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San Marcos, Texas
The Free State of Jones
*The Free State of Jones*, supported by an NEH grant, uncovers the history of a Union-supporting Mississippi community during and after the Civil War. Cover image courtesy of the University of North Carolina Press.
The Free State of Jones, supported by an NEH grant, uncovers the history of a Union-supporting Mississippi community during and after the Civil War. Cover image courtesy of the University of North Carolina Press.

In 1863, in the heart of Mississippi, a group of Confederate deserters declared their allegiance to the United States government. Over the next several months, they established a guerrilla-style band of resistance against the Confederacy and managed to outlast the cavalry expeditions that were sent to conquer them. Victoria E. Bynum’s book, The Free State of Jones: Mississippi’s Longest War, tells the story of the deserters and their community in Jones County, Mississippi—one that outlasted the Civil War and established a mixed-race community in the region. Bynum’s book, which was supported by an NEH grant, brought this history to a national audience.

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