Struggle for the Shenandoah: Essays on the 1864 Valley Campaign [Illustrated] [Paperback]

Gary W. Gallagher (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1992

Few geographical regions played a more critical role in the American Civil War than the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. At no time did the Valley loom larger on the military landscape than in the late summer and fall of 1864, when the armies of Jubal A. Early and Philip H. Sheridan waged their bitter struggle. The military and political stakes were immense. War on civilians first became policy on a theater-wide scale, and tactical operations ranged from guerrilla activity to the grand encounter at Cedar Creek. Without an appreciation of why the Shenandoah Valley became first a battleground and then a wasteland, it is impossible to understand fully the last year of the war.

These essays seek to illuminate various facets of the 1864 Valley campaign. The authors question the relative importance of operations in the Shenandoah, the respective performances of Early and Sheridan, and the roles of Confederate guerrillas and cavalry. Often departing from conventional views and sometimes disagreeing with one another, the essays should spark further debate on one of the more important an dramatic military events of the conflict.

"These five essays are of uniformly high quality and exceptional unity. The authors sometimes disagree with one another on the relative importance of certain operations or leaders in the valley, but all agree that the events in the region were significant in the crucial last half of 1864."--Historian

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Gary W. Gallagher is professor of history at the University of Virginia. He is a contributing editor of The Kent State University Press publications Antietam: Essays on the 1862 Maryland Campaign (1989); The First Day at Gettysburg: Essays on Confederate and Union Leadership (1992); The Second Day at Gettysburg: Essays on Confederate and Union Leadership (1993); and Three Days at Gettysburg: Essays on Confederate and Union Leadership (1999). --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 152 pages
• Publisher: Kent State University Press; illustrated edition edition (December 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0873384296
• ISBN-13: 978-0873384292
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,899,856 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Provocative Essays on the 1864 Valley Campaign, June 12, 2008

By 

Colinda "L.S.W." (Historic Virginia, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Struggle for the Shenandoah: Essays on the 1864 Valley Campaign (Paperback)

This book is the product of a 1989 symposium at the Mont Alto Campus of Penn State. In addition to a thoughtful introduction, the essays are:
- The Shenandoah Valley in 1864 by Gary W. Gallagher
- Jubal A. Early and Confederate Leadership by Jeffry D. Wert
- Union Leadership in the 1864 Valley Campaign by A. Wilson Greene
- "The Cause of All My Disasters": Jubal A. Early and the Undisciplined Valley Cavalry by Robert K. Krick
- "I Resolved to Play a Bold Game": John S. Mosby as a Factor in the 1864 Valley Campaign by Dennis E. Frye

These are interesting chapters, at times provocative. I found particularly thought-provoking the last two essays. The failures of the Confederate Cavalry in the Shenandoah Valley are documented by Krick, with blunt quotes from their leaders, who called them wild, undisciplined, and worse. Frye's analysis of Mosby's influence in 1864 aims at some myths popularized by Mosby himself.

The book concludes with Bibliographic Notes, a four-page look at books on the 1864 Valley Campaign. This book is a valuable addition to the literature on this fascinating time.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well-Known Authors Provide Solid Essays on the Shenandoah Campaign, November 7, 2005

By 

Brett R. Schulte "Civil War Buff" (Southwestern IL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Struggle for the Shenandoah: Essays on the 1864 Valley Campaign (Paperback)

Contributors to this collection of essays include Dennis E. Frye, Gary W. Gallagher, A. Wilson Greene, Robert K. Krick, and Jeffry D. Wert. I'm familiar with all of these authors, and I've read books by all except Dennis Frye. Several have written books on the 1864 Valley Campaign, so they are all well qualified to author essays on the subject. This book is the first in a series of essay collections edited by Gallagher. In later titles, some essays wander into Social History, and I'm not too fond of that. However, I was pleasantly surprised here when I found that all five essays focused on the military aspects of the campaign. The maps were only okay. It helps to have Jeffry Wert's From Winchester to Cedar Creek on hand when reading this title for the maps. Topics include an overview of the campaign, separate essays on Union and Confederate leadership, Early and the Confederate Valley Cavalry, and John S. Mosby's quest to hinder Sheridan's campaign. The book is rather short at 137 pages, but the excellent quality of each essay makes this one worth owning.

137 pp., 5 maps