Jacob D Cox

Cox: Personal Recollections of the Civil War-West Virginia, Kanawha Valley, Gauley Bridge, Cotton Mountain, South Mountain, Jacob D Cox

The Civil War of a noted U. S. General Although Cox is well known as a chronicler of the Civil War-through books on campaigns, battles and principal characters-this book is entirely different. This is the story of the Civil War as it touched his own life. It is, as he says, 'a narrative by one who was an active participant from its beginning to its end and in which he has deliberately avoided repetition of the contents of his other works'. This first volume begins with Cox's appointment as Brigadier-General of Volunteers commanding Ohioan and Kentuckian troops, and then describes his subsequent experiences in West Virginia, the Kanawha Valley and the battles leading to Antietam and beyond. Cox manages to successfully combine a historian's overview of the whole war with historic events that unfolded in his presence, to create an essential Civil War memoir.