Civil War Along Tennessee S Cumberland Plateau The

Tennessee's Cumberland Plateau played host to some of the most dramatic military maneuvering of the Civil War. 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. 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.

The book has been copy edited. Editing completed July 31, 2014. Edward Kruger is a small farmer and part time student living on Middle Tennessee's Cumberland Plateau when he is swept into the Civil War after the South passes a Conscription Act in 1862. Despite reservations because of his family's Mennonite past and against the will of the Northern woman he cares for Edward becomes a member of a Confederate cavalry company and participates in the Confederate invasion of Kentucky and then fights in the hard fought battle of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Edward senses changes in himself questioning his fate as the war continues and he finds himself back home on the Plateau engaging in a merciless and bitterly fought guerilla war. His cavalry company moving with the currents of the fluid conflict eventually joins the forces of Fighting Joe Wheeler in Georgia opposing Union commander William Tecumseh Sherman's March to the Sea. As the relentless fighting continues through Georgia and into the Carolinas Edward is forced to come to terms with his role in the war and ask himself one important question. Can he survive the war intact and return home to the woman he can only hope is waiting there for him?

In July 1862, the directors of the Chicago Board of Trade used their significant influence to organize perhaps the most prominent Union artillery unit in the Western Theater. Enlistees were Chicagoans, mainly clerks. During the Civil War, the battery was involved in 11 major battles, 26 minor battles and 42 skirmishes. They held the center at Stones River, repulsing a furious Confederate attack. A few days later, they joined 50 other Union guns in stopping one of the most dramatic offensives in the Western Theater. With Colonel Robert Minty's cavalry, they resisted an overwhelming assault along Chickamauga Creek. This history chronicles the actions of the Chicago Board of Trade Independent Light Artillery at the battles of Farmington, Dallas, Noonday Creek, Atlanta, in Kilpatrick's Raid, and at Nashville, and Selma.

Join author James B. Jones Jr. on an exciting journey through the unknown and hidden history of Civil War Tennessee. Tennessee's Civil War history is an oft-told narrative of famous battles, cunning campaigns and renowned figures. Beneath this well-documented history lie countless stories that have been forgotten and displaced over time./strong Discover how Vigilance Committees sought to govern cities such as Memphis, where law was believed to be dead. See how Nashville and Memphis became important medical centers, addressing the rapid spread of "private diseases" among soldiers, and marvel at Colonel John M. Hughes, whose men engaged in guerrilla warfare throughout the state.

At the Battle of Stones River, General David Stanley's Union cavalry repeatedly fought General Joseph Wheeler's Confederate cavalry. The campaign saw some of the most desperately fought mounted engagements in the Civil War's Western Theater and marked the end of the Southern cavalry's dominance in Tennessee. This history describes the events leading up to the battle and the key actions, including the December 31 attack by Wheeler's cavalry, the Union counterattack, the repulse of General John Wharton by the 1st Michigan Engineers and Wheeler's daring raid on the rear of Williams Rosecrans' army. The author reassesses the actions of General John Pegram's cavalry brigade.

During the Chickamauga Campaign, General Stanley's two Union cavalry divisions battled Forrest's and Wheeler's cavalry corps in some of the most difficult terrain for mounted operations. The Federal troopers, commanded by Crook and McCook, guarded the flanks of the advance on Chattanooga, secured the crossing of the Tennessee River, then pushed into enemy territory. The battle exploded on September 18 as Col. Minty and Col. Wilder held off a determined attack by Confederate infantry. The fighting along Chickamauga Creek included notable actions at Glass Mill and Cooper's Gap. Union cavalry dogged Wheeler's forces throughout Tennessee. The Union troopers fought under conditions so dusty they could hardly see, leading the infantry through the second costliest battle of the war.