The Blood-Tinted Waters of the Shenandoah: The 1864 Valley Campaign's Battle of Cool Spring, July 17-18, 1864

Jonathan A. Noyalas examines the Battle of Cool Spring, fought July 17–18, 1864, along the Shenandoah River in Clarke County, Virginia. Though largely overlooked as a footnote to Gen. Jubal A. Early's raid on Washington, the battle proved critical to the capital's immediate safety and became the war's largest and bloodiest engagement in the county. The study traces Gen. Horatio Wright's pursuit of Early into the Shenandoah Valley and analyzes the decisions of leaders on both sides. It explores how the environment shaped the battle and investigates its impact on soldiers and their families—both immediately and in the decades following the war. Confederate veteran John Alexander Stikeleather of the 4th North Carolina Infantry, who fought in many engagements during four years of service, believed Cool Spring should "never be forgotten." Noyalas draws on years of archival research, including investigation into the backgrounds of Union and Confederate soldiers who died in the fighting, combined with detailed knowledge of the battlefield itself. Pulitzer Prize finalist Brian Matthew Jordan contributes a foreword.