Work for Giants , livre ebook

383

pages

English

Ebooks

2014

Écrit par
E. Parson Thomas

Publié par
The Kent State University Press

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383

pages

English

Ebooks

2014

Lire un extrait

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne En savoir plus

Publié par

The Kent State University Press

Date de parution

10 octobre 2014

Nombre de lectures

EAN13

9781612778693

Langue

English

Poids de l'ouvrage

4 Mo

During the summer of 1864 a Union column, commanded by Maj. Gen. Andrew Jackson Smith, set out from Tennessee with a goal that had proven impossible in all prior attempts - to find and defeat the cavalry under the command of Confederate major general Nathan Bedford Forrest. Forrest's cavalry was the greatest threat to the long supply line feeding Sherman's armies as they advanced on Atlanta. Smith marched at the head of his "gorillas," veteran soldiers who were fresh from the Red River Campaign. Aside from diverting Confederate attention away from Sherman, Smith's orders were to destroy Southern railroads and confront Forrest in Mississippi. Just weeks earlier, a similar Union expedition had met with disaster at the Battle of Brice's Crossroads, perhaps the greatest victory of Forrest's military career.Joined by reinforcements led by Lt. Gen. Stephen Dill Lee, Forrest and his men were confident and their morale had never been higher. However, for two weeks, Smith outmarched, outfought, and outmaneuvered the team of Lee and Forrest. In three days of bitter fighting, culminating in the battle at Harrisburg, the Confederates suffered a staggering defeat. Forrest's corps was devastated. He and his men would recover but would never regain their earlier strength, nor would they ever again prove a serious threat to veteran Union infantry.Work for Giants focuses on the details of this overlooked campaign and the efforts, postbattle and postwar, to minimize the outcome and consequences of an important Union victory. Parson draws heavily from previously untapped diaries, letters and journals, and eyewitness accounts, bringing to life the oppressive heat, cruel depredations, and brutal combat the soldiers encountered, and the stoic humor they used to endure them.

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Publié par

The Kent State University Press

Date de parution

10 octobre 2014

Nombre de lectures

EAN13

9781612778693

Langue

English

Poids de l'ouvrage

4 Mo

Work for Giants

CIVIL WAR SOLDIERS AND STRATEGIES Brian S. Wills, series editor

Richmond Must Fall: The RichmondPetersburg Campaign, October 1864 hampton newsome

Work for Giants: The Campaign and Battle of Tupelo/Harrisburg, Mississippi, June–July 1864 thomas e. parson

Work for Giants

The Campaign and Battle of Tupelo/Harrisburg,

Mississippi, June–July 1864 ∂

Thomas E. Parson

Foreword by Timothy B. Smith

The Kent State University Press Kent, Ohio

Cataloging information for this title is available at the Library of Congress.

18 17 16 15 14

5 4 3 2 1

To Charlie, my mother and friend 1934–2012

What does a soldier know about war? I went into the army a light-hearted boy, with a face as smooth as a girl’s and hair as brown as my beautiful mother’s. I fought through more than a score of battles and romped through more than a hundred frolics. I had the rollicking time of my life and came home stronger than an athlete, with robust health builded to last the rest of my life. And my mother, her brown hair silvered with the days of my soldiering, held me in her arms and counted the years of her longing and watching with kisses. When she lifted her dear face I saw the story of my marches and battles written there in lines of anguish. If a mother should write her story of war, she would pluck a white hair from her temple, and dip the living stylus into the chalice of her tears, to write the diary of the days upon her heart. What does a soldier know about war? —Pvt. Robert J. Burdette,The Drums of the 47th

Contents

Foreword by Timothy B. Smith xi Preface xiii Acknowledgments xvii 1 The Gorillas1 2Pair of Raids A 13 3 A Third Raid26 4to the Limit Stretched 41 5Gathering Army A 51 6and Waiting Watching 68 7South Marching 77 8 Pontotoc95 9Hill Pinson’s 111 10Road to Tupelo The 124 11 Bertram’s Shop and the Camargo Crossroads136 12 Harrisburg156 13Moves Opening 167 14Medley of Blunders” “A 179 15Had Reached a Limit” “Endurance 198 16Will Care for Mother Now?” “Who 215 17 The Federal Withdrawal228 18 Old Town Creek243 19to Memphis Return 259 20 Victory or Defeat?270 21 A Second Battle275 Appendix: Order of Battle302 Notes307 Bibliography340 Index351

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