War in the West

[W. Richardson]

I have been putting off for years of delving into the War in the West in a big way, but now it is time. What would be the top 5 books to read on the War in the West. I have a few but I want to see what the members recommend.


Thanks,

Respectfully,
William

 

[bdtex]

I'd be interested in hearing what other members who have done more reading than I have to say in response to you. I kinda have trouble thinking of Tennessee, for example,as the "Western Theater". I have read a few books about the subject but not enough to post a top 5. I am assuming Western Theater means west of the Mississippi River.

 

[diane]

Were you thinking any further west than the generals you posted?

P S
I wouldn't mind seeing a sub-forum on the war in the Far West!

 

[Greg Taylor]

I'd be interested in hearing what other members who have done more reading than I have to say in response to you. I kinda have trouble thinking of Tennessee, for example,as the "Western Theater". I have read a few books about the subject but not enough to post a top 5. I am assuming Western Theater means west of the Mississippi River.

In my mind, anything west of the eastern seaboard (Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida) is the "Western Theater". I don't see the Far West as being a "theater" as most of the action is scattered and not interconnected. For me it is: Eastern Theater, Western Theater, Far West.

 

[rpkennedy]

I would recommend Albert Castel's Decision in the West on the Atlanta Campaign.

I particularly enjoyed Dave Powell's books on Chickamauga.

I also enjoyed Peter Cozzens' trilogy on Stone's River/Chickamauga/Chattanooga.

Cunningham's book on Shiloh is excellent.

R

 

[AUG]

For a detailed look at the Western theater (the "Confederate Heartland") you'd probably need more than just five books. As rpkennedy said above, for battle & campaign histories I would recommend any of those by Peter Cozzens (also include his book on Corinth) and Cunningham's "Shiloh and the Western Campaign of 1862". "Decision in the West" by Albert Castel for the Atlanta Campaign and "For Cause & Country" by Eric A. Jacobson on Franklin. I also recommend the two volume history of the Army of Tennessee by Thomas L. Connelly, and "Nothing but Victory" by Steven E. Woodworth on the Federal Army of the Tennessee.

For the Trans-Mississippi see Piston and Hatcher's book on Wilson's Creek, William L. Shea's books on Pea Ridge and Prairie Grove, and Donald S. Frazier's books for the New Mexico Campaign, Texas and Louisiana. Now that doesn't cover the entire war west of the Mississippi but its a good start.

 

[Georgia Sixth]

I strongly recommend "Jefferson Davis and His Generals" by Steven Woodworth. It's a big picture look at how the southern side tried to strategize and manage the defense of such a large and difficult area. It really makes you see the issues beyond single battles and campaigns.

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/jef.../1112140759?ean=9780700605675#productInfoTabs

 

[Rank and File]

I'd recommend Thomas Connelly's Army of the Heartland and Autumn of Glory, both about the Army of Tennessee, along with Wiley Sword's The Confederacy's Last Hurrah.

 

[W. Richardson]

Thanks to everyone's recommendations. A few of them I have, but it looks as if I am going to have to go a few days without eating so as to purchase the others..............lol

Respectfully,
William

 

[Legion Para]

A SOUTHERN RECORD by Willie H. Tunnard is considered one of the best memoirs written by a Confederate veteran of the Western Theatre of Operations. Originally published in 1866. His wartime letters are also of great interest.

In my opinion, this is a must read.

 

[AUG]

"A Southern Record" by Tunnard can be read online here:
https://archive.org/stream/asouthernrecord00tunngoog#page/n2/mode/2up

For memoirs I would also recommend "The Civil War Memoir of Philip Daingerfield Stephenson, D.D." Just read that last year and it made for an excellent read.... actually one of the best ACW memoirs I've ever read. Stephenson was your average Confederate enlisted man in the Western theater; he first served with the 13th Arkansas Infantry and later the 5th Company, Louisiana Washington Artillery. His memoir is very well written... lots of great stories and details.

 

[photoman475]

I agree with the choices of Cunningham's Shiloh and Sword's The Last Hurrah. For a general history of the West, I'd suggest Alvin Josephy's The Civil War in the American West. He has a nice approach to describing Glorietta Pass and the Confederate retreat to Texas. A different approach would be to go to Foote's trilogy and just read the parts on what you would define as the Western Theater for a general history.

 

[Legion Para]

http://www.amazon.com/dp/158729608X/?tag=civilwartalkc-20


A Damned Iowa Greyhound: The Civil War Letters of William Henry Harrison Clayton

William Henry Harrison Clayton was one of nearly 75,000 soldiers from Iowa to join the Union ranks during the Civil War. Possessing a high school education and superior penmanship, Clayton served as a company clerk in the 19th Infantry, witnessing battles in the Trans-Mississippi theater. His diary and his correspondence with his family in Van Buren County form a unique narrative of the day-to-day soldier life as well as an eyewitness account of critical battles and a prisoner-of-war camp.

Clayton participated in the siege of Vicksburg and took part in operations against Mobile, but his writings are unique for the descriptions he gives of lesser-known but pivotal battles of the Civil War in the West. Fighting in the Battle of Prairie Grove, the 19th Infantry sustained the highest casualties of any federal regiment on the field. Clayton survived that battle with only minor injuries, but he was later captured at the Battle of Stirling's Plantation and served a period of ten months in captivity at Camp Ford, Texas.

Clayton's writing reveals the complicated sympathies and prejudices prevalent among Union soldiers and civilians of that period in the country's history. He observes with great sadness the brutal effects of war on the South, sympathizing with the plight of refugees and lamenting the destruction of property. He excoriates draft evaders and Copperheads back home, conveying the intra-sectional acrimony wrought by civil war. Finally, his racist views toward blacks demonstrate a common but ironic attitude among Union soldiers whose efforts helped lead to the abolition of slavery in the United States.

 

[DixieRifles]

This may not apply to you as you seem to already have started a library and have a good foundation on the events. For beginners, I always recommend start with a general history such as the TIME-LIFE books. They give the overview of the events and leaders and have great maps.
From there I select battles and campaigns and find a good book on them. There are a lot to choose from and some have been mentioned in other threads.

 

[Billy1977]

What about The Civil War in the West: Victory and Defeat from the Appalachians to the Mississippi by Earl Hess? It appears to be an overview of the Western Theater from 1861-'65 rather than focusing on a particular campaign in the theater. It has 21 reviews here

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0807835420/?tag=civilwartalkc-20

and got an average of 4½ stars out of 5. I haven't read it yet but it sounds promising.

By the way, when you say you're looking for books about the war in the west I am presuming you mean what the National Park Service considers the Western Theater, which was everything from the Appalachian Mountains west to the Mississippi River, correct? Rather than the far west (everything west of the Mississippi) which I've always heard referred to as the Trans-Mississippi Theater?

Personally I love the war in the Western Theater and I'm glad it's now, finally, getting more recognition from historians and historical authors. Until the last couple of decades it seemed like if it wasn't Gettysburg, Antietam/Sharpsburg or Fredericksburg or Chancellorsville it may as well not have happened or wasn't worth writing about.

 

[Albert Sailhorst]

"Shiloh: In Hell Before Night" by James Lee McDonough
"Soldiering in the Army of Tennessee" By Larry Daniels
"Shiloh: The Battle that Changed the Civil War" By Larry Daniels
"That Terrible Sound"....about Chickamauga By Peter Cozzens
"Shipwreck of Their Hopes" about Chattanooga/Missionary Ridge By Peter Cozzens
"River Run Red"....about Ft. Pillow by Andrew Ward

Obviously, these are all specific to particular battles, with the exception being "Soldiering in the Army of Tennessee", which is more about the troops than it is the battles.
I have not yet read Peter Cozzens Stones River book "No Place to Die", but it is my schedule for reading!

 

[Michael W.]

I'd be interested in hearing what other members who have done more reading than I have to say in response to you. I kinda have trouble thinking of Tennessee, for example,as the "Western Theater". I have read a few books about the subject but not enough to post a top 5. I am assuming Western Theater means west of the Mississippi River.

The Western Theatre is generally considered everything west of the Appalachians to the Mississippi River. West of the Mississippi is considered the Trans-Mississippi theatre or department, and out in the New Mexico and Arizona territories was considered the "far West" or "Southwest" theatre.

 

[Michael W.]

Cozzens "No Better Place to Die" on Stones River. A truly brutal battle in Tennessee. "5 Tragic Hours" on the Battle of Franklin, Tennessee. (Can't remember the Author) Franklin is a fascinating battle to study, short in duration but incredibly bloody. It was one of the very few battles where an entire Army was out in the open and could be seen end to end (The Army of Tennessee). Picket's charge is the most famous Confederate advance that was seen in the open, but the AoT made their open advance with more men, and sustained higher casualties than Picket's Charge.

 

[3rdKentuckyMtdInf]

"Shiloh: In Hell Before Night" by James Lee McDonough
"Soldiering in the Army of Tennessee" By Larry Daniels
"Shiloh: The Battle that Changed the Civil War" By Larry Daniels
"That Terrible Sound"....about Chickamauga By Peter Cozzens
"Shipwreck of Their Hopes" about Chattanooga/Missionary Ridge By Peter Cozzens
"River Run Red"....about Ft. Pillow by Andrew Ward

Obviously, these are all specific to particular battles, with the exception being "Soldiering in the Army of Tennessee", which is more about the troops than it is the battles.
I have not yet read Peter Cozzens Stones River book "No Place to Die", but it is my schedule for reading!

To this list (a very good one) I would add "Forrest at Brice's Cross Roads" by Edwin C. Bearss, and "Shiloh and the Western Campaign of 1862" by O. Edward Cunningham.

 

[KeyserSoze]

So many books, so little time...

I would second the Cozzens recommendation but would correct it by pointing out that he has a quartet and not a trilogy. He "The Darkest Days of the War" on Corinth and Iuka is part of his works.

Steven Woodworth was mentioned. He also wrote "Nothing but Victory" on the Army of the Tennessee. Very good.

Along those same lines, Larry Daniel wrote "Days of Glory" on the Army of the Cumberland. A good combination with the Woodworth book.

And finally Noah Andre Trudeau's "Southern Storm" on Sherman's campaign across Georgia is a good match with Castel's "Decision in the West".