Historian at Shepherd U. to present study of Battle of South Mountain

SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV—Shepherd University’s George Tyler Moore Center for the Study of the Civil War will host a free author’s talk with historian Curtis Older on Thursday, October 12, at 7 p.m. in the center at 136 W. German St., Shepherdstown, West Virginia.

Older will present from his book “Hood’s Defeat Near Fox’s Gap: Prelude to Emancipation,” which explores the Battle of South Mountain at Fox’s Gap and the defeat of Confederate General John Bell Hood.

The campaign was waged on a battle line that extended along South Mountain from Harpers Ferry, West Virginia.

Based on a careful understanding of the history of the roads and land tracts associated with Fox’s and Turner’s gaps and the details of specific landmarks mentioned in primary documents, Older presents a more detailed and accurate geographical and topographical study of the battlefield than any previously presented.

The correct placement of Hood’s troop positions reconfigures the entire placement of the competing forces in the battle, setting the record straight on the achievements of the Union army in the battle and Confederate casualties.

Rebuffing a significant amount of incorrect material published about this battle, this new account of the Battle of South Mountain allows the reader to re-examine and re-interpret the Maryland campaign.

Older is a member of the Sons of the American Revolution, and one of his revolutionary ancestors was Frederick Fox of Fox’s Gap. Fox served in Joseph Chapline Jr.’s company of militia at Sharpsburg, Maryland, and signed the Patriot’s Oath of Fidelity and Support in 1778.

Another of Older’s ancestors, John Adam Link II, lived near Shepherdstown. Link was an ensign in the militia of Frederick County, Maryland, during the American Revolution, and his daughter, Elizabeth Ann, married Older’s great, great, great grandfather George Fox, who owned the Fox Inn along Old Sharpsburg Road about two miles east of Fox’s Gap.

To RSVP, please email gtmcweb@shepherd.edu or call 304-876-5429.