The Chickamauga CampaignEdited by Steven E. Woodworth andNarrated by Gary Regal Book published by Southern Illinois University Press From mid-August to mid-September 1863, Union major general William S. Rosecrans’s Army of the Cumberland maneuvered from Tennessee to north Georgia in a bid to rout Confederate general Braxton Bragg’s Army of Tennessee and blaze the way for further Union advances. Meanwhile, Confederate reinforcements bolstered the numbers of the Army of Tennessee, and by the time the two armies met at the Battle of Chickamauga, in northern Georgia, the Confederates had gained numerical superiority. Although the Confederacy won its only major victory west of the Appalachians, it failed to achieve the truly decisive results many high-ranking Confederates expected. In The Chickamauga Campaign, Steven E. Woodworth assembles eight thought-provoking new essays from an impressive group of authors to offer new insight into the complex reasons for this substantial, yet ultimately barren, Confederate victory. This broad collection covers every angle of the campaign, from its prelude to its denouement, from the points of view of key players of all ranks on both sides. In addition to analyzing the actions taken by Union leaders Thomas L. Crittenden, Alexander McCook, and James S. Negley, and Confederate commanders Braxton Bragg, Patrick Cleburne, Daniel Harvey Hill, Thomas C. Hindman, James Longstreet, and Alexander P. Stewart, the book probes the campaign’s impact on morale in the North and South, and concludes with an essay on the campaign’s place in Civil War memory. Steven E. Woodworth is professor of history at Texas Christian University. He is the author or editor of thirty books, including The Shiloh Campaign, The Chickamauga Campaign, and Nothing but Victory: The Army of the Tennessee, 1861–1865. REVIEWS:“Intriguing and excellent analyses of the strategy, tactics, and leadership of both armies from the prelude leading up to the campaign to key engagements and the evolution of the battlefield into a national military park. Required reading for an understanding of the complexities of the Chickamauga campaign.” —Michael B. Ballard, author of Vicksburg: The Campaign that Opened the Mississippi “This book presents an insightful and multifaceted view of the Chickamauga Campaign. This is must reading for anyone interested in an in-depth discussion of a major battle in the decisive West.” —John F Marszalek, executive director of the Ulysses S. Grant Association, Mississippi State University |