In Letters of Fire

In the summer of 1864, the Army of the Shenandoah (Union) and the Army of the Valley (C.S.A) confronted one another. The armies menaced one another while lying in close proximity. For the 13th West Virginia Infantry Regiment, Army of West Virginia, August was a month of dangerous reconnoitering, skirmishing, fighting, marching, watching the enemy and waiting for the opportune moment to drive the enemy from Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, and thus hasten the termination of the war. They marched and fought up and down the Shenandoah Valley from Halltown to Cedar Creek in the brutal summer heat and their reconnoiters, too numerous to be recalled, flared suddenly and fiercely to the level of pitched battles. Finally, in September, intelligence supplied by two civilians broke the stalemate. The great battles of Winchester and Fisher's Hill were fought in quick succession, battles in which the 13th West Virginia played a most significant part. This is their story.