Virginia Convention of 1861 – Encyclopedia Virginia
A special election in January 1861 allowed Virginia voters the opportunity to pick delegates to the convention. To the dismay of secessionists in Virginia and across the South, of the 152 delegates they elected, a solid majority were Unionist. Desire to leave the Union had never been as strong in the Upper South, and some Unionists speculated that Virginia’s example might even draw the wayward Deep South back into the United States. When the convention met on February 13 in the Mechanics Institute at the foot of Capitol Square in Richmond, all of the factions favored delay. Radical secessio...