Richmond (Virginia) is a city in eastern Virginia, seat of, but administratively independent of, Henrico County; capital of the state. Richmond was incorporated as a town during 1782 and as a city in 1842. A seaport at the head of navigation on the James River, Richmond was the capital of the Confederacy during most of the American Civil War (1861-1865).
The area including the site of present-day Richmond was visited by the English colonizer Captain John Smith in 1607. The first permanent non-Native American settlement in the area was founded in the falls of the James River in 1637, and Fort Charles was built around 1644 to guard the settlers from attack by Native Americans. The community developed as a trading center, and in 1737 it had been laid out within the patronage of William Byrd, a colonial statesman. It was called for Richmond upon Thames, England. Richmond became the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia during 1779. The settlement was partly burned by the British underneath the leadership of Benedict Arnold in 1781. In 1861 Richmond was made the capital of the Confederate States of America and as such was a major objective of Union forces during the Civil War. On April 3, 1865, after many attempts, Union troops, brought by General Ulysses S. Grant, succeeded in occupying the city, but only after it was evacuated and main sections had been burned by its own residents.
Ljao/jan/1v21