Virginia at War - 1862

Virginia at War - 1862
edited by William C. Davis and James I. Robertson, Jr.
ISBN 978-0-8131-2428-5
2007, The University Press of Kentucky, Lexington

Of particular interest to me in this book, the second in a series of five volumes, is the Diary of a Southern Refugee during the War, January - July 1862, the diary of Judith Brockenbrough McGuire. Mrs. McGuire was 49 years old at the time she was writing, married, and the step-mother of two daughters. Her experiences will thus match up more closely with those of Betty Herndon Maury than do those of the diaries of the girls studied in Confederate Daughters.

The book contains the following:

• Preface by William C. Davis and James I. Robertson, Jr.
• Land Operations in Virginia in 1862 by John S. Salmon
• Virginia's Industry and the Conduct of War in 1862 by Harold S. Wilson
• Virginia's Civilians at War in 1862 by John G. Selby
• The Trials of Military Occupation by Thomas P. Lowry
• Richmond, the Confederate Hospital City by David J. Coles
• Virginians See Their War by Harold Holzer
• Virginia's Troubled Interior by Brian Steel Wills
• Lee Rebuilds His Army by Dennis E. Frye
• Diary of a Southern Refugee during the War, January - July 1862: Judith Brockenbrough McGuire, Edited by James I. Robertson, Jr.

Virginians See Their War is a fascinating study of the illustrated news coverage of the war, comparing southern periodicals with their northern competitors. Several illustrations show how the shortage of artists in the south resulted in illustrations of notable military and political figures based on old photographs which bore little resemblance to the subject's present day appearance. Robert E. Lee, remembered today for his white hair and beard, is depicted as a dark-haired beardless young man. There were shortages not only of artists, engravers and lithographers but also of paper.