FEATURED BOOKS REVIEWED THIS ISSUE:

Six Armies In Tennessee | Private Soldiers & Public Heroes | Lee's Tarnished Lieutenant

Bonus Feature: Our exclusive interview with bestselling author Jeff Shaara !

Six Armies in Tennessee:
The Chickamauga and Chattanooga Campaigns
(Great Campaigns of the Civil War)
by Steven E. Woodworth

"Brilliant campaigns without battles do not accomplish the destruction of an army..a campaign like that of Tullahoma always means a battle at some other point." ---Lt. Henry Cist of Rosecran's staff.

The campaigns and battles for control of Tennessee make a fascinating study for the Civil War enthusiast and Steven Woodword has a well written book that examines this time.

As Mr Woodworth writes: "It is not a bullet by bullet account of any battle....Rather, its goal is to sift and compare all the evidence for a large series of campaigns ...and present a coherent narrative."

In this, Woodworth has succeeded. His Six Armies In Tennessee is a fascinating and concise examination of the war for Tennessee from the start of Rosecrans' Tullahoma Campaign to Grant's rout of Bragg at Missionary Ridge.

Some books follow a campaign or battle so closely that a reader gets bogged down in detail and loses the overall thread. This is not a fault of Woodworth's book. He manages to give a good overall view with enough detail for the serious student, but in a thoroughly readable manner that will keep the armchair historian interested.

The stakes in Tennessee were high enough that both sides were willing to invest a large amount of men and material. On the Confederate side was the Army of Tennessee, reinforced just before Chickamauga by units from the Army of Northern Virginia, under Longstreet. The Union had in its fold the Army of the Cumberland and the Army of Ohio -- later reinforced by the Army of the Tennessee and two corps of the Army of the Potomac. Among the 'name' generals were Bragg, Rosecrans, Grant, Sherman, Thomas, Longstreet and Hooker.

After the terrible battle of Stones River, Rosecrans, his army, and his offensive campaign went on a six months hiatus. Despite strong urgings from Lincoln and Stanton, Rosey simply dug in his heels and waited till all things were right. The delay impacted the operations of Grant in Mississippi and also the operations in Virginia.

During a brilliant campaign of movement, starting in late June and lasting less than 2 weeks, Rosecrans managed to chase Bragg and his army from middle Tennessee back into Chattanooga. The action and the strategy from this relatively bloodless campaign to the bloody grounds of Chickamauga and Missionary Ridge are covered well by the author.

As brilliant as Rosecrans' stratagy was, it may have cost him later by giving him a sense of security that was unfounded. Bragg had had many problems with his subordinates and would continue to have them, but he almost managed to destroy Rosecrans and his army.

Six Armies In Tennessee covers a lot of ground and does it in an entertaining way. The section on the Tullahoma Campaign alone brings out a lot of information not easily found otherwise.

I recommend this book as a great addition to any Civil War library. With the addition of another book by the same author: Jefferson Davis and His Generals: The Failure of Confederate Command in the West, Steven Woodworth has done the readers a tremendous service.
---Vance Floyd, CWW Reviews

Hardcover - 256 pages (May 1998) Univ of Nebraska Press; ISBN: 0803247788

Private Soldiers & Public Heroes:
An American Album of the Common Man's Civil War
edited by: Milton Bagby

Milton Bagby has provided us with a treasure of rarely seen inner glimpses of the common soldier of the American Civil War with his book Private Soldiers & Public Heroes. Though some images are hauntingly familiar, the stories of the men captured by the camera are what makes this book unique. You won't find many generals or well known officers in this book, but rather, as the title promises, heroes of the common man's war.

The book is divided into chapters: "Volunteers," "Common Soldiers," "Uncommon Men," "Sacrifices" and "Veterans." In each man's story, it's not the enemy they fought that garners much of their saga; rather, some of the reasons why three million men chose to find their destiny on the battlefields.

Men such as Henry Brown, in the chapter "Uncommon Men." Henry was a free black from South Carolina who marched off to war with his all-white company, and served proudly as a drummer to war's end. Ignoring the race question of the day, Henry never considered defecting to the side of the Union, and later took a civil post during Reconstruction, "...looking out for the needs of his defeated neighbors."

Proudly poised in their uniforms before the camera's lens, few of them knew that the captured film image would cause many to peer into their eyes and ponder for years to come, long after the dust of their existence has been scattered to the winds.

An excellent job by Milton Bagby in gathering these rare photos and stories of the common soldier for all to enjoy! ---Alethea Sayers, CWW Reviews

Hardcover - 176 pages (Oct. 1998) Rutledge Hill Press; ISBN: 1558536884

Lee's Tarnished Lieutenant:
James Longstreet and
His Place in Southern History
by William Garrett Piston

Although not a recent publication, Piston has written a scholarly work on James Longstreet and his military career. He focuses on the historical record from the Official Records and primary source material illustrating the significant role Longstreet played in the war. What he also does, and in my opinion, does masterfully is trace the anti-Longstreet faction and its impact on him in the post war historiography.

Because one of Longstreet's foremost characteristics was his pragmatism, he accepted the loss of the war and advocated support of the Republican regime. Many in the defeated South saw his public statement as heresy. Jubal Early, probably eager to redeem himself in the pantheon of Southern military heroes, deliberately began a campaign designed to discredit Longstreet. Upon the death of Robert E. Lee in October 1870, Early and several others, particularly clergymen in Lexington, Virginia, developed a strategy for enhancing Lee's saintly reputation. They reasoned that because Lee's loss at Gettysburg was inconsistent with his perfect military record, a scapegoat was needed on whom to fasten blame for the loss. Longstreet became that scapegoat.

Piston devotes the second half of the book to discussing the Early faction and its extraordinary results in enshrining Lee and tarnishing Longstreet. The author also accords to Longstreet blame for his inept defense against the prolific outpouring of published materials.

Any one who wishes to peel away the many layers of untruths about Longstreet and Gettysburg should read this book. It is rich in perspective and logical conclusions and is thoroughly footnoted.---Molly Nash, CWW Reviews

Paperback Reprint edition (March 1990) Univ of Georgia Press; ISBN: 0820312290

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