After Gettysburg, it was the Civil War's largest battle, but until
recently, little of consequence had been written about Chickamauga. You
can count on one hand the number of authors who have tackled Chickamauga
in any real depth, and most of their works cover the entire battle. Left
unmined and mostly forgotten are the experiences of specific brigades,
regiments, and state-affiliated troops. Scott Mingus and Joseph Owen's
Unceasing Fury: Texans at the Battle of Chickamauga, September 18-20,
1863, is the first full-length book to examine in detail the role of
troops from the Lone Star State.
Texas troops fought in almost every major sector of the sprawling
Chickamauga battlefield, from the first attacks on September 18 on the
bridges spanning the creek to the final attack on Snodgrass Hill on
September 20. Fortunately, many of the survivors left vivid descriptions
of battle action, the anguish of losing friends, the pain and loneliness
of being so far away from home, and their often-colorful opinions of
their generals.
The authors of this richly detailed study based their work on hundreds
of personal accounts, memoirs, postwar newspaper articles, diaries, and
other primary sources. Their meticulous work provides the first
exploration of the critical role Texas enlisted men and officers played
in the three days of fighting near West Chickamauga Creek in September
1863.
Unceasing Fury provides the Lone Star State soldiers with the
recognition they have so long deserved.
