The U.S. state of West Virginia was formed out of western Virginia and added to the Union as a direct result of the American Civil War (see History of West Virginia), in which it became the only modern state to have declared its independence from the Confederacy. In the summer of 1861, Union troops, which included a number of newly formed Western Virginia regiments, under General George McClellan, drove off Confederate troops under General Robert E. Lee. This essentially freed Unionists in the northwestern counties of Virginia to form a functioning government of their own as a result of the Wheeling Convention. Before the admission of West Virginia as a state, the government in Wheeling formally claimed jurisdiction over all of Virginia, although from its creation it was firmly committed to the formation of a separate state.
After Lee's departure, western Virginia continued to be a target of Confederate raids. Both the Confederate and state governments in Richmond refused to recognize the creation of the new state in 1863, and thus for the duration of the war the Confederacy regarded its own military offensives within West Virginia not as invasion but rather as an effort to liberate what it considered to be enemy-occupied territory administered by an illegitimate government in Wheeling. Nevertheless, due to its increasingly precarious military position and desperate shortage of resources, Confederate military actions in what it continued to regard as "western Virginia" focused less on reconquest as opposed to both on supplying the Confederate Army with provisions as well as attacking the vital Baltimore and Ohio Railroad that linked the northeast with the Midwest, as exemplified in the Jones-Imboden Raid. Guerrilla warfare also gripped the new state, especially in the Allegheny Mountain counties to the east, where loyalties were much more divided than in the solidly Unionist northwest part of the state. Despite this, the Confederacy was never able to seriously threaten the Unionists' overall control of West Virginia.
History
Political events
On April 17, 1861, the Virginia state convention in Richmond declared secession. There were 49 delegates representing the 50 counties that became West Virginia. On April 17 they voted 32 against the ordinance, 13 in favor, and 4 absent or abstained. The convention adjourned on May 1, to be reconvened in June. Most of the 49 delegates returned to Richmond in June and a majority signed the ordinance of secession. Of the 49 delegates 29 signed the ordinance.
On May 15, western Virginia Unionists convened the first session of the Wheeling Convention. Most of the 436 delegates were informally selected or self-appointed, over 1/3 were from the 4 counties of the northern panhandle. The convention denounced secession and called for a more formal selection of delegates. No official county elections for delegates were held though as most county officials were still supportive of the Richmond government.
The public vote on Virginia's secession ordinance was held on May 23, 1861. In the counties that became West Virginia vote returns were conflicting or numbers given by majorities rather than total returns. Historian Richard O. Curry estimated that the combined vote ran approximately 34,677 against the ordinance and 19,121 in favor, with nearly half the counties voting for secession.
The Second Wheeling Convention met on 11 June. On 20 June the convention declared that by acceding to secession the officials of the state government in Richmond had forfeited their offices, which the convention declared vacant. The convention then selected replacements for these state offices, creating the Restored Government of Virginia.
The "Restored" government was generally supported by the counties of the northern panhandle and those counties along the B&O railroad line. Union troops also held the three northernmost counties in the Shenandoah Valley, and despite the pro-secession views of most residents, these counties were also administered by the "Restored" government.
At the Wheeling Convention, some delegates proposed the immediate establishment of a separate state. However, other delegates pointed out that the creation of a new state would require the consent of Virginia, under Article IV of the Constitution. Thus it was necessary to establish the Restored Government of Virginia to give that consent, which was granted 20 August 1861.