Trembling in the Balance: The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal During the Civil War is the story of a canal company's struggle to operate a significant business enterprise in one of the nation's major theaters of war. Since the C & O Canal company was located on Maryland's southern border with Virginia, it experienced much of the war firsthand. Due to the proximity of the canal to so many conflicts, large and small, this book includes a great deal of military history in great detail. The canal played a role in major battles, like Antietam and Gettysburg, and in smaller conflicts, such as Ball's Bluff and Stonewall Jackson's raids on Dam Number 5 (the dam was owned by the canal company). A facinating account of this transportation artery during a time of great military upheval.