author
Charles Minor Blackford
1833–1903
A Virginia lawyer, Confederate cavalry officer, and later writer, he left behind vivid firsthand accounts that help bring the Civil War era into focus. His letters and memoir-style writings are especially valued for their detail about daily life in the Confederate Army.
1 Audiobook
Campaign and battle of Lynchburg, Va.
by Charles Minor Blackford
About the author
Born in Fredericksburg, Virginia, in 1833, Charles Minor Blackford trained as a lawyer and built his career in Lynchburg. During the American Civil War, he served in the 2nd Virginia Cavalry and saw major campaigns from early fighting through the Confederacy’s collapse.
After the war, he returned to legal work and became a prominent figure in Virginia civic and professional life. He also wrote about his wartime experiences, and his correspondence with his wife has been preserved as an important source for historians studying the everyday realities of Confederate military life.
Blackford died in 1903. Today he is remembered less for public office than for the clear, personal record he left of war, family, and the world of nineteenth-century Virginia.