West Virginia in the American Civil War West Virginia in the American Civil War The U.S. state of West Virginia was formed out of western Virginia and added to the Union as a direct result of the American Civil War (see History of West Virginia), in which it became the only state to declare its independence from the Confederacy. In the summer of 1861, Union troops, which included a number of newly-formed Unionist "Virginia" regiments under General George McClellan, drove off Confederate troops under General Robert E. Lee. This essentially freed Unionists in the northwestern counties of Virginia to form a functioning government of their own as
Foreign enlistment in the American Civil War Foreign enlistment in the American Civil War Foreign enlistment in the American Civil War largely favored the Union, which was far more successful in attracting international volunteers. Nonetheless, thousands of immigrants and mercenaries served with the Confederacy. Although the Union Army's most significant foreign-born contingents comprised Irish- and German-Americans, regiments such as the 79th New York Highlanders, initially formed in the 1850s, consisted completely of descendants of Scottish immigrants before accepting Irish, English and others into its ranks during the early years of the war. It should be noted that these immigrants had been living in the US for years