On Thursday, May 15, 2014, Steve Cunningham will present “Loyalty They Always Had: The 7th WV Cavalry in the Civil War” in the Archives and History Library in the Culture Center in Charleston. The program will begin at 6:00 p.m. and is free and open to the public.
Raised and organized in the Kanawha Valley in 1861, the 7th West Virginia Cavalry (previously the 8th Virginia Infantry and 8th West Virginia Mounted Infantry) served during the U.S. Civil War in numerous battles, campaigns, and raids including the Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1862, Cross Keys, 2nd Bull Run, White Sulphur Springs, Droop Mountain, the Salem Raid, Cloyds Mountain, and the Lynchburg Campaign. At war’s end, they facilitated the paroling of more than 5,000 returning Confederate soldiers to the Kanawha Valley region. Cunningham will share from his research for his upcoming book on the unit, entitled Loyalty They Always Had: The 7th West Virginia Cavalry in the U.S. Civil War.
Steve Cunningham has been conducting research on the 7th West Virginia Cavalry for about 20 years, maintains an active Web site about the 7th, and has hosted several events for descendants of the unit. He is a past president of Kanawha Valley Civil War Roundtable, where he was involved in the organization of the centennial rededication of the West Virginia monuments at Gettysburg, and co-authored the book, Their Deeds Are Their Monuments: West Virginia at Gettysburg. He also is the author or co-author of several articles on the Civil War, including “The 1st West Virginia Cavalry in the Gettysburg Campaign” for the scholarly journal Civil War Regiments. He was a contributor to the West Virginia Encyclopedia and has contributed research to several other authors’ books.
Cunningham created and maintains the Web site West Virginia in the Civil War, which receives 75,000 visitors each year, and is president and owner of 35th Star Publishing, which specializes in non-fiction titles on West Virginia history and culture. He holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering and operations research from Virginia Tech, and a master’s of business administration from the Marshall University Graduate College. He resides in Charleston and is employed by Charleston Area Medical Center.
For additional information, call (304) 558-0230.
