Virginia At War 1865

The final volume in this comprehensive history of Confederate Virginia examines the end of the Civil War in the Old Dominion. By January 1865, most of Virginia's schools were closed, many newspapers had ceased publication, businesses suffered, and food was scarce. Having endured major defeats on their home soil and the loss of much of the state's territory to the Union army, Virginia's Confederate soldiers began to desert at higher rates than at any other time in the war, returning home to provide their families with whatever assistance they could muster. It was a dark year for Virginia. Virginia at War, 1865 presents a striking depiction of a state ravaged by violence and destruction. In the final volume of the Virginia at War series, editors William C. Davis and James I. Robertson Jr. have once again assembled an impressive collection of essays covering topics that include land operations, women and families, wartime economy, music and entertainment, the demobilization of Lee's army, and the war's aftermath. The volume ends with the final installment of Judith Brockenbrough McGuire's popular and important Diary of a Southern Refugee during the War.

After more than three years of grim fighting, General Ulysses Grant had a plan to end the Civil War--laying siege to Petersburg, Virginia, thus cutting off supplies to the Confederate capital at Richmond. He established his headquarters at City Point on the James River, requiring thousands of troops, tons of supplies, as well as extensive medical facilities and staff. Nurses flooded the area, yet many did not work in medical capacities--they served as organizers, advocates and intelligence gatherers. Nursing emerged as a noble profession with multiple specialties. Drawing on a range of primary and secondary sources, this history covers the resilient women who opened the way for others into postwar medical, professional and political arenas.

This work is a retelling of stories once shared over tea cups, including what life meant to a young American woman during a vital and formative period of American history. While a true Virginian, the lady also speaks well of her experiences with Union soldiers and officers. Real names of the subjects were changed in deference to the wishes of living persons at the time.

She and her biographer were both real-life Scarlett O'Haras. Born to privilege and wealth in antebellum Virginia, she married at seventeen and then was plunged into the events of the American Civil War. Myrta Lockett Avary was her biographer and though Avary does not give up her friend's identity, the story captured the imagination of the world when first published in 1903. Avary also wrote "Dixie After the War," which may have been the inspiration for Margaret Mitchell's "Gone With the Wind." She was also the original editor of "A Diary from Dixie as written by Mary Boykin Chestnut," featured very prominently in Ken Burns' documentary, The Civil War. A write for major periodicals during her day, Myrta Avary was a successful and well-known writer. We're fortunate that she chronicled the world that was left behind in the wake of the Civil War. "The narrative is one that both interests and charms. The beginning of the end of the long and desperate struggle is unusually well told, and now the survivors lived during the last days of the fading Confederacy forms a vivid picture of those distressful times.”—Baltimore Herald. “The style of the narrative is attractively informal and chatty. Its pathos is that of simplicity. It throws upon a cruel period of our national career a side-light, bringing out tender and softening interests too little visible in the pages of formal history.”—New York World. “This is a tale that will appeal to every Southern man and woman, and can not fail to be of interest to every reader. It is-as fresh and vivacious, even in dealing with dark days, as the young soul that underwent the hardships of a most cruel war."—Louisville Courier-Journal. “Taken at this time, when the years have buried all resentment, dulled all sorrows, and brought new generations to the scenes, a work of this kind can not fail of value just as it can not fail in interest. Official history moves with two great strides to permit of the smaller, more intimate events; fiction lacks the realistic, powerful appeal of actuality; such works as this must be depended upon to fill in the unoccupied interstices, to show us just what were the lives of those who were in this conflict or who lived in the midst of it without being able actively to participate in it. And of this type 'A Virginia Girl in the Civil War ' is a truly admirable example.”—Philadelphia Record.

By January 1865, most of Virginia's schools were closed, many newspapers had ceased publication, businesses suffered, and food was scarce. Having endured major defeats on their home soil and the loss of much of the state's territory to the Union army, Virginia's Confederate soldiers began to desert at higher rates than at any other time in the war, returning home to provide their families with whatever assistance they could muster. It was a dark year for Virginia. Virginia at War, 1865 closely examines the end of the Civil War in the Old Dominion, delivering a striking depiction of a state ravaged by violence and destruction. In the final volume of the Virginia at War series, editors William C. Davis and James I. Robertson Jr. have once again assembled an impressive collection of essays covering topics that include land operations, women and families, wartime economy, music and entertainment, the demobilization of Lee's army, and the war's aftermath. The volume ends with the final installment of Judith Brockenbrough McGuire's popular and important Diary of a Southern Refugee during the War. Like the previous four volumes in the series, Virginia at War, 1865 provides valuable insights into the devastating effects of the war on citizens across the state.

Offers a compelling look at the last battle of the once mighty Army of Northern Virginia.

This is a curated and comprehensive collection of the most important works covering matters related to national security, diplomacy, defense, war, strategy, and tactics. The collection spans centuries of thought and experience, and includes the latest analysis of international threats, both conventional and asymmetric. It also includes riveting first person accounts of historic battles and wars.Some of the books in this Series are reproductions of historical works preserved by some of the leading libraries in the world. As with any reproduction of a historical artifact, some of these books contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. We believe these books are essential to this collection and the study of war, and have therefore brought them back into print, despite these imperfections.We hope you enjoy the unmatched breadth and depth of this collection, from the historical to the just-published works.

This book tells the story of how Confederate civilians in the Old Dominion struggled to feed not only their stomachs but also their souls. Although demonstrating the ways in which the war created many problems within southern communities, Virginia's Private War: Feeding Body and Soul in the Confederacy, 1861-1865 does not support scholars who claim that internal dissent caused the Confederacy's downfall. Instead, it offers a study of the Virginia home front that depicts how the Union army's continued pressure created destruction, hardship, and shortages that left the Confederate public spent and demoralized with the surrender of the army under Robert E. Lee. This book, however, does not portray the population as uniformly united in a Lost Cause. Virginians complained a great deal about the management of the war. Letters to the governor and to the Confederate secretary of war demonstrate how dissent escalated to dangerous proportions by the spring and summer of 1863. Women rioted in Richmond for food. Soldiers left the army without permission to check on their families and farms. Various groups vented their hatred on Virginias rich men of draft age who stayed out of the army by purchasing substitutes. Such complaints, ironically, may have prolonged the war, for some of the Confederacy's leaders responded by forcing the wealthy to shoulder more of the burden for prosecuting the war. Substitution ended, and the men who stayed home became government growers who distributed goods at reduced cost to the poor. But, as the case is made in Virginias Private War, none of these efforts could finally overcome an enemy whose unrelenting pressure strained the resources of Rebel Virginians to the breaking point. Arguing that the state of Virginia both waged and witnessed a "rich man's fight" that has until now been downplayed or misunderstood by many if not most of our Civil War scholars, William Blair provides in these pages a detailed portrait of this conflict that is bold, original, and convincing. He draws from the microcosm of Virginia several telling conclusions about the Confederacy's rise, demise, and identity, and his study will therefore appeal to anyone with a taste for Civil War history--and Virginia's unique place in that history, especially.