Customer Reviews

The Shipwreck of Their Hopes: The Battles for Chattanooga (Civil War Trilogy)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This review could apply to all of Cozzin's Trilogy on important battles that have been largely overlooked ( Stone's River, Chickamauga, Chattanooga ). The author takes great care in describing the military and political movements that led up to the battles themselves as well as the aftermath. Consequently, there is a good flow from one book to the next. The reader can easily follow the progress of armies, corps, divisions, and brigades, along with their leaders, from Perryville to Missionary Ridge.

The battles themselves are presented in great detail, down to the regimental and sometimes company level. In the first two battles especially, Cozzins emphasizes the fact that many tactical decisions were made at levels far below the high command. While this added much to the confused fighting on both sides, it also demonstrates the difference that a skilled commander like General Grant can make in an army's success. After reading many other books on the Chatanooga campaign, I was never clear on the exact route of the "Cracker Line" or the movement of Hooker's and Sherman's troops to the field of battle. This book leaves no doubt. I agree with the legion of other readers in their criticism of the quality and quantity of maps. I found myself hunting through the books to find maps which displayed the movements and stages of battle described in text and was often left disappointed.

Thumbnail bios on the major participants are provided in what seem to be the most appropriate spots in the books without distracting the reader from the overall flow. Cozzins is highly critical of Bragg, Rosecrans, Longstreet, Hooker, and (deservedly) the Confederacy's Jefferson Davis. It's no wonder that both sides simply wasted men and materials in accomplishing nothing until Grant and Sherman appeared on the scene, although the stabilizing influence of George Thomas - the "Rock of Chickamauga" - deserves to be cast in a more favorable light. Personalities and even personality conflicts, notably that which existed between Grant and Thomas and between Bragg and everybody, are emphasized. The reader is left with an awareness of how individuals' traits can affect the outcome of war.

It is small wonder that the first two, essentially drawn, battles have escaped the scrutiny of most authors, but Chattanooga was one of the major turning points of the war. It lifted the depression in the North which followed the fiasco at Chickamauga and, as the title implies, cost the Confederacy its last hope of survival. The battle elevated Grant to supreme command after Lincoln could no longer ignore the fact that his finest general was the quiet man in the West. And the concentration of Union forces at Chattanooga provided the makings of Sherman's well-documented triumphs in Georgia and beyond.

All in all, an essential trilogy for understanding the campaign in eastern Tennessee.

Cozzen has produced the comprehensive tome on the battle of Chattanooga. All the information you need to understand the flow of battle as well as the political intriguing that helped to shape the results is here. What is mostly lacking is a spark of life, or a sense of being there. With a few exceptions, Cozzen's battle descriptions have more of the feel of a wargame played out on a map than the chaotic, life and death struggle that it surely was. For those who have an interest in the battle, you should have this book, for reference, if for nothing else. Be aware that it is dry, and more of a book that you must work at to get to its virtues than a thrilling read. I would only recommend this book to those with a serious interest in the battle of Chattanooga, but for them, it is a must have.

Theo Logos

Cozzens has written a fine, detailed exposition of the Chattanooga campaign that is meticulous enough to satisfy most Civil War buffs. At the same time, the author properly emphasizes that personalities and political realities significantly shaped military decisions and their outcomes.

Cozzens has done a fine job of including appropriate quotations from the diaries and letters of enlisted men as well as the often self-serving declarations that lard official reports; and he makes what seems to me to be sound evaluations of the various generals and their comportment during this campaign.

The plethora of characters who charge and retreat across the battlefields can sometimes numb the non-expert, and I'm not a fan of regularly using nicknames such as "the Tennessean" or "the Irishman" simply to avoid repeating proper names. Although the maps are good, a few more would have been helpful.

"The Shipwreck of their Hopes", by Peter Cozzen is about the Civil War battle(s) at Chattanooga and is part of a trilogy written by Cozzen about the Civil War in Tennessee.
The other two books are about the Battles of Stone's River and Chickamauga.
Cozzen does a very fine job of presenting his subject with clarity and balance. Just as laudable, he shows the events and characters from a variety of angles, an element that brings an informative and comfortable "reality" to them. It is an engrossing style that brings the reader along on an entertaining and enlightening review of one of the most momentous several days of the Civil War.

This is a good read for anyone interested in this Battle. Peter Cozzins is a writer who makes it easy to follow the story. What I like about his writting is he starts the story a little before the battle letting you know the situation in both armies and how they entered the battle. His describtion of the battle is very informative and a easy read . also like his describtion of the aftermath of the battle. I've just purchased his book on the battle of Stones River because of this book. Also have read his other book This Terrible Sound.Very good books.

Shipwreck of their Hopes is a fine finish to this very important trilogy about the key Battles in the West. While it "suffers" from the same flaws as the first two books, and does require that one actually use ones brain when reading, it more than makes up for these "flaws" by the very high level of detail.

The three books, when put together, are a comprehensive history and a definite read for anyone who wants to be able to understand the Civil War.

Cozzens' book on an overlooked battle contains excellent descriptions of the battle and how the campaign contributed to the end of the Civil War.

Cozzens does a good job of describing the battle from the point of view of both officers and the common soldier - the reader can sense the desperation of both sides as the Union Army fights starvation while the Rebel Army suffers from strained relationships between its generals.

The reasons I did not give the book a 5-star was because of the lack of maps and pictures. While I had no problem reading through the details of the battle and campaign, I would like to have seen more maps (the ones in the book are well-drawn, but too few) and illustrations (having more pictures would add a more personal touch to a well-written book).

Complaints aside, I recommend the book as the best summary of the Chattanooga Campaign!

Finally someone has explained, accessably, why the Chattanooga siege lasted so long. A brilliant cap to Peter's Middle Tennessee series. I hope he can concentrate now on Tullahoma.

I was eagerly looking forward to this book with great anticipation, especially when I got the first two books written by Peter Cozzens describing the Army of Tennessee in it's campaigns from Stones River to Chickamauga and then finally the terrible fighting at Chattanooga. I think the author needs to keep up his research for other campaigns by this Army in the Civil War, starting with it's first battles at the end of 1861, and on to Shiloh and then the Kentucky campaign. Then I'd be able to truly say that Peter Cozzens is the leading expert on the Army of Tennessee. Especially if he comes out with a book that has the Atlanta campaigns in the same vivid detail that his three books have done. You get to see the men among their regiments on both sides as they deal with their part of the struggle. Good job, and keep up the good work!

After the near disastrous Union defeat at Chickamauga, the northern forces retreated to Chattanooga. Confederate troops encircled the city and held key heights. This book examines the situation from the beginning of the siege to the final Union victory.

We get a taste of the key figures in the fighting, including the internecine warfare among Confederate generals, with the tension between James Longstreet and Braxton Bragg being a fine example. On the Union side, General Rosecrans, after his defeat at Chickamauga, was finally relieved and General George Thomas ("the rock of Chickamauga" took over). To break the siege, the Union sent forces under Joseph Hooker (two corps from the Army of the Potomac) and forces under William T. Sherman. Overall command? Ulysses Grant was sent to Chattanooga to orchestrate an end to the siege.

The book covers in fine detail the breaking of the Confederate line to open "the Cracker Line" and end the serious food shortage afflicting the Union command. It discusses the near thing, when Hooker allowed his forces to become separated--but recovering to hold their line. Then, we see Sherman's inability to win the struggle at Tunnel Hill; we experience "the battle above the clouds," in which a ragtag force, with troops from a number of commands, capturing Lookout Mountain. Finally, the surge against Missionary Ridge where, seemingly against the odds, Thomas' forces scaled the heights and sent Bragg's army to flight.

Nicely detailed. The writing is functional but does not sing. There are enough maps to give a sense of the layout of the fighting. At the end of the text is the "order of battle," so the reader can keep straight to forces under each command. If interested in the fighting at Chattanooga, this is a good resource.