 Eventually the locomotives were moved to Richmond where they were put to use by the Confederacy.After the Virginia Secession Convention reconvened and voted on April 17, provisionally, to secede, on the condition of a future ratification by a statewide referendum, the Governor of Virginia immediately began mobilizing the Virginia State Militia to strategic points around the state, including the assignment of Col Kenton Harper to Virginia's "Forces In and About Harper's Ferry, Virginia" on April 18.Hours before Virginia Militia forces from Charlestown, West Virginia and Winchester, Virginia arrived on April 18, the Federal troops guarding the arsenal evacuated and burned it.