Mount Pleasant was one of the earliest sites of English settlement in Piedmont Virginia. Located in what was then Spotsylvania County and later Orange County, the estate was part of a 4,675-acre parcel of land that had originally belonged to Colonel James Taylor, the surveyor of King William and King and Queen counties. In 1723 Taylor gave it to his two sons-in-law, Ambrose Madison and Thomas Chew, who cleared and built on it as the law required. In March or April 1732, Madison the grandfather of the future U.S. president moved his family into the overseer’s house, constructed around 1726. Approximately twenty-nine enslaved people lived on the farm, which grew tobacco and corn. In July 1732, or less than six months after his arrival, Madison died; three enslaved people were later convicted of poisoning him.
by Thomas J. Ryan El Dorado Hills, Ca.: Savas Beatie, 2015.. Pp. xxii, 482. Illus., maps, append., notes, biblio., index. $35.00. ISBN: 1611211786 Intelligence Operations on the Road to Gettysburg
Spies, Scouts, and Secrets in the Gettysburg Campaign is very likely the first work that compares and contrasts Confederate and Federal efforts at gathering, using, and misusing strategic and tactical intelligence during the Gettysburg Campaign. Ryan, a former U.S. Department of Defense intelligence employee and the author of
“Lee is Trapped and Must be Taken”and other works, explores how Robert E. Lee, Joseph Hooker, and George G. Meade used intelligence to achieve specific goals from June through the July of 1863. He covers these events on a day-by-day, and often hour-by-hour basis, concentrating on the efforts of these commanders and their staffs to discern their opponent’s movements and objectives in order to adopt measures to ef
Desertion (Confederate) during the Civil War – Encyclopedia Virginia encyclopediavirginia.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from encyclopediavirginia.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
SUMMARY
Martinsburg, Virginia (now West Virginia), the county seat of Berkeley County, was in 1860 the Shenandoah Valley‘s second largest town, with a population of 3,364. Located in the northern portion of the valley, Martinsburg enjoyed a booming economy because of its location along the paved Valley Pike and because it was a major depot along the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. The same strategic location that made Martinsburg economically prosperous prior to the American Civil War (1861–1865), however, also spelled its wartime demise. The town changed hands between Confederate and Union forces thirty-seven times, was the site of two battles, and played host for a time to the intrigue of Confederate spy Belle Boyd, who was born there.
by Eric J. Wittenberg El Dorado Hills, Ca.: Savas Beattie, 2014. Pp. xx, 288. Illus., maps, appends, notes, biblio., index. $35.00. ISBN: 1611212081
Opening the Ball at Gettysburg
This outstanding volume by author Eric Wittenberg opens by introducing us to John Buford and the men he led. The narrative provides a concise account of Buford s role in the Gettysburg Campaign, including a detailed tactical discussion of his prominent role in the battle on July 1st and 2nd and ending through the withdrawal of his 1st Cavalry Division. Wittenberg, who’s written a goodly number of excellent books on the Civil War, makes effective use of anecdotes about Buford and his men, to help us better understand the battle. He. concludes with an analysis of the critical roles played in the battle by Buford, his brigade commanders, Colonels William Gamble and Thomas Devin, and the troops they led.