Defensive locations under Southern control, typically thickly wooded or swampy areas (or just plain unfriendly). Pestholes are cities, shown on the map as a small circle within a larger one (for example, the Shenandoah Valley). They give the following benefits to the CSA: +5 is added to the strength of a CSA command defending a pesthole; a CSA command can always retreat from a pesthole; a CSA-controlled pesthole never surrenders automatically. USA-controlled pestholes are treated as normal cities.