Jack of Harts

It is important to note that there was no secession in Virginia. Lexington, Petersburg, and Norfolk never left Virginia. The General Assembly that met in Petersburg did not create a new government and a new State. They were the elected representatives of their districts, they did declare a quorum of the General Assembly in Petersburg, and they continued about their business of governing the Commonwealth of Virginia. The rump Assembly in Richmond declared them illegitimate and rebellious, and themselves the true Commonwealth of Virginia. Neither government backed down on that point. Both governments still called themselves the Commonwealth of Virginia, and did not recognize the legitimacy of the other. Petersburg labeled the other the District of Arlington, while Richmond called the other South Virginia, but only when family-friendly language was required.