In 1862 Virginia, Civil War soldiers endured punishing environmental conditions, which increased disease and harmed morale. In response to their natural enemies, they forged informal networks of health care and adopted self-care habits, from boiling water, to eradicating insects, to constructing elaborate shelters. As they fought to regain their health, they frequently struggled, testing the limits of army discipline.

With KT Shively, Associate Professor of Civil War history and Reconstruction at Virginia Commonwealth University. Their book, Nature’s Civil War, won the 2014 Wiley-Silver Prize for best first book on the Civil War. Shively is currently the Mark and Ann Persun Visiting Scholar at the Penn State Richards Civil War Era Center, while they complete their second monograph, History Wars: Jubal A. Early and the Confederate Origins of Modern American History. This month their co-edited volume, The Second Manassas Campaign, with Caroline Janney, will be released from UNC Press. Shively is also Co-PI with Paul Quigley (Virginia Tech University) of a digital battlefield and plantation site tour, “Experiencing Civil War History Through Augmented Reality: Soldiers, Civilians, and the Environment at Pamplin Historical Park.

Member Reception 5:15 – 6:00 PM