“To… Protect the Union”
Unionists in the Northern Shenandoah Valley
Saturday, November 7, 2026
This collage of people and places from Winchester and Frederick County, Virginia, represents some of the stories that will be explored during MCWI’s fall seminar and tour. (Courtesy MCWI)
Although the large majority of people who lived in Winchester and Frederick County, Virginia, supported the Confederacy during the Civil War, approximately ten to fifteen percent of the area’s inhabitants favored the Union. This autumn, Shenandoah University’s McCormick Civil War Institute will explore the complexities of life for Unionists in the area, the many ways they supported the Union war effort, including as soldiers, scouts, and spies, and examine how they coped with war’s destructiveness in the conflict’s aftermath.
Schedule
- 9:45-10:15 a.m. Check-in at Henkel Hall, Hester Auditorium, Shenandoah University, Winchester, Virginia
- 10:15-11:15 a.m. Welcome and lecture by Prof. Jonathan A. Noyalas, “Are We Traitors & Cowards”: Southern Unionists and the Civil War
- 11:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m.: Lunch at Shenandoah University’s Allen Dining Hall (lunch included with registration)
- 12:15-4:30 p.m.: Caravan tour of sites associated with Unionists in Winchester and Frederick County, Virginia.
REGISTRATION INFORMATION
Registration will open in mid-April–stay tuned for more information.