The Fight for Chattanooga: Chickamauga to Missionary Ridge (Civil War)

Rating:
Summary: The Union armies complete the conquest of Tennessee
Review: One of the things I have enjoyed the most in reading (and re-reading) the Time-Life Civil War series are the volumes devoted to the war in the West. Most of my early reading on the Civil War consisted of the works of Bruce Catton, whose history of the Army of the Potomac obviously focuses on what was happening in the East with the clashes between Union troops and Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. Jerry Korn's account of "The Fight for Chattanooga" follows up on Time-Life volumes devoted to Shiloh, the Vicksburg campaign, and the battles in Tennessee from Tupelo to Stones River. Now a Federal army under General William Rosecrans faced Confederate troops under General Braxton Bragg.

Korn divides his narrative into five chapters: (1) Breakthrough at Tullhoma relates how the stalemate between the two armies after the Federal victory at Stones River was finally broken forcing Bragg into an orderly withdrawal; (2) River of Blood tells of the battle on the Chickamauga, where the Confederate attack was strengthened by the arrival of troops from James Longstreet's I Corp (a sidebar in this chapter tells the story of the legendary Johnny Clem, the drummer boy who would be the last man active in the armed forces who had fought in the Civil War); (3) Besieged Chattanooga offers a bit of a twist as it is the Union forces, now under the command of George Thomas, that are on the defense; (4) The Contest for Knoxville follows the Federal advancement on the Tennessee capital; and (5) Decision on Missionary Ridge covers the final Battle for Chattanooga, which involves the Federals taking Lookout Mountain and pushing the Confederates off of Missionary Ridge, thereby gaining control of the Chattanooga Valley.

With Union armies in control of Tennessee, the gateway to the heart of the Confederacy was now open to the invaders. The battle on the Chickamauga River is the key part of this volume, as Korn makes excellent use of a series of battlefield maps to chart the course of events. By the end of the book, General William T. Sherman is planning a Federal advance on city of Atlanta the following spring. As always, this Time-Life volume is full of historic photographs, etchings, paintings and other illustrations. Certainly you will have a better understanding of this part of the war in the West after reading "The Fight for Chattanooga."

Rating:
Summary: The Union armies complete the conquest of Tennessee
Review: One of the things I have enjoyed the most in reading (and re-reading) the Time-Life Civil War series are the volumes devoted to the war in the West. Most of my early reading on the Civil War consisted of the works of Bruce Catton, whose history of the Army of the Potomac obviously focuses on what was happening in the East with the clashes between Union troops and Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. Jerry Korn's account of "The Fight for Chattanooga" follows up on Time-Life volumes devoted to Shiloh, the Vicksburg campaign, and the battles in Tennessee from Tupelo to Stones River. Now a Federal army under General William Rosecrans faced Confederate troops under General Braxton Bragg.

Korn divides his narrative into five chapters: (1) Breakthrough at Tullhoma relates how the stalemate between the two armies after the Federal victory at Stones River was finally broken forcing Bragg into an orderly withdrawal; (2) River of Blood tells of the battle on the Chickamauga, where the Confederate attack was strengthened by the arrival of troops from James Longstreet's I Corp (a sidebar in this chapter tells the story of the legendary Johnny Clem, the drummer boy who would be the last man active in the armed forces who had fought in the Civil War); (3) Besieged Chattanooga offers a bit of a twist as it is the Union forces, now under the command of George Thomas, that are on the defense; (4) The Contest for Knoxville follows the Federal advancement on the Tennessee capital; and (5) Decision on Missionary Ridge covers the final Battle for Chattanooga, which involves the Federals taking Lookout Mountain and pushing the Confederates off of Missionary Ridge, thereby gaining control of the Chattanooga Valley.

With Union armies in control of Tennessee, the gateway to the heart of the Confederacy was now open to the invaders. The battle on the Chickamauga River is the key part of this volume, as Korn makes excellent use of a series of battlefield maps to chart the course of events. By the end of the book, General William T. Sherman is planning a Federal advance on city of Atlanta the following spring. As always, this Time-Life volume is full of historic photographs, etchings, paintings and other illustrations. Certainly you will have a better understanding of this part of the war in the West after reading "The Fight for Chattanooga."