Description
Union soldier William McKnight was a member of the Seventh Ohio Volunteer Cavalry from September 1862 until his death on June 1864. This collection of over 100 emotional letters to his wife offers insight on the family before and during the war, and offers detailed accounts of several battles in Kentucky and Tennessee. Maness is dean of the College of Education at Arkansas State University. Combs teaches geography at the University of Nebraska-Kearney. Annotation ©2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
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William McKnight was a member of the Seventh Ohio Volunteer Cavalry from September 1862 until his death in June of 1864. During his time of service, McKnight penned dozens of emotion-filled letters, primarily to his wife, Samaria, revealing the struggles of an entire family both before and during the war.This collection of more than one hundred letters provides in-depth accounts of several battles in Kentucky and Tennessee, such as the Cumberland Gap and Knoxville campaigns that were pivotal events in the Western Theater. The letters also vividly respond to General John Hunt Morgan's raid through Ohio and correct claims previously published that McKnight was part of the forces chasing Morgan. By all accounts Morgan did stay for a period of time at McKnight's home in Langsville during his raid through Ohio, much to McKnight's horror and humiliation, but McKnight was in Kentucky at the time. Tragically, McKnight was killed in action nearly a year later during an engagement with Morgan's men near Cynthiana, Kentucky.
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