Southern Hero: The Civil War Letters of Thomas B. Hampton & Jestin C. Hampton

When the American Civil War engulfed the nation, Thomas B. Hampton and his brothers left their home in the mountains of Grayson County to enlist in the 63rd Virginia Infantry Regiment. As a new Captain of his company, the Southern Hero, Thomas led them from the tenuous comfort of southwestern Virginia to some of the war's most desperate battlefields, including Kanawha, Chickamauga, Resaca, and Bentonville. They endured hunger, disease, exhausting marches, and the ever-present threat of death, while those they left behind struggled on the home front.

For the duration of those dark times, Thomas and his wife, Jestin, sustained one another through a remarkable exchange of letters until the conflict's dramatic conclusion in 1865. Their correspondence chronicles both the horrors of war and fleeting moments of hope. Told in their own words, this is their story of battles, betrayal, loyalty, and a love unbroken that survived time and separation.