The “untouchable” Civil War bridge that created a Union state

Wheeling Bridge’s Protection Enabled West Virginia’s Union Birth

The Wheeling Suspension Bridge stood firm while Confederate raiders tore up the region.

By 1861, rebels had burned 23 railroad bridges and wrecked over 380 rail cars, yet they never touched this vital crossing. Why?

The bridge sat in Union-held Wheeling, where 100 delegates met to form a new government loyal to the North. Later that year, locals voted to split from Virginia.

Meanwhile, the bridge’s designer, Charles Ellet Jr. , built warships for the Union.

Without this untouchable span, West Virginia might not exist.

The bridge still spans the Ohio River today, waiting for you to walk its historic 1,010-foot length.

Stonewall Jackson Wrecked the B&O Railroad

In 1861, Colonel Thomas Jackson hit the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad hard. His Confederate troops ripped up rails, burned freight cars, and took locomotives for the South.

The damage was huge – 23 burned bridges, 42 wrecked locomotives, 14 more taken, and 386 rail cars stolen or ruined before year’s end. Jackson shut down the vital B&O for ten months.

During the war, Confederate forces attacked the railroad 143 separate times.

Rebel Raiders Burned Every Bridge Except One

Confederate attacks on the B&O railroad kept going through the war’s second half. They targeted the railroad because it moved Union troops and supplies quickly to Washington.

Southern raiders wrecked 26 bridges, blew up a tunnel, ruined two locomotives, and tore up miles of track and telegraph lines.

Oddly, while Confederates knocked down bridges all along the B&O line, they never touched the bridge in Union-held Wheeling. The Union had to post troops along the entire railroad for protection.

Wheeling’s Bridge Connected East and West

By 1840, Wheeling grew into Virginia’s second largest city. Local business owners pushed to become a B&O railroad endpoint linking to cheap river shipping.

The Wheeling Suspension Bridge joined the National Road to the Ohio River crossing, making the city a transport hub.

Wheeling boomed as an industrial city thanks to the B&O connection and its spot as a major Ohio River port. Charles Ellet Jr.

built the world’s longest suspension bridge there in 1849.

Western Virginians Gathered to Oppose Secession

The First Wheeling Convention met from May 13-15, 1861, bringing together people from northwestern Virginia counties. They came to decide what to do if Virginia left the United States.

Nearly two-thirds of the votes against secession came from northwestern Virginia, showing strong Union support.

Over 400 people at this first meeting waited on creating a new state until after Virginia’s secession vote on May 23. John Carlile pushed for quick action to “show our loyalty to Virginia and the Union.

Virginia Split Apart Over Secession

On May 23, the 48 counties that later formed West Virginia split evenly, with half voting to break from the Union.

When western Virginians voted on statehood on October 24, 1861, the results showed 18,408 for and just 781 against.

But voter turnout in some counties was as low as 5%, with Union soldiers standing at polling places to keep Confederate supporters away.

Federal authorities arrested many pro-Confederate citizens at Wheeling’s request and sent them to prison camps, mostly to Camp Chase in Columbus, Ohio.

Union Loyalists Created Their Own Government

The Second Wheeling Convention started on June 11, 1861, with 100 people from 34 counties meeting at the city’s custom house.

On June 20, they picked new officers for the “Restored Government of Virginia” and chose Francis Pierpont from Marion County as governor.

President Lincoln and Congress quickly accepted this new government as Virginia’s real authority.

Union troops crossed the Ohio River and joined with pro-Union Virginia volunteers to push Confederate forces away from Grafton.

The Bridge Helped Birth a New State

People gathered in Wheeling on November 26, 1861, to write a constitution for their planned state.

During this meeting, they changed the name to West Virginia, added five more counties to their land, and adopted a policy of “negro exclusion.”

The Constitutional Convention had 61 members picked through unusual ways – some even spoke for counties they didn’t live in.

On February 18, 1862, they approved the constitution, and western voters backed it on April 24, 1862.

The Bridge Builder Became a War Hero

Charles Ellet Jr. , who designed the Wheeling Suspension Bridge, got a job as colonel in March 1862 and created the United States Ram Fleet on the Mississippi River.

War Secretary Edwin Stanton knew Ellet’s work on the Wheeling bridge and made him a colonel of engineers. On June 6, Ellet led four ram ships in the First Battle of Memphis, helping the Union navy win.

Sadly, a Confederate shooter hit him in the knee during the battle, and he died 15 days later from a blood infection.

Confederate Raiders Never Reached Wheeling

The Jones-Imboden Raid in April and May 1863 aimed to wreck the B&O Railroad and stop the West Virginia statehood movement.

The raiders wanted to grab supplies, cut the railroad, find new recruits, and if possible, crush the Union government in Wheeling.

Confederate forces took more than 4,000 cattle, up to 2,000 horses, and around 1,000 weapons while destroying 26 bridges.

Yet despite all these raids across western Virginia, the Wheeling bridge stayed safe and protected.

Lincoln Backed the New Border State

On May 6, Governor Pierpont agreed to split Virginia as the U. S.

Constitution required. On May 29, 1862, Virginia’s U.S. Senator Waitman Willey showed the new state plan to the Senate.

President Lincoln signed the statehood paper on April 20, 1863, just weeks before the Jones-Imboden Raid began. Congress officially accepted West Virginia as the 35th state on June 20, 1863, with U.S. Army troops protecting it from Confederate forces.

Wheeling’s Bridge Became the Union’s Secret Weapon

The Wheeling Suspension Bridge played a crucial role for Union forces during the Civil War by making the Wheeling Conventions possible.

These meetings created the Restored Government of Virginia, heavily supported by counties along the B&O Railroad.

While Confederate raiders tore down bridges throughout Virginia and West Virginia, they never reached Wheeling’s protected position.

The bridge served as the Union’s hidden advantage – an untouchable crossing that helped create a new Union state while Confederate forces destroyed transportation links everywhere else in the region.

Visiting Wheeling Suspension Bridge, West Virginia

The Wheeling Suspension Bridge is closed to cars since September 2019, but you can still walk across when it’s not being repaired.

This National Historic Landmark at 10th Street helped create West Virginia during the Civil War when Confederates destroyed other bridges but left this one alone.

Check out the historical marker on the Wheeling side, then walk half a mile to West Virginia Independence Hall where the state was born.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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