The Battle of White Sulphur Springs

Though West Virginia was founded for the purpose of remaining loyal to the Union, severing ties with Virginia, home of the capital of the Confederacy, would prove difficult. West Virginia's fate would be tested on its battlegrounds. In August 1863, Union general William Woods Averell led a six-hundred-mile raid culminating in the Battle of White Sulphur Springs in Green Brier County. Colonel George S. Patton, grandfather of the legendary World War II general, met Averell with a dedicated Confederate force. After a fierce two-day battle, Patton defeated Averell, forcing him to retreat and leave West Virginia, and ultimately the Union, in the balance. Civil War historian Eric J. Wittenberg presents a fascinating in-depth analysis of the proceedings in the first book-length study of this important battle.

About the Author An attorney in Columbus, Ohio, Eric J. Wittenberg has long been a student of Civil War cavalry operations. Wittenberg has published fourteen books on Civil War history, most of them centering on Virginia. Additionally, his articles have appeared in Gettysburg Magazine, North & South, Blue & Gray, Hallowed Ground, America's Civil War and Civil War Times Illustrated. He is very active in battlefield preservation and is affiliated with the Civil War Preservation Trust and the Brandy Station Foundation. He has worked extensively with the trust on the preservation of the Trevilian Station battlefield in Louisa County, Virginia, and is a member of the advisory board of the Trevilian Station Battlefield Foundation. He has also fought for the preservation of the Buffington Island battlefield in Meigs County, Ohio; Brandy Station in Culpeper, Virginia; and for various sites associated with the Battle of Gettysburg.