The Confederacy's lynchpin in the Shenandoah Valley, Winchester was the most disputed town of the Civil War. As control shifted between North and South over seventy-five times, civilians coped with skirmishes in the streets, wracking disease and makeshift hospitals in their homes and churches. Out of this turmoil emerged heroes such as "Angel of the Battlefield" Tillie Russell, doctor turned soldier John Henry S. Funk and courageous mother and nurse Cornelia McDonald. Historian Jerry W. Holsworth uses diaries and letters to reveal an intimate portrait of this war torn community the celebrated Stonewall Brigade and the many occupations, as well as the indomitable women who inspired legend.

Jerry Holsworth is the assistant archivist for the Handley Regional Library in Winchester, which is under the auspices of the Winchester, Frederick County Historical Society. The Winchester, Frederick County Visitor Center also employs Jerry to give tours on the Civil War three to four times a year. These tours are popular and usually have about one hundred attendees. Jerry is the author of several articles for Blue and Gray Magazine and Civil War Times, and he is a sportswriter for the Winchester Star, the Loudoun Times-Mirror and the Northern Virginia Daily. His work has also appeared in the Washington Times, Cobblestone Magazine and Potomac Magazine. Ted Alexander (at Antietam) suggested Jerry, and the two worked together when Jerry was a park ranger at Antietam National Battlefield. From 2004 to 2006, Jerry was also the manager of George Washington's Office Museum in Winchester. He currently lives in Winchester.