January 21, 1861
Correspondence of the Richmond Dispatch.
Public Sentiment West of the Mountains.
Greenbrier Co., Va., Jan. 16, 1861.
Persons here are glad to see that the Dispatch denies a want of loyalty to the State west of the Blue Ridge. Public sentiment in this county has changed much in the last few weeks. We have some violent secessionists, who land the brave and manly course of South Carolina. Still, the majority say we must now secede, though we abhor the idea of following South Carolina. Some of the leaders who followed Governor Letcher's theory now yield a mournful acquiescence, adding that it galls them to be drawn into civil war by a ranting little State. But the secessionists are fast making converts. In case of civil war I have no doubt that Greenbrier will furnish some as brave and loyal troops as ever marched to repel an invader. There are several volunteer companies in the county.
Of the three newspapers in Lewisburg, one urges secession, a second opposes coercion, and the third deprecates civil war; or, rather, the two last are Whig, waiting for the interposition of Providence to avert the impending calamity.
The weather for some days has been clear, cold and calm. The snow is disappearing. --Neither the Greenbrier river nor any of its considerable tributaries have been frozen over his winter.
Charley.
Timeline of West Virginia: Civil War and Statehood: Undated: January 1861