LUNCH WITH BOOKS LIVESTREAM: The West Virginia 6th Cavalry in the Civil War

April 13, 2021
12:00pm - 1:00pm

We will take a look at the new book: On the Plains in ’65: The 6th West Virginia Cavalry in the West by George H. Holliday, with editor Glenn Longacre. 

George H. Holliday was born in the southern Ohio village of Pomeroy in 1847. At age fifteen he enlisted in the 4th West Virginia Volunteer Cavalry. Afterwards, Holliday served with the 5th West Virginia Volunteer Cavalry. In June 1865 Holliday and his comrades, now consolidated with the Sixth West Virginia Veteran Volunteer Cavalry, were transferred west to guard stations along the celebrated Oregon Trail. After his return to Ohio in 1866, Holliday married, began a family, and settled in Ironton, where he engaged in the stove manufacturing industry. In 1883, he self-published, On the Plains in '65, his memoir of his year on the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains. Later, Holliday moved to Knoxville, Tennessee. He died in 1919.

This program will be available to watch live on Facebook Live, on YouTube, and on the OCPL website's LWB Livestream page.  Log into your Facebook or YouTube account during the program to leave questions for Glenn in the comments box. He will answer them during the live broadcast. 

PRESENTER BIO: Glenn Longacre is a West Virginia native. He graduated from West Virginia University with a BA in history and an MA in Public History. He has worked in archives for over 30 years. Glenn is the co-editor of To Battle for God and the Right: The Civil War Letterbooks of Emerson Opdycke (University of Illinois Press, 2003). He currently lives in Chicago.

FEATURED BOOK: On the Plains in ’65: The 6th West Virginia Cavalry in the West
[Ohio University Press, 2021  |  Reserve a copy from the Library (coming soon)  |  purchase a copy through OU Press  |  purchase a copy through Amazon ] 

REVIEWS:
“For George Holliday, the Civil War did not end at Appomattox. As thousands of Union soldiers trundled north, the cavalryman lurched west, where punitive expeditions, guard duties, and a bone-chilling winter awaited. Decades later, crooked by rheumatism and in need of a pension, the veteran produced a memoir. Expertly introduced and annotated by Glenn Longacre, it affords a welcome look at frontier army life: when Union soldiers turned their attention from southern rebels to indigenous peoples.” - Brian Matthew Jordan, Pulitzer Prize finalist for Marching Home: Union Veterans and Their Unending Civil War

“Glenn V. Longacre has extensively annotated George H. Holliday’s original manuscript, providing an up-to-date bibliography and an introduction that supplies context for Holliday’s life and western adventures. All those interested in the military history of the western United States will welcome this scholarly edition of Holliday’s memoirs of his service.”
- Nicole Etcheson, Alexander M. Bracken Professor of History, Ball State University

— View all book available at the Library published by Ohio University Press

EBOOK: 
➤ Read the original unannotated self-published 1883 edition of On the Plains in '65 through archive.org

Lunch With Books Livestream starts at noon on Facebook and YouTube.

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"Lunch With Books" is the library’s flagship program for adult patrons. These lunchtime programs feature authors, poets, musicians, historians, and more every Tuesday at noon. Bring lunch (to your computer), feed your brain!