Author: Peter Cozzens
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
ISBN: 9780252062292
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 308
Book Description
A mere handful of battlefields have come to epitomize the anguish and pain of America's Civil War: Gettysburg, Shiloh, Chancellorsville, Chickamauga. Yet another name belongs on that infamous list: Stones River, the setting for Peter Cozzens's No Better Place to Die. It was here that both the Union and Confederate armies lost over one-quarter of their forces in battle casualties. The Confederacy's defeat at Stones River unleashed a wave of dissension that crippled the army's high command and ultimately closed Tennessee to the South for two years. The loss deterred the British and French from coming to the aid of the South in the Civil War, with tragic effects for the Southern cause. In the 126 years since the guns fell silent at Stones River, few books have examined the bloody clash and its impact on the war's subsequent outcome. No Better Place to Die recounts the events and strategies that brought the two armies to the banks of this central Tennessee river on December 31, 1862. Cozzens re-creates the battle itself, following the movements and performance of individual regiments. A series of maps clarifies the combat activity. Cozzens frequently lets the men who fought the battle speak for themselves, through letters, diaries, memoirs, and battlefield communications. Here we learn about such critical moments as General Philip Sheridan's gallant defense along the Wilkinson Pike, one of the war's most tenacious stands against overwhelming odds, and the bravery in battle exemplified by Brekenridge's attack on the Union left, a doomed assault with the poignancy of Pickett's charge. Over twenty thousand Union and Confederate soldiers were killed, wounded, or captured in the bloody New Year's battle of Stone's River. The impact of their struggle extended far beyond the thousands of shattered human lives, ultimately imperiling the fortunes of the Confederacy. No Better Place to Die pays tribute to the heroes, the scoundrels, the mistakes, the bravery, and the grief at Stone's River.
No Better Place to Die
Author: Peter Cozzens
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
ISBN: 9780252062292
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 308
Book Description
A mere handful of battlefields have come to epitomize the anguish and pain of America's Civil War: Gettysburg, Shiloh, Chancellorsville, Chickamauga. Yet another name belongs on that infamous list: Stones River, the setting for Peter Cozzens's No Better Place to Die. It was here that both the Union and Confederate armies lost over one-quarter of their forces in battle casualties. The Confederacy's defeat at Stones River unleashed a wave of dissension that crippled the army's high command and ultimately closed Tennessee to the South for two years. The loss deterred the British and French from coming to the aid of the South in the Civil War, with tragic effects for the Southern cause. In the 126 years since the guns fell silent at Stones River, few books have examined the bloody clash and its impact on the war's subsequent outcome. No Better Place to Die recounts the events and strategies that brought the two armies to the banks of this central Tennessee river on December 31, 1862. Cozzens re-creates the battle itself, following the movements and performance of individual regiments. A series of maps clarifies the combat activity. Cozzens frequently lets the men who fought the battle speak for themselves, through letters, diaries, memoirs, and battlefield communications. Here we learn about such critical moments as General Philip Sheridan's gallant defense along the Wilkinson Pike, one of the war's most tenacious stands against overwhelming odds, and the bravery in battle exemplified by Brekenridge's attack on the Union left, a doomed assault with the poignancy of Pickett's charge. Over twenty thousand Union and Confederate soldiers were killed, wounded, or captured in the bloody New Year's battle of Stone's River. The impact of their struggle extended far beyond the thousands of shattered human lives, ultimately imperiling the fortunes of the Confederacy. No Better Place to Die pays tribute to the heroes, the scoundrels, the mistakes, the bravery, and the grief at Stone's River.
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
ISBN: 9780252062292
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 308
Book Description
A mere handful of battlefields have come to epitomize the anguish and pain of America's Civil War: Gettysburg, Shiloh, Chancellorsville, Chickamauga. Yet another name belongs on that infamous list: Stones River, the setting for Peter Cozzens's No Better Place to Die. It was here that both the Union and Confederate armies lost over one-quarter of their forces in battle casualties. The Confederacy's defeat at Stones River unleashed a wave of dissension that crippled the army's high command and ultimately closed Tennessee to the South for two years. The loss deterred the British and French from coming to the aid of the South in the Civil War, with tragic effects for the Southern cause. In the 126 years since the guns fell silent at Stones River, few books have examined the bloody clash and its impact on the war's subsequent outcome. No Better Place to Die recounts the events and strategies that brought the two armies to the banks of this central Tennessee river on December 31, 1862. Cozzens re-creates the battle itself, following the movements and performance of individual regiments. A series of maps clarifies the combat activity. Cozzens frequently lets the men who fought the battle speak for themselves, through letters, diaries, memoirs, and battlefield communications. Here we learn about such critical moments as General Philip Sheridan's gallant defense along the Wilkinson Pike, one of the war's most tenacious stands against overwhelming odds, and the bravery in battle exemplified by Brekenridge's attack on the Union left, a doomed assault with the poignancy of Pickett's charge. Over twenty thousand Union and Confederate soldiers were killed, wounded, or captured in the bloody New Year's battle of Stone's River. The impact of their struggle extended far beyond the thousands of shattered human lives, ultimately imperiling the fortunes of the Confederacy. No Better Place to Die pays tribute to the heroes, the scoundrels, the mistakes, the bravery, and the grief at Stone's River.
Battle of Stones River
Author: Larry J. Daniel
Publisher: LSU Press
ISBN: 0807145181
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 410
Book Description
Three days of savage and bloody fighting between Confederate and Union troops at Stones River in Middle Tennessee ended with nearly 25,000 casualties but no clear victor. The staggering number of killed or wounded equaled the losses suffered in the well-known Battle of Shiloh. Using previously neglected sources, Larry J. Daniel rescues this important campaign from obscurity. The Battle of Stones River, fought between December 31, 1862, and January 2, 1863, was a tactical draw but proved to be a strategic northern victory. According to Daniel, Union defeats in late 1862—both at Chickasaw Bayou in Mississippi and at Fredericksburg, Virginia—transformed the clash in Tennessee into a much-needed morale booster for the North. Daniel's study of the battle's two antagonists, William S. Rosecrans for the Union Army of the Cumberland and Braxton Bragg for the Confederate Army of Tennessee, presents contrasts in leadership and a series of missteps. Union soldiers liked Rosecrans's personable nature, whereas Bragg acquired a reputation as antisocial and suspicious. Rosecrans had won his previous battle at Corinth, and Bragg had failed at the recent Kentucky Campaign. But despite Rosecrans's apparent advantage, both commanders made serious mistakes. With only a few hundred yards separating the lines, Rosecrans allowed Confederates to surprise and route his right ring. Eventually, Union pressure forced Bragg to launch a division-size attack, a disastrous move. Neither side could claim victory on the battlefield. In the aftermath of the bloody conflict, Union commanders and northern newspapers portrayed the stalemate as a victory, bolstering confidence in the Lincoln administration and dimming the prospects for the "peace wing" of the northern Democratic Party. In the South, the deadlock led to continued bickering in the Confederate western high command and scorn for Braxton Bragg.
Publisher: LSU Press
ISBN: 0807145181
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 410
Book Description
Three days of savage and bloody fighting between Confederate and Union troops at Stones River in Middle Tennessee ended with nearly 25,000 casualties but no clear victor. The staggering number of killed or wounded equaled the losses suffered in the well-known Battle of Shiloh. Using previously neglected sources, Larry J. Daniel rescues this important campaign from obscurity. The Battle of Stones River, fought between December 31, 1862, and January 2, 1863, was a tactical draw but proved to be a strategic northern victory. According to Daniel, Union defeats in late 1862—both at Chickasaw Bayou in Mississippi and at Fredericksburg, Virginia—transformed the clash in Tennessee into a much-needed morale booster for the North. Daniel's study of the battle's two antagonists, William S. Rosecrans for the Union Army of the Cumberland and Braxton Bragg for the Confederate Army of Tennessee, presents contrasts in leadership and a series of missteps. Union soldiers liked Rosecrans's personable nature, whereas Bragg acquired a reputation as antisocial and suspicious. Rosecrans had won his previous battle at Corinth, and Bragg had failed at the recent Kentucky Campaign. But despite Rosecrans's apparent advantage, both commanders made serious mistakes. With only a few hundred yards separating the lines, Rosecrans allowed Confederates to surprise and route his right ring. Eventually, Union pressure forced Bragg to launch a division-size attack, a disastrous move. Neither side could claim victory on the battlefield. In the aftermath of the bloody conflict, Union commanders and northern newspapers portrayed the stalemate as a victory, bolstering confidence in the Lincoln administration and dimming the prospects for the "peace wing" of the northern Democratic Party. In the South, the deadlock led to continued bickering in the Confederate western high command and scorn for Braxton Bragg.
Murfreesboro in the Civil War
Author: Michael R. Bradley
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
ISBN: 1614234744
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 139
Book Description
As the Civil War unfolded, Murfreesboro became hotly contested by Confederate and Union forces. Both sides occupied the town for significant periods, with power changing hands as the fighting raged. Punctuated by events like Nathan Bedford Forrests raid on Union forces in July 1862, Jefferson Daviss visit and the wedding of General John Hunt Morgan and Martha Ready, wartime Murfreesboro saw no shortage of drama. As combat escalated, the bloody Battle of Stones River and the Nashville Campaign brought more destruction. Yet at wars end, the resilient locals remained and rebuilt their town from the rubble. Authors and Civil War historians Michael Bradley and Shirley Farris Jones track the tumult of the proceedings to recount the compelling story of Murfreesboro during the Civil War.
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
ISBN: 1614234744
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 139
Book Description
As the Civil War unfolded, Murfreesboro became hotly contested by Confederate and Union forces. Both sides occupied the town for significant periods, with power changing hands as the fighting raged. Punctuated by events like Nathan Bedford Forrests raid on Union forces in July 1862, Jefferson Daviss visit and the wedding of General John Hunt Morgan and Martha Ready, wartime Murfreesboro saw no shortage of drama. As combat escalated, the bloody Battle of Stones River and the Nashville Campaign brought more destruction. Yet at wars end, the resilient locals remained and rebuilt their town from the rubble. Authors and Civil War historians Michael Bradley and Shirley Farris Jones track the tumult of the proceedings to recount the compelling story of Murfreesboro during the Civil War.
Stones River Bloody Winter Tennessee
Author: James Lee McDonough
Publisher: Univ. of Tennessee Press
ISBN: 9780870493737
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 290
Book Description
On December 31, 1862, some 10,000 Confederate soldiers streamed out of the dim light of early morning to stun the Federals who were still breakfasting in their camp. Nine months earlier the Confederates had charged the Yankees in a similarly devastating attack at dawn, starting the Battle of Shiloh. By the time this new battle ended, it would resemble Shiloh in other ways - it would rival that struggle's shocking casualty toll of 24,000 and it would become a major defeat for the South. By any Civil War standard, Stones River was a monumental, bloody, and dramatic story. Yet, until now, it has had no modern, documented history. Arguing that the battle was one of the significant engagements in the war, noted Civil War historian James Lee McDonough here devotes to Stones River the attention it ahs long deserved. Stones River, at Murfreesboro, Tennessee, was the first big battle in the union campaign to seize the Nashville-Chattanooga-Atlanta corridor. Driving eastward and southward to sea, the campaign eventually climaxed in Sherman's capture of Savannah in December 1864. At Stones River the two armies were struggling desperately for control of Middle Tennessee's railroads and rich farms. Although they fought to a tactical draw, the Confederates retreated. The battle's outcome held significant implications. For the Union, the victory helped offset the disasters suffered at Fredericksburg and Chickasaw Bayou. Furthermore, it may have discouraged Britain and France from intervening on behalf of the Confederacy. For the South, the battle had other crucial effects. Since in convinced many that General Braxton Bragg could not successfully command an army, Stones River left the Southern Army torn by dissension in the high command and demoralized in the ranks. One of the most perplexing Civil War battles, Stones River has remained shrouded in unresolved questions. After driving the Union right wing for almost three miles, why could the Rebels not complete the triumph? Could the Union's Major General William S. Rosecrans have launched a counterattack on the first day of the battle? Was personal tension between Bragg and Breckenridge a significant factor in the events of the engagement's last day? McDonough uses a variety of sources to illuminate these and other questions. Quotations from diaries, letters, and memoirs of the soldiers involved furnish the reader with a rare, soldier's-eye view of this tremendously violent campaign. Tactics, strategies, and commanding officers are examined to reveal how personal strengths and weaknesses of the opposing generals, Bragg and Rosecrans, shaped the course of the battle. Vividly recreating the events of the calamitous battle, Stones River - Bloody Winter in Tennessee firmly establishes the importance of this previously neglected landmark in Civil War history. James Lee McDonough is professor of history at Auburn University, and author of Shiloh - In Hell before Night, Chattanooga - A Death Grip on the Confederacy, and co-author of Five Tragic Hours: The Battle of Franklin.
Publisher: Univ. of Tennessee Press
ISBN: 9780870493737
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 290
Book Description
On December 31, 1862, some 10,000 Confederate soldiers streamed out of the dim light of early morning to stun the Federals who were still breakfasting in their camp. Nine months earlier the Confederates had charged the Yankees in a similarly devastating attack at dawn, starting the Battle of Shiloh. By the time this new battle ended, it would resemble Shiloh in other ways - it would rival that struggle's shocking casualty toll of 24,000 and it would become a major defeat for the South. By any Civil War standard, Stones River was a monumental, bloody, and dramatic story. Yet, until now, it has had no modern, documented history. Arguing that the battle was one of the significant engagements in the war, noted Civil War historian James Lee McDonough here devotes to Stones River the attention it ahs long deserved. Stones River, at Murfreesboro, Tennessee, was the first big battle in the union campaign to seize the Nashville-Chattanooga-Atlanta corridor. Driving eastward and southward to sea, the campaign eventually climaxed in Sherman's capture of Savannah in December 1864. At Stones River the two armies were struggling desperately for control of Middle Tennessee's railroads and rich farms. Although they fought to a tactical draw, the Confederates retreated. The battle's outcome held significant implications. For the Union, the victory helped offset the disasters suffered at Fredericksburg and Chickasaw Bayou. Furthermore, it may have discouraged Britain and France from intervening on behalf of the Confederacy. For the South, the battle had other crucial effects. Since in convinced many that General Braxton Bragg could not successfully command an army, Stones River left the Southern Army torn by dissension in the high command and demoralized in the ranks. One of the most perplexing Civil War battles, Stones River has remained shrouded in unresolved questions. After driving the Union right wing for almost three miles, why could the Rebels not complete the triumph? Could the Union's Major General William S. Rosecrans have launched a counterattack on the first day of the battle? Was personal tension between Bragg and Breckenridge a significant factor in the events of the engagement's last day? McDonough uses a variety of sources to illuminate these and other questions. Quotations from diaries, letters, and memoirs of the soldiers involved furnish the reader with a rare, soldier's-eye view of this tremendously violent campaign. Tactics, strategies, and commanding officers are examined to reveal how personal strengths and weaknesses of the opposing generals, Bragg and Rosecrans, shaped the course of the battle. Vividly recreating the events of the calamitous battle, Stones River - Bloody Winter in Tennessee firmly establishes the importance of this previously neglected landmark in Civil War history. James Lee McDonough is professor of history at Auburn University, and author of Shiloh - In Hell before Night, Chattanooga - A Death Grip on the Confederacy, and co-author of Five Tragic Hours: The Battle of Franklin.
A Diary of the Civil War
Author: John Cedric Spence
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Rutherford County (Tenn.)
Languages : en
Pages : 184
Book Description
John Cedric Spence (b. 1809) was born in Murfeesboro, Tennessee to John and Mary Chism Spence. He spent his early years in Murfeesboro and then was a businessman in Sommerville and Memphis for a short time. In 1849 he returned to Murfeesboro where he became an important business leader of the community. During the Civil War he spent numerous hours chronicalling the war in his diary.
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Rutherford County (Tenn.)
Languages : en
Pages : 184
Book Description
John Cedric Spence (b. 1809) was born in Murfeesboro, Tennessee to John and Mary Chism Spence. He spent his early years in Murfeesboro and then was a businessman in Sommerville and Memphis for a short time. In 1849 he returned to Murfeesboro where he became an important business leader of the community. During the Civil War he spent numerous hours chronicalling the war in his diary.
Braxton Bragg
Author: Earl J. Hess
Publisher: UNC Press Books
ISBN: 1469628767
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 544
Book Description
As a leading Confederate general, Braxton Bragg (1817–1876) earned a reputation for incompetence, for wantonly shooting his own soldiers, and for losing battles. This public image established him not only as a scapegoat for the South's military failures but also as the chief whipping boy of the Confederacy. The strongly negative opinions of Bragg's contemporaries have continued to color assessments of the general's military career and character by generations of historians. Rather than take these assessments at face value, Earl J. Hess's biography offers a much more balanced account of Bragg, the man and the officer. While Hess analyzes Bragg's many campaigns and battles, he also emphasizes how his contemporaries viewed his successes and failures and how these reactions affected Bragg both personally and professionally. The testimony and opinions of other members of the Confederate army--including Bragg's superiors, his fellow generals, and his subordinates--reveal how the general became a symbol for the larger military failures that undid the Confederacy. By connecting the general's personal life to his military career, Hess positions Bragg as a figure saddled with unwarranted infamy and humanizes him as a flawed yet misunderstood figure in Civil War history.
Publisher: UNC Press Books
ISBN: 1469628767
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 544
Book Description
As a leading Confederate general, Braxton Bragg (1817–1876) earned a reputation for incompetence, for wantonly shooting his own soldiers, and for losing battles. This public image established him not only as a scapegoat for the South's military failures but also as the chief whipping boy of the Confederacy. The strongly negative opinions of Bragg's contemporaries have continued to color assessments of the general's military career and character by generations of historians. Rather than take these assessments at face value, Earl J. Hess's biography offers a much more balanced account of Bragg, the man and the officer. While Hess analyzes Bragg's many campaigns and battles, he also emphasizes how his contemporaries viewed his successes and failures and how these reactions affected Bragg both personally and professionally. The testimony and opinions of other members of the Confederate army--including Bragg's superiors, his fellow generals, and his subordinates--reveal how the general became a symbol for the larger military failures that undid the Confederacy. By connecting the general's personal life to his military career, Hess positions Bragg as a figure saddled with unwarranted infamy and humanizes him as a flawed yet misunderstood figure in Civil War history.
Stone's River, the Turning-point of the Civil War
Author: Wilson J. Vance
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 80
Book Description
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 80
Book Description
Rifle and Light Infantry Tactics
Author: William Joseph Hardee
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Infantry drill and tactics
Languages : en
Pages : 314
Book Description
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Infantry drill and tactics
Languages : en
Pages : 314
Book Description
The Civil War in Grundy County and Southern Middle Tennessee
Author: Michael Oliver
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781981848140
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 150
Book Description
Grundy County, Tennessee and surrounding areas suffered under the occupation of the Confederate and Union forces for most of the Civil War. Though no major battles were fought here, the are was important for several strategic reasons. Nathan Bedford Forrest, along with Tennessee governor Isham Harris, planned Forrest's famous raid on Murfreesboro in Beersheba Springs. The Confederate raid on the Union garrison at Tracy City created a flurry of troop movement to protect the coal mines and Union supply depot. The bridge over the Elk River at Pelham was one of the most important strategic sites in the battle for Tennessee. Once Colonel John Wilder, equipped with repeating rifles, seized the bridge over the rain swollen Elk River at Pelham, Braxton Bragg knew he could not defend Tullahoma, and the Army of Tennessee retreated over the mountain to Chattanooga. Bushwhackers and deserters roamed the sparsely populated mountains and coves. Calvin Brixey, the most notorious of the bunch, caused much death and destruction. It would be years before the area would recover.
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781981848140
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 150
Book Description
Grundy County, Tennessee and surrounding areas suffered under the occupation of the Confederate and Union forces for most of the Civil War. Though no major battles were fought here, the are was important for several strategic reasons. Nathan Bedford Forrest, along with Tennessee governor Isham Harris, planned Forrest's famous raid on Murfreesboro in Beersheba Springs. The Confederate raid on the Union garrison at Tracy City created a flurry of troop movement to protect the coal mines and Union supply depot. The bridge over the Elk River at Pelham was one of the most important strategic sites in the battle for Tennessee. Once Colonel John Wilder, equipped with repeating rifles, seized the bridge over the rain swollen Elk River at Pelham, Braxton Bragg knew he could not defend Tullahoma, and the Army of Tennessee retreated over the mountain to Chattanooga. Bushwhackers and deserters roamed the sparsely populated mountains and coves. Calvin Brixey, the most notorious of the bunch, caused much death and destruction. It would be years before the area would recover.
The Stones River and Tullahoma Campaigns
Author: Christopher L. Kolakowski
Publisher: Civil War
ISBN: 9781596290754
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
Middle Tennessee represented one of the most strategically important pieces of land in the Civil War. Both armies recognized the value of its central location, and it became one of the war's most bitterly contested battlegrounds. From November 1862 to July 1863, hard fighting and heavy losses characterized the Stones River and Tullahoma Campaigns. Though these engagements have been largely overshadowed by other, more famous operations elsewhere, they had major implications for the war's outcome. By percentages, Stones River saw the war's heaviest casualties, while the battles at Tullahoma proved to be significant turning points for increasing Union mobility, ultimately hastening the end of the war. Author and military historian Christopher Kolakowski gives a definitive look into the dramatic proceedings that defined these important campaigns and the legendary commanders who presided over them. Book jacket.
Publisher: Civil War
ISBN: 9781596290754
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
Middle Tennessee represented one of the most strategically important pieces of land in the Civil War. Both armies recognized the value of its central location, and it became one of the war's most bitterly contested battlegrounds. From November 1862 to July 1863, hard fighting and heavy losses characterized the Stones River and Tullahoma Campaigns. Though these engagements have been largely overshadowed by other, more famous operations elsewhere, they had major implications for the war's outcome. By percentages, Stones River saw the war's heaviest casualties, while the battles at Tullahoma proved to be significant turning points for increasing Union mobility, ultimately hastening the end of the war. Author and military historian Christopher Kolakowski gives a definitive look into the dramatic proceedings that defined these important campaigns and the legendary commanders who presided over them. Book jacket.