Autumn of Glory

Autumn of Glory
Author: Thomas Lawrence Connelly
Publisher: LSU Press
Total Pages: 580
Release: 2001-08-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780807127384

Winner of the Fletcher Pratt Award and the Jefferson Davis Award A companion volume to Army of the Heartland Near the end of 1862 the Army of Tennessee began a long and frustrating struggle against overwhelming obstacles and ultimate defeat. Federal strength was growing, and after the Confederate surrender at Vicksburg, the total Union effort became concentrated against the Army of Tennessee. In the face of these external military problems, the army was also plagued with internal conflict, continuing command discord, and political intrigue. In Autumn of Glory, the final volume of Thomas Lawrence Connelly’s definitive history of one of the Confederacy’s two major military forces, Connelly analyzes the factors underlying the army’s failure during the last two years of the Civil War. The army’s military operations—including such major battles and campaigns as Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge, Kennesaw Mountain, Peachtree Creek, Atlanta, Ezra Church, Jonesboro, and Bentonville—are viewed in perspective with its growing internal problems and the personality peculiarities of its commanders. In late 1863 a well-organized movement within the army against General Bragg failed. After his departure, a semblance of the anti-Bragg organization still remained, and subsequently the army’s leadership became embroiled in national Confederate politics. Connelly traces these growing problems of command discord and political intrigue and examines their disastrous effects upon the army’s political fortunes. Connelly’s first volume, Army of the Heartland, explores the military significance of the “heartland” of the Confederacy and covers the army’s operations from 1861 to late 1862. With the completion of these two volumes, the author has narrowed the historiographical gap between Lee’s Army of Virginia and the Confederacy’s “other army.”

The Historic Cumberland Plateau

The Historic Cumberland Plateau
Author: Russ Manning
Publisher: Univ. of Tennessee Press
Total Pages: 380
Release: 1999
Genre: History
ISBN: 9781572330443

Combining historical narrative with the specifics of a guidebook, The Historic Cumberland Plateau is an indispensable aid for visiting and experiencing an area rich in natural wonders and scenic beauty. First published in 1992, the book has now been extensively revised to include the latest information about points of interest and cultural events on the Cumberland Plateau. A land known for its great caves, cascading waterfalls, natural arches, and isolated river canyons, the Plateau stretches from northeast to southwest, encompassing parts of Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia. Within its geographic boundaries are many protected areas, including the Cumberland Gap National Historical Park, the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area, and the Obed National Wild and Scenic River. The Plateau also possesses a unique history and cultural heritage. Inhabited first by Native Americans, then by pioneers migrating westward, the Plateau contains many sites that attest to its rich history. As different groups passed through, some chose to settle permanently, resulting in a diverse cultural heritage celebrated today in many regional events. Each chapter of this book, focusing on a specific area on the Plateau, is filled with fascinating historical facts and anecdotes, as well as practical information about services and accommodations, events, and directions to natural wonders, hiking trails, and historic sites. The Author: Russ Manning is an award-winning freelance writer and author of several outdoor guidebooks. His articles on the outdoors and conservation have been published in Outside, Blue Ridge Country, Walking Magazine, Appalachia, Environment, Sierra, Environmental Ethics, and The Tennessee Conservationist.

The Civil War along Tennessee's Cumberland Plateau

The Civil War along Tennessee's Cumberland Plateau
Author: Aaron Astor
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Total Pages: 192
Release: 2015-05-25
Genre: History
ISBN: 1625849362

Tennessee's Cumberland Plateau played host to some of the most dramatic military maneuvering of the Civil War. Straddling the entire state of Tennessee, the formidable tableland proved to be a maze of topographical pitfalls and a morass of divided loyalties. As Federal forces sought to capitalize on the capture of Nashville, they moved into a region split by the most vicious guerrilla warfare outside Missouri, including the colorful and intensely violent rivalry between Confederate Champ Ferguson and Unionist "Tinker" Dave Beaty. The bitter conflict affected thousands of ordinary men and women struggling to survive in the face of a remorseless war of attrition, and its legacy continues to be felt today.

Paths to Victory

Paths to Victory
Author: Jim Miles
Publisher: Turner Publishing Company
Total Pages: 510
Release: 1999-10-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 1620453088

Paths to Victory is the story of the Civil War in Middle Tennessee and northwest Georgia beginning with the battle of Stones River on December 31, 1862. Includes a series of driving tours that enable readers to see the battlefields and important sites.

Leonidas Polk

Leonidas Polk
Author: Huston Horn
Publisher: University Press of Kansas
Total Pages: 600
Release: 2019-02-19
Genre: History
ISBN: 0700627502

Leonidas Polk was a graduate of West Point who resigned his commission to enter the Episcopal priesthood as a young man. At first combining parish ministry with cotton farming in Tennessee, Polk subsequently was elected the first bishop of the Louisiana Diocese, whereupon he bought a sugarcane plantation and worked it with several hundred slaves owned by his wife. Then, in the 1850s he was instrumental in the founding of the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. When secession led to war he pulled his diocese out of the national church and with other Southern bishops established what they styled the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Confederate States of America. Polk then offered his military services to his friend and former West Point classmate Jefferson Davis and became a major general in the Confederate Army. Polk was one of the more notable, yet controversial, generals of the war. Recognizing his indispensable familiarity with the Mississippi Valley, Confederate president Jefferson Davis commissioned his elevation to a high military position regardless of his lack of prior combat experience. Polk commanded troops in the Battles of Belmont, Shiloh, Perryville, Stones River, Chickamauga, and Meridian as well as several smaller engagements in Georgia leading up to Atlanta. Polk is remembered for his bitter disagreements with his immediate superior, the likewise-controversial General Braxton Bragg of the Army of Tennessee. In 1864, while serving under the command of General Joseph E. Johnston, Polk was killed by Union cannon fire as he observed General Sherman’s emplacements on the hills outside Atlanta.

This Is My South

This Is My South
Author: Caroline Eubanks
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 369
Release: 2018-10-01
Genre: Travel
ISBN: 1493034316

You may think you know the South for its food, its people, its past, and its stories, but if there’s one thing that’s certain, it’s that the region tells far more than one tale. It is ever-evolving, open to interpretation, steeped in history and tradition, yet defined differently based on who you ask. This Is My South inspires the reader to explore the Southern States––Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia––like never before. No other guide pulls together these states into one book in quite this way with a fresh perspective on can’t-miss landmarks, off the beaten path gems, tours for every interest, unique places to sleep, and classic restaurants. So come see for yourself and create your own experiences along the way!