Customer Reviews

A Deep Steady Thunder: The Battle of Chickamauga (Civil War Campaigns and Commanders Series)

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This book written by revisionist historian Woodworth is a somewhat detailed outline of the battle with a few scattered biographical sketches of the leading generals. This short monograph is more like a detailed pamphlet than a book. The information in this book can be found elsewhere and it adds little or nothing to the history of the battle. A Deep Steady Thunder might be useful as a brief overview of the battle but a quick internet search shows many other resources available for free. Unless purchasing this monograph used for a few dollars it's not worth it.

The author deals with Chickamauga at the division/brigade level. This makes it easy for the reader to follow this complex battle over the three days it was fought. My only compliant was the Confederate Order of Battle in the appendix. B. Johnson's Division is missing completely, which includes the brigades of Gregg, McNair and Fulton. A good introduction to a reader who knows little about this battle. The maps are very well done, and add an important tool in describing this complex battle.

A Deep and Steady Thunder: The Battle of Chickamaugua, Steven E. Woodworth, McWhiney Foundation Press,134 pp., order of battle, bibliography, index, 1996 and 2006,$11.95.

Steven Woodworth does a fine job of explaining one of the Civil War's most tactically complex battles. The Battle of Chickamauga, which was fought September 18-20 1863 fought, northern Georgia's dark forests with few farm clearings, includes a multitude of intentional and unintentional flanking attacks ordered by confused commanders with limited tactical control. It was a battle fought largely by brigades, regimental and company commanders. Chickamauga, though as important as Gettysburg, has not generated the wealth of campaign and battle studies. Glenn Tucker's Chickamauga, published during the Civil War centennial and Peter Cozzen's 1992 This Terrible Sound are the only two notable campaign and battle studies.

Woodworth has nicely crafted a concise, clear narrative for readers who are approaching the battle for the first or second time. Containing 21 short biographical descriptions and 13 maps, A Deep Steady Thunder moves from general staff to regimental levels in a quick fashion. Woodworth is direct in his criticism of Confederate commanders resistance to Bragg's sound and appropriate plans and Rosercans exhaustion induced confusion that is reminiscent of Jackson's Seven Days on the Peninsula in 1862. Woodworth's description of Longstreet as being arrogant, self-promoting and envious of Bragg's position seems to be a bit over the top. Another book from the McWhiney Press offers a heavy handed demolition of Longstreet during the Chickamauga, Chattanooga and Knoxville campaigns of 1863.

The strength of Woodworth's effort is his handling of the command decisions which limited the Confederate's successes and brought about the Federals defeat. As divisions, brigades and regiments move back and forth through the wilderness and cornfields confusion sometimes reigns. Fortunately, Woodworth has sorted through a multitude of assaults, retreats, and counter-attacks to provide a clear and even suspenseful accounting of plans gone awry. Rosecran's movement of brigades that led to gaps in the Federal line on the 20th are clearly described. The important arrivals of Longstreet's Confederate corps and Granger's Federal reserve division are nicely described and their importance to the outcome of the battle is well developed by Woodworth.

Within the limits of 100 pages, Woodworth offers tight and thorough introduction to the Battle of Chickamauga; for those who are visiting for the first time the battlefield it is a fine place to start. For the armchair reader who is unfamiliar with the 'Gettysburg of the West' A Deep Steady Thunder offers good introduction.

The Battle of Chickamauga was very confused as the action unfolded, with commanders often unable to keep track of or direct their various units. I have read nearly all books on this battle and find their accounts equally confusing as major movements of troops are mixed in with much detail and anecdote. After finishing these, I was left with poor understanding of the overall flow of the battle. The author of this book presents in clear, crisp prose the chronology and development of battle without elaboration and leaves the reader with an excellent, unambiguous framework that greatly facilitates understanding more complex works on Chickamauga. It is easy, fast-moving reading; I finished it in 2 sittings. I was impressed enough with the book that I have ordered 5 other books in this series; Vicksburg, 2nd Manassas, Pea Ridge, Antietam, and Wilderness. If they are equally well-written, I offer kudos to the publisher for clarity and simplicity. Since George Thomas is well-known by Civil War enthusiasts for his heroic stand on the second day and indeed his exemplary service throughout the entire War, the cursory treatment of his actions does not seriously detract from the work.

Woodworth would have benefited from a visit to the Chickamauga visitor's center and a look at resident historian Jim Ogden's maps. He does not give Thomas proper credit for preventing disaster both before and during the battle, and, at the very end of the book, couldn't resist putting in a plug for the "quiet man, with an unassuming self-confidence...Ulysses S. Grant."