Shrouds of Glory - From Atlanta to Nashville: The Last Great Campaign of the Civil War [Hardcover]

Winston Groom (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1995

The author of Forrest Gump recreates the brave, desperate campaign of Confederate General John Bell Hood to turn the tide of war, from the fall of Atlanta to the tragic climax at Nashville. 40,000 first printing.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This well-written narrative makes a revisionist argument that the Confederacy's desperate offensive against Nashville in the winter of 1864-1865 was more than a manifestation of General John Bell Hood's incompetence. Groom argues that Hood took his Army of Tennessee north because President Jefferson Davis demanded an aggressive military policy to avoid the South's being worn down in stages. Groom's analysis of Union and Confederate strategies is solid, and his sketches of the principal commanders, including less familiar figures like Confederate Frank Chestham and the Union's John Schofield, are perceptive. His accounts of the slaughter of Hood's men at Franklin and their overrunning at Nashville by the Union forces of George Thomas convey the horror of Civil War battlefields without sacrificing narrative clarity. An excellent introduction to a complex campaign.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Arguably the most interesting campaign of the Civil War is Confederate Gen. John Bell Hood's quixotic invasion of Tennessee in the war's final months. The story is retold here by Groom, author of Forrest Gump (LJ 3/1/86) and coauthor with Duncan Spencer of Conversations with the Enemy: The Story of PFC Robert Garwood (LJ 7/83). Despite the promising conjunction of author and subject, the product is a bit disappointing. The first half is more a collective biography of the commanders than a narrative of the campaign; since they were mostly in the western theater throughout the war, it reads like a fast-forward history of those events. When the narrative finally begins, Groom is strongest on command decisions, particularly on the Confederate side. The book of choice on this subject remains Wiley Sword's Embrace an Angry Wind: The Confederacy's Last Hurrah (LJ 1/92).?Fritz Buckallew, Univ. of Central Oklahoma Lib., Edmond
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 312 pages
• Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press; 1st edition (April 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0871135914
• ISBN-13: 978-0871135919
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #464,723 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars History Comes To Life, March 10, 2000

By 

Robert C. Carroll (Homewood, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shrouds of Glory: From Atlanta to Nashville: The Last Great Campaign of the Civil War (Paperback)

As a high school history teacher and Civil War Buff, I am always looking for ways to bring the deeds and accomplishments of history to life for an audience with open hostility for the topic. This book accomplishes this next-to-impossible task. Groom writes with the prose of a novelist (no surprise), the research of a scholar (surprise)and a genuine love for and interest in the subject matter. One of the most fascinating non-fiction books I have even read, complete with excellent maps and interesting photographs.

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hood's last hurrah - Gen. George Thomas's vindication, May 6, 2000

By 

Bill Newcomer (Ada, MI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shrouds of Glory: From Atlanta to Nashville: The Last Great Campaign of the Civil War (Paperback)

Shrouds of Glory does an efficent job of laying out John Bell Hood's last hurrah at a little known, but crucial battle of the Civil War. What may not be so well known is that the Battle of Nashville in December of 1864 was also the vindication of the Union General George "Pap" Thomas, (who by the way was originally from Virginia).

Linclon & Grant had their doubts about Thomas's waiting game at Nashville. The orders to relieve him of command were on the the way when Thomas unleashed the Union attack and the resulting disaster to the Confederate Army of Tennesee vindicated his patience. Sherman said the Battle of Nashville was the only battle of the Civil War where a whole army ceased to exist after the fight.

If Hood was desperate to make a break through, and he was, as Groom has laid out. Thomas was just as determined to close the door once and for all. I appreciated how this book laid out the events leading up to that battle.

Just as a side note, one of the Union regiments at Nashville was the Ohio 182nd Infantry. In that regiment was my great-grandfather, Sgt. George Debolt Newcomer.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent history about later civil war battles., January 11, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Shrouds of Glory - From Atlanta to Nashville: The Last Great Campaign of the Civil War (Hardcover)

I would have rated this book much higher had it not been for two reasons: 1. It took almost half the book for it to get really engrossing and 2. At times I had the feeling, especially in the first half, that the author favored the South and so was biased in some of his reporting. However, once the story got to the Battle of Franklin the narrative had a quick flow to it and was so compelling I could not put it down. Some of the gruesome depiction of war dead is so vivid that even a week later it sticks in my mind. I also question some of Mr. Groom's beliefs about what happened. At one point he makes a statement that leads you to believe that 1. the war was a big mistake and 2. the North was the aggressor. The statement is that "the war, by far the most destructive to human life of all America's wars, produced 600,000 casualties while freeing 3 million slaves." If Mr. Groom thinks the sole reason for the war was to free the slaves and not to preserve the union he is sadly mistaken. I think intellectually he knows better, but that old bias seems to constantly get the better of him. Still I would call this one of the great books about the war, in spite of the criticisms, because when all is said and done, it is still a great read. It ranks up there with books like "The Killer Angels."