Guerrillas Unionists And Violence On The Confederate Home Front

Until recently, this localized violence was largely ignored, scholars focusing instead on large-scale operations of the war—the decisions and actions of generals and presidents. But as Daniel Sutherland reminds us, the impact of battles and elections cannot be properly understood without an examination of the struggle for survival on the home front, of lives lived in the atmosphere created by war. Sutherland gathers eleven essays by such noted Civil War scholars as Michael Fellman, Donald Frazier, Noel Fisher, and B. F. Cooling, each one exploring the Confederacy's internal war in a different state. All help to broaden our view of the complexity of war and to provide us with a clear picture of war's consequences, its impact on communities, homes, and families. This strong collection of essays delves deeply into what Daniel Sutherland calls "the desperate side of war," enriching our understanding of a turbulent and divisive period in American history.

While the Civil War is famous for epic battles involving massive armies engaged in conventional warfare, A Savage Conflict is the first work to treat guerrilla warfare as critical to understanding the course and outcome of the Civil War. Daniel Sutherland argues that irregular warfare took a large toll on the Confederate war effort by weakening support for state and national governments and diminishing the trust citizens had in their officials to protect them.

A “compelling” study of impact of the Civil War in Appalachia that “adeptly juggles the military, social, and political complexities of this border war” (American Historical Review). During the four years of the Civil War, the border between eastern Kentucky and southwestern Virginia was highly contested territory, alternately occupied by both the Confederacy and the Union. Though sparsely populated, the geography of the region made it a desirable stronghold for future tactical maneuvers. In Contested Borderland , Brian D. McKnight’s unprecedented geographical analysis of military tactics and civilian involvement provides a new and valuable dimension to the story of a region facing the turmoil of war. Winner of the James I. Robertson Literary Prize “A very valuable study.” —Appalachian Journal “Engaging and eminently readable. . . . A compelling account of an isolated world turned upside down by a war fought over issues few of its residents understood or cared much about.” —Civil War Times “A revealing and richly diverse account of the war in this too-neglected pocket of the South.” —Daniel E. Sutherland, editor of Guerrillas, Unionists, and Violence on the Confederate Home Front “Recommend[ed] for all serious Civil War scholars and enthusiasts.” —Journal of American History “McKnight’s work has much to offer in covering the war in the Central Appalachian Divide.” —Journal of East Tennessee History “An enjoyable and informational read.” —Journal of Military History “Essential for all Appalachian regional and Civil War collections.” —Journal of Southern History “The author’s analysis of military tactics, political realities, and genuine hardship, is first rate.” —West Virginia History

A Companion to the U.S. Civil War presents a comprehensive historiographical collection of essays covering all major military, political, social, and economic aspects of the American Civil War (1861-1865). Represents the most comprehensive coverage available relating to all aspects of the U.S. Civil War Features contributions from dozens of experts in Civil War scholarship Covers major campaigns and battles, and military and political figures, as well as non-military aspects of the conflict such as gender, emancipation, literature, ethnicity, slavery, and memory

A Companion to the U.S. Civil War presents a comprehensive historiographical collection of essays covering all major military, political, social, and economic aspects of the American Civil War (1861-1865). Represents the most comprehensive coverage available relating to all aspects of the U.S. Civil War Features contributions from dozens of experts in Civil War scholarship Covers major campaigns and battles, and military and political figures, as well as non-military aspects of the conflict such as gender, emancipation, literature, ethnicity, slavery, and memory

Civil War historians shed new light on the importance of guerrilla combat across the south in this “useful and fascinating work” (Choice). Touching states from Virginia to New Mexico, guerrilla warfare played a significant yet underexamined role in the Civil War. Guerrilla fighters fought for both the Union and the Confederacy—as well as their own ethnic groups, tribes, or families. They were deadly forces that plundered, tortured, and terrorized those in their path, and their impact is not yet fully understood. This richly diverse volume assembles a team of both rising and eminent scholars to examine guerrilla warfare in the South during the Civil War. Together, they discuss irregular combat as practiced by various communities in multiple contexts, including how it was used by Native Americans, the factors that motivated raiders in the border states, and the women who participated as messengers, informants, collaborators, and combatants. They also explore how the Civil War guerrilla has been mythologized in history, literature, and folklore.

The story begins -- Becoming a soldier : Wilson's Creek and Pea Ridge -- Fighting in Mississippi -- Siege of Port Hudson and escape -- Life as a guerrilla in Arkansas -- Collapse of the Confederacy

“Does for the Civil War period what Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States did for the study of American history in general.” —Library Journal Historian David Williams has written the first account of the American Civil War as viewed though the eyes of ordinary people—foot soldiers, slaves, women, prisoners of war, draft resisters, Native Americans, and others. Richly illustrated with little-known anecdotes and firsthand testimony, this path-breaking narrative moves beyond presidents and generals to tell a new and powerful story about America’s most destructive conflict. A People’s History of the Civil War is a “readable social history” that “sheds fascinating light” on this crucial period. In so doing, it recovers the long-overlooked perspectives and forgotten voices of one of the defining chapters of American history (Publishers Weekly). “Meticulously researched and persuasively argued.” —The Atlanta Journal-Constitution