Rock of Chickamauga: The Life of General George H. Thomas
Union General George Thomas was one of the five men most important in the North's victory. Military historians consider him one of the best defensive generals ever, a man who would have stood out in any war

Chickamauga
Civil War Georgia


American Civil War
September 18-20, 1863

 

Kindle Available

From Manassas to Appomattox: General James Longstreet
According to some, he was partially to blame for the Confederate defeat at Gettysburg; according to others, if Lee had followed Longstreet's advice, they would have won that battle. He has been called stubborn and vain; and he has been lauded as one of the greatest tacticians of the Civil War

After the Tullahoma Campaign, Rosecrans renewed his offensive, aiming to force the Confederates out of Chattanooga. The three army corps comprising Rosecrans' s army split and set out for Chattanooga by separate routes. In early September, Rosecrans consolidated his forces scattered in Tennessee and Georgia and forced Bragg's army out of Chattanooga, heading south.

The Union troops followed it and brushed with it at Davis' Cross Roads. Bragg was determined to reoccupy Chattanooga and decided to meet a part of Rosecrans's army, defeat them, and then move back into the city. On the 17th he headed north, intending to meet and beat the XXI Army Corps. As Bragg marched north on the 18th, his cavalry and infantry fought with Union cavalry and mounted infantry which were armed with Spencer repeating rifles.

Fighting began in earnest on the morning of the 19th, and Bragg's men hammered but did not break the Union line. The next day, Bragg continued his assault on the Union line on the left, and in late morning, Rosecrans was informed that he had a gap in his line. In moving units to shore up the supposed gap, Rosencrans created one, and James Longstreet's men promptly exploited it, driving one-third of the Union army, including Rosecrans himself, from the field.

George H. Thomas took over command and began consolidating forces on Horseshoe Ridge and Snodgrass Hill. Although the Rebels launched determined assaults on these forces, they held until after dark. Thomas then led these men from the field leaving it to the Confederates.

The Union retired to Chattanooga while the Rebels occupied the surrounding heights.

Result(s): Confederate victory

Location: Catoosa County and Walker County

Campaign: Chickamauga Campaign (1863)

Date(s): September 18-20, 1863

Principal Commanders: Major General William S. Rosecrans and Major General George H. Thomas [US]; General Braxton Bragg and Lieutenant General James Longstreet [CS]

Forces Engaged: The Army of the Cumberland [US]; Army of Tennessee [CS]

Estimated Casualties: 34,624 total (US 16,170; CS 18,454)


Cracker Cavaliers: The 2nd Georgia Cavalry Under Wheeler and Forrest
The Second Georgia fought in such famous campaigns as Perryville, Stones River, Chickamauga, Knoxville, Resaca, Atlanta, and Bentonville, they also participated in deadly encounters at Farmington, Mossy Creek, Noonday Creek, Sunshine Church, and Waynesboro


Kindle Available
Civil War Firearms

Standard Catalog of
Civil War Firearms

Over 700 photographs and a rarity scale for each gun, this comprehensive guide to the thousands of weapons used by Billy Yank and Johnny Reb will be indispensable for historians and collectors.
Battle of Chickamauga - Civil War Panoramic Map
Battle of Chickamauga - Civil War Panoramic Map
18 in. x 24 in.
Buy at AllPosters.com
Framed   Mounted


Reliving the Civil War:
A Reenactor's Handbook

Excellent information on the reenacting hobby



Lodge Logic Camp Dutch Oven
Large 8 quart cast iron oven. The legs are for ease of use in campfires. Flanged lid to place coals on top of oven. Great for stews, chilli, roasts (wild game) and complete recipes for everything including old-fashioned bread. A must for reenactors villages.
Comments by CSA General John B. Hood on the Confederate Defense of Atlanta
Atlanta Campaign battle map



Georgia State Battle Map
Civil War State Battle Maps
American Civil War Exhibits
American Civil War Timeline
Civil War Summary
Documents of the War
Ships and Naval Battles
Women Civil War Soldiers
Civil War Music History
Confederate Commanders
Confederate Toy Soldiers
Confederate Toy Soldiers
Playsets of Confederate and Union Soldiers. Sets come in pieces of 30 to 100.  Artillery Cavalry foot soldiers and cannon sets

American Civil War Book Titles

Savannah
A large Union army led by Sherman leaves Chattanooga and northern Georgia camps and marches south to Atlanta and ultimately arrives at the coastal city of Savannah, laying waste to the territory through which it passes

The Atlanta Campaign of 1864
The operations of the Union and Confederate armies from the perspective of the soldiers and the top generals. He offers new accounts and analyses of the major events of the campaign, and, in the process, corrects many long-standing myths, misconceptions, and mistakes. He challenges the standard view of Sherman's performance.

Sherman's March: The First Full-Length Narrative of General William T. Sherman's Devastating March through Georgia and the Carolinas
Beginning with the fall of Atlanta, the unrelenting aggressive slash and burn total warfare of General Sherman's Union troops, and then the final march into Raleigh
Kindle Available

Southern Storm: Sherman's March to the Sea
The destruction spanned more than sixty miles in width and virtually cut the South in two, disabling the flow of supplies to the Confederate army. He led more than 60,000 Union troops to blaze a path from Atlanta to Savannah, ordering his men to burn crops, kill livestock, and decimate everything that fed the Rebel war machine

The Children of Pride: Selected letters of the family of the Rev. Dr. Charles Colcock Jones from the years 1860-1868
This book provides the thoughts of the entire family, all literate and well-spoken people, over the entire period from the 1850s, just living their ante-bellum experience, to the idea of the war on the horizon, entering into it and living it day by day. This is all seen through ordinary every-day experiences, family anecdotes, and discussions of what is occurring

Guide to the Atlanta Campaign: Rocky Face Ridge to Kennesaw Mountain
Following the capture of Chattanooga, the Union initiated battles and operations that took it from the Tennessee border to the outskirts of Atlanta. Bloody confrontations at places such as Resaca and New Hope Church. Grant had ordered Sherman to penetrate the enemy's interior and inflict "all the damage you can against their War resources,"

Cracker Cavaliers: The 2nd Georgia Cavalry Under Wheeler and Forrest
The Second Georgia fought in such famous campaigns as Perryville, Stones River, Chickamauga, Knoxville, Resaca, Atlanta, and Bentonville, they also participated in deadly encounters at Farmington, Mossy Creek, Noonday Creek, Sunshine Church, and Waynesboro

The Battle of Resaca:
Atlanta Campaign, 1864

Ideal book for a Civil War buff. Take it with you if you visit the site. Written accounts from the soldiers that stormed across the hills put you in the moment. Several good maps and even pictures taken a few days after the battle help take you out of your living room and into the past

The March to the Sea and Beyond: Sherman's Troops in the Savannah and Carolinas Campaigns
This book contains an examination of the army that General William Tecumseh Sherman led through Georgia and the Carolinas, in late 1864 and early 1865. Instead of being just another narrative of the March to the Sea and Carolina campaigns, however, Glatthaar's book is a look at the individuals that composed the army. In it, he examines the social and ideological backgrounds of the men in Sherman's army, and evaluates how they felt about various factors of the war--slavery, the union, and, most significantly, the campaign in which they were participating. The result is a fascinating look at Sherman's campaigns through the eyes of the everyday soldier. Amazon Reviewer
Sherman Invades Georgia
Sherman Invades Georgia: Planning the North Georgia Campaign Using a Modern Perspective

Sherman Invades Georgia takes advantage of modern planning techniques to fully examine what went into the Georgia campaign. Unlike other studies, though, this one puts the reader squarely into the mind of General Sherman on the eve of his most famous military undertaking—limiting the information to that possessed by Sherman at the time, as documented in his correspondence during the campaign and not in his after-the-fact reports and autobiography.
White Tecumseh
The White Tecumseh: A Biography of General William T. Sherman

Utilizing regimental histories, historian Hirshon offers a sympathetic yet excellent biography of one of the more noted Civil War generals, best remembered for burning Atlanta, cutting a swath of destruction across Georgia, then creating total destruction in South Carolina, including the burning of Columbia. Hirshon gives us an insight into how Sherman's own troops felt about him and his relationships with fellow generals, especially Grant. The author not only describes Sherman's role in the war but also details his early life and family problems. The latter part of the book deals with his life after the war, especially with the Indians in the West as well as his relationships with Presidents Johnson and Grant.
Voices of the Civil War
Atlanta (Voices of the Civil War)

by: Editors of Time Life Books
The books are full of eyewitness accounts of battle, camp life, campaigning, and camraderie with some humor thrown in. Each book gives accounts by the soldiers themselves, and that's what makes these books so great! The books also have battle maps are divided into sections. Each section tells about a part in the campaign. At the begining of each section there is an introduction to the campaign.
The Chickamauga and Chattanooga Campaign
Kindle Available

Six Armies in Tennessee

From Kirkus Reviews
A narrative history of crucial Civil War operations in the West after Grant's great victories at Vicksburg and Fort Donaldson in July 1863. Woodworth (History/Texas Christian Univ.) traces how several bloody campaigns, marked by serious blunders on both sides, helped seal the Confederacy's fate. The Union Army of the Cumberland, under the command of General William S. Rosecrans, a neurotic, slow-moving perfectionist, were under orders to seize Chattanooga, a city important both because it served as a Confederate rail center (and the area around it was a breadbasket for Confederate forces) and because it guarded the path to Atlanta and the deep South. Opposing Rosecrans was Braxton Bragg, in charge of the Army of Tennessee. Bragg was particularly unpopular, and his command was frequently hamstrung by dissension. The opposing armies, maneuvering in an immense mountainous and forested area, were intermittently crippled by a lack of intelligence and by the difficulty of moving large numbers of troops over inhospitable terrain. Woodworth offers some convincing portraits of Rosecrans, Bragg, and their officers, and catches with great clarity the nature of the deadly chess game the armies were engaged in. Rosecrans's errors led to a Union defeat at Chickamauga, costly for both sides, after which both armies were reinforced. General Longstreet joined Bragg, bringing elements of the Army of Northern Virginia, and deepening the professional jealousy that kept threatening to dissipate Confederate successes. Union forces were bolstered by the arrival of the armies of Grant, Sherman, and Sheridan, all talented, aggressive fighters. Pressured by Lincoln, the Union forces finally captured Chattanooga, inflicting another humiliating setback on the Confederates and opening up the path for Sherman's march to Atlanta and the sea. A fine analysis of strategic and tactical operations, stressing the influence of commanders on the success, or failure, of their armies, while not losing sight of the grim experience of war for frontline troops




Source:
U.S. National Park Service
U.S. Library of Congress

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