Chattanooga: A Death Grip on the Confederacy

Rating:
Summary: Chattanooga is an excellent study of the crucial battle.
Review:

James Lee McDonough comes through with flying colors. Chattanooga -- A Death Grip on the Confederacy depicts the Union and Confederate struggle for the strategic city in the fall of 1863. McDonough begins his book with the climax of the Battle of Chickamauga Creek, a Union defeat that leads to a retreat to Chattanooga and the removal of General Rosecrans. The next chapters depict the Union and Confederte operations, including the arrival of Generals Grant and Sherman for the North and the bickering within the Confederate camp.

McDonough's depiction of the troop movements and battles are insightful and supported with several maps. The details of the battle are drawn from diaries and official records of both Union and Confederate sources. It is a plus that McDonough manages to keep a neutral tone throughout the book, analyzing both the reasons for Union success and Confederate failure.

Strategy and tactics are not the only point McDonough is trying to make. He does and excellent job of bringing to life the feelings and emotions of some of the common soldiers involved on both sides. The narrative flows well and is entertaining. Chattanooga is an easy read for both the scholar and the layman.

Rating:
Summary: Thorough and Entertaining
Review: Having just read James M. McPhereson's Battle Cry Freedom, I was anxious to read a Civil War battle history. This was a good choice.

McDonough provides an engaging narative of the battle. He tells of the friction between Bragg and his generals and how it affected Confederate efforts on the battlefield. He gives a detailed and thorough analysis of the battle for Missionary Ridge, explaining why the Union's assault was successful when Pickett's Charge at Gettysburgh, a similar assault, was not.

There are many maps - more than I expected in a book this length. However, in my opinion, there cannot be too many maps.

Rating:
Summary: Competent military history
Review: This competent military history of the Chattanooga campaign is organized in a supremely logical fashion, and its literary merit is above average if no challenge to Bruce Catton or James McPherson. McDonough occasionally seems puzzled by emotions that the war generated, and his attempts to humanize the campaign are sometimes lame. For instance, he treats professed reliance upon God as a sign of weakness.