![]() Soldiers fighting for the Union viewed Washington as the father of the country they were fighting to preserve.Īnn Pamela Cunningham understood Mount Vernon's unique position in this time of crisis. Those fighting for the Confederacy viewed him as a native son of Virginia, which formally voted to secede from the United States in a referendum held on May 23, 1861. George Washington's legacy was revered by soldiers fighting on both sides of the Civil War. The stage was set for four years of hardships that would threaten the survival of the Mansion, and the caretakers dedicated to protecting it. In addition to Tracy, her friend and chaperone, Mary McMakin, there were also free African-American employees working at the estate, including Emily the cook, Priscilla the chambermaid, Frances, a maid, and George, the coachman and general assistant. Tracy was assisted by Upton Herbert, a Virginian and longtime friend of the Washington family, who was recommended for service as Resident Superintendent of the property by John Augustine Washington III, the last Washington to own Mount Vernon. Unable to return due to the start of the war and her own health issues, Cunningham entrusted the Mansion to her secretary, Sarah Tracy of Troy, New York. When the war began, Ann Pamela Cunningham, the founder of the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association and its first Regent, was at home in South Carolina managing her family's plantation after the death of her father. On April 12, 1861, Confederate artillery opened fire on Fort Sumter, in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina, signaling the start of the Civil War. ![]() After the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States in the fall of 1860, the country slid deeper into a sectional crisis that made armed conflict between the north and the south look inevitable.
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