmen, Refugees, and Abandoned Lands (Freedmen's Bureau) after serving in the Union Army. His work with the Freedman's Bureau led him to buy a farm in Manassas, Virginia so he could be nearer to his offices in Louisa, Albemarle, and Orange Counties. He worked often to secure the individual rights of freedmen that many white southerners worked...