|
|
|
| Tuesday June 11, 1861 |
A convention is held in Wheeling, Virginia by the were the western
counties of Virginia discuss separation from the state of Virginia.
The Wheeling convention will result in the formation of a new
state, West Virginia, which will be pro-union.
Delegates gathered at Washington Hall in Wheeling to determine
a course of action for northwestern Virginia. Committees on
Organization, Rules and Credentials were immediately
established. The Committee on Credentials ruled that 88
delegates, representing 32 counties, were entitled to seats in the
convention, and the Committee on Permanent Organization
selected Arthur I. Boreman to serve as president of the
convention. Boreman acknowledged that "in this Convention we
have no ordinary political gathering. We have no ordinary task
before us. We come here to carry out and execute, and it may be,
to institute a government for ourselves. We are determined to live
under a State Government in the United States of America and
under the Constitution of the United States. It requires stout
hearts to execute this purpose; it requires men of courage - of
unfaltering determination; and I believe, in the gentlemen who
compose this Convention, we have the stout hearts and the men
who are determined in this purpose."
Colonel Edward R. S. Canby is placed in charge of the
Department of New Mexico. Colonel William W. Loring had
abandoned the department to join the Confederacy.
Professor Thaddeus Lowe meets with President Lincoln to discuss
the use of balloons in the war.
In Missouri there is a meeting between opposing forces.
A meeting takes place at Planter's House hotel between Governor
Claiborne F. Jackson, General Sterling Price (accompanied by
Colonel Thomas L. Snead) and Nathanial Lyon, Frank Blair
(accompanied by Major Conant). It ended with Lyon making the
famous proclamation as recorded by Snead:
"Finally, when the conference had lasted four or five hours, Lyon
closed it, as he had opened it, Rather,' said he (he was still
seated, and spoke deliberately, slowly, and with a peculiar
emphasis), 'rather than concede to the State of Missouri the right
to demand that my Government shall not enlist troops within her
limits, or bring troops into the State whenever it pleases, or move
its troops at its own will into, out of, or through the State; rather
than concede to the State of Missouri for one single instant the
right to dictate to my Government in any matter however
unimportant, I would (rising as he said this and pointing in turn to
every one in the room) see you, and you, and you, and you, and
every man, woman, and child in the State, dead and buried.'
"Then turning to the Governor, he said: 'This means war. In an
hour one of my officers will call for you and conduct you out of my
lines.'