The Chickamauga Campaign: A Mad Irregular Battle: From the Crossing of Tennessee River Through the Second Day, August 22–September 19, 1863

trying to add to my collection. Trying to understand the battle.

I have visited Chickamauga battle field several times and I never get enough. This book is a good detailed version of the battle up to and including Sept.. 19.It may be too detailed for someone who is not a big civil war student but for students of the war, this is a great book and I highly recommend it.

As a Civil War history buff who had an ancestor fight at Chickamauga, I've enjoyed reading as much as I can about this battle. Unfortunately, while Chickamauga was the largest battle in the Western Theater and second in Civil War casualties only to Gettysburg, there has been a relative paucity of material written about this fascinating but often confusing conflict. Compared to Gettysburg, which has had hundreds of books written about all aspects of the 3-day fight, Chickamauga can claim only a smattering of books. The two primary full-length modern treatments of the battle were Glenn Tucker's "Chickamauga: Blood Battle of the West" and Peter Cozzen's "This Terrible Sound: The Battle of Chickamauga" (part of his trilogy of western battles which also covered Stones River and Chattanooga). Other worthwhile books include Steven Woodsworth's "Six Armies in Tennessee" (a campaign-level treatment), "The Chickamauga Campaign" (a compilation of essays, including one by Dave Powell), and "A Deep Steady Thunder" (a short battle summary); William Lee White's "Bushwhacking on a Grand Scale" (a short battle summary written by a National Park Service Ranger at Chick/Chatt NMP); the battlefield guides/tours by Matt Spruill and Robert L. Carter; and the excellent Blue & Gray magazine series written by the eminent historian of Chickamauga, William Glenn Robertson.And then up came David Powell. A graduate of VMI, Dave has been studying the battle of Chickamauga for years and has compiled a vast collection of primary and secondary source material. He has also spent many hours leading in-depth tours covering all parts of the Chickamauga battlefield and thus has become intimately familiar with the terrain, the personalities of the leaders involved, and the actions they directed, from the strategic view down to the unit tactical level. Based on his encyclopedic knowledge and wonderful storytelling abilities displayed in one of his battlefield tours I attended, when I heard he was writing a multi-volume treatment of the Chickamauga Campaign I knew it would be great. This impression was enhanced by my reading of his two previously published books on Chickamauga, "Failure in the Saddle," which delves into the performance of the Confederate cavalry throughout the campaign, and "The Maps of Chickamauga" (maps by David Friedrichs), which walks the reader through the potentially confusing campaign with a large series of in-depth maps and accompanying narrative.Dave Powell's "A Mad, Irregular Battle," published by Savas-Beatie like his two previous works, not only meets but exceeds the extremely high standards set by "Failure..." and "Maps..." Dave has the envious ability to produce a cogent battle narrative that ranges from strategic level implications to unit level actions and captivate the reader's attention throughout. He also has the knack of adding just the right amount of detail to make the narrative clear and engaging but without getting bogged down in minutia. But added to his fine writing ability, what makes his book first rate are his keen analysis and refreshing intellectual honesty. Dave didn't accept on face value all the secondary material and post-war analyses of the battle but dug deep into the primary sources with an open mind, not limited by preconceived notions, and let the facts mold his conclusions. His narrative therefore isn't just interesting reading but is scholarship of the finest sort, tamping down some old, hoary myths and bringing to light a new understanding of some key facets of the battle. All this leads to "A Mad, Irregular Battle" setting the new standard in Chickamauga history.Savas-Beatie has done a great job of presenting Dave's book to the reader. There are numerous maps and pictures which greatly assist in understanding the unit positions and the terrain features. As I am a very visual learner, I would have enjoyed more maps, but then again, with Dave's "Maps of Chickamauga" alongside his soon-to-be-multivolume history, you have all the maps you could ever want. I eagerly await the second book in the set, "Glory or the Grave," which will cover the end of the battle from Sep 20th to the faceoff of the Union and Confederate forces at Chattanooga. Powell's third volume will be a compilation of additional facts, lists of sources, etc, that didn't fit into the narrative but that add even more substance to his historical analysis.Bottom line: If you are looking for an in-depth book on the Battle of Chickamauga, you can't get any better than David Powell's multivolume set.

This is an outstanding work, providing great deal of information about the chaotic battle of Chickamauga. I have read about this battle before, including as a part of biographies of generals involved as well as descriptions of the battle itself. However, I will venture to say that this is the best work on this battle that I have read. And it is only Part 1 of a 3 book work. Other works have been published on this battle, but Powell's access to information provides this with a greater depth.A story of Chickamauga is made complex because of the very nature of the battle itself--confusing with many small units (that is, brigade level) being critical. Reading the tale of the first two days--Friday, September 18 and--even bloodier--Saturday, September 19 is bracing. There was no overall guiding hand. Army generals, corps commanders, and division commanders on both sides sent in troops piecemeal. Many accidental confrontations. A brigade that was victorious was flanked at another point and had to retreat. Chaotic is not a bad term to describe events.The commanding generals of the two armies (the Army of Tennessee for the South and the Army of the Cumberland for the North) were the irascible Braxton Bragg (Confederate) and William Rosecrans (for the Union). Because of the confusion of the two days of combat, neither was able to impose his will on the respective armies. Worse from the Confederate side, Bragg was in continuing conflict with generals such as D. H. Hill and Leonidas Polk. Other generals took heed of their fears and refused to carry out orders (an extraordinary example being their fear of attacking Union forces in McLemore's Cove, when the Union faced disaster if the Confederates had been aggressive).The story begins with preparation for the campaign. This began with the Tullahoma Campaign in late June, 1863 when Rosecrans used a sweeping flanking strategy to force Bragg to retreat and assume new positions around Chattanooga. It was a fairly bloodless campaign. Then, Rosecrans performed a similar flanking movement to oust Bragg from Chattanooga. However, the movement of federal troops was such that forces were often out of supporting range. That is, they were too far apart to come to one another's aid if attacked.Then, the forces began to gather at Chickamauga. Included in this gathering for the battles on Friday and Saturday was John Bell Hood’s division of James Longstreet's First Corps, traveling from Virginia via trains to reinforce Bragg. Rosecrans came to understand the danger that faced him and concentrated his corps and divisions. One point that I had not been so aware of before--the complete failure of Confederate cavalry to do their job, with failures by both Joseph Wheeler (not so surprising about his shortcomings) and Nathan Bedford Forrest (rather surprising to me).The fighting on Friday was about developing a sense of the other side. Saturday was a quantum leap more ferocious. Brigades were fed into combat; there was little sense of what was actually going on on the ground. Losses were heavy. Brigades that were triumphant at one moment were battered the next, when an enemy force appeared on their flank.The next volume details the critical final day of Chickamauga, and I am eagerly awaiting the work.Some pluses beyond the text: Appendix I provides the order of battle--and the casualties down to the regimental level. Corps commanders for the North: George Thomas (a Virginian), Alexander McCook, Thomas Crittendon, and a so-called "reserve corps" under Gordon Granger. Corps commanders for the South: Leonidas Polk, D. H. Hill, Simon Bolivar Buckner, and a reserve corps under William Walker. On the other hand, maps were sometimes not so revealing. I tried finding a really useful map to go with the text about the danger to Union forces in McLemore's Cove and it was not apparent to me.At any rate, an excellent volume. I eagerly await the next. . . .

I am a 68 yr old who has been a Civil War buff since high school. Been to most of the battlefields and have an extensive library of publications.This author is typical of Civil War writers. They hop around from place to place and the reader has no idea of the relation of one location to another.Civil War historians need to provide a detailed map, similar to a state road map, in each of their publications. I have purchased state road maps in the past just to follow various authors rambling. Most Civil War authors assume the reader knows the area and will visualize troop movements.Right! I hope some author in the furture will provide a factual detail of a battle with appropriate, accurate maps. I have yet to find such an archive.Preston Gale

Very detailed in its coverage. Troop movements and the comments of individual soldiers and officers are included. The book could use the addition of detailed maps, which, in aggregate, show the entire terrain on which the events described take place. Maps unobscured with troop placements. Such would be a most useful reference for the reader.

An excellent detailed account of the the first part of the Chickamauga Campaign. Best read in conjunction with the Maps of Chickamaunga to make geographic and tactical sense of the action . The wee anecdotes about some of the characters in this book eg. August Willich v Karl Marx make a very good book even more readable

Excellent again! Please continue the nice work to complete the captivating story of on this Grand Campaign with a sequel of Chattanooga.

Go go Alabama!