Breadbasket of the Confederacy During the US Civil War (1861-1865) the Shenandoah Valley was a major source of food for the Confederate Army. To eliminate this source of supply, during the final year of the war, Gen. U. S. Grant ordered his troops to "Take all provisions, forage and stock wanted for the use of your command. Such as cannot be consumed, destroy." (1) Grant's orders were executed during the fall of 1864 by Gen. Philip H. Sheridan (2) whose command included Gen. George Armstrong Custer. This was one of the largest destructions of civilian property during the war. (3)

Jacob and Joseph C. Good In 1795 at the age of 12, Joseph Good (GC229) moved with his parents Jacob and Francis from Lancaster Co, PA to Rockingham Co. VA in the Shenandoah Valley. Although Joseph's parents spent the rest of their lives in Rockingham county, in 1811 Joseph and his wife Magdalena Campbell moved their family to Fairfield Co., OH. However, some of Joseph and Magdalene's relatives remained in the Shenandoah Vally during the Civil War. Abraham P. Good, for example, moved his family from Rockingham Co. to Putnam Co., Ohio just before the burning of the valley. (4) Abraham was a nephew of Joseph and a cousin to Joseph's children who included our ancestor David Good.

Notes

1. Bruce Catton, Grant Takes Command (Castle Books, 2000). p347. See also p277, 361.

2. Philip H. Sheridan, Personal Memoirs of Philip H. Sheridan (1888). With a new introduction by Jeffry D. Wert (Da Capo Press, 1992). p265ff.

3. John L. Heatwole, The Burning: Sheridan's Devastation of the Shenandoah Valley (Charlottesville, Virginia: Rockbridge Publishing, 1998).

4. Elouise Good King, Abraham P. Good and Rebecca Rhodes Good Family (E. G. King, 1998). Selected pages www.dgatx.com/family.../Good-Rhodes/hs.html (2007 Nov 8). Abraham P. Good, Rebecca Rhodes. p26.