Topography of Fear: Divided Sentiments, Guerrilla Activity, and Central Appalachia’s Civil War Experience

During the American Civil War, central Appalachia was wracked by internecine warfare.  Unlike the more traditional fields of battle where soldiers gained valor and commanders led well organized and equipped forces, the battlefields of the mountains were often private homes and public roads with civilians playing the roles of victims and antagonists.  Throughout the central Appalachian region, self-appointed partisans led private wars that resulted in much violence being perpetrated on a relatively unprotected populace.  However, the traditional telling of the guerrilla story is insufficient considering the wealth of recent work on the subject.           

One of the central themes recently considered is the influence of fear, either real or imagined, on the behavior of both prosecutor and victim.  Historians would often prefer to believe that individuals are motivated toward a positive destination, the guerrilla gives ample evidence that those who lived on the margins of society, particularly in a contested border region, were frequently motivated by a need to avoid individual or collective harm.  Numerous examples exist illustrating the frenetic social climate that thrived in the topographically isolated communities of the Appalachian region.  In this environment of often-dubious sentiment, proactive violence became a popular undertaking, particularly during times of increased unrest.  One guerrilla justified his proactive behavior as “taking time by the forelock” claiming that his frequently unarmed enemies would have killed him if he had not done so first.  The pragmatism that resulted from this unrelenting fear drove families to strategically divide and substantial portions of communities to relocate in an attempt to assure themselves of immediate and future security.  While it is relatively easy to dismiss guerrillas as mindless thugs bent on simple destruction, the alternative suggests that the turmoil of the ever-present conflict helped drive these participants toward their eventual fates and helped them along their violent paths.