Customer Reviews

The Army of Tennessee (Civilization of the American Indian Series)

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Although written 50+ years ago, this offering by Horn give a nice survey of this unit. A splendid look at actions in Missouri and Arkansas sets the stage for further accounts of Fort Henry, Fort Donelson and the usual litany of the AOT theatres of battle.
I found the text very reader friendly, although a few more maps would have been helpful. This edition's use of large-style print was also a treat. His discourse on some key military personalities is very interesting - especially his take on Sherman. I never "saw" Cump Sherman viewed with these insights before! A new intro/preface brings the reader up-to-speed on the current literature concerning the Army of Tennessee to offer the reader a more modern take on exploits of A. S. Johnston, Bishop Polk, Bragg and Hood. An excellent starting point for future in-depth study.

I still find this book useful, despite the sources that have been discovered or reinterpreted since Horn wrote his book. He blends anecdotal information with larger views on strategy and poltical conflicts. The story of the Army of Tennessee is still a story that remains largely untold, and Horn tells it very well.

I like reading some of the older books written on various aspects of the Civil War. Stan Horn's book is often quoted in many of the bibliographies of more recent vintage. Despite its age, it remains a key work on the Confederacy's war plans in its Central theater of operations. It is remarkably devoid of Confederate excuses.

The book focuses on the performance of the Army of Tennessee and Horn places the blame for its poor performance where it belongs, on the Confederacy's High Command. He does an unusually good job with the bickering that occurred in key command positions, analyzes Jeff Davis' curious support for Braxton Bragg and lays the blame for this Army's ultimate destruction under John Bell Hood where it belongs, at the feet of Jeff Davis.

Well written and researched, it is a book well worth the time.

Stanley F. Horn's book was first published in 1941, but it still remains a key tool on learning about the Confederacy's tragic, "other" army. Although Lee's Army of Northern Virginia gets most of the press, the stories involving the Confederacy's other major army are just as compelling. And that is the key feature of Horn's book. His writing style is very compelling in its own right and will keep you turning the pages. And, surprisingly, as another reviewer pointed out, despite being a Nashville native, Horn's book is not full of Lost Cause mythology and excuses like some other books of this time period. What you get from Horn is the facts and certainly his opinion. If you are a fan of Braxton Bragg or John Bell Hood you might want to skip this book because Horn is not afraid on heaping blame on them. To his credit, though, Horn praises Bragg and Hood when he feels it is due (mostly for ideas they had as opposed to their execution of said plans). While Thomas Lawrence Connelly's two volume work on the AOT from the 1970s has surpassed Horn's for an academic, scholarly look at the Army, Horn's book still deserves a place on your shelf for its readability and stories from the command tent down to the privates.

The Army of Tennessee, By Stanley F.Horn. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1952.

This book is a look at the Army of Tennessee; known by some as the Confederacy's "other Army", the first Army being the Army of Northern Virginia. Horn gives a detailed examination about the army that operated between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River during the American Civil War. The army fought until the end of the war in 1865, participating in most of the significant battles in the Western Theater. The book focuses mostly on the army's campaigns throughout the war with emphasis on the leadership changes and the problems that the army faced throughout the course of the war. The army was formed on November 20, 1862, renaming the Army of Mississippi. Its first commander was General Braxton Bragg, followed by Joseph E. Johnston and John Bell Hood. Horn demonstrates that it was these Changes in leadership along with lack of supplies that affected the army's performances in battle.

The sources that Horn uses are mostly primary such as; Jefferson Davis' own personal accounts, Ulysses S. Grant's letters and several newspaper articles just to name a few. These sources are helpful in understanding the hardships that the Army of Tennessee went through as well as giving more insight into military strategies of the day. This book is written chronological order from the beginning of the war to the end. Each battle is given its own chapter, which provides great detail. While there is much detail in the chapters, they are short and easy to read and understand. There are not a lot of photos or maps, but the ones that are provided, are given with purpose. They provide examples to the reader of what it is that Horn is attempting to convey. The topics in this book are not controversial at all and are quite the opposite. The book was originally written in 1941 and the material is well established. In the notes, Horn provides information that adds to his original thoughts in the book. The notes section can almost be used as an additional source or chapter filled with information that did not fit anywhere else in the book.

The Army of Tennessee's first commander was General Braxton Bragg, who fought Union Maj. Gen. William Rosecrans's Army of the Cumberland to a draw at the Battle of Stones River on December 31, 1862. However, Bragg was forced to withdraw from Murfreesboro and fall back on Tullahoma. In the summer of 1863, Rosecrans began an offensive, known as the Tullahoma Campaign. Union forces gradually forced Bragg to fall back into northern Georgia, abandoning the important railroad hub of Chattanooga. Chattanooga was important because it provided supplies to the Confederacy and ensured that they could hold the West. Reinforced by Lt. Gen. James Longstreet's First Corps from the Army of Northern Virginia, the Army of Tennessee was able to inflict a significant defeat on Rosecrans at Chickamauga in September 1863.

After Chickamauga the Army of Tennessee besieged the Union army in Chattanooga,. The Army of the Cumberland was reinforced by the troops of Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's Army of the Tennessee, along with two corps from the Army of the Potomac under Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker, and Grant replaced Rosecrans in command. Bragg then sent Longstreet's forces to Knoxville and nearly all of his cavalry away, reducing his army's strength. The combined Union army was able to inflict a significant defeat on Bragg at the Battle of Missionary Ridge on November 25, forcing Bragg to abandon the siege of Chattanooga and withdraw again into northern Georgia. Horn says this about Bragg, "Bragg could be trusted to bungle."(293) Horn maintains that Bragg was an incompetent leader. Shortly thereafter, Bragg was replaced as by Gen. Joseph E. Johnston.

In the 1864 Atlanta Campaign, Johnston faced the combined Northern armies of Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman, whose orders were to destroy the Army of Tennessee, with the capture of Atlanta as the secondary objective. Johnston, who felt the continued existence of his army was more important than protecting territory, tended to avoid battle with Sherman, executing a skillful withdrawal, which caused impatience among the Confederate leadership in Richmond, particularly Confederate President Jefferson Davis, who had never gotten on well with Johnston. Following Sherman's outflanking of Johnston at the Chattahoochee River, Johnston was replaced by Lt. Gen. John Bell Hood. Hood's tenure as commander proved disastrous. After several unsuccessful attempts to force Sherman's withdrawal from Atlanta, the city fell to Union troops on September 2, 1864. Hood turned west and headed back north into Tennessee, allowing Sherman to turn south unopposed for the March to the Sea. On November 30, 1864, Hood lost almost a quarter of his troops, but continued to advance north into central Tennessee, where he attempted to besiege Nashville. Hood failed to take back Nashville and in 1865 he handed command back to Johnston. The Army of Tennessee was surrendered at Bennett Place near Durham Station, North Carolina on April 26, 1865. The men furled their flags, stacked their arms, and received their paroles, and then headed home.

This book is a well organized in depth look at the Army of Tennessee. Horn knows the history and the military aspect well. Even though this book is older, it is still a useful source for anyone who studies military history. It is not a light read however, I would not recommend it to anyone who is a casual reader of history. It is a long book and one should be aware of this.

The Army of the Tennessee is a good find for the War Between the States enthusiast. It provides colorful and factual details of the Confederate Army actions along with analysis. Well documented. I had ancestors in the 31st Tennessee Infantry and was able to experience, vicariously, some of their lives through this book. A must for the history student studying this period.