Books for the Civil War Buff in Your Life

Name: Onward Southern Soldiers:
Brand: Traci Nichols-Belt
SKU: 9781609493745
Price: 21.99 USD
Availability: InStock

History runs deep in the American psyche, and the Civil War resonates still, 150+ years on. For those who love military history and grapple with the defining conflict of the American experience, our Civil War titles commemorate the impact on both sides, while telling the necessary stories of this epic conflict. From the First Shot at Fort Sumter, through Gettysburg, Sherman’s March and Antietam, there are more than 100 books which look at the Civil War from the local perspective of the people who lived it.

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Onward Southern Soldiers:

$21.99

The Civil War along Tennessee's Cumberland Plateau

$21.99

The Battle of Franklin

$23.99

Knoxville in the Civil War

$24.99

Murfreesboro in the Civil War

$21.99

The Battle of Fort Donelson

$21.99

Tennessee's Confederates

$24.99

The 1865 Stoneman's Raid Begins

$21.99

A History & Guide to the Monuments of Shiloh National Park

$19.99

Historic Zion Cemetery in Memphis

$23.99

Tennessee Hero Confederate Brigadier General John Adams

$24.99

Tennessee's Union Cavalrymen

$24.99

Enslavement in Memphis

$21.99

Tennessee Legends and Lore

$23.99

Onward Southern Soldiers:

9781609493745

$21.99

The Civil War was trying, bloody and hard-fought combat for both sides. What was it, then, that sustained soldiers low on supplies and morale? For the Army of Tennessee, it was religion. Onward Southern Soldiers: Religion and the Army of Tennessee in the Civil War explores the significant impact of religion on every rank, from generals to chaplains to common soldiers. It took faith to endure overwhelming adversity. Religion united troops, informing both why and how they fought and providing the rationale for enduring great hardship for the Confederate cause. Using primary source material such as diaries, letters, journals and sermons of the Army of Tennessee, Traci Nichols-Belt, along with Gordon T. Belt, presents the history of the vital role of the army's religious practices.

The Civil War along Tennessee's Cumberland Plateau

9781626194045

$21.99

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.

The Battle of Franklin

9781596297456

$23.99

With firsthand accounts, letters and diary entries from the Carter House Archives, local historian James R. Knight paints a vivid picture of the gruesome Battle of Franklin.

In late November 1864, the last Southern army east of the Mississippi that was still free to maneuver started out from northern Alabama on the Confederacy's last offensive. John Bell Hood and his Army of Tennessee had dreams of capturing Nashville and marching on to the Ohio River, but a small Union force under Hood's old West Point roommate stood between him and the state capital. In a desperate attempt to smash John Schofield's line at Franklin, Hood threw most of his men against the Union works, centered on the house of a family named Carter, and lost 30 percent of his attacking force in one afternoon, crippling his army and setting it up for a knockout blow at Nashville two weeks later.

Knoxville in the Civil War

9781467110198

$24.99

Knoxville sits nestled in the extraordinary natural beauty of the Tennessee River Valley. For four long years, from 1861 to 1865, this idyllic setting was racked by some of the harshest experiences of the entire Civil War. Armies, battles, famous generals, partisans, and thousands of troops from every state North and South made their mark on the region, leaving a rich military history. However, it was the people of this genuinely American city whose divided loyalties forced families, schools, churches, financial stability, and literally all aspects of community to opposite sides of the deadly conflict. Civil war means that people, not just designated armies, become sworn enemies. In this close-knit small town, there was nowhere to hide from this vicious reality. The population of Knoxville suffered intensely, and the trauma of those punishing times can still be felt in its 21st-century cultural identity.

Murfreesboro in the Civil War

9781609494599

$21.99

As the Civil War unfolded, Murfreesboro became hotly contested by Confederate and Union forces. Both sides occupied the town for significant periods, with power changing hands as the fighting raged. Punctuated by events like Nathan Bedford Forrest's raid on Union forces in July 1862, Jefferson Davis's visit and the wedding of General John Hunt Morgan and Martha Ready, wartime Murfreesboro saw no shortage of drama. As combat escalated, the bloody Battle of Stones River and the Nashville Campaign brought more destruction. Yet at war's end, the resilient locals remained and rebuilt their town from the rubble. Authors and Civil War historians Michael Bradley and Shirley Farris Jones track the tumult of the proceedings to recount the compelling story of Murfreesboro during the Civil War.

The Battle of Fort Donelson

9781609491291

$21.99

In February 1862, after defeats at Bull Run and at Wilson's Creek in Missouri, the Union army was desperate for victory on the eve of its first offensive of the Civil War. The strategy was to penetrate the Southern heartland with support from a new Brown Water� navy. In a two-week campaign plagued by rising floodwaters and brutal winter weather, two armies collided in rural Tennessee to fight over two forts that controlled the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers. Those intense days set the course of the war in the Western Theater for eighteen months and determined the fates of Ulysses S. Grant, Andrew H. Foote and Albert Sidney Johnston. Historian James R. Knight paints a picture of this crucial but often neglected and misunderstood turning point.

Tennessee's Confederates

9780738587196

$24.99

Images of America: Tennessee's Confederates draws upon photographs, many previously unpublished, to tell the stories of confederate soldiers from the Volunteer State.

Like other slave-holding border states, Tennessee initially elected not to join the newly formed Confederates States of America. However, with the attack on Fort Sumter and the call for troops to put down the rebellion, Tennessee governor Isham Harris telegrammed President Lincoln, ""Tennessee will not furnish a single man for the purpose of coercion, but 50,000 if necessary for the defense of our rights and those of our Southern brothers."" In early June 1861, the state voted to secede from the Union and soon joined the Confederacy. Ultimately, Tennessee provided nearly 187,000 men to the Confederate cause serving in 110 regiments and 33 battalions. Photographs are from the collections of the Tennessee State Museum, the Tennessee State Library and Archives, the Tennessee Historical Society, and private collections.

The 1865 Stoneman's Raid Begins

9781596298491

$21.99

Striking out from Knoxville, Tennessee in late March of 1865, Major General George Stoneman unleashed his cavalry division upon Southern Appalachia intent on leaving nothing for the Rebellion to stand upon. The raiders wreaked havoc on government stores, civilian property and indispensable infrastructure, dashing all hope for the dying Confederacy's stand on the rugged peaks of the Blue Ridge. They eventually trampled through five southern states, reduced to ashes one of the last major prisons in the south and helped pursue the renegade president. But much more than wanton destruction, their story is one of hardship, redemption and retribution. Taking into account the local folklore of the Raid, this volume traces the column's course as it departed Tennessee, penetrated Southwestern Virginia and stormed the North Carolina Piedmont.

A History & Guide to the Monuments of Shiloh National Park

9781609494124

$19.99

The events of the Battle of Shiloh are characterized by acts of bravery, sacrifice, and uncommon valor. After the Civil War, northerners and southerners alike were compelled by another sense of duty at Shiloh the duty of remembrance. Established just over three decades after the battle ended, Shiloh National Park gave veteran groups from states across the country an opportunity to memorialize their regiment's specific contributions. Each monument, like the soldiers themselves, has a story to tell. A History and Guide to the Monuments of Shiloh National Park recounts the history of the park's creation and the monuments' construction. Join former Shiloh National Park interpreter and seasonal guide Stacy W. Reeves as she charts the paths through the park's grounds and traces its fascinating history.

Historic Zion Cemetery in Memphis

9781467152143

$23.99

Discover an Historic Hidden Treasure in African American History

With more than 30,000 interred in its 15 acres, Zion Cemetery is the largest African American community burial ground in Memphis. It was opened in 1876 by former slaves to establish a sacred burial ground for people of color. It is the final resting place of luminaries like Reverend Morris Henderson, who led the founding of the cemetery, and Dr. Georgia Patton Washington, Tennessee's first African American physician. Lynching victims Thomas Moss, Calvin McDowell and William Stewart rest there. The cemetery is also the final home of Thomas Franks Cassels and the grandparents of Dr. Benjamin Hooks. Dr. Peatchola Cole-Jones details the rich history and more.

Tennessee Hero Confederate Brigadier General John Adams

9781625859167

$24.99

Confederate brigadier general John Adams refused to leave his men despite his own critical injuries and died at the Battle of Franklin. Until recently, his service was rarely acknowledged. During his remarkable military career, he traversed the country from Tennessee to New York, Mexico to Maryland and then to California. Adams trained and rode alongside some of the most celebrated commanders of the Confederate army, but his greatest feat remains his unwavering devotion to his men and the Confederate cause in his home state of Tennessee. Bryan W. Lane follows Adams's rise in the military ranks until his inevitable fall at one of the most important battles of the Civil War.

Tennessee's Union Cavalrymen

9780738567471

$24.99

Despite officially joining the Confederacy in 1861, Tennessee provided the Union with nearly 32,000 troops during the Civil War. Representing a Southern opposition to secession and loyalty to the Union, many of these Tennesseans served as cavalry or as mounted infantry. Among those serving on horseback were Samuel P. Carter, who temporarily left his post in the U.S. Navy to command a cavalry brigade; Pres. Andrew Johnson's son, Robert Johnson, who served as colonel of the 1st Tennessee Cavalry; and James Brownlow, son of Tennessee's Reconstruction governor, who led his command in a naked charge across the Chattahoochee River. Labeled traitors and renegades by Confederate Tennesseans, these men risked reprisals on their homes and families as they dutifully served the Union cause. This volume draws upon photographs from the collections of the Tennessee State Museum, the Library of Congress, the United States Army Military History Institute, and other public and private collections to tell the story of these loyal cavaliers.

Enslavement in Memphis

9781467150149

$21.99

During the first forty-five years of the city's existence, slavery dominated the cultural and economic life of Memphis. The lives of enslaved people reveal the brutality, and their perseverance contributed greatly to the city's growth. Henry Davidson played a crucial role in the development of the city's first Methodist church and worship services for slaves. Mary Herndon was purchased by Nathan Bedford Forrest and sold to Louis Fortner, for whom she was put to work in the field, where she "chopped cotton, plowed it and did everything any other slave done." Thomas Bland secretly learned to read and write from a skilled slave and later used that knowledge to escape to Canada. Author G. Wayne Dowdy uncovers the forgotten people who built Memphis and the American South.