Product Description

The epic history of a bloody campaign that determined the course of the Civil War--and forged two of America's greatest military leaders.

Deep in the winter of 1862, on the border between Kentucky and Tennessee, two extraordinary military leaders faced each other in an epic clash that would transform them both and change the course of American history forever.

Brigadier General Ulysses S. Grant had no significant military successes to his credit. He was barely clinging to his position within the Union Army--he had been officially charged with chronic drunkenness only days earlier, and his own troops despised him. His opponent was as untested as he was: an obscure lieutenant colonel named Nathan Bedford Forrest. Forrest was a slaveholder, Grant a closet abolitionist--but the two men held one thing in common: an unrelenting desire for victory at any cost.

After ten days of horrific battle, Grant emerged victorious. He had earned himself the nickname "Unconditional Surrender" for his fierce prosecution of the campaign, and immediately became a hero of the Union Army. Forrest retreated, but he soon re-emerged as a fearsome war machine and guerrilla fighter. His reputation as a brilliant and innovative general survives to this day. But Grant had already changed the course of the Civil War. By opening the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers to the Union Army, he had split Dixie in two. The confederacy would never recover.

A riveting account of the making of two great military leaders, and two battles that transformed America forever, Men of Fire is destined to become a classic work of military history.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #355410 in Books
• Published on: 2007-07-09
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 464 pages

From Publishers Weekly
The bloody February 1862 Union victory at Fort Donelson on Tennessee's Cumberland River is remembered as the Union's first big success—and as the battle in which Ulysses S. Grant held firm for Confederate unconditional surrender. Former journalist Hurst (Nathan Bedford Forrest: A Biography) attempts to make the case that Grant's western theater victory at Donelson indelibly shaped his military career, as well as that of Confederate Lt. Col. Nathan Bedford Forrest, and that the battle turned the tide of the Civil War unalterably in the North's favor. Writing forcefully and engagingly, Hurst does a thorough job of reconstructing the military aspects of the battle and never shies away from illuminating the war's horror. His focus is on Grant, the Confederate generals who faced him (John Floyd, Gideon Pillow, Simon Buckner and Bushrod Johnson) and the ever-aggressive Forrest, best known for his battlefield viciousness and his postwar role in creating the Ku Klux Klan. It's a stretch, though, to postulate that the 1862 victory at Donelson propelled the Union to victory more than three years later. Certainly, as Hurst says, western theater action often is overlooked in assessing the Civil War. But one can't ignore the impact on the war's outcome of the massive battles of Antietam, Gettysburg, Wilderness and Cold Harbor that came after Donelson. (Aug.)
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From Booklist
This Civil War battle history recounts the Union capture of Forts Henry and Donelson in February 1862, a major strategic victory for the North. Hurst, biographer of the ferocious and controversial Confederate cavalry officer Nathan Bedford Forrest, calls out villains and cowards, an inclination to render judgment on events and characters that will resonate with buffs. They will know in advance that this affray featured an infamous skedaddle by Confederate commanders, who let Simon Bolivar Buckner face his friend U.S. Grant's soon-to-be signature demand for unconditional surrender. Hurst's rendition of Confederate councils demonstrates his comprehensive grip on sources, as well as his ability to convert research into dramatic storytelling. On the federal side, Hurst focuses on Grant's rise not only on the battlefield but also within officer politics. With palpable outrage, Hurst narrates insinuations of intoxication against Grant by Henry Halleck, contrasting the latter's ignoble jealousies with the battlefield miseries of soldiers fighting in winter mud. Speculative and opinionated Hurst can be, but his style hardly handicaps readers who love debating details of Civil War battles. Taylor, Gilbert

Review
"The best all-around recent life of Forrest." --Kirkus Reviews

Customer Reviews

A Captivating Account of a Crucial Civil War Campaign
In Men of Fire, Jack Hurst, a Nashville-based author and former journalist who has written for the Chicago Tribune, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and The Tennessean, has penned a comprehensive, graphic narrative of a Civil War campaign that split the Confederacy in two.

Some 75 miles northwest of Nashville, on the Cumberland River near the hamlet of Dover, Tennessee, was Fort Donelson, and 12 miles farther west, on the Tennessee River, was Fort Henry.

In February,1862, Union forces commanded by Brigadier Gen. Ulysses S. Grant (army) and Flag-Officer Andrew Hull Foote (navy) led an expedition to capture these Confederate forts.

Marking the first major Union victories of the Civil War, their capture opened two strategic waterways that pointed like twin daggers at the heart of the Confederacy.

Hurst focuses on Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885), born in Point Pleasant, Ohio, and Nathan Bedford Forrest (1821-1877), born in Chapel Hill, Tennessee. Although different in many ways, these men were alike in one important respect: both were fighters. These "men of fire" detested defensive warfare; they aggressively sought to hit the enemy and hit him hard.

First to be attacked was the more vulnerable Fort Henry, constructed injudiciously on shallow land often flooded by the Tennessee. Pummeled by revolutionary new ironclads led by Foote, the garrison soon evacuated the fort and fled to the more secure Fort Donelson.

Pursuing the Southern troops on a balmy, spring-like day, Union troops blithely discarded their overcoats and blankets, and left behind their tents. The next day an arctic blast hit the area, dropping the temperature to 15 degrees. During the night, many soldiers were frozen to the ground where they fitfully tried to sleep.

A horrendous battle for the more heavily fortified bastion on the Cumberland, gateway to Clarksville and Nashville, ensued on February 15.

After being invested by Grant's forces, Gen. Gideon Pillow, the de facto commander of Fort Donelson, made a desperate, and apparently successful, attempt to break out and retreat to Nashville. Then, for some inexplicable reason, Pillow made a horrendous blunder: he ordered his troops back into the rifle pits and fort.

Disgusted by such a cowardly retreat, Forrest determined to lead his cavalry in a second attempt at a breakout. He succeeded, and led his men to Nashville.

Pillow also escaped from the fort via steamship, leaving the fort's surrender to Gen. Simon Buckner. "The best estimates," writes Hurst, "are that from 16,500 to 17,500 Confederates [were surrendered]," the largest capitulation that had ever made on the continent.

Hurst calls this "the campaign that decided the Civil War." Such a claim, after only ten months into the war and with more than three years remaining, is exaggerated, for many blood clashes remained: in the Western theater, the battles of Shiloh, Chickamauga, Chattanooga, Stones River (Murfreesboro), Vicksburg, Atlanta, Franklin, and Nashville; and in the Eastern theater, the battles of Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, the Wilderness, and Cold Harbor.

The true villain of Hurst's chronicle is Grant's immediate "superior," Henry Halleck, who commanded the Union's Western armies. Secretary of War Edwin Stanton branded him a man "destitute of principle" and "the most bare-faced villain in America."

Hurst points out that the Machiavellian Halleck, seeking to have Grant replaced because of his past history of alcoholism, "now proceeded to show just how utterly unfair, mean-spirited, and maliciously dishonest he could be." He did everything in his power to slander Grant's reputation.

Grant's victory, however, dramatically infused his shaky reputation with an aura of power, and he was promoted to Major General. When asked to relieve Grant of command, Lincoln replied, "I can't spare that man. He fights."

Civil War buffs know the rest of the story. Grant went on to preside over the surrender of two more huge Confederate armies: at Vicksburg and at Appomattox Court House, and to become President of the United States. Nathan Bedford Forrest, a former owner and seller of slaves, became a prime organizer of the Ku Klux Klan.

Having done an admirable job of research, Jack Hurst presents detailed specifics about intricate troop movements, paints fascinating portraits of the principals involved, and presents an unforgettable impression of the grim realities of battle. Men of Fire is a captivating account of the first significant Union victory of the Civil War--a book that seems destined to become a classic.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jack Hurst is a former journalist who has written for newspapers including the Chicago Tribune, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and The [Nashville] Tennessean. He is the author of Nathan Bedford Forrest: A Biography. A descendant of both Union and Confederate military officers, he currently lives with his wife outside of Nashville, Tennessee.

Readable but Questionable
I want to like this book much more than I do! Jack Hurst is an excellent writer. The portraits of the participants are skillful and incisive. The descriptions of battles capture the ebb and flow of the action and the reader is able to follow with few problems. He presents a number of ideas that are very interesting, logical and thought provoking. All of this makes for an enjoyable informative read covering the Civil War in the West from Belmont to the fall of Nashville. In addition, most of his views on the major players are the same as mine, allowing me to applaud as he skillfully skewers Halleck and Buell.

Why isn't this a five-star book review and why can't I be more complementary? I feel this book has a number of problems, none of which invalidate it but taken together diminish the value.

The idea of putting Grant and Forrest together in 1862 makes little sense. Forrest, in 1862, is not that important a person to link with Grant. Yes, they are both determined and both fighter but that does not qualify them for equal billing. The book seems to agree being almost all Grant with a few Forrest chapters. Only about two of the Forrest chapters are required for the story, I felt the rest were more marketing than history.

The idea of a desperate Grant, who may or may not be fighting demon rum, is the story line. Hurst has bought into the Longacre idea that Grant was fighting a serious drinking problem, in spite of the fact that history cannot fully support this idea. The author adds desperation, making Grant's actions as much fear of going back to being a clerk as a drive to win the war.

Maps are another problem. Most of them are two-page maps with the page split in the action being illustrated. No map has contour lines a major consideration at a number of points. The maps are not badly placed but the page split and selection is not helpful either.

I found footnotes to be a major problem. The author uses direct quotes without a footnote to support it. In once case, I think the quote was made in 1863 at Vicksburg not at the time implied. Additionally, one footnote may be for a paragraph that needs multiple footnotes. A couple of his better ideas are not footnoted at all.

Contradictions; the author reverses himself at least once on a major point. This was one of the ideas he presented, w/o footnotes, about 150 pages later, he states the opposite position.

Halleck was not the most honest of men. The author clearly dislikes him and goes out of his way to point out his failings. During this time, Halleck was trying to remove Grant while saying that he was protecting him. This is well documented but some of the book's statements need footnotes and better documentation. I have the same complaint for statements made about Buell.

I did not find any major errors in the book. I do feel that the author's emphasis some items is questionable and needs better documentation. Overall, this is a very readable history of the War in the West from Belmont to the fall of Nashville. I rate this 3 ½ stars that round up to four stars.

The value of "Men of Fire" to those interested in the Civil War !
"Men of Fire" was everything that it was obviously supposed to be : a detailed account of the actions of two great leaders of the Civil War , one for the North & one for the South , during their first major Battle ,early in the Civil War and each being "basically untried & unknown" ! Of course I'm talking about the two principles of the book , U. S. Grant and Nathan Bedford Forrest !

This book accomplishes this main task , very , very well ! It gives "background material" on both great men , that I had never read before ! It really brought these two "legends & heros" into very clear view ! It shows , in this very early battle , thier motivations , their courage , their basic tactics , their vision , their learership , their greatness , their energy , their strengths , their disgusts with the folly & fools around them !

What it did in addition , that I thought most outstanding , was the clear way that it showed the "disorganization , the in-fighting , the jelousey , the politics , the poor planning , the lack of vision" of both sides in this vast conflict , shown so clearly , esp. at the very top of the leadership ladders !

Because of this clear evidence of the "truly medocore and untalented and stupid" majority of politically modivated leaders on both sides and especially at this very significant , early battle ; U.S. Grant and Nathan Bedford Forrest emerge as giants ,as noble warriors ,as dedicated leaders ,who are focused on only one thing : Victory for their cause ! They know what is at stake for their sides and they go at the truly terrible endeavor of a war ,that has been committed to take place , with one unyielding purpose : To achieve absolute victory , at all costs !

This was a great book , about two great men , deeply involved in a most horrible conflict !