Life on the Virginia Home Front > No-Man's-Land

No-Man's-Land

Surrounding the federal garrisons that marked the area of Union occupation and extending to the Confederate frontier was a region where residents lived in a vacuum of authority, neither Union nor Confederate. Many fled from this no-man's-land to become refugees; those who remained—be they secessionists or unionists—endured deprivation, anxiety, and persecution. Not only were they robbed of necessities, but they lived a life of uncertainty because they rarely knew what the next day held. In addition, they were harassed by the two armies as well as by one another.

How The Suffered

In some parts of no-man's-land, Confederate sympathizers thought of themselves as captives in federal hands because at any moment the enemy would appear and dictate its will. Federal scouting patrols or foraging squads robbed them of food, livestock, and fencing. But pro-Confederate guerrillas also raided and plundered. Raiders from both sides paid little attention to the political stance of victims but instead were indiscriminate pillagers. Inevitably, farms shut down or farmers drastically reduced their planting, trade was diminished or halted, and most schools and churches closed their doors and vanished, as did local government. Many of the enslaved ran away, stragglers controlled the roads, and residents necessarily felt compelled to stay close to home.

Learn more about:   Northern Virginia   |   Tidewater   |   The Western Counties

Northern Virginia

The counties close to Washington saw the heaviest traffic of the war. This region was so devastated by the plunder of large armies that some citizens in Fairfax County were among the first in Virginia to face famine. Also early in the war and in the same way, thousands of troops from both sides ravaged the landscape near Winchester. Portions of both regions were so depopulated of people and livestock that travelers noted their unnatural appearance. Numerous accounts describe a desolate and empty no-man's-land.

Far Northern Counties

Unionists in the far northern counties felt far less compulsion than did their neighbors in southern Virginia to keep their political position to themselves. Pro-northern sentiment in Loudoun County, especially, swelled and was openly displayed. The unionists paid a price for their assertiveness: Confederate units arrested them on little provocation—for crossing picket lines, on the accusations of others, because of their birthplace, or on no evidence whatsoever. Unionists were persecuted as well by their secessionist neighbors who organized secret committees to threaten, frighten, and force their exodus. Union soldiers retaliated with the same tactic used by Confederate units—they unlawfully arrested secessionists, often on the accusation of spying or on no evidence. Both unionists and secessionists feared the stragglers who roamed the countryside.

Throughout this region and with relative ease, slaves escaped to freedom behind Union lines.

Read more contemporary accounts

Pictured: Virginia. Tracks of the Orange & Alexandria Railroad, destroyed by the Confederates between Bristow Station and the Rappahannock. Timothy H. O'Sullivan, October 1863 (Library of Congress)

Tidewater

Patrols from both armies roamed the no-man's-land of the Tidewater. Foraging expeditions left little or nothing for residents in their path. County governments ceased to function. Repeated thefts and misbehavior by Union soldiers ended all chance of conciliation, as the anxiety and panic of civilians gave way to acceptance and bitterness. By 1863, the frequency of enemy raids prompted citizens of King and Queen County to organize a home guard unit that patrolled and occasionally skirmished with federal detachments. In the same year, on a grander scale, residents of the region west of Suffolk suffered when Confederate general James Longstreet campaigned there. Families were trapped between the lines of the opposing armies. A year earlier, the landscape already had been overly foraged.

Some slaves escaped to Union ships that patrolled the waters of the Chesapeake Bay. More made their way to Fort Monroe, sometimes on the heel of Union patrols. By the time of the 1863 census, the garrison at Fort Monroe had lured 15,600 slaves.

Read more contemporary accounts

Pictured: White House Landing, Va. Ruins of the White House, burnt during the Federal evacuation, 1862 (Library of Congress)

The Western Counties

In 1861 and 1862, Union forces overran the Tygart and Kanawha valleys. The federal army, however, never garrisoned the region with sufficient troops to adequately sustain law and order. Instead, chaos reigned in many areas, because the population of the western counties was nearly equally divided between unionists and secessionists. Confederate irregulars, or guerrillas, who hid among the civilian population, contested the Union invasion, even in areas close to northern garrisons. Both sides took hostages, pillaged, and killed their neighbors, while unionists and secessionists each accused the other of inhumane behavior.

Read more contemporary accounts

Pictured: Adjutant and First Sergeants, 22d New York State Militia near Harper's Ferry, Va. 1862 (Library of Congress)

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