Description
Jacob R. Hildebrand (author), John R. Hildebrand (ed.)
A Mennonite Journal is a unique story of Civil War home-front life recorded by Jacob R. Hildebrand, a devout father, faithful Mennonite, and successful farmer. It provides insight into his political activities, support of the Southern cause, and the military service of his three sons, not all fully consistent with Mennonite beliefs. One of his sons was killed late in the war at the Battle of Five Forks. The book describes Augusta County’s contribution of men and supplies to three Virginia regiments: the 5th and 52nd Infantry and the 1st Cavalry, including Jacob’s observations of Jackson’s 1862 Valley Campaign, the 1864 raids by Union generals Hunter and Sheridan, the Battle of Piedmont, and the Battle of Waynesboro, the last major battle in the Valley. The journal also describes the war’s many impacts on families in the Augusta County farming community in the geographic area between Staunton and Waynesboro, Virginia.
