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Mathews, like many northwestern Virginians, opposed secession.<ref name="Combs, James Thurl" /><ref name="nyt1864">{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1864/06/26/news/virginia-the-restored-government-of-virginia-history-of-the-new-state-of-things.html?pagewanted=all | work=The New York Times | title=VIRGINIA.; The Restored Government of Virginia--History of the New State of Things | date=June 26, 1864}}</ref> When the [[Ordinance of Secession]] passed, however, he claimed allegiance to the [[C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America|Confederate States of America]].<ref name="Combs, James Thurl" /> Unionists from northwestern Virginia soon met at the [[Wheeling Convention]] to establish the [[Restored Government of Virginia]].<ref name="nyt1864"/> Greenbrier County did not send a representative to the convention.<ref name =Leonard /> President [[Abraham Lincoln]] recognized the Restored Government, which encompassed Greenbrier County, as the legitimate authority for the whole of Virginia,<ref name="nyt1864"/> and in 1863 this area was incorporated into the new state of [[West Virginia]].<ref>[http://www.wvculture.org/hiStory/statehood/declaration.html A State of Convenience:The Creation of West Virginia]. ''West Virginia Archives & History''. Retrieved November 12, 2014.</ref> Though living in the Union, Mathews traveled to [[Richmond, Virginia]] to represent his county in the Virginia House of Delegates throughout the war.<ref name=Rice />
On the outbreak of war, his sons volunteered for the [[Confederate States Army]]. Capt. [[Alexander F. Mathews]] was assigned as [[aide-de-camp]] to [[Brigadier General]] [[Henry A. Wise]].<ref name="Combs, James Thurl" /> In summer 1861, General Wise feuded with fellow general [[John B. Floyd]] over blame for the Confederate loss at the [[Battle of Carnifex Ferry]] in the western Virginia region.<ref name=gazette>[http://civilwardailygazette.com/2011/09/25/confederate-general-henry-wise-relieved-of-duty-contraband-allowed-in-navy/ "Confederate General Henry Wise Relieved of Duty; 'Contraband' Allowed in Navy"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131221002748/http://civilwardailygazette.com/2011/09/25/confederate-general-henry-wise-relieved-of-duty-contraband-allowed-in-navy/ |date=2013-12-21 }}. ''Civil War Daily Gazette''. Retrieved November 21, 2012.</ref>
Mathews spent several days in the camps of both Wise and Floyd and afterward wrote to [[President of the Confederate States of America|President]] [[Jefferson Davis]] urging that both men be deposed, stating, "I am fully satisfied that each of them would be highly gratified to see the other annihilated."<ref>Rice, Otis K. 1986. A History of Greenbrier County. Greenbrier Historical Society, p. 264</ref><ref name=Rebellion>Cowles, Calvin Duvall (1897). [http://ebooks.library.cornell.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=moawar&cc=moawar&idno=waro0005&node=waro0005%3A3&view=image&seq=880&size=100 "The War of Rebellion: A compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Series 1 Volume 5]. Government Print Office: 1897. Retrieved November 12, 2014.</ref> Davis subsequently removed Wise from his command of the western Virginia region.<ref name=gazette/>
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