The definitive book on the Civil War theatre in Fayette County. Lifelong resident of Fayette County, Tim McKinney is well known all over the region for his meticulous research and well written books on the Civil War. Generous amounts of photographs, maps, sketches, and letters, along with the nature of the fighting over extremely rough terrain, make this history enjoyable for war buffs as well as the casual reader. From the Richmond Dispatch, 1861: In Mountain Warfare the learning of strategist is of little importance. In a country where it is impossible to find enough level land to muster a company of militia, there is little scope for ingeniously studied military plans. It is impossible for the books to embrace the thousand topographical features of a wild region, where all nature seems drunk and the hills and mountains in high frolic. The only rule of warfare in such a region is to throw away all rule. The policy there is to fight and march, to march and fight. Ingenious ink and paper plans of campaign are about as useless in the region about the Big Sewell Mountain as a McCormick's reaper in a mountain "wheat" field. The great requisites of an army fit for mountain warfare are good legs and plenty of ammunition. The best general for such an army is he who will keep them most actively on the march and most constantly loading and firing. Physical exertion is the great thing in mountain warfare; the refined strategy of science can have no play.

This amazing book has over 475 photographs, images, and drawings - all made during the Civil War or very soon thereafter, and all related to West Virginia. This is the largest collection of images ever put together on West Virginia during the war. In addition to photos, it includes broadsides, veteran reunions, and miscellaneous paper items. Many of these pictures are from private collections and have never before been published. Also includes a short chronology of battles and events, giving a reference for the images. The book is printed on high quality glossy paper. A must for all Civil War buffs. Review by Marina Hendricks of the Charleston Gazette: TERRY Lowry was but a junior high school student when West Virginia and the Civil War marked their respective centennials back in the 1960s. Around the same time, the magazine Civil War Times Illustrated debuted. "I saw a copy of that floating around the school, and I was intrigued," Lowry recalled. The more he learned about the colorful uniforms, larger-than-life personalities and the Mountain State's role in the Civil War, the more he wanted to know. "Almost every American has an [ancestor] who fought in the Civil War. So there's that personal connection. And then the fact that the Civil War took place all over, in some places we haven't even thought of," he said. To feed that thirst for knowledge, Lowry earned a bachelor's degree in history from West Virginia State College, pursued graduate studies in Civil War history at Marshall University, toured battlefields and built a collection of Civil War memorabilia. He also authored several books, including the 1996 release "Last Sleep: The Battle of Droop Mountain November 6, 1863." Lowry teamed with Charleston native Stan Cohen on his most recent project, the newly released "Images of the Civil War in West Virginia." The book will make its debut as part of the second annual Col. George S. Patton Memorial Civil War Weekend, held Friday and Saturday at Craik-Patton House in Daniel Boone Park on U.S. 60. Cohen, who operates Pictorial Histories Publishing Co., has authored or co-authored 68 books and published more than 250. Together, Lowry and Cohen set out to showcase photographs, sketches, illustrations and paintings that depicted the role West Virginia and its citizens played in the war. "That was the idea, to track down everything we could," Lowry said. The co-authors faced a number of challenges in the five years that Lowry estimated it took to put together the book, which sells for $19.95 at all West Virginia bookstores. During the Civil War, for example, the state's rugged, mountainous terrain made it hard for photographers to lug around the heavy equipment they then needed to practice their craft. So other than portraits, Lowry and Cohen were able to find few photographic records of that time period in West Virginia. And time itself hindered the duo's efforts, as more than a few of their discoveries were in poor physical condition. Despite the difficulties, Lowry and Cohen unearthed some real gems, including a soldier's rough sketch of the Battle of Charleston and a photograph of several members of the 34th Ohio Regiment in their distinctive (and flamboyant by soldier standards) Zouave garb. "It's the only known photograph we've seen of them in the particular uniform they wore," Lowry said. "Later on, they switched to regular uniforms." The co-authors also were able to correct a mistake on a series of photographs from the state archives. The photographs, which depict the Gauley Bridge area, originally were thought to have been taken after the war. Lowry and Cohen determined by their subject matter, however, that they did indeed date back to the war itself. By the time they completed the book, they believed they had assembled as complete a visual history of the Civil War era in West Virginia as possible.

A dream come true for researcher and genealogist alike. Tim McKinney has enriched West Virginia Civil War history with his books on the The Civil War In Fayette County, Robert E. Lee at Sewell Mountain: The West Virginia Campaign, and Robert E. Lee and the 35th Star, all within the brief span of tem years. Now, his Civil War Almanac, an outgrowth of his researches into the nation's most tragic war, will place historians, genealogists, Civil War enthusiasts, and other informed readers still more deeply in debt to him. In this, the first of two volumes, McKinney sets high expectations for the usefulness his work and raises keen anticipation for the second volume. Major sources for identifying Civil War veterans from West Virginia include the 1890 Civil War Veteran Census, which includes nearly 14,000 veterans, who had worn either the Blue or the Gray, and were still living in West Virginia in 1890, along with their names, regiments, and periods of service. For many of the veterans there are also special remarks. The 1890 Confederate Index provides names and counties of residence of 1,097 Confederate veterans turned up by extensive research by the author; listings of both Union and Confederate veterans by county of residence; Civil War service medals Of Union veterans identified in the 1890 Census, many of which remain unclaimed at the West Virginia Division of Archives and History; a compilation of West Virginia Confederate soldiers and citizens who died in Federal prisons or military hospitals; an index to records of the Southern Claims Commission, which identifies more than 200 West Virginians who sought compensation from the United States for confiscated or stolen property, and transcribes as examples case files from Greenbrier and Jefferson Counties; and identification, with name, county, and regiment of ore than 160 physicians of the Blue and Gray who were from West Virginia. McKinney's compilations are of interest in their aggregate, but they provide detail that makes the soldier a person rather than a mere number. by Otis K. Rice, Professor Emeritus of History, West Virginia University Institute of Technology