A border county in a border state, Barbour County, West Virginia
felt the full terror and tragedy of the Civil War. The wounds of
the Civil War cut most bitterly in the border states, that strip of
America from Maryland to Kansas, where conflicting loyalties and
traditions ripped apart communities, institutions, and families.
Barbour County, in the mountainous Northwest of (West) Virginia, is
a telling microcosm of the deep divisions which both caused the war
and were caused by it. By examining and interpreting long-ignored
documents of the times and the personal accounts of the people who
were there, Clash of Loyalties offers a startling new view of
America's most bitter hour. Nearly half of the military-age men in
the county served in the armed forces, almost perfectly divided
between the Union and the Confederacy. After West Virginia split
with Virginia to rejoin the Union, Confederate soldiers from the
regions could not safely visit their homes on furlough, or even
send letters to their families. The county's two leading political
figures, Samuel Woods and Spencer Dayton, became leaders of the
fight for and against secession, dissolved their close personal
friendship, and never spoke to one another again. The two factions
launched campaigns of terror and intimidation, leading to the
burning of several homes, the kidnapping of a sheriff, the murder
of a pacifist minister, and the self-imposed exile of many of the
county's influential families. The conflicting loyalties crossed
nearly all social and economic lines; even the county's slave
owners were evenly divided between Union and Confederate
sympathies. With a meticulous examination of census and military
records, geneologies, period newspapers, tax rolls, eyewitness
accounts, and other relevant documents, Clash of Loyalties presents
a compelling account of the passion and violence which tore apart
Barbour County and the nation.
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