The antebellum culture of Harrison County (birthplace of George Armstrong Custer) and the surrounding five-county area of Appalachian east Ohio was an outspoken, democratic society—and a way station of the Underground Railroad for escaping slaves. With the coming of the Civil War, this community faced momentous change and bitter divisions. This narrative history provides a portrait of the area and the ways in which the war affected everyone. Portions of letters and diaries from the soldiers and those who loved them, illustrations and maps are included.

Former college professor Susan G. Hall is a writer and researcher living in Louisville, Kentucky. In addition to writing on Appalachia and the Civil War, she coedited the Encyclopedia of American Icons.

Susan G. Hall
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 264
Bibliographic Info: 5 photos, 10 maps, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2008 [2000]
pISBN: 978-0-7864-3738-2
eISBN: 978-1-4766-0834-1
Imprint: McFarland

Preface      1
Sources      4
Notes      6

1. The Land and Its People      7
2. Fourth of July 1862: “The War Is Almost Over Now”      25
3. “‘Lay on McDuff’ &c”      31
4. Kentucky: The School for the Soldier      42
5. “Most Respected Friend Nancy”      55
6. “Here I Am Bound to Blaze”      59
7. Nancy’s News      72
8. Perryville: “Nobody Sees a Battle”      77
9. Correspondences      99
10. Reapers in Motion      105
11. The Cedars of Lebanon, Kentucky      112
12. Cumberland, Maryland: “The Wild Romantic Scenes”      120
13. “A School of Crime and Sin”      131
14. Christmas and New Year’s Greetings      139
15. “War Is a Lottery”      150
16. Orations of the Nation: The War Debate That Heralded the Gettysburg Address      156
17. Peace Clarions, Threnodies, and Wolf Calls      167
18. Martinsburg, Virginia, and Its Symbols      173
19. Spring Returns      185
20. A Marching Band in the Virginia Mountains      194
21. May: A Mob in the Streets      200
22. Mudsills Amid the Tennessee Chivalry      204
23. June: Butternuts and Black Soldiers      212
24. Under Fire in Tennessee, Mississippi, Virginia      218
25. Morgan’s Raid and the Soldiers      231

Works Cited or Used      244
Index      251

“readers will gain a sense of local color and the historical period”—Public Library Quarterly; “skillfully intertwines the story of the men who marched off to war from Appalachian Ohio with the turbulent political history of the communities that sent them”—Crossfire; “this work is notable in its scope…bibliography [is] excellent…Hall’s effort is commendable”—The Filson History Quarterly.