Phantoms of the South Fork

Captain McNeill and His Rangers (Civil War Soldiers and Strategies)

By: Steve French

Narrated by: Jeff Raynor

At 3 a.m. on February 21, 1865, a band of 65 Confederate horsemen slowly made its way down Greene Street in Cumberland, Maryland. Thinking the riders were disguised Union scouts, the few Union soldiers out that bitterly cold morning paid little attention to them. In the meantime, over 3,500 Yankee soldiers peacefully slept.

Within 30 minutes, McNeill’s rangers had kidnapped Union generals George Crook and Benjamin Kelley from their hotels and spirited them out of town. Despite a determined effort by Union pursuers to intercept the kidnappers, the Rangers reached safety deep in the South Fork River Valley, over 50 miles away. Not long afterward, the generals were shipped to Richmond’s Libby Prison.

In September 1862, John Hanson McNeill recruited a company of troopers for Colonel John D. Imboden’s First Virginia Partisan Rangers. In early 1863, Imboden took most of his men into the regular army, but McNeill and his son Jesse offered their men an opportunity to continue in independent service. Seventeen soldiers joined them.

Operating mostly in the Potomac Highlands of what is now eastern West Virginia, the Rangers bedeviled the Union troops guarding the B&O Railroad line. Favoring American Indian battle tactics, they ambushed patrols, attacked wagon trains, and heavily damaged railroad property and rolling stock.

The book is published by The Kent State University Press. The audiobook is published by University Press Audiobooks.

Praise for the book:

“An engaging episodic retelling of the actions of McNeill’s Rangers...a lens into these skirmishes and maneuvers." (Journal of Southern History)

“Thanks to this book, the story of McNeill’s Rangers has come to the surface..." (Civil War News)

“Incredibly detailed and provides a comprehensive analysis of the guerilla activity along the Potomac Highlands." (Journal of the Shenandoah Valley During the Civil War Era)

©2017 The Kent State University Press (P)2020 Redwood Audiobooks