Men of fire : Grant, Forrest, and the campaign that decided the Civil War / Jack Hurst.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hurst, Jack.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Grant, Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson), 1822-1885--Military leadership.

Grant, Ulysses S.

Forrest, Nathan Bedford, 1821-1877--Military leadership.

Forrest, Nathan Bedford.

Generals--United States--Biography.

Generals.

Fort Henry, Battle of, Tenn., 1862.

Fort Donelson, Battle of, Tenn., 1862.

Tennessee--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.

Tennessee.

United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Campaigns.

United States.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (465 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New York : Basic Books, 2007.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Deep in the winter of 1862, on the border between Kentucky and Tennessee, two extraordinary military leaders faced each other in an epic clash that would transform them both and change the course of American history forever. Brigadier General Ulysses S. Grant had no significant military successes to his credit. He was barely clinging to his position within the Union Army-he had been officially charged with chronic drunkenness only days earlier, and his own troops despised him. His opponent was as untested as he was: an obscure lieutenant colonel named Nathan Bedford Forrest. Forrest was a slaveholder, Grant a closet abolitionist-but the two men held one thing in common: an unrelenting desire for victory at any cost. After ten days of horrific battle, Grant emerged victorious. He had earned himself the nickname "Unconditional Surrender" for his fierce prosecution of the campaign, and immediately became a hero of the Union Army. Forrest retreated, but he soon re-emerged as a fearsome war machine and guerrilla fighter. His reputation as a brilliant and innovative general survives to this day. But Grant had already changed the course of the Civil War. By opening the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers to the Union Army, he had split Dixie in two. The confederacy would never recover. A riveting account of the making of two great military leaders, and two battles that transformed America forever, Men of Fire is destined to become a classic work of military history.

Contents:

CONTENTS; List of Illustrations xiii; Glossary of Participants xv; Requiem 1; PART I RECONNAISSANCE; 1 Fall-Early Winter, 1861-1862: The City of Mud 5; 2 Fall-Early Winter, 1861-1862: Bowling Green 15; 3 Soldier Reborn: Grant 22; 4 Soldier Born: Forrest 31; 5 September 4-November 7, 1861: Grant at Paducahand Belmont 37; 6 November 8, 1861: East Tennessee Erupts 49; 7 December 28, 1861: Forrest at Sacramento 51; 8 January 19, 1862: Mill Springs, Kentucky 55; 9 False Starts and a Real One 67; PART II FORT HENRY; 10 February 3-5, 1862: Grant and Foote 75

11 The Gunboats: Rodgers and Foote-and Kountz 8712 To February 3: Grant, Halleck, and Fate 97; 13 Fort Henry to Late Morning of February 6: The Confederates 106; 14 February 6, Late Morning: Attack 115; 15 Assailed and Assailants, Early Afternoon 122; 16 Victors and Vanquished, February 6: Late Afternoon and Evening 130; 17 After-Battle Observations 134; 18 Forrest, Early February: Hopkinsville 137; 19 Hungering for Victory: Grant and Halleck 140; 20 Consequences: February 7, Into the Heart of Dixie 147; 21 February 7-10: Grant and "The Crisis of the War in the West" 150

22 Digesting Disaster: The Confederates, February 7-8 16023 Casting the Die: Grant, February 10-12 172; PART III "BATTLE FOR NASHVILLE": FORT DONELSON; 24 Wednesday, February 12, Grant: Getting There 183; 25 Through February 12, Donelson's Leaders: A Very Mixed Bag 193; 26 Thursday, February 13: Bloody False Starts and a Cold North Wind 204; 27 Friday, February 14, Forrest: "Parson, For God's Sake, Pray" 220; 28 Saturday, February 15, Morning: Commanders Misjudged 232; 29 Early Afternoon: Grant, Pillow, and Disaster in the Balance 259; 30 Sunday, February 16: A White Rag Rebuffed 293

PART IV SPOILS31 February 16, Forrest Leaving: "Damn Your Judgment" 323; 32 February 16, Nashville Under the Gun: "A Perfect Panic" 325; 33 Monday, February 17, Nashville and Fort Donelson: Fear and Misery 333; 34 February 18-21, Union and Confederate: Consequences 338; 35 February 18-24, Forrest in Nashville: "Ruin at Every Step" 347; 36 February 16-March 13, Grant-Halleck: "EnemysBetween You and Myself" 355; 37 Mid-March, Harvest of Donelson: A Military Governor 369; 38 February 23-Onward; Forrest, "Come On, Boys" 373; 39 Early March 1862, Grant: "Hope to Make a New Subject Soon" 376

PART V AFTERMATHS 381Notes 395; Bibliography 419; Acknowledgments 425; Index 427

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 419-424) and index.

ISBN:

0-465-00847-X

OCLC:

310425417