Virginia's Shenandoah Valley was known as the "Breadbasket of the Confederacy" due to its ample harvests and transportation centers, its role as an avenue of invasion into the North and its capacity to serve as a diversionary theater of war. The region became a magnet for both Union and Confederate armies during the Civil War, and nearly half of the thirteen major battles fought in the valley occurred as part of General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's 1862 Valley Campaign. Civil War historian Jonathan A. Noyalas examines Jackson's Valley Campaign and how those victories brought hope to an...
Virginia's Shenandoah Valley was known as the "Breadbasket of the Confederacy" due to its ample harvests and transportation centers, its role as an av...
After four bloody years of Civil War battles in the Shenandoah Valley, the region's inhabitants needed to muster the strength to recover, rebuild and reconcile. Most residents had supported the Confederate cause, and in order to heal the deep wounds of war, they would need to resolve differences with Union veterans. Union veterans memorialized their service. Confederate veterans agreed to forgive but not forget. And each side was key to the rebuilding effort. The battlefields of the Shenandoah, where men sacrificed their lives, became places for veterans to find common ground and healing...
After four bloody years of Civil War battles in the Shenandoah Valley, the region's inhabitants needed to muster the strength to recover, rebuild and ...