Two Virginias Much of Virginia's initial hesitancy to join the Confederacy is due to the lack of support in West Virginia, which at this time is still part of Virginia. But with few plantations, it has little interest in secession. When West Virginia splits away, Virginia promptly joins the Confederacy, which moves its capital to Richmond. The rest of the war will be a titanic struggle to defend Richmond.

	Confederate War Machine Richmond is the iron-working center of the entire Confederacy, and the most important source of weapons and munitions. With the help of slave and child labor, it produces 1,100 cannons during the war, over 60,000 muskets, and 70 million musket cartridges. Girls between ages 9 and 12 each make 1200 cartridges per day. The factory at bottom (shown partially destroyed, after the war) produces most of the heavy weapons, while the mill at top right produces iron plating for gunboats.
	Too Close for Comfort The first big battle of the war is a rushed affair, with both sides scrambling to gain an early advantage. Union troops meet Rebels occupying a settled defensive position, just 30 miles south of Washington. Sentiment is so positive in the North that spectators drive their carriages to the battlefield, expecting to see the Rebels get thrashed. But when Confederate reinforcements arrive by rail in the afternoon, the tide turns, and the Union retreat quickly turns into a wild rout. It's a bad start for the North.