Nevada in the American Civil War
[2] Largely isolated from the major theaters of the conflict, Nevada nonetheless served as an important target for political and economic strategists before and after gaining statehood.
Its main contribution to the cause came from its burgeoning mining industry: at least $400 million in silver ore from the Comstock Lode was used to finance the federal war effort.
The region had long held economic ties to northern industry and financing, especially after the discovery of gold and silver in the eastern Sierra Nevada in the late 1850s, and was populated predominantly by secular Unionists who opposed slavery and sought some sort of territorial incorporation to bolster the area's economic growth: either through annexation by California or organization as an independent territory.
In 1863 at the outpost of fort Churchill, California was tasked with training Nevada Volunteers to be officers adequate to the standards of the United States Army.
Similar to the role the Red Cross played later in history, The Sanitary Commission sought to find a way to help the wounded, sick and disabled soldiers of the war.
It started out as a wager between the owner of a grocery store (Reuel Gridley, Democrat) and the collector of internal revenue for Nevada Dr. H. S. Herrick, Republican.
"[11] Dr. H. S. Herrick won the wager and in turn the southern sympathizer marched through the streets carrying the flour sack, decorated with American flags and painted red white and blue.
Although not everyone in Nevada was for joining the Union, this helped to bring the state together to focus its efforts on an issue that both sides could see was good and beneficial for the overall well-being of the nation.
A common belief is that Nevada achieved early statehood due to its silver, but its admission to the Union was much more influenced by political concerns, not economic.
However, in strict military fashion, any strong sentiment that was pro-Confederate was struck down as Union army soldiers arrested the sympathizers and jailed them at Fort Churchill.
This perhaps contributed to the commander of Fort Churchill feeling additional paranoia about pro-Confederate sympathies in mining camps, and throughout the war Nevada was under martial law.
When news arrived of the Union defeat at the First Battle of Bull Run, with the New York Fire Zouaves in particular suffering heavy casualties, it was determined by the Virginia City firemen that they would book no celebrations by pro-Confederates, and they bullied any southern sympathizer they met that day by fist and weapons.
