This volume focuses on events in the Virginia theatre during the first two years of the American Civil War, highlighting Union and Confederate strengths and weaknesses, leadership and strategy, and the ways in which the conflict influenced politics, diplomacy, and debates about emancipation.

Introduction Chronology Background to war: Sectional tensions divide the United States, 1820-1860 Outbreak: Election; Southern secession; creation of the Confederacy Warring sides: Strengths and weaknesses of the Union and the Confederacy The fighting: From First Manassas to Chancellorsville Common soldiers: Federals and Confederates in camp and in battle Portrait of a soldier: Robert Augustus Moor, a Confederate soldier The world around war: Northern and Southern society adjust to the demands of war Portrait of a civilian: Elizabeth Herndon Maury on the Virginia home front How the period ended: An uncertain future Further reading Index