Contested Borderland: The Civil War in Appalachian Kentucky and Virginia

by Brian D. McKnight

Overview

A “compelling” study of impact of the Civil War in Appalachia that “adeptly juggles the military, social, and political complexities of this border war” (American Historical Review).

During the four years of the Civil War, the border between eastern Kentucky and southwestern Virginia was highly contested territory, alternately occupied by both the Confederacy and the Union. Though sparsely populated, the geography of the region made it a desirable stronghold for future tactical maneuvers. In Contested Borderland , Brian D. McKnight’s unprecedented geographical analysis of military tactics and civilian involvement provides a new and valuable dimension to the story of a region facing the turmoil of war.

Winner of the James I. Robertson Literary Prize

“A very valuable study.” —Appalachian Journal

“Engaging and eminently readable. . . . A compelling account of an isolated world turned upside down by a war fought over issues few of its residents understood or cared much about.” —Civil War Times

“A revealing and richly diverse account of the war in this too-neglected pocket of the South.” —Daniel E. Sutherland, editor of Guerrillas, Unionists, and Violence on the Confederate Home Front

“Recommend[ed] for all serious Civil War scholars and enthusiasts.” —Journal of American History

“McKnight’s work has much to offer in covering the war in the Central Appalachian Divide.” —Journal of East Tennessee History

“An enjoyable and informational read.” —Journal of Military History

“Essential for all Appalachian regional and Civil War collections.” —Journal of Southern History

“The author’s analysis of military tactics, political realities, and genuine hardship, is first rate.” —West Virginia History

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780813141459
Publisher:	University Press of Kentucky
Publication date:	11/15/2022
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	319
File size:	3 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Brian D. McKnight is Associate Professor of History at the University of Virginia's College at Wise. His work has appeared in numerous books and journals, including the Historian, the Smithfield Review, and Ohio Valley History .

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments vii

Map of the Kentucky-Virginia Borderland Region x

Introduction 1

1 The Central Appalachian Divide in Unity and Secession 9

2 Recruitment, Training, and Baptism: June-November 1861 29

3 Locking the Confederates into Virginia: December 1861-June 1862 53

4 The Kentucky Campaign, Cumberland Gap: July-October 1862 71

5 The Kentucky Campaign, Pound Gap: July-October 1862 91

6 An Aggressive Union Army: November 1862-February 1863 114

7 Return to Kentucky, Return to Virginia: February-April 1863 138

8 Southwestern Virginia Besieged: May-September 1863 151

9 East Tennessee Rescued, Southwestern Virginia Harassed: October 1863-March 1864 170

10 Impending Defeat: April-September 1864 188

11 Violent War, Violent Peace: October 1864-April 1865 206

Conclusion 227

Notes 235

Bibliography 275

Index 297

Editorial Reviews

Winner of the James I. Robertson Literary Prize

From the Publisher

Through firsthand accounts and original military documents, McKnight portrays a self-sustained population forced into a conflict from which they perceived they had little to gain and much to lose.

Northern Kentucky Heritage

As the only modern, comprehensive examination of the Civil War era in the mountain highlands of Kentucky and Virginia, McKnight's book makes a wonderful contribution to Civil War history. I heartily recommend the book. Contested Borderland is a fine narrative history of a complex subject in a very complex region, and I hope it spawns more scholarship on the highland region during the Civil War.

Indiana Magazine of History

The Civil War in southern Appalachia has received considerable scholarly analysis over the past few years, but until now there has been surprisingly little attention directed toward central Appalachia, which was fully significant militarily and suffered just as great a social and economic upheaval as did any part of the mountain South. Brian D. McKnight does much to fill that gap with his comprehensive new study of the war as experienced along the border of southwestern Virginia and eastern Kentucky. McKnight adeptly juggles the military, social, and political complexities of this border war in a meticulously documented and often compelling narrative.

American Historical Review

Engaging and eminently readable.... A compelling account of an isolated world turned upside down by a war fought over issues few of its residents understood or cared much about.

Civil War Times

A revealing and richly diverse account of the war in this too-neglected pocket of the South.

Daniel E. Sutherland

This book makes a major contribution to the study of the Civil War in the mountain South by... [keeping] clear both the big picture and its smaller components. Contested Borderland' s integration of campaign histories with the social chaos and civilian suffering initiated by those campaigns has made for a very valuable study.

Appalachian Journal

Addresses an often-overlooked border conflict.

WTBF Radio

Comprehensive.... McKnight adeptly juggles the military, social, and political complexities of this border war in a meticulously documented and often compelling narrative.

W SHAKESPEARE

Written in a clear and accessible style, this book will appeal to both general and scholarly readers. This book is essential for all Appalachian regional and Civil War collections.

Journal of Southern History

Contested Borderland, Brian D. McKnight's well-researched narrative, represents one of the best recent, comprehensive examinations of the Civil War era in the mountain highlands of Kentucky and Virginia.... I recommend [it] to all serious Civil War scholars and enthusiasts.

Journal of American History

McKnight shines a bright analytical light on mist-shrouded mountaintops, into darkened hollows, and along meandering creeks to illuminate the reasons why, from the earliest days of the war, commanders of both armies sought to recruit soldiers from among the region's insular and clannish population.

Civil War Roundtable of DC Newsletter

Contested Borderland is the first detailed study of the Civil War on the eastern Kentucky border. The author's analysis of military tactics, political realities, and genuine hardship, is first rate.

West Virginia History

Amply supplies the reader with an enjoyable and informational read that attempts to bridge a gap in Civil War history.

Journal of Military History

McKnight deserves praise for his effort to shed light on the long-neglected war in the mountains.

Register of the Kentucky Historical Society

McKnight's work has much to offer in covering the war in the Central Appalachian Divide and in explaining why this region's inhabitants choose their respective allegiances.

Journal of East Tennessee History

McKnight's book is an important contribution to the cumulative work of many other scholars who have explored the Civil War in Appalachia for the past two decades. His work adds to the geographic breadth and the thematic complexity of our collective understanding of the subject.

North Carolina Historical Review

Comprehensive.... McKnight adeptly juggles the military, social, and political complexities of this border war in a meticulously documented and often compelling narrative.

W

Comprehensive.... McKnight adeptly juggles the military, social, and political complexities of this border war in a meticulously documented and often compelling narrative.

W