Chickamauga, according to soldier rumor, is a Cherokee word meaning
"River of Death." It certainly lived up to that grim sobriquet in
September 1863 when the Union Army of the Cumberland and Confederate
Army of Tennessee waged bloody combat along the banks of West
Chickamauga Creek. Long considered a two-day affair, award-winning
author David Powell embraces a fresh approach that explores Chickamauga
as a three-day battle, with September 18 being key to understanding how
the fighting developed the next morning. The second largest battle of
the Civil War produced 35,000 casualties and one of the last, clear-cut
Confederate tactical victories--a triumph that for a short time reversed
a series of Rebel defeats and reinvigorated the hope for Southern
independence. At issue was Chattanooga, the important "gateway to the
South" and logistical springboard into Georgia.
Despite its size, importance, and fascinating cast of characters, this
epic Western Theater battle has received but scant attention. Powell
masterfully rectifies this oversight with The Chickamauga Campaign--A
Mad Irregular Battle: From the Crossing of the Tennessee River Through
the Second Day, August 22-September 19, 1863. The first of three
installments spanning the entire campaign, A Mad Irregular Battle
includes the Tullahoma Campaign in June, which set the stage for
Chickamauga, and continues through the second day of fighting on
September 19. The second installment finishes the battle from dawn on
September 20 and carries the narrative through the retreat from the
battlefield that night. The third and last book of the series covers the
retreat into Chattanooga and the beginning of the siege, as well as
appendices and essays exploring specific questions about the battle in
substantially greater detail.
Powell's magnificent study fully explores the battle from all
perspectives and is based upon fifteen years of intensive study and
research that has uncovered nearly 2,000 primary sources, all stitched
together to relate the remarkable story that was Chickamauga. Here,
finally, readers will absorb the thoughts and deeds of hundreds of the
battle's veterans, many of whom they have never heard of or read about.
In addition to archival sources, newspapers, and other firsthand
accounts, Powell grounds his conclusions in years of personal study of
the terrain itself and regularly leads tours of the battlefield. His
prose is as clear and elegant as it is authoritative and definitive.
The Chickamauga Campaign--A Mad Irregular Battle is Powell's magnum
opus, a tour-de-force rich in analysis brimming with heretofore untold
stories. It will surely be a classic must-have battle study for every
serious student of the Civil War.
