Battlefields Foundation launches "Give the Enemy No Rest" booklet

By Jessica J. Burchard
The Winchester Star
October 1, 2007

(Reprinted by permission. A list of retailers appears below the article.)

Winchester — The historic Godfrey Miller house downtown proved the best place to launch the release of a new Civil War booklet.
The Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation offered residents first glance at its new booklet "Give the Enemy No Rest" on Saturday.

The foundation scheduled a symposium spotlighting local historians’ essays that are included in the book.

Howard J. Kittell , executive director of the foundation, said he was pleased with the reception the symposium and book received.
"We set up for 50 people and we had 61," he said. "We are extremely pleased with the result."

Some of the event’s success can be attributed to the broad range of interest in the booklet’s topic.

Kittell explained the how the booklet is accessible to a large audience.

"It’s really aimed at a person coming to the Valley who wants to learn something about the Civil War, but doesn’t want to read a whole book," he said. "It’s going to appeal to the average reader, but Civil War enthusiasts are going to love it."

The book features five essays about the 1864 campaign of the Civil War. Four of the five speakers attended and spoke at the symposium.

Contributors who spoke were: Jeffry D. Wert, Civil War historian; Brandon H. Beck, director of the Shenandoah University’s McCormick Civil War Institute; Joseph Whitehorne, history professor at Lord Fairfax Community College; and Jonathan A. Noyalas, history professor at Lord Fairfax Community College.

One of the essays was written by Valley historian John Heatwole’s final essay called "The Burning." Heatwole died in 2006.

The essays focused on specific battles such as the Third Battle of Winchester (Sept. 19, 1864), the Battle of Fisher’s Hill (Sept. 22, 1864), the Battle of Tom’s Brook (Oct. 9, 1864), and the Battle of Cedar Creek (Oct. 19, 1864).

Heatwole’s essay centers on Sheridan ’s army’s destruction of mills, barns, crops, and livestock in Shenandoah, Rockingham, and Augusta counties after the Battle of Fisher’s Hill.

For more information on purchasing "Give the Enemy No Rest," visit the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation Web site, www.shenandoahatwar.org, to place an order or find a local retailer who carries it. The booklet costs $7.50.

Click here to see this article on the Winchester Star website.

 

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*Retailers in the Shenandoah Valley currently offering the 1864 booklet:

Civilwartraveler.com (to order online)
Harrisonburg-Rockingham Historical Society ( Dayton )
Miller-Kite House (Elkton)
Edinburg Visitors Center at the Mill ( Edinburg )
Old Court House Civil War Museum ( Winchester )
Winchester-Frederick Convention & Visitors Bureau ( Winchester )
Luray Caverns (Luray)
Stonewall Jackson Museum at Hupp's Hill (Strasburg)
New Market Battlefield State Historical Park (New Market) (starting 10/02/2007)