Civil War

Join historian John Hoptak as he narrates the critical Battle of South Mountain, long overshadowed by the Battle of Antietam.

In September 1862, Robert E. Lee led the Army of Northern Virginia north of the Potomac River for the time as part of his Northern invasion, seeking a quick end to the war. Lee divided his army in three, sending General James Longstreet north to Hagerstown and Stonewall Jackson south to Harper's Ferry. It was at three mountain passes, referred to as South Mountain, that Lee's army met the Federal forces commanded by General George B. McClellan on September 14. In a fierce day-long battle spread out across miles of rugged, mountainous terrain, McClellan defeated Lee but the Confederates did tie up the Federals long enough to allow Jackson's conquest of Harper's Ferry.

Immediately after the Civil War, white women across the South organized to retrieve the remains of Confederate soldiers. In Virginia alone, these Ladies' Memorial Associations (LMAs) relocated and reinterred the remains of more than 72,000 soldiers. Challenging the notion that southern white women were peripheral to the Lost Cause movement until the 1890s, Caroline Janney restores these women as the earliest creators and purveyors of Confederate tradition. Long before national groups such as the Woman's Christian Temperance Union and the United Daughters of the Confederacy were established, Janney shows, local LMAs were earning sympathy for defeated Confederates. Her exploration introduces new ways in which gender played a vital role in shaping the politics, culture, and society of the late nineteenth-century South.

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 With extensive photographs, maps, and historical documents and research, this book thoroughly chronicles the major activity that took place in the Restored Government of Virginia , as the state was called after its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.

Walt Whitman experienced the agonies of the Civil War firsthand, working, in his forties, as a dedicated volunteer throughout the conflict in Washington's overcrowded, understaffed military hospitals. This superb selection of his poems, letters, and prose from the war years, filled with the sights and sounds of war and its ugly aftermath, express a vast and powerful range of emotions.
Among the poems include here, first published in Drum-Taps (1865) and Sequel to Drum-Taps (1866), are a number of Whitman's most famous works: "O Captain! My Captain!" "The Wound-Dresser," "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd," and "Come Up from the Fields, Father." The letters and prose selections, including Whitman's musings on the publication of his works, on the wounded men he tended, and his impressions of Lincoln traveling about the city of Washington, offer keen insights into an extraordinary era in American history.