As centuries turn and decades pass, many wars and major historical
events fade into the national memory as bold-face words in our history
textbooks. However, the Civil War is unique, in that it still remains a
heavily discussed, published, and debated topic in today's society. No
other war has struck such a chord in our country's consciousness,
combining romantic notions of glory and chivalry with horrific images of
death and devastation, both of the landscape and its people. Entire
libraries of books are devoted to discussing the battles, the tactics,
and machines of warfare, the strategies of notable and eccentric
commanders, and the biographies of the many larger-than-life
personalities conducting the war, both civilian and military. But like
most wars, the Civil War was a rich man's war, but a poor man's fight.
It is the story of the common soldier's plight that is most engaging,
for it is in those stories in which one sees the true effects the war
had on the people and time. The Tar Heel State provided much of the
manpower behind the Confederate armies and thus, sacrificed many of its
fathers and sons for the Confederate cause. An eclectic scrapbook of
sorts,
Piedmont Soldiers and Their Families details, in word and image, the
lives of some of those common soldiers and their families in Forsyth,
Stokes, Surry, Yadkin, and Davidson Counties, allowing today's readers
an opportunity to explore the lives of their ancestors affected by the
war
