Virginia Time Travel: October 2020

Richmond Hospitals 1861-1865

Richmond became a major hospital center during the Civil War. The Moore Hospital is seen below. Running a hospital presented many challenges, none more challenging than obtaining supplies. When the Civil War began, the Federal government cut off sales of medical supplies to the Confederacy. Unable to import enough medical supplies, the South began manufacturing medicines from its own native plants.

Chimborazo Hospital, Richmond, Va., April, 1865 (seen below) was the largest Confederate hospital. With over five thousand beds in 150 buildings and tents, Chimborazo Hospital treated over 77,000 patients during the war. The hospital relied on male slaves rented from local plantation owners to serve as nurses.

Women Doctors in the Civil War

Treasure Legends of Virginia

Richmond Offices of the Confederate Government 1861-1865

The Custom House, the first Federal building ever built in Richmond is seen below. This building provided offices for Confederate President Jefferson Davis and other executive staff, including the Confederate Treasury Department. At the end of the Civil War, the Richmond evacuation fire of 1865 left much of Richmond in ruins.

The view from the south side of Canal Basin is seen below, showing the Capitol, the Custom House and other structures after the fire of April, 1865.

The Custom House is seen below. With its stout granite walls and inflammable roof, the building survived the fire. In 1866, the Grand Jury of the United States District Court met on the third floor and indicted Jefferson Davis for treason. Davis was granted amnesty and never stood trial.

The Civil War Wedding

Civil War Humor 1861-1865

Woodrow Wilson's "Beast"

At the Woodrow Wilson Museum, Staunton, Virginia

Woodrow Wilson returned from the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 to be greeted by cheering crowds and this gleaming new Pierce-Arrow limousine.

Leased by the U.S. Government, this car quickly became the President’s favorite. One of the finest luxury cars of the day, Pierce-Arrow sold cars to the Emperor of Japan, the Shah of Persia, the King of Greece and royalty throughout Europe and the Middle East. The company was often referred to as “the American Rolls-Royce.”

When Wilson left office, five of his wealthy Princeton classmates bought the car and presented it as a gift to the ex-president. Although the first president to join the American Automobile Association (AAA), Wilson never had a driver’s license. His wife Edith, however, owned and drove her own electric car.

Edith Wilson and her electric car

The Gilded Age and Revolution

U.S. Intervention in Latin America 1898-1948

The Tredegar Iron Works, Richmond (1861-1865)

Once Virginia seceded, the Confederate government moved the capital from Montgomery, Alabama to Richmond, Virginia. Richmond was the South’s second largest city with a population of 40,000 (this tripled in the war years). The move served to solidify the state of Virginia’s position in the Confederacy. Virginia’s hundreds of factories, whose output nearly equaled that of the rest of the Confederacy, were vital to the new nation.

Richmond 1861-1865

Richmond was the iron and coal center of the South. The Tredegar Iron works manufactured a diverse array of products, including cannon and ordnance for the Confederate government. Tredegar produced more than 1,000 cannons for the Confederacy. It also made armor plating for use on Confederate ironclad warships.