-
A quite plantation owner, Jack Hinson watched the start of the War with disinterest. After Union soldiers seized & murdered his sons, Hinson could remain indifferent no longer. This biography presents the story of a lone Confederate sniper, aged 57, waged a personal war on Grant's army & navy. This meticulously researched & beautifully written work is the only account of Hinson's life ever recorded.
-
Black Flag reveals war at its very worst, told in the words of participants themselves. From the shocking, sensational massacres at Lawrence, Baxter Springs and Centralia to the silent terror of the women at home alone in the "burnt district", Black Flag is a horrifying day to day account of life, death and war, told with unforgettable immediacy.
-
This book forcefully sets Jesse James in the context of his times, firmly identifying him as a violent & effective Confederate partisan. The author’s descriptions of the events leading up to the war in the West & the complex political struggle after the war are clear & vivid. Few books profoundly change our understanding of a famous figure in American history – this book is one of them.
-
The author explores the personality of this iron-willed commander & brilliant tactician & gives us colorful profiles of the men who served under him. This is the most complete & compelling account to date of the fighting unit so hated by Grant that he ordered any captured Ranger to be summarily executed without trail.
-
Hero? Traitor? It all depends on which side of the fence you were standing. Col. Don Steenburn, U.S.Army retired, has put together a fascinating study of one of the most controversial characters in Madison County and Northern Alabama history- determined and gutsy Frank Ballou Gurley of the 4th Alabama, Confederate States of America.
-
On February 21, 1864, Confederate and Union forces faced off over the banks of the Chuquatonchee Creek on Ellis Bridge in West Point, Mississippi. This three-hour battle pitted Nathan Bedford Forrest with his small but mighty cavalry against William Sooy Smith and his dogged Federal troops as they attempted to push through the prairie and destroy the railroad junction in Meridian. Smith's men did not succeed in their mission and suffered heavy casualties at the hands of Forrest in a precursor to the Battle of Okolona. Author John McBryde details the nuances of the battle that initiated Rebel opposition to the Meridian Campaign, including accounts from West Point locals of the time.
-
In late November 1864, the Army of Tennessee started out from northern Alabama with dreams of capturing Nashville and marching on to the Ohio River. In a desperate attempt to smash John Schofield's line at Franklin, Hood threw most of his men against the Union works and lost 30 percent of his attacking force in one afternoon. Local historian James R. Knight paints a vivid picture of this gruesome conflict.
-
The Battle of Fort Donelson was the first major victory for Federal forces and the first decisive battle in the vital area from the Appalachians to the Mississippi. It gave the Federals control of both the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers; led directly to the fall of the first Confederate capital at Nashville and the Battle of Shiloh, and was the beginning of the fame and/or infamy of several Civil War generals, including U.S. Grant, N. B. Forrest, Gideon Pillow and John B. Floyd. It also resulted in the first surrender of an army by a Confederate general, and the largest capture of enemy troops in American history, up to that time.
-
The Chancellorsville Campaign was the true high water mark for both the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia and the Union Army of the Potomac. The campaign would be the Confederates' greatest battle, though it came at the cost of losing General Stonewall Jackson. Although the Confederacy prevailed at Chancellorsville, Hooker used the defeat to institute a multitude of reforms, which paved the way for the hard-fought victory at Gettysburg.
-
Only twenty-five hours after the Confederate Army’s arrival on the battlefield of Spring Hill, TN the decision to assault the heavily defended fortifications at Franklin was made. It was a decision that would not have to be made had the Confederates followed through with their plans at Spring Hill. Follow the armies in their race to Spring Hill, the combat there and the critical decisions that led to the Federal escape and a total Confederate command breakdown in the most devastating blunder of the American "Civil War."
-
In February 1864, over seven thousand Union cavalry troops led by Gen. William Sooy Smith started a raid into the Mississippi Prairie to bring destruction to one of the few breadbaskets remaining in the South. Both Smith and Gen. Sherman intended to burn everything in their path. But neither reckoned with Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest. Forrest's small Confederate cavalry forced defeated Smith in a running battle that stretched from West Point to Okolona and beyond. Forrest's victory prevented Smith from joining Sherman and saved the Prairie from total destruction.
-
The commander of the three-hundred-wagon Union supply train never expected a large ragtag group of Texans and Native Americans to attack during the dark of night. But Brigadier Generals Richard Gano and Stand Watie defeated the unsuspecting Federals in the early morning hours of September 19, 1864, at Cabin Creek in the Cherokee nation. The legendary Watie, the only Native American general on either side, planned details of the raid for months. His preparation paid off--the Confederate troops captured wagons with supplies that would be worth more than $75 million today.
-
Midway between Memphis and New Orleans along the Mississippi River, Vicksburg was essential to both Confederate and Union campaigns. General Ulysses S. Grant began his campaign on the city in November 1862, but he was forced to abandon the operation in December when the fiery General Earl Van Dorn made a daring raid on Grant’s main supply depot at Holly Springs, Mississippi. With the help of the CSS Arkansas, Van Dorn’s single day raid on Grant’s supply base saved Vicksburg from Grant’s forces for an entire year.
-
This is a reprint of an original 12-page narrow pamphlet published in 1929 by the son of the 10th president of the United States, John Tyler. Lyon Gardiner Tyler was a noted historian, educator and author in his own right. He wrote this pamphlet to help correct the propaganda about the South, and his father, by Northern writers and publishers. It is short, concise and should be read by every student, not only in the South, but in the United States.
-
Thousands of Confederate soldiers died in Chicago during the WBTS, not from battle wounds, but from disease, starvation, and torture as POWs in a military prison three miles from the Chicago Loop. Camp Douglas: Chicago’s Civil War Prison explores a long-forgotten chapter of American history, clouded in mystery and largely forgotten.
-
Sent to the United States as a war correspondent for the Illustrated London News, Frank Vizetelly quickly found himself in hot water with the Federal secretary of war when his depictions of Bull Run hit the papers. He was forbidden access to the Union army, so he took up with the Confederates instead, covering the Civil War from Charleston to the Mississippi and north to Virginia.His articles and sketches shaped the views of the English regarding the war.
-
During the fateful winter and spring of 1865, thousands of civilians in South Carolina, young and old, black and white, felt the impact of what General William T. Sherman called "the hard hand of war.” This book tells their stories, many of which were corroborated by the testimony of Sherman’s own soldiers and officers, and other eyewitnesses. These historical narratives are taken from letters and diaries of the time, as well as newspaper accounts and memoirs.
-
Leonidas Polk is one of the most fascinating figures of the Civil War. Consecrated as a bishop of the Episcopal Church and commissioned as a general into the Confederate army, Polk’s life in both spheres blended into a unique historical composite. Polk was a man with deep religious convictions but equally committed to the Confederate cause. He baptized soldiers on the eve of bloody battles, administered last rites and even presided over officers’ weddings, all while leading his soldiers into battle.
-
The Civil War was trying, bloody, and hard-fought combat for both sides. What was it, then, that sustained soldiers low on supplies and morale? For the Army of Tennessee, it was religion. “Onward Southern Soldiers" explores the significant impact of religion on every rank, from generals to chaplains to common soldiers. Religion unified troops, informing both why and how they fought, and providing the rationale for enduring great hardship for the Confederate cause.