West Virginia, "Child of the Storm," was the only state formed as a result of the Civil War. The struggle between eastern and western Virginia over voting rights, taxation, and economic development can be traced back to the formation of the Republic. John Brown's 1859 raid on the United States Arsenal at Harpers Ferry played a major role in the Civil War, which started in western Virginia with the destruction of Baltimore & Ohio Railroad property. When Virginia voted to secede and join the slave-holding Confederacy, the counties of western Virginia formed the pro-Union government known as the Restored Government of Virginia in Wheeling. West Virginia witnessed battles, engagements, and guerrilla actions during the four years of the Civil War. West Virginia in the Civil War chronicles the role West Virginians played in the Civil War through the use of vintage photographs.
