A citizen-soldier of honest mind, a “gentleman unafraid.”

Although opposed to secession, in 1861, shortly after Virginia broke away from the Union, Blackford nevertheless enlisted in the First Regiment of Virginia Cavalry.

A Civil Engineer by profession, by war’s end Blackford had risen from a Lieutenant of Cavalry to Lieutenant Colonel of Engineers.

His skills were valuable in both of these branches of the army, and as a result War Years is unusually filled with the day-to-day accomplishments of the Engineer Troops.

From Jeb Stuart’s side, Blackford observed nearly all the operations of mounted troops from June, 1861, to the end of January, 1864, when he was transferred to other responsibilities.

Brought into contact with a number of legendary figures, in April, 1865, Blackford was at Appomattox when General Lee surrendered.

Alongside descriptions of battles, raids and sieges are the stories of army life — little details and incidents that walk hand-in-hand with soldiering — in a thrilling yet eye-opening memoir of the American Civil War.

Lieut.-Colonel William Willis Blackford (1831-1905) was an officer in the Confederate States Army during the Civil War. It was his mother who encouraged him to write down his experiences while they were still fresh in his mind, and War Years with Jeb Stuart was the result.

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