Much has been written about men who joined the Federal Army from the so-called Hill Country in Alabama which included Winston County. Little has been written about the men who enlisted from Winston in the Confederacy. Surprisingly, the number of Winston County Confederates almost matched the number of those who supported the Union. Many important Confederate officers hailed from Winston County. The book begins with an essay describing the Forgotten Winston County Confederates. Following is an alphabatized list of all Confederate soldiers associated with Winston County including those that moved in after the war. Information includes service records, pension applications, birth, marriage, and death information. The book is filled with rare photos and obituaries. Additional information includes articles on Captain White's Mail Guard and the Winston County Rough and Ready Volunteers. Full name index. This book is important to students of Winston County History.

Based on a lifetime of researching and writing about their home county of Winston, the husband and wife team of Don and Amy Dodd have crafted a unique pictorial retrospective that conveys a serene sense of what it was like to grow up in the hills of Winston. Outlining the highlights of this Appalachian county's history, from its opposition to the Confederacy to its slow evolution from its rustic, rural roots of the mid-nineteenth century, two hundred photographs illustrate a century of hill country culture. A sparsely settled, isolated county of small farms with uncultivated, forested land, most of Winston County was out of the mainstream of Southern life for much of its history. The creation of the Bankhead National Forest preserved almost 200,000 acres of forested land, primarily in Winston, to perpetuate this "stranded frontier" into the post-World War II era. The story setting is scenic--fast-flowing creeks, waterfalls, bluffs, caves, natural bridges, and dense forests--and the characters match the stage--individualistic, rugged pioneers, more than a thousand mentioned by name within these pages. Winston has long resisted change, has held fast to traditional values, and, as seen in this treasured volume, is a place as unique as any other in America.

At the time of the Civil War, Cullman County did not exist. It was carved mostly from the East side of Winston and the West side of Blount in 1877. This book attempts to identify all of the Confederate soldiers originating from the area which became Cullman County, as well as those who migrated to the county after the War. The book also contains rare first person accounts of the war as told by Cullman County residents George Martin Holcombe and Elijah Wilson Harper and printed in the Cullman Alabama Tribune. This book is important to the genealogy and history of Cullman County and contains much previously unpublished information on the old soldiers. It contains service records, pension applications, births, deaths, marriages, and obituaries.

A county in the south declares its neutrality in the Civil War and then secedes from the state. Southern men turn their backs on their secessionist neighbors and form their own Union regiment. A slave-owning minister heads an underground pro-Union movement. "As I shared tidbits of my research findings with friends, most were surprised to hear conventional knowledge about the Civil War turned upside down." -- Author Don Umphrey from the Introduction.

In this thrilling narrative history of the Civil War’s most strategically important campaign, Winston Groom describes the bloody two-year grind that started when Ulysses S. Grant began taking a series of Confederate strongholds in 1861, climaxing with the siege of Vicksburg two years later. For Grant and the Union it was a crucial success that captured the Mississippi River, divided the South in half, and set the stage for eventual victory. Vicksburg, 1863 brings the battles and the protagonists of this struggle to life: we see Grant in all his grim determination, Sherman with his feistiness and talent for war, and Confederate leaders from Jefferson Davis to Joe Johnston to John Pemberton. It is an epic account by a masterful writer and historian.

Mary Gordon Duffee wrote in 1892: "When the drums beat, and the bugles called for men to march to the front, I tell you old Blount responded nobly, and sent hundreds of her gallant sons to march, fight, suffer and die for the flag that now lies furled forever." This series of books identifies Confederate soldiers who enlisted from the Blount County area, plus those who moved to Blount County after the Civil War. Company rosters are captured and service records, pension applications, birth dates, spouses and marriage dates, newspaper clippings and obituaries, and pictures are contained in these volumes. This is the first time ever all this information has been available in a single reference book. Cavalry companies examined here include: 12th Alabama Cavalry, Companies B and C; 2nd Kentucky Cavalry, Company G; Lewis Battalion Alabama Cavalry, Companies B and E; Graves, Barbiere, and Stewart's Alabama Cavalry; Holloway's Escort; and the 3rd Confederate Cavalry, Company D.

Describes the society and the institutions that went down during the Civil War and Reconstruction and the internal conditions of Alabama during the war. Emphasizes the social and economic problems in the general situation, as well as the educational, religious, and industrial aspects of the period.

Mary Gordon Duffee wrote: "When the drums beat, and the bugles called for men to march to the front, I tell you old Blount responded nobly, and sent hundreds of her gallant sons to march, fight, suffer and die for the flag that now lies furled forever." This series of books attempts to identify all the Confederate soldiers who enlisted in organizations from the Blount County area, along with those who moved to Blount County after the Civil War. Whole company rosters are captured and entire service records, pension applications, birth dates, spouses and marriage dates, newspaper clippings and obituaries, and dozens of pictures are contained in these volumes. This is the first time ever all this information has been available in a single reference book. Volume 3 contains information on soldiers who enlisted in other Alabama organizations and those who moved to Blount County after the Civil War. These books are vital to any serious student of Blount County, Alabama genealogy and history.

George Kilgo was a simple farmer living with his wife and children in Winston County, Alabama when the Civil War started. Owning no slaves, all he and his neighbors wanted was to remain neutral and be left alone. Unfortunately the Confederacy and the notorious Home Guard had other plans for these Tories. After a series of tragic events George and his friend Bill Looney were faced with either death or being forced into the Confederate army. Instead they fled north and went to work for the Union General John Alexander Black Jack Logan as recruiters and scouts. A part of what happened in the Free State of Winston was made famous in the play The Incident at Looney's Tavern (which ran for thirteen years and was named one of the top 20 events in the Southeast.) This book fills in the gaps with the adventures of George Kilgo, the Black Hawk and Bill Looney, the Black Fox. Their story is a legend passed down from generation to generation in the Free State of Winston. The author is proud to share family stories of his great grandfather, George the Black Hawk Kilgo an imperfect man who carried out a personal mission of love for his wife and children.

The little-known history of anti-secession Southerners: “Absolutely essential Civil War reading.” —Booklist, starred review Bitterly Divided reveals that the South was in fact fighting two civil wars—the external one that we know so much about, and an internal one about which there is scant literature and virtually no public awareness. In this fascinating look at a hidden side of the South’s history, David Williams shows the powerful and little-understood impact of the thousands of draft resisters, Southern Unionists, fugitive slaves, and other Southerners who opposed the Confederate cause. “This fast-paced book will be a revelation even to professional historians. . . . His astonishing story details the deep, often murderous divisions in Southern society. Southerners took up arms against each other, engaged in massacres, guerrilla warfare, vigilante justice and lynchings, and deserted in droves from the Confederate army . . . Some counties and regions even seceded from the secessionists . . . With this book, the history of the Civil War will never be the same again.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review “Most Southerners looked on the conflict with the North as ‘a rich man’s war and a poor man’s fight,’ especially because owners of 20 or more slaves and all planters and public officials were exempt from military service . . . The Confederacy lost, it seems, because it was precisely the kind of house divided against itself that Lincoln famously said could not stand.” —Booklist, starred review