Civil War historiography has been dominated by the actions of armies in the eastern theater. Thankfully, the past twenty plus years has seen a growing interest in the military affairs west of the Appalachians where many historians think the outcome of the war was truly decided. Being “westerners” ourselves, we have a continuing interest in this theater of the war. In this space, we will share our reviews of books of interest on the subject, summaries of our travels to western theater battlefields, and other commentaries on the significance of the struggle in that part of the country.
Battlefield and Historic Site Touring
Book Reviews
Theater Overviews
Best Books on the Army of Tennessee
Daniel, Larry J. Conquered: Why the Army of Tennessee Failed
Hess, Earl, The Civil War in the West: Victory and Defeat from the Appalachians to the Mississippi
Hurst, Jack. Born to Battle: Grant and Forrest; Shiloh, Vicksburg, and Chattanooga, The Campaigns That Doomed the Confederacy
Joiner, Gary D. Mr. Lincoln’s Brown Water Navy: The Mississippi Squadron
Shaffer, Michael K. Day By Day Through the Civil War in Georgia
Battle of Belmont
Hughes, Nathaniel C., Jr. The Battle of Belmont: Grant Strikes South
Battle of Wilson’s Creek
Piston, William G. and Richard W. Hatcher, III. Wilson’s Creek: The Second Battle of the Civil War and the Men Who Fought It
Battle of Mill Springs
Sanders, Stuart W. The Battle of Mill Springs, Kentucky
Fort Henry-Fort Donelson Campaign
Gott, Kendall. Where the South Lost the War: An Analysis of the Fort Henry-Fort Donelson Campaign, February 1862
Battles of Pea Ridge and Prairie Grove
Shea, William. L. War in the West: Pea Ridge and Prairie Grove
Island #10
Daniel, Larry J. and Lynn N. Bock. Island #10: Struggle for the Mississippi Valley
Battle of Shiloh
Cunningham, O. Edward. Shiloh and the Western Campaign of 1862
Groom, Winston. Shiloh 1862
Mertz, Gregory. Attack at Daylight and Whip Them: The Battle of Shiloh, April 6-7, 1862
Smith, Timothy. Shiloh: Conquer or Perish
Sword, Wiley. Shiloh: Bloody April
Woodworth, Steven E., ed. The Shiloh Campaign
The Capture of New Orleans and the Campaigns on the Lower Mississippi
Dufrene, Dennis J. Civil War Baton Rouge, Port Hudson, and Bayou Sara: Capturing the Mississippi
Hearn, Chester. The Capture of New Orleans, 1862
Battle of Corinth
Cozzens, Peter. The Darkest Days of the War: The Battles for Iuka and Corinth
Smith, Timothy. Corinth 1862: Siege, Battle, Occupation
The Kentucky Campaign
Hess, Earl, Banners to the Breeze: The Kentucky Campaign, Corinth, and Stones River
Kolakowski, Christopher L. The Civil War at Perryville: Battling for the Bluegrass
McDonough, James Lee. War in Kentucky: From Shiloh to Perryville
Peterson, Larry. Decisions of the 1862 Kentucky Campaign: The Twenty-Seven Critical Decisions that Defined the Operation
Battle of Stones River
Cozzens, Peter. No Better Place to Die: The Battle of Stones River
Vicksburg Campaign
Ballard, Michael B. Vicksburg: The Campaign That Opened the Mississippi
Groom, Winston. Vicksburg, 1863
Miller, Donald. Vicksburg: Grant’s Campaign That Broke the Confederacy
Winschel, Terrence. Vicksburg: Fall of the Confederate Gibraltar
Woodrick, Jim. The Civil War Siege of Jackson
Woodworth, Steven and Charles D. Grear, eds. The Vicksburg Campaign, March 29-May 18, 1863
Port Hudson Campaign
Cunningham, Edward. The Port Hudson Campaign, 1862-1863
Chickamauga and Chattanooga Campaign
Cozzens, Peter. This Terrible Sound: The Battle of Chickamauga
Hallock, Judith. General James Longstreet in the West: A Monumental Failure
McDonough, James Lee. Chattanooga: A Death Grip on the Confederacy
White, William Lee. Bushwacking on a Grand Scale: The Battle of Chickamauga, September 18-20, 1863
Woodworth, Steven E. Six Armies in Tennessee: The Chickamauga and Chattanooga Campaigns
Sherman’s Meridian Campaign
Foster, Buck T. Sherman’s Mississippi Campaign
Red River Campaign
Joiner, Gary D. One Damn Blunder From Beginning to End: The Red River Campaign of 1864
Joiner, Gary D. Through the Howling Wilderness: The 1864 Red River Campaign and Union Failure in the West
Battle of Fort Pillow
Wills, Bryan Steel. The River Was Dyed With Blood: Nathan Bedford Forrest and Fort Pillow
Battle of Brice’s Crossroads
Bennett, Stewart L. The Battle of Brice’s Crossroads
Atlanta Campaign
Castel, Albert. Decision in the West: The Atlanta Campaign of 1864
Wortman, Marc. The Bonfire: The Siege and Burning of Atlanta
The March to the Sea
Marszalek, John F. Sherman’s March to the Sea
The Battle of Mobile Bay
Friend, Jack. West Wind, Flood Tide: The Battle of Mobile Bay
Nashville Campaign
Beck, Brandon. Holly Springs: Van Dorn, the CSS Arkansas and the Raid that Saved Vicksburg
Groom, Winston. Shrouds of Glory: From Atlanta to Nashville, The Last Great Campaign of the Civil War
Knight, James R. Hood’s Tennessee Campaign: The Desperate Venture of a Desperate Man
Sword, Wiley. The Confederacy’s Last Hurrah: Spring Hill, Franklin, and Nashville
Battle of Bentonville
Davis, Daniel T. and Phillip S. Greenwalt. Calamity in Carolina: The Battles of Averasboro and Bentonville, March, 1865
Hughes, Nathaniel C., Jr. Bentonville: The Final Battle of Sherman and Johnston
Battle of Mobile Bay and the Mobile Campaign
Bergeron, Jr., Arthur. Confederate Mobile
Blount, Jr., Russell W. Besieged: Mobile 1865
Brueske, Paul. The Last Siege: The Mobile Campaign, Alabama 1865
Hearn, Chester. Mobile Bay and the Mobile Campaign
O’Brien, Sean Michael. Mobile 1865: Last Stand of the Confederacy
Parker, Jr., Foxhall. The Battle of Mobile Bay
Smithweck, David. In Search of the CSS Huntsville and CSS Tuscaloosa, Confederate Ironclads
Waugh, John C. Last Stand at Mobile
Webb, Paula. Mobile Under Siege: Surviving the Union Blockade
Wilson’s Raid
Blount, Jr., Russell W. Wilson’s Raid: Final Blow to the Confederacy
Jones, James Pickett. Yankee Blitzkrieg: Wilson’s Raid Through Alabama and Georgia
Misulia, Charles. Columbus, Georgia 1865: The Last True Battle of the Civil War
Statewide Summaries
Harrison, Lowell H. The Civil War in Kentucky
McIlwain, Sr., Christopher Lyle. Civil War Alabama
Sledge, John. These Rugged Days: Alabama in the Civil War
Smith, Timothy. Mississippi in the Civil War: The Homefront
The Historians Manifesto 