Saturday, May 9, 2026 Good Morning! On this day in 1864, the Battle of Cloyd’s Mountain, also known as Battle of Cloyd’s Farm, took place in Pulaski County. A Union division defeated a Confederate force that was attempting to protect the Virginia & Tennessee Railroad. After the fighting, the Union destroyed a railroad bridge. A […]

Friday, May 8, 2026 Good Morning! On this day in 1864, the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House began. Maj. Gen. John Sedgwick died in the battle, the highest-ranking Union officer killed during the war. Readers shared their patriotic license plates with us. “We enjoy road trips throughout the USA,” one reader wrote. Their plate says, […]

Thursday, May 7, 2026 Good Morning! On this day in 1862, the Civil War’s Peninsula Campaign continued at the Battle of Eltham’s Landing. A Union division was attacked by two Confederate brigades. The skirmish resulted in 194 Union casualties and 48 Confederate casualties. We recently asked how you can tell if someone is from Virginia, […]

Wednesday, May 6, 2026 Good Morning! On this day in 1776, the 128 delegates elected to the fifth Virginia Revolutionary Convention convened in the chamber of the House of Burgesses in the Capitol in Williamsburg. Nine days later, the group instructed the Virginia delegates in Congress to declare independence from Britain. License plates are prime […]

Tuesday, May 5, 2026 Good Morning! On this day in 1862, the first pitched battle of the Civil War’s Peninsula Campaign occurred at the Battle of Williamsburg. Advancing Union forces fought the Confederate rearguard in a battle that lasted all day as the Confederates retreated toward Richmond. As students across the Commonwealth are cramming for […]

Monday, May 4, 2026 Good Morning! On this day in 1961, two busloads of Freedom Riders crossed into Virginia from Washington, D.C. They encountered both resistance and arrests while trying to use segregated bus station facilities on their way to their ultimate destination, New Orleans. Our Commonwealth is noted for its plethora of vanity license […]

Sunday, May 3, 2026 Good Morning! On this day in 1863, Confederate Gen. Stonewall Jackson was accidentally shot by his own troops near Chancellorsville. He died a week later—a loss many historians believe altered the course of the Civil War. Welcome to the first Sunday edition of The Virginia Flyover, as we begin arriving in […]

Saturday, May 2, 2026 Good Morning! On this day in 1738, Charles Washington, the youngest full brother of George Washington, was born at Hunting Creek. He later laid out plans for Charles Town (now in West Virginia) and donated the land for the town square. Welcome to the first Saturday edition of The Virginia Flyover! Beginning […]

Friday, May 1, 2026 Good Morning! On this day in 1699, the General Assembly met for the first time in the College Building at the College of William and Mary. That facility is now called the Wren Building. We asked about ways to improve education, and readers responded. Many focused on the problems schools face in […]

Thursday, April 30, 2026 Good Morning! On this day in 1863, the Battle of Chancellorsville began as Union Gen. Joseph Hooker marched three army corps toward Gen. Robert E. Lee’s defenders. The battle ended days later with Hooker in retreat, but the Confederates lost Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, a key tactical commander who was hit […]