The Governor's Pawns
Gooden, Randall S
While the taking of hostages by both the Union and the Confederacy was common during the Civil War, it was unique for an individual state government to engage in this practice. The Governor's Pawns examines the history that led to the taking of political prisoners in western Virginia, the implementation of a hostage law by Virginia's pro-Union government in 1863, and the adoption of that law by the newly recognized state of West Virginia. The ...