Civil War

A rip-roaring exposé that postulates history is the original "fake news"!In Antietam Shadows, Dennis E. Frye warns us to beware of history. A professional historian himself for the last forty years, Dennis has evolved from a youthful worshipper of history into a respected skeptic who has devoted his career to challenging historians, especially within the Civil War genre.Antietam Shadows is guaranteed to stimulate debate amongst Civil War buffs, as Dennis is renowned for blowing up what you know and turning you upside down and inside out. But Antietam Shadows isn't about strategy and tactics and bullets and shells. Antietam Shadows is the story of human nature—people facing dangerous dilemmas, selecting choices, making hard decisions, and living (or dying) with the consequences. The consequences within Antietam Shadows will determine the future of the United States. Author: Dennis E. FryePublication Date: 2018-4-17Publisher: Antietam Rest PublishingPaperback, 282

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 

Includes 250 photographs and 24 maps. An excellent overview of the war in West Virginia. Perfect for anyone curious about our state s role in the war. Beginners and scholars alike will be fascinated with the extensive photo collection. From John Brown s inflammatory acts in Harpers Ferry and the first land battle at Philippi, through the surrender of McNeill s Rangers and the end of the war, Civil War in West Virginia looks at the skirmishes, battles and politics that shaped West Virginia s role in the Civil War. With extensive photographs, maps, and historical documents and research, this book thoroughly chronicles the major activity that took place in the Restored Government of Virginia , as the state was called after its secession from Virginia. Civil War in West Virginia describes battles in the state, as well as telling about the exploits of such major figures as Generals Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee, and John McCausland. Read about events such as the Battle of Droop Mountain, the Jones-Imboden Raid, and the Battle of Pigeon s Roost. Civil War in West Virginia offers a concise yet thorough look at West Virginia s involvement in the War Between the States. From John Brown s inflammatory raid at Harper s Ferry to the first land battle at Philippi, and through the surrender of McNeill s Rangers at the end of the war, Civil War in West Virginia looks at the skirmishes, battles, and politics that shaped West Virginia s role in the Civil War. With extensive maps, photographs, and historical documents, this book thoroughly chronicles the major activities which took place in the Restored Government of Virginia as the state was called after its secession from Virginia. Civil War in West Virginia describes battles in the state, as well as telling about the exploits of such major figures as Generals Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee, and John McCausland. Read about the Battle of Droop Mountain, the Jones-Imboden Raid, and the Battle of Pigeon s Roost. This is a classic, with a concise yet thorough look at West Virginia s involvement in the Civil War.

The Emancipation Proclamation is the most important document of arguably the greatest president in U.S. history. Now, Edna Greene Medford, Frank J. Williams, and Harold Holzer -- eminent experts in their fields -- remember, analyze, and interpret the Emancipation Proclamation in three distinct respects: the influence of and impact upon African Americans; the legal, political, and military exigencies; and the role pictorial images played in establishing the document in public memory. The result is a carefully balanced yet provocative study that views the proclamation and its author from the perspective of fellow Republicans, antiwar Democrats, the press, the military, the enslaved, free blacks, and the antislavery white establishment, as well as the artists, publishers, sculptors, and their patrons who sought to enshrine Abraham Lincoln and his decree of freedom in iconography.Medford places African Americans, the people most affected by Lincoln's edict, at the center of the drama rather than at the periphery, as previous studies have done. She argues that blacks interpreted the proclamation much more broadly than Lincoln intended it, and during the postwar years and into the twentieth century they became disillusioned by the broken promise of equality and the realities of discrimination, violence, and economic dependence. Williams points out the obstacles Lincoln overcame in finding a way to confiscate property -- enslaved humans -- without violating the Constitution. He suggests that the president solidified his reputation as a legal and political genius by issuing the proclamation as Commander-in-Chief, thus taking the property under the pretext of military necessity. Holzer explores how it was only after Lincoln's assassination that the Emancipation Proclamation became an acceptable subject for pictorial celebration. Even then, it was the image of the martyr-president as the great emancipator that resonated in public memory, while any reference to those African Americans most affected by the proclamation was stripped away.This multilayered treatment reveals that the proclamation remains a singularly brave and bold act -- brilliantly calculated to maintain the viability of the Union during wartime, deeply dependent on the enlightened voices of Lincoln's contemporaries, and owing a major debt in history to the image-makers who quickly and indelibly preserved it.

Published by the Harpers Ferry Park 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.

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.

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.

In this succinct study, Edna Greene Medford examines the ideas and events that shaped President Lincoln's responses to slavery, following the arc of his ideological development from the beginning of the Civil War, when he aimed to pursue a course of noninterference, to his championing of slavery's destruction before the conflict ended. Throughout, Medford juxtaposes the president's motivations for advocating freedom with the aspirations of African Americans themselves, restoring African Americans to the center of the story about the struggle for their own liberation.

Lincoln and African Americans, Medford argues, approached emancipation differently, with the president moving slowly and cautiously in order to save the Union while the enslaved and their supporters pressed more urgently for an end to slavery. Despite the differences, an undeclared partnership existed between the president and slaves that led to both preservation of the Union and freedom for those in bondage. Medford chronicles Lincoln's transition from advocating gradual abolition to campaigning for immediate emancipation for the majority of the enslaved, a change effected by the military and by the efforts of African Americans. The author argues that many players--including the abolitionists and Radical Republicans, War Democrats, and black men and women--participated in the drama through agitation, military support of the Union, and destruction of the institution from within. Medford also addresses differences in the interpretation of freedom: Lincoln and most Americans defined it as the destruction of slavery, but African Americans understood the term to involve equality and full inclusion into American society. An epilogue considers Lincoln's death, African American efforts to honor him, and the president's legacy at home and abroad.

Both enslaved and free black people, Medford demonstrates, were fervent participants in the emancipation effort, showing an eagerness to get on with the business of freedom long before the president or the North did. By including African American voices in the emancipation narrative, this insightful volume offers a fresh and welcome perspective on Lincoln's America.

West Virginia is the only state formed by seceding from a Confederate state. And its connections to the Civil War run deep. One day at a time, award-winning historian Michael Graham presents intriguing, event-driven anecdotes and history related to the state. On July 11, 1861, a Union force attacked 1,300 Confederate troops camped at Rich Mountain in a renowned battle. Confederate guerrillas raided Hackers Creek on June 12, 1864. Find little-known facts about the Battles of Droop Mountain, Carnifex Ferry, Harpers Ferry, Shepherdstown and a whole host of others. Read a story one day or month at a time. Celebrate an entire year of Civil War history in the Mountain State.

Just downstream from the village called Shepherdstown, near a shallow crossing called Boteler's Ford, a mill that was built to exploit the rich vein of cement found nearby. Life in this idyllic region was interrupted by struggles of the still young nation. Few could have imagined the dramatic events that took place around the ford and mill in September of 1862 when General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia entered the region. Union soldiers were sent to oppose this invasion. It is difficult to understate the importance of this offensive, known as the Maryland Campaign of 1862. This campaign was far from over, and only a miracle could save Lee's army. Long overlooked by historians and visitors, the events that took place at Boteler's Ford on September 19 and 20 were critical to the outcome of this campaign. This study for the first time examines in detail the fighting along the Potomac, and places it into the context of the campaign. Long overdue for a detailed study, the events, both heroic and tragic, show that a real battle took place at Shepherdstown. In fact, in terms of troops engaged and the number of killed and wounded, it was the largest battle in what is now the state of West Virginia. ~~Tom Clemens The postscript to America's bloodiest day has been substantially ignored. Until now, no full-length detailed narrative of the September 19-20, 1862, engagement on the banks of the Potomac River near the hamlet of Shepherdstown, Virginia (now West Virginia) has ever been written. Paperback, 256 pages, index, more than 80 photos illustrations and maps.

The passage of 130 years has only deepened the fascination and reverence for Confederate general Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson. He ranks today as among the half-dozen greatest soldiers that America has produced. Military academies in both hemispheres still teach his tactics. Revered by his men, respected by his foes, Jackson became seemingly invincible. When he learned of the general's fatal wound, Robert E. Lee sent his "affectionate regards, " saying, "He has lost his left arm but I my right arm." Jackson's early death in 1863 was the greatest personal loss suffered by the Confederacy and one that permanently crippled the wartime South. This eagerly awaited biography is based on years of research into little-known manuscripts, unpublished letters, newspapers, and other primary sources. It offers for the first time a complete portrait - not only of Jackson the brilliant military strategist and beloved general but also of Jackson, the man of orphaned background, unyielding determination to conquer adversity, and deep religious convictions.

Now Available in Paperback First study of the Antietam campaign from civilians' perspectives Many never-before-published accounts of the Battle of Antietam The battle at Antietam Creek, the bloodiest day of the American Civil War, left more than 23,000 men dead, wounded, or missing. Facing the aftermath were the men, women, and children living in the village of Sharpsburg and on surrounding farms. In Too Afraid to Cry, Kathleen Ernst recounts the dramatic experiences of these Maryland citizens--stories that have never been told--and also examines the complex political web holding together Unionists and Secessionists, many of whom lived under the same roofs in this divided countryside."