This book uses the life of one man--Walter Lenoir of North Carolina--to explore the origins of southern white identity and the ambiguities and complexities embedded in that history with devotion to the Confederate cause. Lenoirs intention to divest himself of his inherited slaves changed with the war's outbreak and he joined the Confederate army.

William L. Barney is Professor of History at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His books include The Road to Secession, The Secessionist Impulse, Flawed Victory, Battleground for the Union, and The Passage of the Republic.

• Illustrations


• Foreword


• Acknowledgements


• The Lenoir Families


• Prologue


• One: Dutiful Sons and a Wavering Southerner


• Two: Confederate Soldier


• Three: Agony at Ox Hill


• Four: Mountain Farmer


• Five: Unreconstructed Confederate


• Six: Land Promoter and Dreamer


• Afterword


• Recommendations for Further Reading


• Index