The world after: Central Virginia in the wake of the Civil War

Authors

Harry Caldwell, James Madison UniversityFollow

Preferred Name

Harry Caldwell

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

Date of Graduation

5-9-2024

Semester of Graduation

Spring

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Department of History

Second Advisor

Andrew Witmer

Third Advisor

Jonathan Jones

Fourth Advisor

Patrick Schroeder

Abstract

This thesis examines the situation in Central Virginia following the surrender of Appomattox. Its primary focus is on the Federal Provost Guard who were sent back into the region in the month following the Surrender. It begins in March 1865, introducing the world that the Provost will be thrown into that summer, and it will go month to month until January 1866, when the Provost have fully departed from the region and power was fully turned over to civilian authorities. This research is primarily built of the General Orders that were printed in the Lynchburg newspaper, The Daily Virginian, or The Virginian, as it was sometimes titled. Once printed, these orders remained in circulation in the papers throughout the entire year. Just by looking at the number of General Orders printed, from May when the Provost arrive, to December with their departure, a gradual shift in power from the Provost to the reformed local governments and the Freedmen’s Bureau and be observed. This serves as a microcosm for the Reconstruction as a whole, where it begins with a strong military presence but ends with handing power back over to White civilians, many of whom were former Confederates. This is Graduate study on the Provost Guard in Central Virginia using primarily the General Orders that were printed in Lynchburg. It should be acknowledged that other sources, particularly the records of the Freedmen’s Bureau, were available, but due to the timing and the size of this project, many of those have not been included. To assist with the writing, a digital Storymap was created. This map shows how the Sub-District was divided up and which counties were included in it, and how the Sub-District changed throughout the year. Furthermore, it helps pinpoint the location of certain events. While not every location is known to be exact, it gives an estimation of the events that happen. Some events happen over top of each other, so they are spread out for clarity.