John Schofield & Virginia Reconstruction

Union General John M. Schofield controlled Virginia as the First Military District after the First Reconstruction Act. He ordered military officers to divide the state into sub-districts to recreate new local courts and register Freedmen as voters. Pierpont subsequently suspended all local elections across the state after 1867 until the Virginia Constitutional Convention because of the use of loyalty oaths in holding public office. Pierpont wrote a letter to Johnson on March 8, 1867, that stated the Virginia General Assembly voted unanimously to appoint Schofield as military Commander of the First Military District. He ordered that public offices, in the event of a vacancy, must be filled from the approved list created by Unionists. His voter registration order allowed one thousand eight hundred and forty-nine Freedmen to vote out of a total of three thousand two hundred and fifty-four. Freedmen consisted of approximately fifty-seven percent of the vote in Alexandria for the October 22, 1867 election. Schofield’s actions enabled Freedmen of Alexandria to select their delegates to the 1867 Convention and increase their voice for Black Suffrage. Schofield opposed the Fourteenth Amendment but urged Virginia to ratify the amendment to rejoin the Union. Schofield later wrote in his memoirs and blamed Johnson for the Virginia General Assembly’s rejection of the Fourteenth Amendment. Schofield assumed command of Virginia on March 13, 1867, and witnessed Virginia local elections that selected delegates to the 1868 Convention. Freedmen in Alexandria used this opportunity to vote for delegates to attend the 1868 Convention. Freedmen realized that suffrage became inevitable after the beginning of Virginia Reconstruction.

Schofield suspended elections in Alexandria, Virginia until the end of Virginia Reconstruction after the First Reconstruction Act. He had the power to make arrests, conduct military trials for civilians, dismiss civil authorities and held complete control of the state government. Nevertheless, he did not interfere with the existing government powers when he allowed Pierpont to remain as Virginia Governor until Alexandria Freedmen demanded Pierpont be replaced. Congress demanded that Schofield create new lists of voters within the First Military District that included Alexandria. The provision stated that adult male African Americans were qualified and should be registered to vote. Nevertheless, Virginias that supported the Confederacy were denied the right to vote or hold public office.  Freedmen in Alexandria used the period of Radical Reconstruction to continue to advocate for their rights. Alexandria Freedmen selected delegates to the Convention despite Schofield’s actions to suspend local elections. Freedmen gathered in Richmond and Alexandria native R. D. Beckley opposed a potential resolution to confiscate former Confederates land. Beckley representing Alexandria Freedmen and other delegates pledged allegiance to the Republican Party, called for equal political and legal rights for men and advocated for free public school education. Freedmen in Alexandria were determined to take action through their delegate to continue to push for Black Suffrage.