During the four years of the Civil War, the border between eastern Kentucky and southwestern Virginia was highly contested territory, alternately occupied by both the Confederacy and the Union. Though this territory was sparsely populated, the geography of the region made it a desirable stronghold for future tactical maneuvers. As the war progressed, the Cumberland Gap quickly became the target of invasion and occupation efforts of both armies, creating a chaos that would strain not only the soldiers but all those who called the area their home. Contested Borderland examines the features of the region's geography and the influence of the attacks on borderlands caught in the crossfire of the Union and Confederate forces. The land surrounding the Kentucky-Virginia border contained valuable natural resources and geographic features considered essential to each army's advancement and proliferation. While the Appalachian Mountains barred travel through large parts of the region, the gaps allowed quick passages through otherwise difficult terrain and thus became hotly contested areas. Brian D. McKnight explores the tensions between the accomplishment of military goals and the maintenance of civilian life in the region. With Kentucky remaining loyal to the Union and Virginia seceding to the Confederacy, populations residing between the two states faced pressure to declare loyalty to one side. Roadside towns found themselves the frequent hosts of soldiers from both sides, while more remote communities became shelters for those wishing to remain uninvolved in the conflict. Instead of committing themselves to either cause, many individuals claimed a neutral stance or feigned dedication to whichever side happened to occupy their land. The dual occupation of the Union and Confederate armies consequentially divided the borderland population, creating hostilities within the region that would persist long after the war's conclusion. Contested Borderland is the first Civil War study exclusively devoted to the border separating eastern Kentucky and southwestern Virginia. McKnight's unprecedented geographical analysis of military tactics and civilian involvement provides a new and valuable dimension to the story of a region facing the turmoil of war.
... symbolic attraction and contest and shifted Russian bureaucrats' perception of the Bessarabian borderland to a new level. ... Finally, the impact of the Polish Revolt of 1863–64 altered Russian policy in the Western Borderlands and ...
Broadening the idea of "borderlands" beyond its traditional geographic meaning, this volume features new ways of characterizing the political, cultural, religious, and racial fluidity of early America.
"Critical editions and translations of two early works by the French proto-feminist author Christine de Pizan addressing the misogynist ideology of the Roman de la Rose and other writings, with a translation of a related Latin work by the ...
This collection of original essays extends the concept of boderlands - as both a process and place - to geographic places and topics not usually considered in this realm.
over 6,000 monasteries, brutalised and killed over 110,000 monks and nuns and used force to disrobe another 250,000 monks and nuns.34 Some Chinese scholars, however, contest this view and say that the figures are actually absurd.
This book highlights the repercussions of the European obsession with Appalachian mineral resources from 1528 to 1715, while reframing Appalachian history within the broader fields of Latin American, early American, and Atlantic history.
This book tells the history of Europe's eastern frontier, and particularly medieval Podillya, as a dynamic nexus of cultural, political, economic, and religious interaction.
112 A dreamer and a visionary, the young Gibson brought with him a deep commitment to intellectual life as a means to freedom.113 In early 1848, Gibson established the first of several highly regarded schools in Louisville, ...
In Confederate Outlaw: Champ Ferguson and the Civil War in Appalachia, biographer Brian D. McKnight demonstrates how such a simple judgment ignores the complexity of this legendary character.
First, when financieros are caught, the farmers who sold coca to them can be accused of being collaborators. Second, new financieros tend to implement new rules, sometimes without coca farmers being aware of what new rules apply, ...