Customer Reviews

The Chessboard of War: Sherman and Hood in the Autumn Campaigns of 1864 (Great Campaigns of the Civil War)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Dr. Bailey does a superb job of presenting Sherman and Hood's 1864 campaigns in a way that makes it very readable, while obviously well researched. Placing the two Generals tactics and plans simultaneously together with the politics that drove thier efforts shows that this is a story that should not be relayed as two seperate events. One of the most interesting aspects is the manner in which she tells us about the Battles of Franklin and Nashville. Most historians tend to make this to be a fatilistic "Last Hurrah" for the Confederate Army. Dr. Bailey shows that this part of the campaign had some chance of sucess, and the terrible casualties and defeat seem to rest squarely with Hood's poor tactics and command.

Dr. Bailey's research on Sherman show how terrible (and effective) his "March to the Sea" truly was, without the sensationalism that usually goes with this campaign.

This is a book you will read more than once, and certainly one that you will keep for reference. A really great read.

Anne J. Bailey's The Chessboard of War doesn't break any new ground on the subject that it covers, nor at only 181 pages does it make any attempt at being a comprehensive and detailed campaign study. Joseph T. Glatthaar and Burke Davis have written defining books on Sherman's March to the Sea, and Wiley Sword's The Confederacy's Last Hurrah is the definitive volume on Hood's 1864 fall campaign in Tennessee. So why read this book? In a word: perspective. Bailey has grasped the direct connection of Sherman's historic march through Georgia and Hood's desperate last ditch gamble offensive campaign in Tennessee, and has written about them together, as part of the same piece. Sending General Thomas and a portion of his army back to Tennessee to take care of Hood was a crucial element of Sherman's plan to march on Savannah. Bailey puts the pieces together, and assesses the success and failure of the players involved.
Bailey writes well and her book is a quick and easy read. While Chessboard does not cover its subject in great depth or provide any startling or controversial new takes on any of the commanders involved, it does serve as an excellent introduction to this material. It also provides continuity, allowing the reader to keep track of the two mighty armies that struggled for months over Atlanta, and see how their fates were still connected even after disentangling from each other and moving in separate directions.
I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in how the Civil War was won in the West. For the novice, it is a quick yet accurate introduction to the subject of Sherman's and Hood's 1864 Autumn campaigns, and for the more serious student it provides an excellent perspective that has not been much explored elsewhere.

Theo Logos

Bailey's Chessboard of War is the best accounting I have read of Sherman and Hood. The book is balanced, well written and objective. Its inclusion of the participation of black soldiers and the Sherman's slave camp followers was particularly welcomed. Although Bailey is from Cleburne TX and is an admirer of Patrick Cleburne she also gives George Thomas his due. Rarely is that done. An impressive piece of work.

This book is a very thorough and detailed account of two of the Civil Wars' most important and consequential campaigns, but sadly two campaigns about which relatively little has been written. Sherman's march to the sea and Hood's campaign into Tennessee destroyed the last hope for the Confederacy in the Deep South, and did much to undermine the confidence of Lee's army. Without Sherman's psychological victory over the Southern psyche, and without Hood's rash attacks on Franklin and Nashville, the war, at least in that theater, would probably have been prolonged for at least another year. Both men, in their own way, contributed to the war's ending, and this is one of Bailey's main focuses.

This book provides a detailed narrative of the operations of both generals, and discusses how the actions of each affected the other, as well as the ramifications of Hood and Sherman's respective movements. Sherman comes off looking quite well, though not perfect, while Hood comes across as a tragic sort of hero who was too impetuous for his own good. Through it all Bailey remains objective and fair, and provides the reader with a very good look at the "chessboard" of the late Civil War.

A gem -- no other word for it. In more than six decades of Civil War "buffdom," I've never seen a clearer, more complete, more reader-friendly book on any segment of that war. There is not an unnecessary word in it, but it leaves nothing unsaid. Truly a small masterpiece.

Bailey is the first author to point out the interconnectedness of Hood's Tennessee Campaign and Sherman's March to the Sea and does an excellent job of introducing both topics to the reader. This is by no means an exhaustive account of either, but that isn't the intention and you still walk away feeling like you understand how and why both came about and how and why they resulted the way they did.

For Hood's campaign, Bailey goes into a bit more detail as I believe she personally has studied this area more. She gives an excellent account of the campaign. I was especially interested in her treatment of the affair at Spring Hill. While most authors tend to blame Hood for the failure of the campaign overall, they often give him a pass on Spring Hill and state it was the fault of his subordinates. While Bailey says some of the generals in the field could have done better, she places the overall blame on Hood for not being clearer in his orders and not being on the field. Whether you agree with Bailey's conclusions or not, I give her credit for taking a stance that few other historians have taken.

As for the March to the Sea, Bailey's take is refreshing. As one other reviewer stated, she gives the details without going into dramatics or making Sherman out to be a monster. She gives the facts and I can appreciate that. I also found it interesting that Bailey places the blame for the affair at Ebenezer Creek squarely on the shoulders of Jefferson C. Davis whereas most other historians have usually gone after Sherman for that episode.

Overall, this is a good introduction to both campaigns and it is highly readable and well documented. The only reason I give this work 4 stars instead of 5 is because I felt the first few chapters really dragged. I almost put the book down because of the first 40 pages or so before it picked up.

In 1864, William T. Sherman took his army south into George in his march to the coast. John Bell Hood took his arm north into Tennessee. Sherman's march was successful in rolling back the enemy and destroying all that lay before it, ending with the destruction of Atlanta. Hood's march ended in catastrophic defeat at Franklin and Nashville. These two campaigns occurred simultaneously and conducted the main fighting in the Civil War's western theater. For the first time, associate professor of history at George College & State University Anne Bailey has created an extensive analysis of both campaigns and assesses how the military events in Georgia and Tennessee intertwined and affected the political, social, and economic conditions in those two states and throughout the nation in a single volume. The Chessboard Of War is a superbly written and much appreciated contribution to the growing library of Civil War studies.

Bailey provides a compact and highly competent study of the post Atlanta campaign with Hood sparing well with Sherman initially then turning north in his great desperate gamble while Sherman marches through the heart of Georgia virtually unopposed except for Wheeler's undermanned cavalry. Bailey captures the strategy and politics very well with a big picture view of the situation. She captures the odd situation of Hood going in one direction with Sherman in the other. Hood, the great fighter seemingly moves without consultation although Beauregard is placed as the department commander by Davis, which had as much control as Johnson had of Vicksburg in that campaign. Bailey captures the desperation of Hoods movement with failed logistics, supplies and a virtual mythical expectation of troops from the TransMississippi. Bailey covers the hopes and political implications of a Lincoln re-election that is fascinating. She also details, with his movements, Sherman's desire to subjugate the south along with his views on black troops and the infamous desertion of black followers by union Jefferson C. Davis. The controversial failure to close the trap at Spring Hill is well discussed as well as the tragic battle of Franklin and the battles of Nashville where the outnumbered Confederates put up a desperate fight to total collapse redeeming General Thomas. The Nashville desciption of battle is economically told but captures the main aspects particularly recognizing the first use of black union troops in battle who fought bravely but were initially sacraficed in a desperate ill perceived frontal attack. A very well written book that gives a highly competent overview of the final campaign of Hood, Thomas, Sherman and President Davis as far as a real confederate threat in the west. In her efficient writing style, Bailey closes with a very good but brief study of the post war controversies between the generals and politicians.

...but were afraid to ask. Plus: succinctly presented politics of war -- And a cat and mouse Civil War story that draws one in with thrills and chills -- All the more so, because it's true.

In this story by Dr. Bailey, the truth of war is presented deftly, with all its sounds and imagery; the flowing conversational manner in which told was a helpful buffer for this reader, who usually finds stories of this travesty particularily impersonal, and therefore a lonely experience to endure. But here, this reader learned with fascination more than anything else.