Civil War
Harpers Ferry Under Fire A Border Town in the American Civil War
Harpers Ferry experienced the Civil War like no other place and was a case study of repeated invasions, military operations, martial law, and endless danger. Journey into the Civil War with stories from those who lived, worked, fought, and died in a border town. This narrative is complemented by full color and black-and-white illustrations, photographs, and maps. Paperback, 200 pages.
Author Dennis E. Frye is the Chief Historian at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park. He is a writer, lecturer, guide, preservationist, and prominent Civil War historian. A well-know author, Dennis has written 77 articles and six books.
Harpers Ferry experienced the Civil War like no other place and was a case study of repeated invasions, military operations, martial law, and endless danger. Journey into the Civil War with stories from those who lived, worked, fought, and died in a border town. This narrative is complemented by full color and black-and-white illustrations, photographs, and maps. Paperback, 200 pages. Dennis E. Frye is the Chief Historian at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park. Writer, lecturer, guide, and preservationist, Dennis is a prominent Civil War historian. Dennis has numerous appearances on PBS, The History Channel, The Discovery Channel, and A&E as a guest historian, and he helped produce award-winning television features on the Battle of Antietam and abolitionist John Brown. Dennis served as an Associate Producer for the Civil War movie Gods and Generals, during which he recruited and coordinated nearly 3,000 re-enactors for the film. Dennis also is one of the nation's leading Civil War battlefield preservationists. He is co-founder and first president of the Save Historic Antietam Foundation, and he is co-founder and a former president of today's Civil War Preservation Trust, where he helped save battlefields in twelve states. Dennis is a tour guide in demand, leading tours for organizations such as the Smithsonian, National Geographic, numerous colleges and universities, and Civil War Round Tables.
Blue & Gray Magazine History and Tour Guide of Stonewall Jackson's Battle of Harpers Ferry September 12-15, 1862
At the bottom of the “hole” where the Shenandoah River flows into the Potomac River is the village of Harpers Ferry, West Virginia (which was Virginia in 1862). Towering over this confluence are Maryland Heights, Loudoun Heights, and Bolivar Heights. It all makes for wild, scenic beauty, but the town becomes virtually indefensible if enemy cannons are placed on the heights. In September 1862, Stonewall Jackson did exactly that.
But Jackson was late. He was unable to meet Robert E. Lee’s stringent timetable for capturing Harpers Ferry, and the unprecedented loss of Lee’s Special Orders 191 – which detailed the Confederate invasion plan – compromised the operation and endangered the Confederate army. Often overshadowed by Antietam, the battle never would have occurred without Stonewall’s actions at Harpers Ferry.
This guide includes several color and black-and-white photographs and maps of the battlefields.
Paperback, 103 pages
Harpers Ferry Anthology: Civil War-era Stories by Park Rangers and Volunteers
Published by the Harpers Ferry Historical Association in memory of David L. Larsen, Interpreter.
The diaries, letters and memoirs of the civilians and soldiers who experienced the war in Harpers Ferry have provided park interpreters an invaluable tool for transporting park visitors to the past. Here are 24 stories written by 17 interpreters, volunteers, rangers and interns that recreate six harrowing years of a town under attack. Paperback, 118 pages.
Antietam Visit DVD
In Antietam Visit we learn about the bloodiest single day of the Civil War through Abraham Lincoln's eyes. Dramatic battle recreations, historical photographs, music, and period clothing appear throughout.
Running time: 26 minutes. Bonus films on this DVD include John Brown's Raid: To Do Battle in the Land, Back to Harpers Ferry, and Springfield Armory.
Springfield Armory DVD
The 174-year history of weapons manufacture is told in "Springfield Armory". Craftsmen in clothing of the period are shown in actual stages of production including shaping the gunstock on the Blanchard lathe.The production of weapons at the Springfield Armory was very similar to the activities at the Harpers Ferry Armory.
Running time: 18 minutes. Bonus films on this DVD include John Brown's Raid: To Do Battle in the Land, Antietam Visit, and Back to Harpers Ferry.
Harpers Ferry Armory and the New Technology The Challenge of Change
Focusing on the day-to-day operations of the U.S. armory at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, from 1798 to 1861, this book shows what the "new technology" of mechanized production meant in terms of organization, management, and worker morale. A local study of much more than local significance, it highlights the major problems of technical innovation and social adaptation in antebellum America.
Merritt Roe Smith describes how positions of authority at the armory were tied to a larger network of political and economic influence in the community; how these relationships, in turn, affected managerial behavior; and how local social conditions reinforced the reactions of decision makers. He also demonstrates how craft traditions and variant attitudes toward work vis-à-vis New England created an atmosphere in which the machine was held suspect and inventive activity was hampered.
Of central importance is the author's analysis of the drastic differences between Harpers Ferry and its counterpart, the national armory at Springfield, Massachusetts, which played a pivotal role in the emergence of the new technology. The flow of technical information between the two armories, he shows, moved in one direction only― north to south. "In the end," Smith concludes, "the stamina of local culture is paramount in explaining why the Harpers Ferry armory never really flourished as a center of technological innovation."
Pointing up the complexities of industrial change, this account of the Harpers Ferry experience challenges the commonly held view that Americans have always been eagerly receptive to new technological advances.
Boots and Saddles Cavalry During the Maryland Campaign of September 1862
Chew's Battery of Stuart's Horse Artillery
The first horse artillery organized in the Confederacy.
A native of Charles Town, West Virginia, Roger Preston Chew organized and presented a battery of horse artillery to accompany the cavalry of Colonel Ashby. Cassedy follows Chew’s Battery from the Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1862 until the men returned to their homes after the war. All of the major battles and engagements are chronicled along with the order of battle of both north and south. Several maps are included. Paperback, 161 pages.
Civil War Artillery DVD
Civil War Artillery includes two film selections: Firing the Napoleon details how a trained artillery crew services the Napoleon, one of the principal cannons used by both sides during the Civil War. Petersburg Cannon Firing shows soldiers in period costume demonstrating how a mounted artillery unit moved, set up, and the firing of a cannon. Also, an additional Revolutionary War period weapons demonstration is shown.
Running time: 16 minutes. Bonus films on this DVD include To Keep Our Liberty, George Washington's Headquarters, A Few Men Well Conducted, Guilford Letters, and Siege of Yorktown.
Civil War in West Virginia A Pictorial History
