the project appeared promising until it was brought to naught by the American Civil War. As states in the lower South seceded from the Union, the pressure mounted upon Virginia to do likewise. Moderate sentiment still held sway through 1860; but, early in 1861, increasing tensions forced Virginians to consider secession. On February 13, 1861, the secession convention met in Richmond and numbered William B. Preston amongst the delegates. As the Confederacy was established and the United States divided into two hostile camps, both sides moved steadily toward open conflict. A special delegation, composed of William B. Preston, Alexander H.H. Stuart, and George W. Randolph, traveled to Washington, D.C. where they met President Abraham Lincoln on April 12. Finding the President firm in his resolve to hold the Federal forts in the South, the three men returned to Richmond on April 15. With the news of the firing on Fort Sumter in South Carolina on April 12, 1861, conservative and moderate strength in the secessionist convention melted away. On April 16, convinced that secession was inevitable, William B. Preston submitted, in secret session, an ordinance of secession. Supported 88 to 55, the Preston Resolution passed, and Virginia left the Union. Elected C.S. Senator from Virginia in the Confederate States Congress, he served in that legislative body until his death at Smithfield Plantation in 1862. He is interred at the Preston Cemetery in Blacksburg, Virginia, near Smithfield Plantation. Legacy USS William B. Preston (DD-344) was named after him. Notes References External links William Ballard Preston at the Naval Historical Center William Ballard Preston at The Political Graveyard |- |- 1805 births 1862 deaths 19th-century American politicians Confederate States of America senators Deputies and delegates to the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States Members of the Virginia House of Delegates People from Blacksburg, Virginia People of Virginia in the American Civil War Taylor administration cabinet members United States Secretaries of the Navy University of Virginia School of Law alumni Virginia lawyers Virginia Secession Delegates of 1861 Virginia state senators Whig Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia Preston family of Virginia