Richmond,
in eastern Virginia, is a seaport at the head of navigation on the
James River was first visited by Captain John
Smith in 1607. Named after Richmond, a small town on the Thames
in England, emigrants began settling in the area in 1637. In 1644
Fort Charles was built to protect the settlers from Native American
attacks. Richmond became the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia
in 1779.
Richmond was incorporated as a town in 1782 and as a city in 1842.
During most of the American Civil War Richmond
became the capital of the Confederacy. President Jefferson
Davis established his government in the city and therefore became
a major target of the Union Army.
By the summer of 1862 the main Union Army
under George McClellan was ready
to march on Richmond. McClellan and his 115,000 men encountered the
Confederate Army at Williamsburg on 4th
May. McClellan moved his troops into the
Shenandoah Valley and along with John
C. Fremont, Irvin McDowell and
Nathaniel Banks surrounded Thomas
Stonewall Jackson and his 17,000 man army.
Thomas Stonewall Jackson was under
orders from President Jefferson Davis
to try and delay the attack on Richmond. Jackson attacked John
C. Fremont at Cross Keys before turning on Irvin
McDowell at Port Republic. Jackson then rushed his troops east
to join up with Joseph E. Johnson and
the Confederate forces fighting George
McClellan.
In May, 1862, General Joseph
E. Johnson with some 41,800 men counter-attacked McClellan's slightly
larger army at Fair Oaks. The Union
Army lost 5,031 men and the Confederate
Army 6,134. Johnson was badly wounded during the battle and General
Robert E. Lee now took command of the Confederate
forces.
Two months later George McClellan
faced Robert E. Lee and Thomas
Stonewall Jackson at Antietam.
On 17th September, McClellan and Major General Ambrose
Burnside attacked with over 75,300 troops against 37,330
Confederate soldiers. Lee held out until Ambrose
Hill and reinforcements arrived. It was the most costly day of
the war with the Union Army having 2,108
killed, 9,549 wounded and 753 missing. Abraham
Lincoln now postponed attempts to capture Richmond and ordered
McClellan back to Washington with the words: "My dear McClellan:
If you don't want to use the Army I should like to borrow it for a
while."
In March 1865, William Sherman joined
Ulysses S. Grant and the main Union
Army at Petersburg. On 1st April Sherman attacked
at Five Forks. The Confederates,
led by Major General George Pickett,
were overwhelmed and lost 5,200 men. On hearing the news, Robert
E. Lee decided to abandon Richmond and join Joseph
E. Johnson in an attempt to halt Sherman's army in South Carolina.
President Jefferson Davis, his family
and government officials, was forced to flee from Richmond. The Union
Army took control of Richmond and
on 4th April Abraham Lincoln entered
the city. Protected by ten seamen, he walked the streets and when
one black man fell to his knees in front of him, Lincoln told him:
"Don't kneel to me. You must kneel to God only and thank him
for your freedom."
Richmond recovered rapidly after the American
Civil War. The city is a major tobacco market and a banking centre.
It now covers a land area of 155.7 square km (60.1 square miles).
Population increased to 219,214 in 1980 but then went into decline
and by 1998 had fallen to 194,173. According to the 1990 census blacks
constitute 55.4 per cent of the population.
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