Defend the Valley: A Shenandoah Family in the Civil War

Located in a strategic position in the Shenandoah Valley, Winchester, Virginia, witnessed the Civil War in a way unlike any other town in America. In Defend the Valley, the story of the war is told through the letters and private papers of the Barton and Jones clans--two great limbs of one family tree with roots in Winchester. By collecting her ancestors' papers, Margaretta Barton Colt has done far more than provide a record of the Civil War. She has brought it to life with astounding clarity through the voices of those who experienced it. The Bartons and Joneses collectively sent eleven men into battle, most in the brigade led by Thomas Stonewall Jackson. Culled from the private papers of twenty family members, the material presented here includes many vivid recollections found in the soldiers' first-hand descriptions of the battles, as well as responses from the home front. The result is a fully rounded picture of the daily struggles of the Civil War, and a documentation of the passing of a way of life.


Author: Margaretta Barton Colt
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Published: 10/14/1999
Pages: 464
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.40lbs
Size: 9.04h x 6.22w x 1.05d
ISBN: 9780195132373

Review Citation(s):
Ingram Advance 06/01/1999 pg. 96

About the Author

Margaretta Barton Colt is a direct descendant of the Barton-Jones Clan. Since 1976, she has been coproprietor of The Military Bookman in New York City, and antiquarian bookstore specializing in military history. She was formerly a research and picture editor for Time, Inc., and American Heritage.

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