Timothy B. Smith (1)

Very favorable towards Ulysses Grant, even though Smith acknowledges his mistakes. In his setup for the campaign Smith reminds the reader that while the Union had its problems in the winter of 1861-62, the Confederacy surely had that share as well. Moreover, Confederate commanders like Gideon Pillow and Albert S. Johnston exercised poor judgement on several key occasions. Smith argues that Fort Henry was more important objective because it opened up naval access throughout most of the South, show more while Donelson really only granted access to Nashville. Smith colors his narrative with vivid depictions of the combat and personalities of the campaign. show less

Excellent history of Shiloh. Places as much emphasis on the second day as on the first. Tackles a few myths. For example, the Union soldiers were not completely surprised and unprepared for the initial assault. Likewise, Smith argues that the Confederates were fairly strong on day two, despite the fact that that their commanders did little reorganization during the night. Smith defends Lew Wallace who was maligned by Grant. Lots of emphasis on lower level commanders (brigades, regiments, show more companies) and their actions. All well told. show less

Another winner from Tim Smith. Has everything you want in a campaign book: compelling narrative, clear communication of movements, good mix of personal accounts, discussion of impact of terrain, incisive analysis of commander decisions, excellent maps and plenty of them. This book imparts a complete familiarity with what happened at Champion Hill, when and why, as well as situating it in the context of the campaign, with discussion of events preceding and following the battle. The final show more chapter is a unique "what happened to them later" series of each of the major figures discussed in the book.

I got this because I thoroughly enjoyed Smith's "Shiloh". This earlier work is just as rewarding. show less

Good insight into what appears to be an overlooked battle of our Civil War. Author goes to great lengths to rectify that and in my opinion makes an excellent case that Vicksburg became the success it was for the Union because of the way this battle unfolded.

That said in its completeness of the account of fighting/which unit was exactly where at X time some parts became fairly dry and unfortunately some unit numbers became switched or mislabeled in the editing process, the latter errors show more costing it a star. show less