From Winchester To Cedar Creek

Shamefully neglected in most Civil War histories, the crucial Shenandoah Valley campaign of 1864 is at last re-created and analyzed in this fascinating book. "Will stand as the definitive account of the final struggle".--The Civil War Book Exchange and Collector's Newspaper. 36 photos.

Stott's diary reveals a soldier who was also a scholar in camp and on the march, one who took every available moment to read theology, philosophy, great literary works, and a few novels. He also had a playful side, slyly exposing a dry wit and a sense of humor that can sneak up on the reader.

The second of two volumes critiquing the generals who served under Ulysses Grant, focusing on their working relationships with Grant and assessing their actual performance commanding Union troops during the final two years of the war.

By spring 1864, the administration of Abraham Lincoln was in serious trouble, with mounting debt, low morale and eroding political support. As spring became summer, a force of Confederate troops led by Lieutenant General Jubal Anderson Early marched north through the Shenandoah Valley and crossed the Potomac as Washington, D.C., and Maryland lay nearly undefended. This Civil War history explores what could have been a decisive Confederate victory and the reasons Early's invasion of Maryland stalled.

"This book offers a unique mosaic of the Civil War through the eyes of individuals who lived and served in various parts of the Commonwealth. Between them, thses women and men experienced every facet of the war, from secession to combat, hardship to ultimate defeat. Throughout thir collective ordeal we see the human reaction to war and a sense of hope in the "cause' until it was lost."--Brian Steel Wills, Professor, The University of Virginia's College at Wise.

At the outbreak of the Civil War, the men of the 30th North Carolina rushed to join the regiment, proclaiming, "we will whip the Yankees, or give them a right to a small part of our soil--say 2 feet by 6 feet." Once the Tar Heels experienced combat, their attitudes changed. One rifleman recorded: "We came to a Yankee field hospital ... we moved piles of arms, feet, hands." By 1865, the unit's survivors reflected on their experiences, wondering "when and if I return home--will I be able to fit in?" Drawing on letters, journals, memoirs and personnel records, this history follows the civilian-soldiers from their mustering-in to the war's final moments at Appomattox. The 30th North Carolina had the distinction of firing at Abraham Lincoln on July 12, 1864, as the president stood upon the ramparts of Ft. Stevens outside Washington, D.C., and firing the last regimental volley before the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia.

During the summer and fall of 1864, Virginia's Shenandoah Valley was one of the most contested regions of the South. Federal armies invaded the Valley three times--twice they were repulsed. This book describes the third campaign, the supreme achievement of the Army of the Potomac's Sixth Corps. One of the most respected units in the Federal Army, the Sixth Corps formed the nucleus of the Federal force that spent several months competing for control of the Valley with a desperate Confederate army, resulting in some of the toughest fighting of the war. Following victories at Winchester and Fisher's Hill the Sixth Corps campaign culminated with a remarkable stand that stopped the attacking enemy and turned what began as a disastrous defeat into a spectacular victory at Cedar Creek.