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The members were elected, and the convention met at the time and place appointed, the whole number of the members being one hundred and fifty-two.
Remarkable body.
As the list of the names of this convention will show, it was a very remarkable body of men, and in every respect worthy of the trust that the people of
Virginia had confided in them.
The political sentiments of the Virginia Convention of 1861, on its assembling, were strongly Union, and this was the true reflection of the feelings of the people of
Virginia at that time; but events were occurring outside of the
State of Virginia, over which the
Virginia people had no control, that were calculated to destroy the peace of the country.
By this last remark special reference is made to the increased manufacture of arms and munitions of war by the
Northern States, and the threatening attitude of the
National Government towards the seceded States.
Abraham Lincoln had been elected
President of the
United States in the fall of 1860, and on the 4th of March, 1861, was inducted into office.
His inaugural address on this occasion greatly excited the
Virginia people, and the convention appointed three eminent men to confer with
Mr. Lincoln at
Washington in regard to his intentions towards the seceded States.
To this commission no satisfactory reply had been made, when events that were occurring at
Fort Sumter, S. C., engrossed the public attention.
On the 12th day of April, 1861, the garrison at
Fort Sumter surrendered to
General Beauregard, commanding the Confederate forces.
