The only state born as a result of the Civil War, West Virginia was the most divided state in the nation. About forty thousand of its residents served in the combatant forces--about twenty thousand on each side. The Mountain State also saw its fair share of battles, skirmishes, raids and guerrilla warfare, with places like Harpers Ferry, Philippi and Rich Mountain becoming household names in 1861. When the Commonwealth of Virginia seceded from the Union on April 17, 1861, leaders primarily from the northwestern region of the state began the political process that eventually led to the creation of West Virginia on June 20, 1863. Renowned Civil War historian Mark A. Snell has written the first thorough history of these West Virginians and their civil war in more than fifty years.Other books in the Civil War Sesquicentennial Series include:The Battle of Antietam ♦ The Battle of Franklin ♦ The Chancellorsville Campaign ♦ The Battle of South Mountain ♦ Stonewall Jackson"s 1862 Valley Campaign ♦ Charleston Under Siege ♦ Andersonville Civil War Prison ♦ The Civil War at Perryville ♦ The Battle of Okolona ♦ Fort Davidson and the Battle of Pilot Knobb ♦ The Two Civil War Battles of Newtonia ♦ The Battle of Port Royal ♦ The Confederacy"s Secret Weapon ♦ Lee in the Lowcountry ♦ Defending South Carolina"s Coast ♦ Facing Sherman in South Carolina ♦ The Battle of Brandy Station ♦ The Battle of Cedar Creek ♦ The Battle of Fredericksburg ♦ The Battle of Piedmont ♦ The Battle of New Market Heights ♦ Big Bethel ♦ The Battle of Mine Creek ♦ Civil War Atlanta ♦ The Battle of Westport ♦ The Union is Dissolved ♦ The Battle of Fort Donelson