Product Description

Civil War enthusiasts will welcome a new book by Peter Cozzens, author of two highly praised works on Civil War campaigns--No Better Place to Die: The Battle of Stones River and This Terrible Sound: The Battle of Chickamauga. In The Shipwreck of Their Hopes, Cozzens fully chronicles one of the South's most humiliating defeats.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #108767 in Books
• Published on: 1996-11-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 536 pages

From Booklist
Cozzens follows up his magisterial account of the Battle of Chickamauga, This Terrible Sound (1992), with an equally authoritative study of the Chattanooga campaign that followed it. Braxton Bragg (who sometimes seems unfit to have been at large on the public streets, let alone commanding armies) failed to either destroy or starve out the Union Army of the Cumberland. In due course, superior Northern resources and strategy--not tactics; few generals on either side come out looking like good tacticians--progressively loosened the Confederate cordon around the city. Finally, the Union drove off Bragg's army entirely in the famous Battle of Missionary Ridge, which was a much more complex affair than previous, heroic accounts make it. Like its predecessor on Chickamauga, this is such a good book on Chattanooga that it's hard to believe any Civil War collection will need another book on the subject for at least a generation. Roland Green

Review
"Beyond question the most thoroughly researched and well-written account of the loss of Chattanooga to date."--William C. Davis, publisher of Civil War Times Illustrated

Customer Reviews

a much-needed examination in detail
This review could apply to all of Cozzin's Trilogy on important battles that have been largely overlooked ( Stone's River, Chickamauga, Chattanooga ). The author takes great care in describing the military and political movements that led up to the battles themselves as well as the aftermath. Consequently, there is a good flow from one book to the next. The reader can easily follow the progress of armies, corps, divisions, and brigades, along with their leaders, from Perryville to Missionary Ridge.

The battles themselves are presented in great detail, down to the regimental and sometimes company level. In the first two battles especially, Cozzins emphasizes the fact that many tactical decisions were made at levels far below the high command. While this added much to the confused fighting on both sides, it also demonstrates the difference that a skilled commander like General Grant can make in an army's success. After reading many other books on the Chatanooga campaign, I was never clear on the exact route of the "Cracker Line" or the movement of Hooker's and Sherman's troops to the field of battle. This book leaves no doubt. I agree with the legion of other readers in their criticism of the quality and quantity of maps. I found myself hunting through the books to find maps which displayed the movements and stages of battle described in text and was often left disappointed.

Thumbnail bios on the major participants are provided in what seem to be the most appropriate spots in the books without distracting the reader from the overall flow. Cozzins is highly critical of Bragg, Rosecrans, Longstreet, Hooker, and (deservedly) the Confederacy's Jefferson Davis. It's no wonder that both sides simply wasted men and materials in accomplishing nothing until Grant and Sherman appeared on the scene, although the stabilizing influence of George Thomas - the "Rock of Chickamauga" - deserves to be cast in a more favorable light. Personalities and even personality conflicts, notably that which existed between Grant and Thomas and between Bragg and everybody, are emphasized. The reader is left with an awareness of how individuals' traits can affect the outcome of war.

It is small wonder that the first two, essentially drawn, battles have escaped the scrutiny of most authors, but Chattanooga was one of the major turning points of the war. It lifted the depression in the North which followed the fiasco at Chickamauga and, as the title implies, cost the Confederacy its last hope of survival. The battle elevated Grant to supreme command after Lincoln could no longer ignore the fact that his finest general was the quiet man in the West. And the concentration of Union forces at Chattanooga provided the makings of Sherman's well-documented triumphs in Georgia and beyond.

All in all, an essential trilogy for understanding the campaign in eastern Tennessee.

Comprehensive but dry
Cozzen has produced the comprehensive tome on the battle of Chattanooga. All the information you need to understand the flow of battle as well as the political intriguing that helped to shape the results is here. What is mostly lacking is a spark of life, or a sense of being there. With a few exceptions, Cozzen's battle descriptions have more of the feel of a wargame played out on a map than the chaotic, life and death struggle that it surely was. For those who have an interest in the battle, you should have this book, for reference, if for nothing else. Be aware that it is dry, and more of a book that you must work at to get to its virtues than a thrilling read. I would only recommend this book to those with a serious interest in the battle of Chattanooga, but for them, it is a must have.

Theo Logos

Excellent Summary of the Chattanooga Campaign
Cozzens' book on an overlooked battle contains excellent descriptions of the battle and how the campaign contributed to the end of the Civil War.

Cozzens does a good job of describing the battle from the point of view of both officers and the common soldier - the reader can sense the desperation of both sides as the Union Army fights starvation while the Rebel Army suffers from strained relationships between its generals.

The reasons I did not give the book a 5-star was because of the lack of maps and pictures. While I had no problem reading through the details of the battle and campaign, I would like to have seen more maps (the ones in the book are well-drawn, but too few) and illustrations (having more pictures would add a more personal touch to a well-written book).

Complaints aside, I recommend the book as the best summary of the Chattanooga Campaign!