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As Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman swept through Georgia in 1864, he
fought several small battles against an ever-retreating Gen. Joseph
E. Johnston who had replaced the beleaguered Gen. Braxton Bragg as
leader of the Confederate Army of Tennessee. After heavy rains
slowed Sherman’s advance, Johnston’s army entrenched along the
Brushy Mountain line. Hemmed in by the mountains and impassable
roads, Sherman noted in his reports to Washington, “Kennesaw is
the key to the whole country.” Ultimately, Sherman would outflank
Johnston and grind down his army’s defenses with a brazen frontal
assault. Federal forces suffered 3,000 casualties compared to
Johnston’s 1,000, and yet the Confederate Army of Tennessee was
forced to retreat to Smyrna, and continued defeats led to
Sherman’s infamous burning of Atlanta in August of 1864.
Decisions at Kennesaw Mountain explores the critical decisions made
by Confederate and Federal commanders during the battle and how
these decisions shaped its outcome. Rather than offering a history
of the battle, Larry Peterson hones in on a sequence of command
decisions that provides us, retroactively, with a blueprint of the
Battle of Kennesaw Mountain at its tactical core. Identifying and
exploring the critical decisions in this way allows students of the
battle to progress from a knowledge of what happened to a mature
grasp of why events happened. Complete with maps and a driving
tour, Decisions at Kennesaw Mountain is an indispensable primer,
and readers looking for a concise introduction to the battle can
tour this sacred ground—or read about it at their leisure—with
key insights into the campaign and a deeper understanding of the
Civil War itself. Decisions at Kennesaw Mountain is the seventeenth
in a series of books that will explore the critical decisions of
major campaigns and battles of the Civil War.
Intended for a general readership, Decisions of the Atlanta
Campaign introduces readers to critical decisions made by both
Union and Confederate commanders who faced harrowing situations and
attempted to achieve strategic and tactical victories. Like four
similar books by Matt Spruill, Dave Powell, and Peterson's own
Decisions at Chattanooga, this contribution to the Command
Decisions in America's Civil War series contains maps, photographs,
and a guided tour of the battlefields. It will be the first in the
series to tackle an entire campaign
Intended for a general readership, Decisions of the 1862 Kentucky
Campaign introduces readers to critical decisions made by both
Union and Confederate commanders who faced harrowing situations and
attempted to achieve strategic and tactical victories. Like four
similar books by Matt Spruill, Dave Powell, and Peterson's own
Decisions at Chattanooga, this manuscript for the Command Decisions
series contains maps, photographs, and a guided tour of the
battlefields. It will be the second project in the series to tackle
an entire campaign
The largest battle fought in Kentucky during the American Civil War
occurred at a small, crossroads town named Perryville. As Gen.
Braxton Bragg's Confederate Heartland Offensive sputtered through
Kentucky, Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Buell's reformed Army of the Ohio
pursued the Army of the Mississippi and clashed with its rearguard
just outside Perryville. Believing that he faced only a part of
Buell's army, Bragg ordered an assault on the Union left flank
which resulted in Confederate victory. However, that evening Bragg
determined the Army of the Ohio outnumbered him three to one and
quickly decided to retreat. Outmanned, outmaneuvered, and lacking
supplies and reinforcements, Bragg retreated through the Cumberland
Gap into East Tennessee, and Kentucky remained in Union control for
the rest of the Civil War. Decisions at Perryville explores the
critical decisions made by Confederate and Union commanders during
the battle and how these decisions shaped its outcome. Rather than
offering a history of the battle, Larry Peterson hones in on a
sequence of critical decisions made by commanders on both sides of
the contest to provide a blueprint of the Battle of Perryville at
its tactical core. Identifying and exploring the critical decisions
in this way allows students of the battle to progress from a
knowledge of what happened to a mature grasp of why events
happened. Complete with maps and a driving tour, Decisions at
Perryville is an indispensable primer, and readers looking for a
concise introduction to the battle can tour this sacred ground-or
read about it at their leisure-with key insights into the campaign
and a deeper understanding of the Civil War itself. Decisions at
Perryville is the eleventh in a series of books that will explore
the critical decisions of major campaigns and battles of the Civil
War.
Known as one of the most aggressive Confederate officers in the
Western Theater, Brigadier General Alfred Jefferson Vaughan Jr. is
legendary for having had eight horses shot out from under him in
battle--more than any other infantry commander, Union or
Confederate. Yet despite the exceptional bravery demonstrated by
his dubious feat, Vaughan remains a largely overlooked Civil War
leader.
In "Confederate Combat Commander," Lawrence K. Peterson explores
the life of this unheralded yet important rebel officer before,
during, and after his military service. A graduate of Virginia
Military Institute, Vaughan initially commanded the Thirteenth
Tennessee Infantry Regiment, and later Vaughan's Brigade. He served
in the hard-fought battles of the western area of operations in
such key confrontations as Shiloh, Perryville, Stones River,
Chickamauga, Chattanooga, and the Atlanta Campaign.
Tracing Vaughan's progress through the war and describing his
promotion to general after his commanding officer was mortally
wounded, Peterson describes the rise and development of an
exemplary military career, and a devoted fighting leader. Although
Vaughan was beloved by his troops and roundly praised at the
time--in fact, negative criticism of his orders, battlefield
decisions, or personality cannot be found in official records,
newspaper articles, or the diaries of his men--Vaughan nevertheless
served in the much-maligned Army of Tennessee. This book thus
assesses what responsibility--if any--Vaughan bore for Confederate
failures in the West.
While biographies of top-ranking Civil War generals are common,
the stories of lower-level senior officers such as Vaughan are
seldom told. This volume provides rare insight into the regimental
and brigade-level activities of Civil War commanders and their
units, drawing on a rich array of privately held family histories,
including two written by the general himself.
Lawrence K. Peterson, a retired airline pilot, worked as a National
Park Service ranger and USAF officer. He is the great-great
grandson of Brigadier General Alfred Jefferson Vaughan Jr.
Following the defeat of Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans's Army of
the Cumberland at the Battle of Chickamauga, the Army of Tennessee
under Gen. Braxton Bragg besieged Rosecrans and his men by
occupying key high terrain around Chattanooga. Decisions at
Chattanooga introduces readers to critical decisions made by
Confederate and Union commanders. Larry Peterson examines the
decisions that shaped the way the campaign and battle unfolded.
Rather than offering a history of the Battle of Chattanooga,
Peterson focuses on the critical decisions, those decisions that
had a major impact on both Federal and Confederate forces in
shaping the progression of the battle as we know it today
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