Bushwhackers!: The Mountains

"Bushwhackers tells the ... story of America's bloodiest war as it was fought in the mountains of North Carolina. Much of the story of the war remains alive in the generational memories and oral traditions of the mountain people. Mountain families whose roots go back that far still speak of the dark night on a backwoods road when great-great-grandfather was cut down by bushwhackers, or of that raw morning when great-great-grandmother stood on her front porch and watched a patrol of Thomas's Highland Legion -- full-blooded Cherokee warriors -- ride by with fresh Unionist scalps dangling from their saddle horns. From the courageous exploits of soldiers and citizens to the atrocities committed by pro-Union and pro-Confederate factions, the mountain war in North Carolina represented both the best and the worst of the South. In the mountains, where sentiments on both sides were strongly held, internecine warfare broke out. Bloody skirmishes were fought between Unionist and Confederate guerrillas. Family feuds erupted into ever-widening circles of violence and revenge. And countless numbers of men, women, and children were caught in the crossfire of conflicting loyalties"--Page 4 of cover.