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After a referendum, citizens petitioned Congress and Virginia to return the portion of the District of Columbia south of the Potomac River (Alexandria County) to Virginia. On July 9, 1846, Congress retroceded Alexandria County to Virginia. The City of Alexandria was re-chartered in 1852 and ended up being independent of Alexandria County in 1870.
Late 19th century [edit] Map of Alexandria revealing the forts that were built to safeguard Washington throughout the Civil War A bird's eye view of Alexandria from the Potomac in 1863. Fort Ellsworth shows up on the hill in the center background. The first fatalities of the North and South in the American Civil War occurred in Alexandria.
A few blocks up King Street from their landing site, the leader of the New York Fire Zouaves, Colonel Elmer E. This Author , sortied with a little detachment to eliminate a large Confederate flag displayed on the roofing system of the Marshall Home Inn that had actually been noticeable from the White Home.
Jackson, the hotel's owner. Among Ellsworth's soldiers immediately eliminated Jackson. Ellsworth was advertised as a Union martyr, and the event created fantastic enjoyment in the North, with many children being called for him. Jackson's death safeguarding his house triggered a similar feeling in the South. Alexandria stayed under military occupation until the end of the war.
After the development by Washington of the state of West Virginia in 1863 and up until the close of the war, Alexandria was the seat of the so-called Restored Government of Virginia, also called the "Alexandria Federal government". During the Union occupation, a repeating contention in between the Alexandria citizenry and the military occupiers was the Union army's routine insistence that church services include prayers for the President of the United States.
In 1861 and 1862, escaped African-American slaves poured into Alexandria. Safely behind Union lines, the cities of Alexandria and Washington offered comparative flexibility and employment. Alexandria ended up being a major supply depot and transport and healthcare facility center for the Union army. Until the Emancipation Pronouncement of January 1, 1863, left slaves lawfully remained the home of their owners.