Virginia at War, 1864Edited by William C. Davis and James I. Robertson Jr.
With more than two years of debilitating fighting already behind them, Virginians in the Civil War faced a new array of challenges in 1864. Though intermittent battles had been fought in the state in previous years, 1864 ushered in a violent new era for the Old Dominion. This phase of the war, in which the majority of Virginia's forces fought within their own state, significantly affected the cultural, political, and environmental landscapes of Virginia as soldiers and civilians alike struggled to cope with the prolonged warfare.
Virginia at War, 1864 provides a snapshot into the civilian experience, introducing key home front issues such as transportation, communication, politics, education, patriotism, and early efforts at reconstruction. While previous volumes have emphasized military campaigns and battles, this collection focuses on the internal affairs affecting the civilians. Virginia's overtaxed transportation systems presented a major challenge as the state attempted to support both military operations and civilian life. Local journalists struggled to maintain morale and patriotism amid readership decline and supply shortages, while the demand for soldiers left schools without pupils and teachers. On the agricultural front, farmers tried to produce enough food to sustain both the military and the civilian population.
The contributors explore the dynamics of a fully developed society in conflict, analyzing beyond the details of military strategy to investigate how the civilian population functioned under arduous circumstances. As in previous volumes, Virginia at War, 1864 concludes with an annotated excerpt from the Diary of a Southern Refugee by Richmond's Judith Brockenbrough McGuire.
William C. Davis, director of programs at the Virginia Center for Civil War Studies, is the author or editor of more than fifty books, including The Pirates Laffite: The Treacherous World of the Corsairs of the Gulf. He was also the chief consultant for The History Channel's Civil War Journal and is professor of history at Virginia Tech.
James I. Robertson Jr., Alumni Distinguished Professor of History at Virginia Tech, is the author or editor of more than two dozen books, including the award-winning Stonewall Jackson: The Man, the Soldier, the Legend. He was the chief historical consultant for the movie Gods and Generals.
