Holding the Line

Students of the early war in West(ern) Virginia have a number of fine studies to choose from, but, until now, no one has tackled the Battle of Allegheny Mountain in book length format. Joe Geiger's Holding the Line: The Battle of Allegheny Mountain and Confederate Defense of the Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike, 1861-62 (West Virginia Book Co., 2012) addresses this fight and more.

From the publisher:

"This book seeks to provide a detailed look at military activities along the Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike from mid-September 1861 to the first week of April 1862. This campaign, fought primarily in Pocahontas County, Virginia, included the Battle of Greenbrier River, in which nearly 7,000 soldiers clashed in what was primarily an artillery duel; the Battle of Allegheny Mountain, the bloodiest battle of the first year of the war in present-day West Virginia; the January 1862 raid on Huntersville; and numerous other skirmishes, raids, expeditions, incidents and events".

Geiger, who also wrote Civil War in Cabell County, West Virginia, 1861-1865 (Pictorial Histories, 1991), is the director of Archives and History at the West Virginia Division of Culture.