The Men of Randolph-Macon College and the Civil War

In 1861, talk of secession transformed into armed conflict. Many of the men educated at Randolph-Macon College in the preceding 29 years immediately responded to the calls of their state militias to serve, while others later enlisted or were conscripted into the Confederate or Union armies. Others served in public office, or were ultimately drawn into the conflict in the last days in reserve units in local defense. These are their stories.

Monday, September 19, 2011

James W. Hunnicutt, student 1834-1836

JAMES W. HUNNICUTT, a Methodist minister who attended R-MC from 1834-1836, had a different war experience and perspective on the conflict from most of the students, alumni, and faculty who sided with the South in the conflict. An ardent Unionist, Hunnicutt was editor of the Christian Banner newspaper in Fredericksburg at the outbreak of the war. He was forced to suspend publication during the first year of the war, then resumed publication for several months in 1862, but fled Fredericksburg under threat of death before the Confederate occupation in late 1862, spending the reminder of the war in Philadelphia.

In 1863, while in exile in Philadelphia, Hunnicutt published The Conspiracy Unveiled. The South Sacrificed; Or, The Horrors Of Secession (available online). A copy of this book is in the College Archives.