Virginia at War, 1863

Edited by William C. Davis and James I. Robertson Jr.

Published by: The University Press of Kentucky

Series: Virginia at War

Imprint: The University Press of Kentucky

Sales Date: 12/05/2008

232 Pages, 6.00 x 9.00 x 1.06 in

Hardcover
9780813125107
Published: December 2008

$35.00 SR

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Praise

Between the epic battles of 1862 and the grueling and violent military campaigns that would follow, the year 1863 was oddly quiet for the Confederate state of Virginia. Only one major battle was fought on its soil, at Chancellorsville, and the conflict was one of the Army of Northern Virginia's greatest victories. Yet the pressures of the Civil War turned the daily lives of Virginians—young and old, men and women, civilians and soldiers—into battles of their own. Despite minimal combat, 1863 was an eventful year in Virginia history—Stonewall Jackson died within its borders and Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address. In Virginia at War, 1863, editors William C. Davis and James I. Robertson Jr. present these and other key events, as well as a discussion of the year's military land operations to reveal the political, social, and cultural ramifications of the ongoing national conflict. By this time, the war had profoundly transformed nearly every aspect of Virginia life and culture, from education to religion to commerce. Mounting casualties and depleted resources made the citizens of the Commonwealth feel the deprivations of war more deeply than ever. Virginia at War, 1863 surveys these often overlooked elements of the conflict. Contributors focus on the war's impact on Virginia's children and its newly freed slaves. They shed light on the origins of the Hatfield-McCoy feud, explore the popularity of scrapbooking as a form of personal recordkeeping, and consider the changing role of religion during wartime and the uncertain faith of Virginia's Christians. The book concludes with the 1863 entries of the Diary of a Southern Refugee by Richmond's Judith Brockenbrough McGuire. At the midpoint of the Civil War, the hostility of this great American struggle had become an ingrained part of Virginia life. Virginia at War, 1863 is the third volume of a five-book series that reexamines the Commonwealth's history as an integral part of the Confederacy. The series looks beyond military campaigns and tactics to consider how the war forever changed the people, culture, and society of Virginia.

"The authors look beyond the battlefield to examine social, economic and political aspects of the war experience. Drawing from personal diaries, pictures, battlefield accounts and cultural analyses, the essays found in this volume provide an intimate look at the impact of the war on the people and their institutions."—Bristol Herald Courier

"The ordeal of the Civil War reached deeply into all segments of society, as clearly demonstrated by these explorations of the personal experiences of Virginia women, children, and ex-slaves, along with the wider scale damages warfare brought to many religious and border communities."—Civil War Books and Authors

"The editors are to be commended for seeking out essays that engage the whole of the southern population: whites, blacks, men, women, Confederates, and Unionists."—Virginia Magazine of History and Biography

"Two of the most eminent experts on the Civil War in Virginia have here collaborated to create a book of readings that dramatically broadens discourse on what was going on during this mid-war year in Virginia."—Appalachian Heritage

"Virginia at War, 1863 is a useful volume that will expand the knowledge of most readers."—Free Lance-Star
~Dane

"These reflections on how the national tragedy affected every person in every locality are particularly timely and remind us, even though it was a minority of Americans who fought in the Civil War, that the war deeply touched every person in a unique, complex, and irreversible way."—West Virginia History

"This regional study of Civil War history, comprised of essays from a varied collection of scholars and edited by William C. Davis and James I. Robertson, two of the nation's leading Civil War historians, has been a significant contribution to the literature on the Civil War, and the third volume of the series is another impressive piece of scholarship."—Journal of America's Military Past

"Davis and Robertson, along with the contributors to these Virginia books, have produced a model state-level series of studies that expands our understanding of the upheaval the war inflicted on southern society."—Journal of Southern History

"Among the more impressive of the book's essays is Jared Peatman's intriguing examination of how newspapers in Richmond and elsewhere in Virginia reported (or failed to report as it turned out) Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. Also notable is James M. Prichard's essay on the wartime experiences of Anse Hatfield."—Blue & Gray Magazine

Virginia at War, 1863

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