Military history of Winchester, Virginia during the Civil War.
Hard Cover, 208 pages.
Maps, Photographs, and Illustrations.

$20.00

   Situated in Virginia's Lower Shenandoah Valley, Winchester thrived as a business community prior to the American Civil War. All of the area's major roads and railroads converged on the town, and the same strategic commercial location that made Winchester thrive also led to its wartime demise.

   The town changed hands more times than any other during the American Civil War. The number seventy-two is usually given. Throughout the War, armies of blue and gray came and went about seventy-plus times but the townspeople remained and endured.

   Winchester's civilians, especially the women, were as devoted to the Confederacy as any other group in the South. Faced with hardship and harsh treatment by the Union Army, the civilians went about their daily lives and held to their personal ideals. These were strong personalities that did not despair under Union military pressure. Even when some were exiled, they remained light-hearted and devoted to the War for Southern Independence and these civilians picked up the pieces time and again after the armies marched on. Sympathetic women cared for convalescing soldiers on both sides, long after the armies departed.

   Plagued by War: Winchester, Virginia, and the Civil War, is a history of military operations in the area coupled with civilian experiences throughout numerous occupations. This study is primarily concerned with the civilian experience of occupation and therefore much of the book is based on the diaries of Winchester's wartime population.     Their words paint a clear picture of the hardships endured by civilians during this unfortunate period of our history.  This work serves as a testimony to the unsung civilian heroes of Winchester who endured war and cared for the wounded men of both Blue and Gray.

After years of neglect in favor of classical battle and campaign studies of the Civil War, the plight of the civilians of the Confederate home front has come into its own as a fertile region for scholars, and Jonathan Noyalas's Plagued by War makes a fine addition to this growing literature. No city changed hands more times than Winchester, Virginia, seeing Yankee and Confederate armies come and go scores of times. Moreover, six substantial battles took place within its limits or the near environs, not to mention several smaller engagements. Thus its citizens enjoyed an experience perhaps unique to them, exaggerating all the more the strains of occupation, shifting allegiances, and anxieties for safety of person and property. Plagued by War, based on sound research and presented with sympathy and objectivity, is the first substantial look at this arresting story, and at the toll Winchester's war career took on its people and landscape.

William C. Davis

Battles in the streets, and repeated occupations by the enemy, can totally demoralize the citizenry. Winchester changed hands more than 70 times during the Civil War. Yet its residents bore every blow with incredible resolution. This is their story, well researched and narrated.

James I. Robertson, Jr.

Author

   Jonathan A. Noyalas earned his BS in history from Shenandoah University and MA in U.S. History from Virginia Tech. He teaches history at Lord Fairfax Community College and is the curator of collections for the McCormick Civil War Institute at Shenandoah University.