Thread by @AstorAaron

I'm writing a draft historiographic essay on the Civil War in Appalachia and am reminded that much of the "conventional" Civil War was fought along the edges of Appalachia. The two biggest battles/campaigns - Gettysburg & Chickamauga - directly affected by the mountain topography

So when we speak of the "Civil War in Appalachia," we are dealing with cultural/geographic framing of "Appalachia" that appears in decades following the Civil War. Divided loyalties, guerrilla war, environmental devastation, etc. noted in 1861-65, but termed "Appalachian" later.

A trope developed over the years that antebellum Appalachia was 100% Unionist because it was universally opposed to the planter class. But that was obviously wrong, so historians started unpacking who were Unionists and Confederates (or neither).

Since the 1990s, historians have understood CW loyalties in Appalachia to follow something like social networks, defined by kin, commerce, political patronage, church, etc. through which people developed competing regional orientations and war loyalties.

Hanging over much of this discussion is the question of "Appalachian Exceptionalism." That is, to what extent does the story of Appalachia's Civil War differ from that experienced elsewhere, including other border/divided areas.

Ironically, one of the least discussed areas is "Northern Appalachia," including central Pennsylvania (north of Chambersburg/Gettysburg), far western Maryland (west of Sharpsburg) and some of the northern counties of what became West Virginia.