Barnes, Alton Brooks Parker. Pungoteague to Petersburg.  2 vols., cloth. Pub. 1988 by Lee Howard. Vol. I, 158 pp. incl. maps and extensive lists, $29.95; Vol. II, 157 pp. incl. maps and photographs, $24.95. Available from the Book Bin Bookstore at Onley, VA: (804) 787-7866. (Volume III is reviewed separately, below.)

Anyone who has spent hours sifting through microfilm copies of old military records will appreciate the patience required when writing a history of the soldiers of Virginia's Eastern Shore. Mr. Barnes has split his work into two volumes with indication of a third to come.

Volume I

Confederate troops were ordered to escape to the Western Shore and join rebel forces there, but not everyone was able to get across the bay; some were captured in Northampton Co., including my great-great-grandfather Henry Fletcher GLADDEN. Barnes also reports the possibility of a gentleman's agreement between the Confederates and the Union troops whereby no harm would come to the former.

1814 the British landed at Pungoteague Creek and were repelled by the militia. In June they attempted another incursion at Chesconnessex Creek, but left after routing the Americans. In August they attempted to burn Onancock but abandoned the plan when too many members of the militia showed up.

The remainder of Volume I deals with the changes within the militia between 1814 and 1858 and focusses on individual members.

Volume II

Distrust of their Accomack neighbors was strong in Northampton. The division of loyalties is evident in the activities of the various militia units. The 99th Regiment (northern Accomack Co.) is virtually absent from military records in the period immediately preceding the Civil War. Officers of the 99th failed to attend a meeting called by the commander of all Eastern Shore forces. The author discusses a number of other incidents that illustrate the division of loyalty on the Shore. These included harassment of pro-Union preachers and the very interesting hate mail addressed to Virginia Governor Wise at the time of the execution of John Brown. Yet once secession was actually accomplished, the residents of both counties (with the exception of Chincoteague Island) rallied to the Confederate cause.

The local militia units quickly faded into obscurity when the 39th Virginia Regiment was formed in the spring of 1861. The regiment was composed of infantry, cavalry and artillery units. This regiment fought short battles with Federal troops in the summer and autumn of 1861 at Cherrystone Creek, believed to be a staging area for blockade runners, at Holden's Creek and at Wishart's Point. In all three cases Federal forces were driven back.

In November of 1861 the Federal government moved quickly to subdue the Eastern Shore. This was done primarily to keep Maryland in line and to prevent supplies from reaching the mainland of Virginia. A force perhaps as large as 8000 men easily took control of the peninsula within a few days. The occupation of the peninsula was made easier by the conciliatory tone of the Union general's proclamation to the residents shortly before the invasion. He emphasized the numerical superiority of the Federal force. The 39th had prepared to fight by building breastworks, burning bridges and blocking roads near Oak Hall in Accomack County. Once the size of the Union force became known, the Confederate forces beat a hasty retreat before battle could be joined.

There is some speculation that a gentlemen's agreement existed which permitted the Federal troops to invade peacefully while the Rebel forces escaped to Northampton county. The commander of the 39th ordered his men to get to Richmond any way they could and join other Confederate units. Some members of the regiment were captured in Northampton County, but many made it across the bay. The Confederate government officially disbanded the 39th Regiment in January of 1862.

The Eastern Shore remained in Federal hands until the Civil War ended. Guards were posted along the telegraph line down the Shore and at suspected staging areas for blockade runners. Running the Union blockade was the only real resistance offered by Eastern Shore residents during the Federal occupation.

The remainder of the second volume discusses the units to which Eastern Shore men fled, particularly the Wise Legion, organized by Accomack native and former Governor of Virginia Henry A. Wise. No attempt is made to discuss in great detail battles which have been adequately covered in other works. The author focusses here on the individuals involved.

Although the two volumes discuss battles--in some cases in great detail--one must remember that the work is a history of the men of the Eastern Shore forces, not a study of campaigns or tactics. Because both volumes give so much attention toindividual officers and soldiers, the reader will find Barnes' work a rich source of genealogical material.

Volume III

This final volume of Barnes' work is a fitting close to the history of military units connected with the Eastern Shore of Virginia through the Civil War. Those researchers looking for a detailed discussion of battles and leaders will be disappointed in this volume, for it provides very little narrative. It is a compendium of muster rolls from Confederate units with minimal information concerning the roles they played in the war.

Muster rolls are the primary public source of information about individual Confederate soldiers and are freely available to the public. Eastern Shore Virginians who fought for the Confederacy ended up in a number of units, thus requiring the researcher to dig through an enormous amount of data. The strength of Barnes' third volume is that he has put a mass of such information into one accessible reference work. The type of information on individuals and companies varies considerably, as does the thoroughness of the information in the original sources.

Information about the soldiers of the short-lived 39th Virginia Infantry Regiment occupies one half of the volume. The following units are also represented: 21st Brigade (an antebellum militia unit), the 6th, 15th, 16th, 26th, 34th and 46th Virginia Infantry Regiments, the 19th Artillery, the 15th and 24th Cavalry, Mosby's Rangers, the James City Light Artillery Company, the Norfolk Light Artillery Blues, the Richmond/Fayette Light Artillery, the Richmond Light Infantry Blues. There are also a few miscellaneous entries.

At $45.00 this is an expensive addition to one's library, but worth it if one is researching a number of Eastern Shore families.

Wayne Stith