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Re: March 21, 1864
In Response To: March 21, 1864 ()

Annually, on the first Saturday of June, our local SCV Camp, The Lt. Dixon - CSS Hunley Camp #2016, Sparks, NV, reenacts in Virginia City, the one brief period of time that the Stars and Bars flew over Nevada, at Virginia City, on June 5, 1861. An excerpt of this event in the following article incorrectly states the event as occuring on June 7.

Wikipedia, see below, states the population requirement as 60,000.

Of further interest, on June 10, 1870, veterans of both of Union and Confederate armies met in Virginia City, to form a joint organization "The Order of Union and Confederate Veterans," the O. U. and C. V. Meetings were held monthly at the Odd Fellows' Hall. Annually they held a Grand Ball in January. Memorial Days, they marched in the procession to place flowers at the graves of soldiers from both North & South. A similiar organization arose in Fresno, California some ten years later.

George Martin

Captain Tredwell Moore, along with twenty men, was dispatched from Fort Churchill on June 6th, 1861 to check out rumors of Confederate agents being active in some of the mining camps. Captain Moore along with U. S. Marshall John Blackburn confiscated arms from the citizens in Carson City, then marched on to Silver City where he confiscated twenty-one more arms, and then on to Virginia City. There he was to investigate the flying of the Confederate flag.

The Confederate flag was flaunted only once in a public place. June 7th of 1861 the proprietor of a store on the corner of Sutton Avenue and A Street, John L. Newman hoisted the flag over his business. He stood outside along with a small group of sympathizers to protect it. Immediately after, his very own business partner, R. M. Waterhouse, hoisted a Union flag on the other end of the building. Armed with a pistol he swore he’d kill anyone that dared to try and take it down.

This stand-off aroused the citizens and excitement filled the air. For only a few hours danger seemed to be inviting a civil war of their very own. But the better part of discretion prevailed, and the rebellious emblem was removed, never again to reappear in Nevada. But not exactly by choice . . . .

Captain Moore investigated the raising of the flag and was told by the proprietor it was only meant as a joke, and to create a little excitement. Captain Moore however wasn't to take the incident lightly and looked at the matter from a different prospective.

Believing there was a secret organization in Virginia City he rode in with twenty dragoons and formed two companies of fifty Volunteers each upon his arrival. He gave them the confiscated arms, had them swear an oath to protect the Union and to suppress any rebellious actions. This was the first step towards placing Nevada under martial law [http://www.nevada-history.org/civil_war.html]

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The neutrality of this article is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved. (June 2008)

During the American Civil War, Nevada's entry into full statehood in the United States was expedited. Union sympathizers were so eager to gain statehood for Nevada that they rushed to send the entire state constitution by telegraph to the United States Congress before the presidential election and they did not believe that sending it by train would guarantee that it would arrive on time. The constitution was sent on October 31, just eight days before the election on November 7, 1864. The Nevada state constitution remains the largest and costliest transmission by telegraph. It had less than 40,000 inhabitants when it gained statehood (territories needed 60,000 to petition for statehood), far fewer than the initial population of any other state. President of the United States Abraham Lincoln wanted an additional Northern state that would presumably vote for his reelection, and help force pro-Northern ideas into new amendments to the United States Constitution. In total, Nevada sent 1,200 men to fight for the Union.[1]

Nevada's main contribution to the war was the Comstock Lode, whose silver totaling $400 million financed the Union Civil War effort to defeat the southern states. A common belief is that Nevada achieved early statehood due to its silver, but as the Union already had Nevada's silver due to Nevada being its territory, its statehood was due to political concerns, not economic.[2][3]

There were several sympathizers to the Confederate States of America in Nevada during the War; in fact, of the "Pacific Coast" states, none had more southern supporters.[citation needed] In Virginia City, in particular, sentiment towards the warring sides was split evenly. However, in strict military fashion any strong sentiment that was pro-Confederate was struck down as Union army soldiers arrested the sympathizers and jailed them indefinitely at Fort Churchill, with special corporal punishment inflicted upon these prisoners, until such time as they swore a loyalty oath to the Union. The only time a Confederate flag was flown in the state was at a stone saloon, and defended by gunpoint by one of the saloon's owners until the owner's partner convinced him to change the flag to the United States flag before troops from Fort Churchill forced the matter, causing the commander of Fort Churchill to feel additional paranoia about pro-Confederate sympathies in mining camps, and throughout the war Nevada would be under martial law.[1] [4]

One organization particularly pro-Union was the Virginia City Fire Department. Many of them were originally from New York, and had strong feelings for the New York Fire Zouaves, who many had known when they lived back east. When news arrived of the Union defeat at the First Battle of Manassas, with the New York Fire Zouaves in particular suffering heavy casualties, it was determined by the Virginia City firemen that they would book no celebrations by pro-Confederates, and they bullied any southern sympathizer they met that day by fist and weapons.[1]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nevada_in_the_American_Civil_War]

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