War Diaries The 1861 Kanawha Valley Campaigns

The story of the American Civil War has been told by many and in several different ways. In War Diaries, Dave Phillips presents the story from the perspective of the participants.

Christopher Tompkins, a reluctant Rebel, was a Confederate Colonel living near the small town of Gauley Bridge in western Virginia at the time of the outbreak of hostilities.

Jacob Cox, a Union general, was Tompkin's opponent who also was a reluctant soldier. He agreed to guard Tompkins' family from harm when they came under Federal Control.

Isaac Smith was a Confederate major who served as Tomokins' deputy in the 22nd Virginia. Separated from his family in Union territory, Smith cam under intense harassment from General Floyd when the former's father began to openly support the Union.

Ellen Tompkins wife to the colonel, a prisoner of the general, and friend too many of the sick and wounded provides her perspective of the events in the area as the two sides begin to fight the Civil War on and near her farm.

Tompkins and Smith resigned from the Confederate army and with Ellen, they left the area for the remainder of the war. They did not, however, totally leave the service of the Rebel cause. After returning to the relative safety of eastern Virginia, they continued to assist with the idea of a second American Revolution through espionage. Smith and a few other veterans of the Kanawha Valley campaigns returned to western Virginia to collect information on the Union army.