John Letcher of Virginia
320 pages, 6 x 9
Paperback
Release Date:23 Jan 2003
ISBN:9780817312589
John Letcher of Virginia
The Story of Virginia's Civil War Governor
University of Alabama Press
Covers the life of John Letcher a virtually unknown significant leader of the Confederacy
John Letcher, governor of Virginia from 1860 through 1863, is one of the significant leaders of the Confederacy who is still virtually unknown. This study, covering Letcher’s entire life with emphasis on his governorship, attempts to fill an obvious gap in American history. For the first time, Letcher’s lengthy career is examined in detail: early development as a local Virginia politician during the Jacksonian era, maturity as an influential congressman in the rising sectionalism of the 1850s, the crucial governorship, and finally a gradual fading away in the postwar period.
Letcher’s story is only a fragment of the epic of the transformation of the United States from a weak, uncertain confederation into a powerful, confident nation. The emergence of the colossus of the New World is a spectacular and critical event in world history, full of grandeur and suffering, idealism and disillusionment. To trace the course of Letcher's life is to follow one small current in a torrential flood-but a significant one, for Letcher was not only a leader but also in many ways a typical American of his time.
John Letcher, governor of Virginia from 1860 through 1863, is one of the significant leaders of the Confederacy who is still virtually unknown. This study, covering Letcher’s entire life with emphasis on his governorship, attempts to fill an obvious gap in American history. For the first time, Letcher’s lengthy career is examined in detail: early development as a local Virginia politician during the Jacksonian era, maturity as an influential congressman in the rising sectionalism of the 1850s, the crucial governorship, and finally a gradual fading away in the postwar period.
Letcher’s story is only a fragment of the epic of the transformation of the United States from a weak, uncertain confederation into a powerful, confident nation. The emergence of the colossus of the New World is a spectacular and critical event in world history, full of grandeur and suffering, idealism and disillusionment. To trace the course of Letcher's life is to follow one small current in a torrential flood-but a significant one, for Letcher was not only a leader but also in many ways a typical American of his time.
F. N. Boney is Professor Emeritus in the Department of History at the University of Georgia. He is also the author of A Pictorial History of the University of Georgia and Southerners All.
