I am an assistant professor of history at the Virginia Military Institute, where I teach classes on U.S. history with a focus on the 19th century.

My research examines the Civil War in Virginia, specifically how the home front and battlefield are intertwined in this region. As the conflict moved past the conventional bounds of warfare and entered the domestic sphere, the war infiltrated the household. Driven by society’s reluctant acceptance, and the stronger desire to simply survive, women, particularly white women, became active participants in the war. Shifting the focus to the domestic sphere, and utilizing this as a framework, opens a path to explore the ways in which race, gender, class, martial control, and guerrilla warfare shaped northern Virginia through the eyes of the elite white women who wielded new levels of power in their community. My work provides a new understanding of the domestic war in Virginia whose main characters are fervent and reluctant Confederate civilians, loyal Unionists, soldiers from both armies, enslaved African Americans, and freedmen. 

In addition to my research, I also serve as deputy editor of the Journal of Military History and as assistant director of the Society of Military Historians and John A. Adams Center for Strategic Studies Summer Seminar. At VMI, I am a co-advisor of Phi Alpha Theta, the history honor society, and work with cadets on individual research projects. I hold a Ph.D. from the University of Arkansas where I studied with Dr. Daniel E. Sutherland.

Contact: [email protected]