Richmond named as Confederate capital
05/30/1861 AD moved to
The Confederacy names Richmond as its new capital, and the last two sessions of the Provisional Congress are held in the new capital.
The Confederacy's need for war materiel played a very significant role in its decision to move its capital from Montgomery, AL to Richmond, despite its dangerous northern location 100 miles south of the United States capital in Washington, DC. It was mainly for this industrial reason that the Confederates fought so hard to defend the city. The capital of the Confederacy could easily be moved again if necessary, but Richmond's industry and factories could not be moved.
Richmond was the only large-scale industrial city controlled by the Confederacy during most of the Civil War. The city's warehouses were the supply and logistical center for Confederate forces. The city's Tredegar Iron Works, the 3rd largest foundry in the United States at the start of the war, produced most of the Confederate artillery, including a number of giant rail-mounted siege cannons.
Richmond, was also chosen to encourage other border states to follow Virginia into the Confederacy. In the political moment it was a show of "defiance and strength". The war for Southern independence was surely to be fought in Virginia, but it also had the largest Southern military-aged white population, with infrastructure, resources, and supplies required to sustain a war. The Davis Administration's policy was that, "It must be held at all hazards."
Lattitude: 37.5407° N
Longitude: 77.436° W
Region: North America
Modern Day United States
