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West Virginia and the Civil War: Mountaineers Are Always Free
The only state born as a result of the Civil War, West Virginia was the most divided state in the nation. About forty thousand of its residents served in the combatant forces--about twenty thousand on each side. The Mountain State also saw its fair share of battles, skirmishes, raids and guerrilla warfare, with places like Harpers Ferry, Philippi and Rich Mountain becoming household names in 1861. When the Commonwealth of Virginia seceded from the Union on April 17, 1861, leaders primarily from the northwestern region of the state began the political process that eventually led to the creation of West Virginia on June 20, 1863. Renowned Civil War historian Mark A. Snell has written the first thorough history of these West Virginians and their civil war in more than fifty years.
256 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 4, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 27, 2023
well done history of the creation of West Virginia and it’s contribution during the Civil War
Well done Mr. Snell. As I look across the river, I now understand a great deal more about the character of the Mountaineer State.
Thank you for a well written history, and a plethora of additional information for follow up.
Well done Mr. Snell. As I look across the river, I now understand a great deal more about the character of the Mountaineer State.
Thank you for a well written history, and a plethora of additional information for follow up.
August 13, 2017
I am a native of WV. I thgought I knew all about how our state was formed and its role in the Civil War. I was wrong. I learned qute a bit from this book. Well researched and well written.
January 23, 2022
Some interesting stories, but not a very well put together book overall. It was nice to learn a little more about the history of the Civil War in West Virginia though.
January 30, 2016
This book is an introductory-level military and political history of West Virginia during the Civil War and is part of the Civil War Sesquicentennial Series. The author notes that no modern in-depth study of the topic exists. I read this because I originally hail from that state so it has always had some extra interest to me. It covers both events in West Virginia, and the USA and CSA regiments from that state.
Florida in the Civil War offers a similar scope of events in Florida and is part of the same series. Wynne divided events up mostly by category, including separate chapters covering state regiments in the eastern and western armies. In this book, Snell is almost strictly chronological and uses few chapter breaks or even section breaks, which results in quite a bit of abrupt jumping between locations. Given how scattered the WV regiments were, especially on the Confederate side (where they were parts of various VA regiments), this makes it difficult to track a give unit's progress. (Compare this to FL's regiments which were concentrated in 1-2 brigades in the Armies of Northern Virginia and Army of Tennessee.) It's a tricky subject to cover in a book like this - you want to include them for completeness sake and because it will be of interest to some readers (especially those interested in where their ancestors fought), but regimental histories are usually a micro topic not introductory level works.
I thought some of the coverage of WV's decision to break away from VA could really have used a couple pages of background to summarized issues between the western and eastern parts of the state in the decades prior to the war. Guerrilla/partisan warfare in WV also seems skimmed over; the emphasis on fratricide between West Virginians is mostly addressed in the context of traditional battles. There was also no mention of the role of religion - specifically several of the German pacifist churches like the Dunkards and Brethern. I know from my genealogy that most of my ancestors and distant cousins from eastern WV did not enlist on either side of the war because of their religious beliefs; it would see like a not-insignificant minority worth at least a passing mention (and the author is a professor at Shepherdstown, in the eastern part of the state).
The book also has some typo issues, particularly toward the end, that were missed in the editing process.
The book has some maps, with all the battlefield maps being credited as "Author's Collection" when they are very obviously maps from the Civil War Trust. Maybe the author was involved in the creation of those maps, but it seemed like an odd credit issue.
Despite its flaws, the book does serve as a decent introduction to a subject that has probably not been very well studied. The formation of the state is covered pretty well and there is a good concluding chapter about the 'war in memory'. I learned from it.
Mildly recommended, and only to those already curious about the subject.
Florida in the Civil War offers a similar scope of events in Florida and is part of the same series. Wynne divided events up mostly by category, including separate chapters covering state regiments in the eastern and western armies. In this book, Snell is almost strictly chronological and uses few chapter breaks or even section breaks, which results in quite a bit of abrupt jumping between locations. Given how scattered the WV regiments were, especially on the Confederate side (where they were parts of various VA regiments), this makes it difficult to track a give unit's progress. (Compare this to FL's regiments which were concentrated in 1-2 brigades in the Armies of Northern Virginia and Army of Tennessee.) It's a tricky subject to cover in a book like this - you want to include them for completeness sake and because it will be of interest to some readers (especially those interested in where their ancestors fought), but regimental histories are usually a micro topic not introductory level works.
I thought some of the coverage of WV's decision to break away from VA could really have used a couple pages of background to summarized issues between the western and eastern parts of the state in the decades prior to the war. Guerrilla/partisan warfare in WV also seems skimmed over; the emphasis on fratricide between West Virginians is mostly addressed in the context of traditional battles. There was also no mention of the role of religion - specifically several of the German pacifist churches like the Dunkards and Brethern. I know from my genealogy that most of my ancestors and distant cousins from eastern WV did not enlist on either side of the war because of their religious beliefs; it would see like a not-insignificant minority worth at least a passing mention (and the author is a professor at Shepherdstown, in the eastern part of the state).
The book also has some typo issues, particularly toward the end, that were missed in the editing process.
The book has some maps, with all the battlefield maps being credited as "Author's Collection" when they are very obviously maps from the Civil War Trust. Maybe the author was involved in the creation of those maps, but it seemed like an odd credit issue.
Despite its flaws, the book does serve as a decent introduction to a subject that has probably not been very well studied. The formation of the state is covered pretty well and there is a good concluding chapter about the 'war in memory'. I learned from it.
Mildly recommended, and only to those already curious about the subject.
June 25, 2013
I read this book wanting to know more about Wheeling, West Virginia's part in the Civil War. I found a few new tidbits but the rest of the book was information I had already read.
June 9, 2016
Introduction to basic military movements in the Mountain State. Light reading for Civil War buffs, but fantastic for people with limited knowledge
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews