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Civil War Winchester
The Confederacy's lynchpin in the Shenandoah Valley, Winchester was the most disputed town of the Civil War. As control of Winchester shifted between North and South more than seventy-five times, civilians coped with skirmishes in the streets, wracking disease and makeshift hospitals in their homes and churches. Out of this turmoil emerged heroes such as Angel of the Battlefield Tillie Russell, doctor turned soldier John Henry S. Funk and courageous mother and nurse Cornelia McDonald. Historian Jerry W. Holsworth uses diaries and letters to reveal an intimate portrait of this war torn community, the celebrated Stonewall Brigade , its many occupations, as well as the indomitable women who inspired legend.
- GenresCivil War
144 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 26, 2025
Civil War Winchester is an interesting book that I really enjoyed reading. The title might make you think it's about the battles and fighting that took place there because Winchester changed hands between the Confederates and Yankees multiple times. Instead, the book is about how the civilians--both the ones who supported the Confederates and the ones who supported the Yankees--who lived in Winchester survived multiple battles. The fighting was so intense that the inhabitants of Winchester had to take the wounded Yankees and Confederates to into their homes and churches to recuperate, and dig temporary burials for the dead. After the war ended, the citizens of Winchester in 1866 created a the National Cemetery for the dead Confederate and Yankee soldiers, including a space for soldiers they couldn't identify. The cemetery is the second of it's kind and was created after the Gettysburg cemetery was built.
September 10, 2016
My husband picked up this small book at our (Winchester) Costco, mostly for our visitors to look through if they needed something interesting to read before bedtime.
I was pleased to see it listed on Goodreads, because I read it before any guests, was glad that I did, and also happy that it “counted” toward my reading goal this year.
We are military retirees, and a few years ago we chose Winchester as our forever home. Granted, when we did, all four of our children lived less than two and a half hours from our GrandCabin. Now, half have moved, and seven of our grandchildren with them. Although we miss living close to them, we still love the Shenandoah Valley.
I tell you this because Civil War Winchester was written by a “transplant” who moved to the city and the Valley when he was well along into life. He clearly loves the area, and writes about the people in this book as though they were neighbors, as indeed their descendants are.
Although I had heard some historical facts about Winchester when we bought our home, Jerry Holsworth made the facts real. I was surprised to know from the AAA Tour Guide that the city changed hands 75 times during the Civil War—the most of any place in America. When I read, however, the incredible amounts of food, crops, and livestock that the Valley people gave to, had stolen from, or saw destroyed by the soldiers of both the North and the South, I was appalled.
Although brochures from the Chamber of Commerce said that the women of Winchester cared for both the Confederate and the Union injured and sick soldiers, Holsworth’s narrative put me in their homes where the soldiers came. After each major or minor battle in the region—and there were many—from eight hundred to eight thousand men would routinely hobble or be carried into the houses of the citizens after the hospitals quickly overflowed. I could imagine the women’s fears not only of the horrors of their wounds, but also of the soldiers’ infectious diseases spreading to their families, which they did. Yet, the women of Winchester did what needed to be done and cared for the soldiers.
All these events and so many more happened on streets with which I am now familiar—Loudon Street, Market Street, Braddock Street. People did heroic deeds on a daily basis.
To Jerry Holsworth: my thanks for your history of events during the Civil War that deepened my appreciation of my new home. To the people of Winchester: thank you for your service.
I was pleased to see it listed on Goodreads, because I read it before any guests, was glad that I did, and also happy that it “counted” toward my reading goal this year.
We are military retirees, and a few years ago we chose Winchester as our forever home. Granted, when we did, all four of our children lived less than two and a half hours from our GrandCabin. Now, half have moved, and seven of our grandchildren with them. Although we miss living close to them, we still love the Shenandoah Valley.
I tell you this because Civil War Winchester was written by a “transplant” who moved to the city and the Valley when he was well along into life. He clearly loves the area, and writes about the people in this book as though they were neighbors, as indeed their descendants are.
Although I had heard some historical facts about Winchester when we bought our home, Jerry Holsworth made the facts real. I was surprised to know from the AAA Tour Guide that the city changed hands 75 times during the Civil War—the most of any place in America. When I read, however, the incredible amounts of food, crops, and livestock that the Valley people gave to, had stolen from, or saw destroyed by the soldiers of both the North and the South, I was appalled.
Although brochures from the Chamber of Commerce said that the women of Winchester cared for both the Confederate and the Union injured and sick soldiers, Holsworth’s narrative put me in their homes where the soldiers came. After each major or minor battle in the region—and there were many—from eight hundred to eight thousand men would routinely hobble or be carried into the houses of the citizens after the hospitals quickly overflowed. I could imagine the women’s fears not only of the horrors of their wounds, but also of the soldiers’ infectious diseases spreading to their families, which they did. Yet, the women of Winchester did what needed to be done and cared for the soldiers.
All these events and so many more happened on streets with which I am now familiar—Loudon Street, Market Street, Braddock Street. People did heroic deeds on a daily basis.
To Jerry Holsworth: my thanks for your history of events during the Civil War that deepened my appreciation of my new home. To the people of Winchester: thank you for your service.
October 23, 2013
Civil War Winchester is a fast-paced read that provides plenty of detail regarding the lives of those living in a town that changed hands some 70 times during the War Between the States. Holsworth weaves the details of their everyday lives with the great events that were often literally happening in and around Winchester. He especially focuses on Winchester's women, justly portraying them as heroic as any battlefield hero.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews