In the Shenandoah Valley campaign of 1864; U.S. Major General Philip H. Sheridan led his army to a series of decisive victories for the Union over Lieutenant General Jubal A. Early and the Confederate Army of the Valley. In From Winchester to Cedar Creek; author Jeffry D. Wert highlights Sheridan’s victories in the critical area of the Virginia Valley as defining moments of the Civil War. Sheridan’s campaign ensured Confederate defeat in Virginia and ultimately contributed to Lincoln’s reelection and the Union’s victory in the Civil War.Drawing on manuscript collections and many published sources; Wert offers vivid descriptions of the battles of Third Winchester; Fisher’s Hill; Tom’s Brook; and Cedar Creek. The book also explores how the interplay of the strengths and weaknesses of the Union and Confederate commanders; Sheridan and Early; resulted in victories for Sheridan’s Army of the Shenandoah. Grounded in detailed research; Wert’s compelling narrative portrays the military strategies these commanders employed and how their tactical decisions impacted civilian sacrifice in the Valley.First published in 1987; Wert’s chronicle remains the definitive book on Sheridan’s command and the Shenandoah Campaign of 1864. Offering a balanced treatment of both Union and Confederate experiences during the campaign; Wert emphasizes its importance as a turning point in the war from both military and civilian points of view.Supplemented with situation maps and photographs; From Winchester to Cedar Creek not only documents and dynamically recounts the events that unfolded in the summer and fall of 1864 in the Virginia Valley; but it also details the political; strategic; and tactical forces that made the Shenandoah Valley campaign so important to the outcome of the Civil War.
#318857 in Books Hensley Marcia Meredith 2008-09-15Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.90 x .90 x 6.00l; 1.00 #File Name: 0931271908304 pagesStaking Her Claim Women Homesteading the West
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. One StarBy tommixxdoes not get the stories to much of nothing36 of 36 people found the following review helpful. Grandma's WorldBy Mary ScriverIf it's a cold snowy winter where you are (as it is here -- thirty below last night) and you're a single female out West (as I am) and you live alone because you love it (as I do); then I've got a book for you. It's "Staking her Claim: Women Homesteaders in the West;" partly letters; partly memoir; and partly scholarly reflection; with a nice little sprinkling of photos; this book is produced by the High Plains Press with its special sympathy for women. Reading it; one realizes that this is not something that just happened on the American Frontier at a certain point in time; but a kind of attitude and resourcefulness that persists on the fringes of conformity everywhere.One has to grant that homesteading on the American prairie was a special case; a way for women to escape from housewife drudgery or other scut work disguised as a career in nursing or teaching. As well; some of these tales speak of second generation homesteaders; young women who had grown up on the family homestead. They knew quite well what they were getting into and what it would take to survive.Now the stories come to us as though new; unworn by familiarity: homesteaders with pianos who painted watercolors to pin on walls they had plastered themselves. Good reminders that bad times can be survived; land can be lost and gained; community can be built and rebuilt in the most unpromising places.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Interesting history perspectiveBy Carol K. PageThe author had an interesting history perspective; telli g the story of female homesteaders in Wyoming; North and South Dakota and Montana; I did not know how late the Homesteading opportunity lasted. The women worked hard; and were quite brave to set up a little cabin on the prairie and set about to improve the land. My Great Grandmother Green set up a homestead in Nebraska and built a sod house there. She also was a schoolteacher; and that paid for some of the improvements to the land. The book is very well researched and photos are fascinating!;
