Customer Reviews

Battle of Cloyds Mountain (The Virginia Civil War Battles and Leaders series)

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The Virginia Civil War Battles and Leaders Series appears to be underappreciated. The series is excellent and all of the books I have seen from it are first-rate; I currently own 4 books and have leafed through many others. They also represent the only book-length accounts of some battles.

The Battle of Cloyds Mountain is a great example of the quality of the series. It details the events of a relatively small campaign that occurred in the western portion of Virginia during the spring of 1864. The campaign was launched by the Union with the goals of destroying part of the Virginia and Tennessee railroad and the Confederate saltworks at Saltville. The main battle of the campaign took place near Cloyds Mountain. The result was a Union victory with 688 Federal casualties and 538 Confederate casualties.

The book is very well written and easy to follow. McManus provides a balanced treatment to both sides and clearly presents the events seemingly without bias. 7 maps are provided which are of very high quality. I strongly recommend this book to Civil War buffs. This is likely to be the only account of this campaign to be written for the foreseeable future.

A terrific account of a very often overlooked Civil War battle. Quite detailed but still manages to be a good read.

Howard McManus discovered and researched this forgotten Southwest Virginia battlefield. Before his research, even the location of the battlefield was unknown. This interesting battle deserves more attention than it has gotten. Not only is McManus a thorough researcher, he can write also.