Knoxville 1863 [Paperback]

Dick Stanley (Author), D. Ann Davis (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 20, 2010

Lovers of historical fiction will find much to ponder in the 1863 Confederate siege of Knoxville, Tennessee. President Lincoln considered Union victory there a key to winning the Civil War. The siege and its battle of Fort Sanders involved some of the war's most famous personalities and units. They are brought to life from available histories, diaries and memoirs: Gen. James Longstreet (Gen. Lee's "Warhorse") and his First Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia---including Barksdale's Mississippi Brigade, and Parker's Boy Battery of the Sixth Virginia Artillery. Gen. Ambrose Burnside, whose Ninth Corps hopes rested with Lt. Samuel Benjamin's Second U.S. Artillery, and the Seventy-Ninth New York Cameron Highlanders. At stake: Control of the Smoky Mountains railroad hub which produced rifles, ammunition, and clothing for the Confederate armies. Could the Union keep it when the ragged and starving Rebels outnumbered them ten to one?

Editorial Reviews

Review

"I've long considered Michael and Jeff Shaara's Civil War trilogy to be one of the benchmarks for Civil War historical fiction. Knoxville 1863 came very close to that mark." --Jim Chambers for Red Adept Reviews --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

About the Author

Dick Stanley has been writing short fiction, poetry and journalism since he was a child. "Knoxville 1863" is his debut novel. He is a lifelong student of the Civil War and a retired, award-winning daily newspaper staff writer in Austin, TX. He has a BA in English from the University of Maryland and did postgraduate work in Journalism at Marshall University in West Virginia. A native of Sumter, South Carolina, Dick grew up throughout the U.S., Europe and the Middle East. He is a former Army captain and an infantry combat veteran of the Vietnam war. He is also the author of "Leaving The Alamo, Texas Stories After Vietnam." His current project is a non-fiction book on the Texas origins of weather radar.

Product Details

• Paperback: 230 pages
• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (February 20, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1451580312
• ISBN-13: 978-1451580310
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,008,240 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I've been writing fiction, poetry and journalism since I was a child. I'm a retired, daily newspaper staff writer in Austin, TX. I have a BA in English from the University of Maryland and did postgraduate work in Journalism at Marshall University in West Virginia.

As an Air Force brat, I grew up throughout the U.S., Europe and the Middle East. I'm a former Army captain and an infantry combat veteran of the Vietnam war. My novel "The Butterfly Rose" and short-story collection "Leaving the Alamo, Texas Stories After Vietnam" are based on my war experiences, those of close friends, and informed imagination.

I'm a descendant of Confederates on both sides of my family, and thus have been a lifelong student of the Civil War. My novel "Knoxville 1863" is dedicated to my great grandfather, a rifleman in the Thirteenth Mississippi Infantry Regiment. But it's as much history as fiction, drawn as it is from the few histories, memoirs, letters and diaries of the survivors of one of the war's least-known fights, the Battle of Fort Sanders. An addendum to the novel is available at Knoxville1863 dot com. My current writing project is a non-fiction regimental history of the Thirteenth Mississippi, a work-in-progress you can follow at 13thMississippi dot com.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Knoxville, 1863 May 26, 2010

By Alice M. Dinizo

Format:Kindle Edition

Dick Stanley has crafted a well-written, well-researched book about the Battle of Knoxville, Tennessee, one of the lesser known battles of the American Civil War.
This is not a novel for the faint-hearted as the battle is described accurately in vivid, brutal, and graphic detail, which to this reviewer, is welcome, as the American Civil War was fought in the backyards, main streets and side alleys of our country, not on staged battlefields.The preparations for conflict, memories of former battles, and the sufferings, starvation, personal losses of the Confederate and Union troops are told by well-drawn characters such as Bird Clark of the Mississippi Confederate Army and by Private Burton Laing, a Scottish immigrant, fighting for the Union with the Cameron Highlanders. A Confederate widow, Leila Ellis, who is actually a Union sympathizer, plays a convincing role throughout the novel. This book is a must-read for all who consider themselves interested in the tragic history of the American Civil War.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book about a little-known battle May 13, 2010

By Claude Cooper

Format:Paperback

I'm a retired Army officer who has always been very interested in the civil war. I think I can say that I've read extensively about it. I've taught at the Army's Command and General Staff College and at the University level as a Professor of Military Science. I've also served two combat tours. To my knowlege, there has been very little written about the role Knoxville played in the war, nor about the battle at Fort Sanders. Stanley has certainly filled that gap with this book,and done so in fine style. Though little is known about the confrontation at Fort Sanders between the troops under Longstreet and Burnside, the battle was certainly not insignificant. Many lives were lost, and it would make an excellent example in any study of leadership. Stanley has obviously done a great deal of research in developing this story. He has shown that he is a knowlegeable historian as well as an effective story-teller. I found nothing to question from the historical perspective. He uses a few fictional characters to narrate the story, but the leaders and key figures are historical. Through the narration and dialogue, he gives the reader, in my view (as one who has seen situations in which I was not sure if I would see the next day), realistic insights into the minds of soldiers anticipating the big battle, each man believing that his side would be victorious but knowing that he could die within the next few hours. Stanley's use of the various dialects in the narrations and conversations is interesting and adds realism. Other writers and historians have touched on this battle, but I'm not aware of any who have addressed it in this depth. For that reason, and because it is well written, I believe that this is an important novel that will be appreciated by civil war buffs and enjoyed by anyone.
Well done, Dick Stanley.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A Battle In The Round May 16, 2010

By James D. Miller VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

By late November 1863 the fate of East Tennessee was held in the balance. A detachment from the Army of Northern Virginia under Lieutenant General James Longstreet was sent to Knoxville to prevent the Union Army of the Ohio under Ambrose Burnside from moving to support the Union forces at Chattanooga who were besieged by Braxton Bragg's Confederate Army of Tennessee.

Union Engineers constructed several bastioned earthwork fortifications around Knoxville. One of these was Fort Sanders. Directly west of town, it was a salient in the line of earthworks which surrounded Knoxville on three sides. The fort was protected by a ditch that was twelve feet wide and eight feet deep with a vertical wall of red clay that rose nearly fifteen feet above the ditch.

It is during this time and at this place that Dick Stanley has set his second book, the appropriately named novel, "Knoxville 1863." Mr. Stanley has taken a unique approach to telling the story of Longstreet's failed attack on Fort Sanders. His narrative follows the linear chronology of the attack on and defense of the fort, but the story is told from several different view points: inside and outside the fort, civilian and soldier, from both the Union and Confederate points of view. This method of storytelling is both the novel's greatest asset, as well as its greatest weakness, as it gives Mr. Stanley's readers a multilayered understanding of what is happening at all points, but there is no one central character to follow through the narrative, which can overwhelm and loose its reader.

In his afterward, Mr. Stanley, takes the time to point out the real historical characters and summarizes what became of them. He also includes a brief discussion of the sources he used in researching the novel. Mr. Stanley has certainly done his homework; his novel rests on a solid foundation of historical facts. It is well written & a joy to read.