War Stories Civil War in West Virginia

The purpose of this book has been to acquaint the reader with first-hand accounts of events that transpired long ago in West Virginia. Many of these events happened prior to the actual creation of the new state from Virginia's western counties and some of the authors were actively involved in either creating the new state or were just as active in attempting to prevent the severing of Virginia into two smaller states.

    Civil War history should be of special interest to West Virginians, but there has been far too little of it in the histories which have been published in recent years. Unionists from the new state called her "The Child of the Storm" since the Mountain State was created as a direct result of the political maneuvering of the Federal government as Lincoln's government tried to control the Confederate rebellion. Splitting the strongest state in the Confederacy and admitting a new Northern state into the Union was both a political and military victory for the Federal government at a time when it was hard pressed by Lee's armies.

    Unfortunately, very little information on the actual role of West Virginians during the Civil War has made its' way into modern histories. Legend and misinterpretation of facts leave most with a very simplified view of the history of the state and people are left with the impression that "West Virginia seceded from Virginia in order to help President Lincoln free the slaves." Soldiers drawn from Virginia's western counties have been thought to have served primarily as Union "Home Guards" or as Confederate "bushwhackers -- both of whom changed uniforms to match those of the most recent local victors.

    This is far from the truth! Men from Virginia's Trans-Allegheny counties served in at least fifteen Federal regiments, frequently with distinction. They fought throughout the South for the entire war. Federal regiments raised from Virginia's western counties fought under a local