5. None of the seceding states lost territory from the war
Most of the states which seceded from the Union in 1860 and 1861 later returned to it with their borders the same as they were when they left. The notable exception is Virginia. Unlike the states of the Deep South, especially South Carolina, secession was far from popular in Virginia. Its first attempt at secession was voted down. Not until after the southern attack on Fort Sumter did the state again debate secession. That convention was attended by emissaries from other states which had already seceded. They lobbied hard to get Virginia to join them, and Lincoln’s call for volunteers helped them sway the vote. Yet anti-secession forces remained strong in Virginia, especially in the mountainous western counties. There, representatives formed a convention at Wheeling, then in Virginia, to discuss separation from the rest of Virginia.
An act to reorganize the government of Virginia was enacted and put in effect during the Spring, 1861. The United States government immediately recognized the new government of Virginia and allowed two senators to appear from the western counties. Officially, Virginia had two governments, one aligned with the United States, the other with the Confederate States. In May 1862, the Union-aligned government of Virginia, based in Wheeling, approved the formation of a new state. The United States government concurred and approved. Virginia lost the territory in the northwest area of the state it held prior to secession, which became West Virginia in 1863. The new state abolished slavery as a condition of its acceptance into the Union. Virginia also lost the lands comprising Robert E. Lee’s holdings at Arlington, which became federal property as Arlington National Cemetery.