This is the only book on that crucial military department. Over fifty battles waged in an attempt to destroy the Confederacy's only source of salt & lead. Crack Union troops under excellent generals like Crook, Stoneman, & Burbridge launched numerous attacks into the area. The Dixie boys manned the trenches & braved overwhelming odds. Southern generals like Breckinridge, Jackson, "Grumble" Jones, & "The Devil" Morgan struggled valiantly to maintain the critical war materials flow to General Lee. HUNTER'S FIERY RAID THROUGH VIRGINIA VALLEYS; 0-9617897-0-8; $32.95. This is the only accurate account of wicked General David "Black Dave" Hunter's campaign to destroy the Confederacy by stopping the flow of salt & lead through the Shenandoah, James, & Roanoke River Valleys. Hatred clouded Hunter's judgment as he reaped punishment on slave-holding Virginia. Towns were burned, looting & wanton destruction were commonplace. Staunton & Lexington (including V.M.I) were burned. Savage fighting raged around Lynchburg & through the Roanoke-Salem area. CIVIL WAR TALES; 0-9617898-1-6; $25.95. This is a delightful concoction of newly uncovered pure history, hilarious fables, heart wrenching stories, & just plain bull. Based on family stories. Learn interesting facts about Lee, Jackson, Ashby, & John Wilkes Booth. Laugh at a Yankee suitor's rejection, a peed on Southern soldier, terrifying yet comical encounters slaves had with dead persons & live Yankees, & a Reb "Still Holding the Line." Sad tales of cold blooded murder, neighbor against neighbor, burned towns & terrorized citizens, & a Confederate flag in WW II. Under a flavor of the times: women in action, a church that went to war, a ghost story, & vile atrocities. CIVIL WAR TALES, VOL. II; 0-9617898-2-4; $25.95 (even more of a good thing). To order write or call: A & W Enterprise, P.O. Box 8133, Roanoke, VA 24014. Phone: 703-427-1154.

Many people believe that the Civil War was started by the Southern states because of slavery and the issue of secession. Here the author argues differently: Southerners believed that they would benefit from a different form of government than that of their Northern neighbors. Southerners, whose economy depended on agriculture, felt that the industrialized North passed laws and set taxes unfair to the South. In this history, Walker includes descriptions of daring raids, massive battles, and life-and-death struggles that changed one nation and destroyed another. In between are tales of the North's misdeeds, such as the massacre of more than 600 American Indians, the burning of Confederate hospitals, and Lincoln's imprisonment of more than 40,000 citizens who dared to oppose him.

A “compelling” account of the little-known bloody skirmishes that took place in this picturesque part of West Virginia (Civil War Monitor). The three rivers that make up the Coal River Valley—Big, Little and Coal—were named by explorer John Peter Salling (or Salley) for the coal deposits found along their banks. More than one hundred years later, the picturesque valley that would separate from Virginia a short time later was witness to a multitude of bloody skirmishes between Confederate and Union forces in the Civil War. Often-overlooked battles at Boone Court House, Coal River, Pond Fork, and Kanawha Gap introduced the beginning of “total war” tactics years before General Sherman used them in his March to the Sea. Join historian Michael Graham as he expertly details the compelling human drama of the bitterly contested Coal River Valley region during the War Between the States. Includes illustrations

West Virginia is the only state formed by seceding from a Confederate state. And its connections to the Civil War run deep. One day at a time, award-winning historian Michael Graham presents intriguing, event-driven anecdotes and history related to the state. On July 11, 1861, a Union force attacked 1,300 Confederate troops camped at Rich Mountain in a renowned battle. Confederate guerrillas raided Hacker's Creek on June 12, 1864. Find little-known facts about the Battles of Droop Mountain, Carnifex Ferry, Harpers Ferry, Shepherdstown and a whole host of others. Read a story one day or month at a time. Celebrate an entire year of Civil War history in the Mountain State.

Historians usually assume that the battles fought in Southwestern Virginia, Eastern Kentucky, and Eastern Tennessee played an insignificant role in the outcome of the Civil War. This book challenges that assumption. Focusing on the career of Colonel Andrew Jackson May, for whom the defense of the region was a personal crusade, it reveals that the victories which the Confederates won in this theater, allowing them to retain control of Preston’s Saltworks and the Virginia-Tennessee railroad, preserved the integrity of the Confederacy and thereby prolonged the war.