Shenandoah University’s McCormick Civil War Institute Celebrating Publication Anniversary & Partnership

By Jonathan A. Noyalas · Originally published January 2022 · p. 38

Shenandoah University’s McCormick Civil War Institute Celebrating Publication Anniversary & Partnership by Jonathan A. Noyalas, Director

Journal Celebrates 5 Years

When I came to Shenandoah University in January 2017 as director of the McCormick Civil War Institute (MCWI), I believed there was a glaring need for an annual publication devoted exclusively to the complexities of the Shenandoah Valley’s Civil War era. With the enthusiastic support of the University’s administration and encouragement from colleagues in the field, Journal of the Shenandoah Valley during the Civil War Era was born. Over the past five years more than fifty historians, from established scholars such as Edward Ayers, Gary Gallagher, and Caroline Janney to some of my Shenandoah University undergraduate students in Civil War Era Studies, have contributed to the Journal. Throughout the Journal’s first five years contributions have covered a wide array of topics including personalities, battles and campaigns in the Shenandoah, historical memory, Reconstruction, the experiences of African Americans, and interactions between civilians and soldiers. Additionally, the Journal has published various collections of letters and diaries either from private collections or MCWI’s collections. As MCWI celebrates five years of publication, we’re already working on volume 6, that will include the excerpted diaries and letters of Privates James and Samuel Smith, 18th Connecticut Infantry. MCWI is always eager to consider submissions for future volumes. Anyone interested in submitting an essay of original scholarship or an edited primary collection related to the Civil War era in the Shenandoah Valley that has not before been published to the Journal should reach out to me via email [email protected] for further details. All proceeds from the Journal, available at various book retailers and historic sites in the Valley, and on Amazon, support MCWI’s many endeavors including interpretive and educational programs at the University’s portion of the Cool Spring Battlefield, preservation, expansion of our collections, and unique learning opportunities for our students.

Partnership with Fort Collier Civil War Center On Monday, November 1, MCWI and the Fort Collier Civil War Center in Winchester, Va., established a partnership, or perhaps more accurately resurrected a relationship. More than two decades ago, the site of Fort Collier, an approximately ten-acre site on the wartime farm of Isaac Stine located on the east side of the Martinsburg Pike north of Winchester, came up for sale. The founding director of MCWI, Dr. Brandon Beck, proved an important figure in the preservation and interpretation of the property. Perhaps somewhat interestingly at the time of Fort Collier’s preservation I was an undergraduate student of Dr. Beck’s at Shenandoah University and had an opportunity to work with him on the initial interpretation at the site. Now, approximately two decades after that work began, MCWI will aid the Fort Collier Civil War Center in expanding the site’s interpretative efforts and in creating educational programs throughout the year. I am appreciative to the Fort Collier Civil War Center for the opportunities this will offer students in Civil War Era Studies at Shenandoah University. Fort Collier, an earthen fortification constructed in the summer of 1861, is perhaps bestknown as a part of the scene marking the climactic moment of the Third Battle of Winchester. Late on the afternoon of Sept. 19, 1864, five brigades of Union cavalry struck that portion of General Jubal Early’s line facing north. The weight of the Union assault proved too much for Early’s veterans to endure. “Our cavalry, in deep column, with sabres drawn,” one Union officer wrote, “charged over the Confederate left… This charge was the most stirring and picturesque of the war.” While MCWI will look to enhance the interpretation of the site’s important connection to the Third Battle of Winchester, it will also explore other aspects of the site including a deeper examination of its construction and its place as one of many earthwork fortifications constructed around Winchester during the conflict. Additionally, interpretive efforts will examine the war’s impact on the Stine family and what that reveals about the broader impact of the conflict on Winchester’s population. Various programs are being planned for the summer and autumn of 2022. Please follow @ McCormickCWI on twitter for updates about programming. If you are interested in learning more about the Fort Collier Civil War Center or becoming a member please contact the center’s president, John Stevens, at [email protected]. Jonathan A. Noyalas is director of Shenandoah University’s McCormick Civil War Institute and a professor in the history department at Shenandoah University. Noyalas is the author or editor of numerous books including most recently Slavery and Freedom in the Shenandoah Valley during the Civil War Era published by the University Press of Florida.