Virginia at War, 1863

The 3nd volume in this history of Confederate Virginia examines the effects of war on struggling families, the Hatfield-McCoy feud, and more.

In the year 1863, only one major battle, The Battle of Chancellorsville, was fought in the Confederate State of Virginia. Yet the pressures of the Civil War turned the daily lives of Virginians—both soldiers and civilians—into battles of their own. 1863 was the year Stonewall Jackson died within Virginia’s borders and Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address.

Virginia at War, 1863, examines these and other key events, revealing the political, social, and cultural ramifications of the ongoing national conflict. By this time, the war had profoundly transformed nearly every aspect of Virginia life and culture, from education to religion to commerce. Mounting casualties and depleted resources made Virginians feel the deprivations of war more deeply than ever.

Contributors to this volume focus on the war's impact on Virginia's children and its newly freed slaves. They shed light on the origins of the Hatfield-McCoy feud, explore the popularity of scrapbooking as a form of personal recordkeeping, and consider the changing role of religion during wartime. The book concludes with the 1863 entries of the Diary of a Southern Refugee by Richmond's Judith McGuire.