Download or read book Shiloh written by Timothy B. Smith and published by University Press of Kansas. This book was released on 2016-10-07 with total page 606 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A critical moment in the Civil War, the Battle of Shiloh has been the subject of many books. However, none has told the story of Shiloh as Timothy Smith does in this volume, the first comprehensive history of the two-day battle in April 1862—a battle so fluid and confusing that its true nature has eluded a clear narrative telling until now. Unfolding over April 6th and 7th, the Battle of Shiloh produced the most sprawling and bloody field of combat since the Napoleonic wars, with an outcome that set the Confederacy on the road to defeat. Contrary to previous histories, Smith tells us, the battle was not won or lost on the first day, but rather in the decision-making of the night that followed and in the next day’s fighting. Devoting unprecedented attention to the details of that second day, his book shows how the Union’s triumph was far less assured, and much harder to achieve, than has been acknowledged. Smith also employs a new organization strategy to clarify the action. By breaking his analysis of both days’ fighting into separate phases and sectors, he makes it much easier to grasp what was happening in each combat zone, why it unfolded as it did, and how it related to the broader tactical and operational context of the entire battle. The battlefield’s diverse and challenging terrain also comes in for new scrutiny. Through detailed attention to the terrain’s major features—most still visible at the Shiloh National Military Park—Smith is able to track their specific and considerable influence on the actions, and their consequences, over those forty-eight hours. The experience of the soldiers finally finds its place here too, as Smith lets us hear, as never before, the voices of the common man, whether combatant or local civilian, caught up in a historic battle for their lives, their land, their honor, and their homes. “We must this day conquer or perish,” Confederate General Albert Sidney Johnston declared on the morning of April 6, 1862. His words proved prophetic, and might serve as an epitaph for the larger war, as we see fully for the first time in this unparalleled and surely definitive history of the Battle of Shiloh.
Download or read book Shiloh written by Shelby Foote and published by Vintage. This book was released on 1991-04-09 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This fictional re-creation of the battle of Shiloh in April 1862 is a stunning work of imaginative history, from Shelby Foote, beloved historian of the Civil War. Shiloh conveys not only the bloody choreography of Union and Confederate troops through the woods near Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee, but the inner movements of the combatants’ hearts and minds. Through the eyes of officers and illiterate foot soldiers, heroes and cowards, Shiloh creates a dramatic mosaic of a critical moment in the making of America, complete to the haze of gunsmoke and the stunned expression in the eyes of dying men. Shiloh, which was hailed by The New York Times as “imaginative, powerful, filled with precise visual details…a brilliant book” fulfills the standard set by Shelby Foote’s monumental three-part chronical of the Civil War.
Download or read book Born to Battle written by Jack Hurst and published by Soft Skull Press. This book was released on 2012-05-29 with total page 514 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An analysis of the dynamics between Ulysses S. Grant and Nathan Bedford Forrest traces a critical twenty-month conflict period while assessing the impact of their underprivileged backgrounds on their military achievements.
Download or read book Ripples of Battle written by Victor Davis Hanson and published by Anchor. This book was released on 2004-10-12 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The effects of war refuse to remain local: they persist through the centuries, sometimes in unlikely ways far removed from the military arena. In Ripples of Battle, the acclaimed historian Victor Davis Hanson weaves wide-ranging military and cultural history with his unparalleled gift for battle narrative as he illuminates the centrality of war in the human experience. The Athenian defeat at Delium in 424 BC brought tactical innovations to infantry fighting; it also assured the influence of the philosophy of Socrates, who fought well in the battle. Nearly twenty-three hundred years later, the carnage at Shiloh and the death of the brilliant Southern strategist Albert Sidney Johnson inspired a sense of fateful tragedy that would endure and stymie Southern culture for decades. The Northern victory would also bolster the reputation of William Tecumseh Sherman, and inspire Lew Wallace to pen the classic Ben Hur. And, perhaps most resonant for our time, the agony of Okinawa spurred the Japanese toward state-sanctioned suicide missions, a tactic so uncompromising and subversive, it haunts our view of non-Western combatants to this day.
Download or read book The Killer Angels written by Michael Shaara and published by Modern Library. This book was released on 2004-11-02 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: PULITZER PRIZE WINNER • NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The “remarkable” (Ken Burns), “utterly absorbing” (Forbes) Civil War classic that inspired the film Gettysburg, with more than three million copies in print “My favorite historical novel . . . a superb re-creation of the Battle of Gettysburg, but its real importance is its insight into what the war was about, and what it meant.”—James M. McPherson In the four most bloody and courageous days of our nation’s history, two armies fought for two conflicting dreams. One dreamed of freedom, the other of a way of life. Far more than rifles and bullets were carried into battle. There were memories. There were promises. There was love. And far more than men fell on those Pennsylvania fields. Bright futures, untested innocence, and pristine beauty were also the casualties of war. Michael Shaara’s Pulitzer Prize–winning masterpiece is unique, sweeping, unforgettable—the dramatic story of the battleground for America’s destiny.
Download or read book Shiloh 1862 written by James Arnold and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2013-01-20 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A compact, illustrated account of the first major battle in the Western theatre of the American Civil War. Shiloh came as a horrifying shock to both the American public and those in arms. For the first time they had some idea of the terrible price that would be paid for the preservation of the Union. On 6 April 1862 General Albert Sidney Johnston caught Grant and Sherman by surprise and very nearly drove them into the River Tennessee, but was mortally wounded in the process. Somehow Grant and Sherman hung on and the next day managed to drive back the hordes of grey-clad rebels. Featuring battle maps and rich illustrations throughout, James R. Arnold's book explores the plans, the battle itself and its consequences for America.
Download or read book Crossroads of Freedom written by James M. McPherson and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2002-09-12 with total page 221 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Battle of Antietam, fought on September 17, 1862, was the bloodiest single day in American history, with more than 6,000 soldiers killed--four times the number lost on D-Day, and twice the number killed in the September 11th terrorist attacks. In Crossroads of Freedom, America's most eminent Civil War historian, James M. McPherson, paints a masterful account of this pivotal battle, the events that led up to it, and its aftermath. As McPherson shows, by September 1862 the survival of the United States was in doubt. The Union had suffered a string of defeats, and Robert E. Lee's army was in Maryland, poised to threaten Washington. The British government was openly talking of recognizing the Confederacy and brokering a peace between North and South. Northern armies and voters were demoralized. And Lincoln had shelved his proposed edict of emancipation months before, waiting for a victory that had not come--that some thought would never come. Both Confederate and Union troops knew the war was at a crossroads, that they were marching toward a decisive battle. It came along the ridges and in the woods and cornfields between Antietam Creek and the Potomac River. Valor, misjudgment, and astonishing coincidence all played a role in the outcome. McPherson vividly describes a day of savage fighting in locales that became forever famous--The Cornfield, the Dunkard Church, the West Woods, and Bloody Lane. Lee's battered army escaped to fight another day, but Antietam was a critical victory for the Union. It restored morale in the North and kept Lincoln's party in control of Congress. It crushed Confederate hopes of British intervention. And it freed Lincoln to deliver the Emancipation Proclamation, which instantly changed the character of the war. McPherson brilliantly weaves these strands of diplomatic, political, and military history into a compact, swift-moving narrative that shows why America's bloodiest day is, indeed, a turning point in our history.
Download or read book Rethinking Shiloh written by Timothy B. Smith and published by Univ. of Tennessee Press. This book was released on 2013-05-30 with total page 217 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ulysses S. Grant once remarked that the Battle of Shiloh “has been perhaps less understood, or, to state the case more accurately, more persistently misunderstood, than any other engagement . . . during the entire rebellion.” In Rethinking Shiloh, Timothy B. Smith seeks to rectify these persistent myths and misunderstandings, arguing that some of Shiloh’s story is either not fully examined or has been the result of a limited and narrow collective memory established decades ago. Continuing the work he began in The Untold Story of Shiloh, Smith delves even further into the story of Shiloh and examines in detail how the battle has been treated in historiography and public opinion. The nine essays in this collection uncover new details about the battle, correct some of the myths surrounding it, and reveal new avenues of exploration. The topics range from a compelling analysis and description of the last hours of General Albert Sidney Johnston to the effect of the New Deal on Shiloh National Military Park and, subsequently, our understanding of the battle. Smith’s careful analyses and research bring attention to the many relatively unexplored parts of Shiloh such as the terrain, the actual route of Lew Wallace’s march, and post-battle developments that affect currently held perceptions of thatfamed clash between Union and Confederate armies in West Tennessee. Studying Shiloh should alert readers and historians to the likelihood of misconceptions in other campaigns and wars—including today’s military conflicts. By reevaluating aspects of the Battle of Shiloh often ignored by military historians, Smith’s book makes significant steps toward a more complete understanding and appreciation of the Shiloh campaign in all of its ramifications.
Download or read book Simply Murder written by Chris Mackowski and published by Emerging Civil War. This book was released on 2013 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The battle of Fredericksburg is usually remembered as the most lopsided Union defeat of the Civil War. The authors have worked for years along Fredericksburg's Sunken Road and Stone Wall, and they've escorted thousands of visitors across the battlefield. This book not only recounts Fredericksburg's tragic story of slaughter, but includes invaluabl
Download or read book War in Kentucky written by James L. McDonough and published by Univ. of Tennessee Press. This book was released on 1994 with total page 412 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: War in Kentucky From Shiloh to Perryville James Lee McDonough A compelling new volume from the author of Shiloh In Hell before Night and Chattanooga A Death Grip on the Confederacy, this book explores the strategic importance of Kentucky for both sides in the Civil War and recounts the Confederacy's bold attempt to capture the Bluegrass State. In a narrative rich with quotations from the diaries, letters, and reminiscences of participants, James Lee McDonough brings to vigorous life an episode whose full significance has previously eluded students of the war. In February of 1862, the fall of Fort Henry and Fort Donelson near the Tennessee-Kentucky border forced a Confederate retreat into northern Alabama. After the Southern forces failed that spring at Shiloh to throw back the Federal advance, the controversial General Braxton Bragg, newly promoted by Jefferson Davis, launched a countermovement that would sweep eastward to Chattanooga and then northwest through Middle Tennessee. Capturing Kentucky became the ultimate goal, which, if achieved, would lend the war a different complexion indeed. Giving equal attention to the strategies of both sides, McDonough describes the ill-fated Union effort to capture Chattanooga with an advance through Alabama, the Confederate march across Tennessee, and the subsequent two-pronged invasion of Kentucky. He vividly recounts the fighting at Richmond, Munfordville, and Perryville, where the Confederate dream of controlling Kentucky finally ended. The first book-length study of this key campaign in the Western Theater, War in Kentucky not only demonstrates the extent of its importance but supports the case that 1862 should be considered the decisive year of the war. The author: James Lee McDonough, a native of Tennessee, is professor of history at Auburn University. Among his other books are Stones River Bloody Winter in Tennessee and Five Tragic Hours: The Battle of Franklin, which he co-wrote with Thomas L. Connelly. "
Download or read book Corinth 1862 written by Timothy B. Smith and published by University Press of Kansas. This book was released on 2016-10-07 with total page 464 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the spring of 1862, there was no more important place in the western Confederacy-perhaps in all the South-than the tiny town of Corinth, Mississippi. Major General Henry W. Halleck, commander of Union forces in the Western Theater, reported to Washington that "Richmond and Corinth are now the great strategical points of war, and our success at these points should be insured at all hazards." In the same vein, Confederate General P. G. T. Beauregard declared to Richmond that "If defeated at Corinth, we lose the Mississippi Valley and probably our cause." Those were odd sentiments concerning a town scarcely a decade old. By this time, however, it sat at the junction of the South's two most important rail lines and had become a major strategic locale. Despite its significance, Corinth has received comparatively little attention from Civil War historians and has been largely overshadowed by events at Shiloh, Antietam, and Perryville. Timothy Smith's panoramic and vividly detailed new look at Corinth corrects that neglect, focusing on the nearly year-long campaign that opened the way to Vicksburg and presaged the Confederacy's defeat in the West. Combining big-picture strategic and operational analysis with ground-level views, Smith covers the spring siege, the vicious attacks and counterattacks of the October battle, and the subsequent occupation. He has drawn extensively on hundreds of eyewitness accounts to capture the sights, sounds, and smells of battle and highlight the command decisions of Halleck, Beauregard, Ulysses S. Grant, Sterling Price, William S. Rosecrans, and Earl Van Dorn. This is also the first in-depth examination of Corinth following the creation of a new National Park Service center located at the site. Weaving together an immensely compelling tale that places the reader in the midst of war's maelstrom, it substantially revises and enlarges our understanding of Corinth and its crucial importance in the Civil War.
Download or read book Shiloh In Hell Before Night written by and published by Univ. of Tennessee Press. This book was released on with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Colorful, dramatic, blundering, and tragic - these are some of the adjectives that have been applied to the two-day engagement at Shiloh. This battle, which bears the biblical name meaning "place of peace," was one of the bloodiest encounters of the Civil War. The Union colonel, whose words give the present book its title, foretold the losses when he told his men: "Fill your canteens Boys! Some of you will be in hell before night...." Fought in the early spring of 1862 on the west bank of the Mississippi state line, Shiloh was, up to that time, the biggest battle of American history. One hundred thousand men were involved, and major Civil War commanders such as Grant, Sherman, Johnston, Beauregard, Bragg, and Forrest participated. The battle took the life of Johnston and it left a lasting impact on the reputation of other commanders. More-over, it played a significant role in the campaign for control of the Mississippi Valley. Although hundreds of books have been written about the Civil War and its battle, questions about the disorganized struggle at Shiloh have continued to perplex historians. Why was Grant absent when his army was attacked? Why did Grant and Sherman apparently ignore evidence of a Confederate advance? What happened to Lew Wallace that he never got his division into the fight on the first day of battle? Why did it take the Rebels so long to make their way from Corinth to the battlefield? Did the Rebels really have a distinct opportunity to win the battle, as it seems in retrospect, or were they doomed from the start? Were Johnston and Beauregard working at cross-purposes? Shiloh-In Hell Before Night provides answers or clues to answers of clues to answers for these and other questions arising from this controversial engagement. The author tells his story by placing Shiloh in the larger context of the war and by exploring the very personal side of the conflict through the words of the Union and Confederate participants, officers and common soldiers alike. Touches of humor and even or romance are revealed in the midst of the carnage, but the overriding element is the specter of death. Among those who survived, the soldiers who had been eager to "see the elephant," as they commonly referred to combat, could never again feel so eager for a fight. James Lee McDonough is professor of history at Auburn University, and the author of Stones River - Bloody Winter in Tennessee, Chattanooga - A Death Grip on the Confederacy, and the co-author of Five Tragic Hours: The Battle of Franklin.
Download or read book From Fort Henry to Corinth written by Manning Ferguson Force and published by . This book was released on 1881 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Champion Hill written by Timothy B. Smith and published by Savas Beatie. This book was released on 2004-08-19 with total page 521 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Mississippi battle between Grant’s and Pemberton’s forces that sealed Vicksburg’s fate. The Battle of Champion Hill was the decisive land engagement of the Vicksburg Campaign. The fighting on May 16, 1863, took place just twenty miles east of the river city, where the advance of Gen. Ulysses S. Grant’s Federal army attacked Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton’s hastily gathered Confederates. The bloody fighting seesawed back and forth until superior Union leadership broke apart the Southern line, sending Pemberton’s army into headlong retreat. The victory on Mississippi’s wooded hills sealed the fate of both Vicksburg and her large field army, propelled Grant into the national spotlight, and earned him the command of the entire US armed forces. Timothy Smith, a historian for the National Park Service, has written the definitive account of this long-overlooked battle. This book, winner of a nonfiction prize from the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters, is grounded upon years of primary research, rich in analysis and strategic and tactical action, and a compelling read.
Download or read book Grant and Sherman written by Charles Bracelen Flood and published by Macmillan + ORM. This book was released on 2005-10-01 with total page 671 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "We were as brothers," William Tecumseh Sherman said, describing his relationship to Ulysses S. Grant. They were incontestably two of the most important figures in the Civil War, but until now there has been no book about their victorious partnership and the deep friendship that made it possible. They were prewar failures--Grant, forced to resign from the Regular Army because of his drinking, and Sherman, who held four different jobs, including a beloved position at a military academy in the South, during the four years before the Confederates fired on Fort Sumter. But heeding the call to save the Union each struggled past political hurdles to join the war effort. And taking each other's measure at the Battle of Shiloh, ten months into the war, they began their unique collaboration. Often together under fire on the war's great battlefields, they smoked cigars as they gave orders and learned from their mistakes as well as from their shrewd decisions. They shared the demands of family life and the heartache of loss, including the tragic death of Shermans's favorite son. They supported each other in the face of mudslinging criticism by the press and politicians. Their growing mutual admiration and trust, which President Lincoln increasingly relied upon, would set the stage for the crucial final year of the war. While Grant battled with Lee in the campaigns that ended at Appomattox Court House, Sherman first marched through Georgia to Atlanta, and then continued with his epic March to the Sea. Not only did Grant and Sherman come to think alike, but, even though their headquarters at that time were hundreds of miles apart, they were in virtually daily communication strategizing the final moves of the war and planning how to win the peace that would follow. Moving and elegantly written, Grant and Sherman is an historical page turner: a gripping portrait of two men, whose friendship, forged on the battlefield, would win the Civil War.
Download or read book Tom Worthington s Civil War written by James D. Brewer and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2018-01-16 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1807, Thomas Worthington was born into a wealthy and powerful Ohio family. Though his path in life should have led to fortune and prestige, he died alone and penniless, having spent his life and his fortune trying to remove the stain of shame from his reputation and name. This is the previously untold story of Worthington, West Point graduate, leader of men in both the Mexican War and War Between the States, and bitter enemy of the man who would ruin his life--General William Tecumseh Sherman. As commander of the 46th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Worthington valiantly led his men into battle at Shiloh, but his knowledge of Sherman's blunders, both before and during the battle, resulted in his being illegally court-martialed and cashiered out of the Army. The last twenty years of his life were spent in a desperate quest to tell his side of the story, the true events of Shiloh as he saw them. Colonel Worthington's story is one of war, both public and personal, honor, and a quest for vindication. Photographs and maps illustrate Worthington's dramatic life and struggle.
Download or read book Shiloh written by Wiley Sword and published by American Society for Training & Development. This book was released on 1983 with total page 519 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
