Chattanooga

By: Time-Life Books

Book Overview

An unforgettable new look at the Civil War from eyewitness accounts by people who were there. Diaries, letters, journals, media reports and more. Beautifully and dramatically illustrated.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0783547161
• ISBN13: 9780783547169
• Release Date: May 1999
• Publisher: Time Life Medical
• Length: 168 Pages
• Weight: 2.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 10.3" x 10.3"
• Age Range: 11 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 6 and higher

Customer Reviews

The Battle of Chattanooga in the First Person

This is a part of the Time-Life series, "Voices of the Civil War." This volume focuses on the Battle of Chattanooga, occurring after the defeat of Union forces at Chickamauga. What sets this series apart is its use of documents giving voice to ordinary soldiers, officers, and civilians about the battle. As such, this provides an "up close and personal" view. As with all volumes in the series, there are some common features here: an artist's rendering of the topography (pages 6-7), the order of battle (page 15), and essays that put the battle in context (e.g., the aftermath of Chickamauga on pages 9-12). But the heart of this book is the reflection of various participants. For instance, the "Battle above the Clouds," at Lookout Mountain. Colonel William Dowd, Confederate forces, spoke of the challenges facing southern forces as Hooker's force advanced up the mountain (page 98); Captain Max van den Corput, of the Cherokee Battery, spoke of the difficulties of using his artillery against the attacking Union troops (pages 101-102). Then the attack on Missionary Ridge by the Army of the Cumberland. Voices of participants, from pages 112-141, provide a first hand perspective on events. The one response that I think sums things up is from Private Sam Watkins, who says that troops would say of General Braxton Bragg (Page 141): "Bully for Bragg, he's h--l on retreat." If interested in a book that provides a personal perspective on battle, this is a useful volume. If you want details on the battle itself, this will not suffice. But this does serve, in my view, as a helpful accompaniment to the more detailed, technical analyses of this conflict.