The Blood-Tinted Waters of the Shenandoah

Decades after the Civil Wars end, Confederate veteran John Alexander Stikeleather reflected on his experiences as a soldier in the 4th North Carolina Infantry. Among all of the engagements in which Stikeleather had been involved during his four years of service, there was one he believed should never be forgotten: Cool Spring. While largely overlooked or treated as a footnote to Gen. Jubal A. Earlys raid on Washington in the summer of 1864, the fight at Cool Springcharacterized by one soldier as a sharp and obstinate affairproved critical to Washingtons immediate safety. It became a transformative moment for those who fought along the banks of the Shenandoah River in what ultimately became the wars largest and bloodiest engagement in Clarke County, Virginia. The Blood-Tinted Waters of the Shenandoah examines Gen. Horatio Wrights pursuit of Early into the Shenandoah and the clash on July 17-18, 1864\. It analyzes the decisions of leaders on both sides, explores the environments impact on the battle, and investigates how the combat impacted the soldiers and their familiesin its immediate aftermath and for decades thereafter. Years of archival researchincluding an investigation into the backgrounds of all Union and Confederate soldiers who perished during the battlecoupled with intimate knowledge of the battlefield, will preserve the memory of the fight that should never be forgotten. Author Jonathan Noyalass study offers not only a history of an overlooked engagement in the oft-contested Shenandoah Valley, butas Pulitzer Prize finalist Brian Matthew Jordan notes in the books Foreworda keen reminder that Civil War battles are rich laboratories in which to observe the human experience in all its complexity.