Customer Reviews

Blue Lightning: Wilder's Mounted Infantry Brigade in the Battle of Chickamauga

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I'd give this book 10 stars if they'd let me !!
Baumgartner's book is the PREMIER book on Colonel Wilder, a man of immense forsight and vision, as he had the common sense to see that the Spencer Repeating Rifle was going to be the weapon of the future in 1861, and was a pivotal and deciding factor at the battle of Hoover's Gap, where his unit defeated a force of Confederates 3 times its size, due entirely to the firepower of the Spencer. And then, at Chicamuaga, though considerd by many a Federal defeat, his 72nd Indiana still kept it from being a complete rout, again due to the use of the Spencer Rifle. This book is, as mentioned peviously, a classic in every sense of the word. Easily as well written as Roy Marcot's book on the Rifle itself. If you are a Spencer enthusiast, GET THIS BOOK!
It tells the story of a man that could not be more closely associated to a historical weapon except the inventor.
IT IT EXCELLENT !!!

I recently used this book as one of my key souces on a staff-ride conducted by the Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth. Deeply detailed, and very unbaised, it is a great companion to LIGHTNING AT HOOVERS GAP and THE WAR OF THE REBELLION, OFFICAL RECORDS OF THE UNION AND CONFEDERATE ARMIES. Baumgartner uses a combination of offical records, state historical archives, and contemporary personal journals to tell the story of a unit that was far ahead of its time in both doctrine and technology. Today in the United States military we talk about "transformation" as if it were a new concept, but the experiances of the Lighnting Brigade clearly demonstrate transformative military revolutions are a salient part of all military history, and there are very few far-sighted individuals who can recognize when one comes along and leverage it to their military advantage. I borrowed a copy from my local library to read, now I'm shelling out the 100+ dollars to have my own copy.

This book is an excellent study of a small unit in action. The book covers more than the battle of Chickamauga, beginning as it does in the opening months of 1863 and including the Tullahoma Campaign.

Highly recommended.