Booknotes: A History of Putnam County, West Virginia in the Civil War

New Arrival:

• A History of Putnam County, West Virginia in the Civil War by Philip Hatfield (35th Star Pub, 2023).

Strategically situated along a major invasion route into western Virginia (the Kanawha River Valley) and sitting between Charleston and Point Pleasant, Putnam County, Virginia was practically destined to become a Civil War battleground.

From the description: "Accessible transportation routes on the James River and Kanawha Turnpike (modern U.S. Route 60) and the Midland Trail (modern State Route 34), as well as the Kanawha River, made it easy for military and partisan guerrilla forces to traverse the countryside. This subjected residents to frequent raids, harassment, theft, and even murder. Four battles occurred in Putnam County during the war, at Atkeson’s Gate, Hurricane Bridge, Scary Creek, and Winfield, along with numerous smaller skirmishes and raids."

Utilizing a variety of primary sources (including substantial manuscript research), Philip Hatfield's hefty new volume A History of Putnam County, West Virginia in the Civil War presents those military events and more in detail, supplemented by numerous archival maps and modern originals. The volume is also heavily illustrated with photographs and drawings. An appendix section contains rolls for companies presumably raised in the area.

Putnam County sons entered the ranks of Union and Confederate fighting forces in nearly equal numbers. More from the description: "(I)t is estimated that 52% of the white male population served in the Confederacy and 48% in the Union Army." In that way and others, "(t)his otherwise peaceful, agrarian county of western Virginia epitomized the embittered fratricidal struggle America faced during the Civil War. Many former neighbors, friends, and families found themselves mortal enemies in 1861."