Men of Fire: Grant, Forrest, and the Campaign That Decided the Civil War

Men of Fire: Grant, Forrest, and the Campaign That Decided the Civil War

by Jack Hurst
Men of Fire: Grant, Forrest, and the Campaign That Decided the Civil War

Men of Fire: Grant, Forrest, and the Campaign That Decided the Civil War

by Jack Hurst

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Overview

Deep in the winter of 1862, on the border between Kentucky and Tennessee, two extraordinary military leaders faced each other in an epic clash that would transform them both and change the course of American history forever. Brigadier General Ulysses S. Grant had no significant military successes to his credit. He was barely clinging to his position within the Union Army-he had been officially charged with chronic drunkenness only days earlier, and his own troops despised him. His opponent was as untested as he was: an obscure lieutenant colonel named Nathan Bedford Forrest. Forrest was a slaveholder, Grant a closet abolitionist-but the two men held one thing in common: an unrelenting desire for victory at any cost. After ten days of horrific battle, Grant emerged victorious. He had earned himself the nickname "Unconditional Surrender" for his fierce prosecution of the campaign, and immediately became a hero of the Union Army. Forrest retreated, but he soon re-emerged as a fearsome war machine and guerrilla fighter. His reputation as a brilliant and innovative general survives to this day. But Grant had already changed the course of the Civil War. By opening the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers to the Union Army, he had split Dixie in two. The confederacy would never recover. A riveting account of the making of two great military leaders, and two battles that transformed America forever, Men of Fire is destined to become a classic work of military history.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780465008476
Publisher: Basic Books
Publication date: 09/23/2008
Sold by: Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format: eBook
Pages: 464
File size: 6 MB

About the Author

Jack Hurst is a historian and former journalist who has written for newspapers including the Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer, and Nashville Tennessean. His books include Nathan Bedford Forrest: A Biography, and Men of Fire. A native of Maryville, Tennessee and a descendant of both Union and Confederate soldiers, he currently lives with his wife outside Nashville, Tennessee.

Table of Contents


List of Illustrations xiii Glossary of Participants xv Requiem 1 Part I Reconnaissance
1 Fall-Early Winter, 1861-1862: The City of Mud 5
2 Fall-Early Winter, 1861-1862: Bowling Green 15
3 Soldier Reborn: Grant 22
4 Soldier Born: Forrest 31
5 September 4-November 7, 1861: Grant at Paducah and Belmont 37
6 November 8, 1861: East Tennessee Erupts 49
7 December 28, 1861: Forrest at Sacramento 51
8 January 19, 1862: Mill Springs, Kentucky 55
9 False Starts and a Real One 67 Part II Fort Henry
10 February 3-5, 1862: Grant and Foote 75
11 The Gunboats: Rodgers and Foote-and Kountz 87
12 To February 3: Grant, Halleck, and Fate 97
13 Fort Henry to Late Morning of February 6: The Confederates 106
14 February 6, Late Morning: Attack 115
15 Assailed and Assailants, Early Afternoon 122
16 Victors and Vanquished, February 6: Late Afternoon and Evening 130
17 After-Battle Observations 134
18 Forrest, Early February: Hopkinsville 137
19 Hungering for Victory: Grant and Halleck 140
20 Consequences: February 7, Into the Heart of Dixie 147
21 February 7-10: Grant and "The Crisis of the War in the West" 150
22 Digesting Disaster: The Confederates, February 7-8 160
23 Casting the Die: Grant, February 10-12 172 Part III "Battle for Nashville": Fort Donelson
24 Wednesday, February 12, Grant: Getting There 183
25 Through February 12, Donelson's Leaders: A Very Mixed Bag 193
26 Thursday, February 13: Bloody False Starts and a Cold North Wind 204
27 Friday, February 14, Forrest: "Parson, For God's Sake, Pray" 220
28 Saturday,February 15, Morning: Commanders Misjudged 232
29 Early Afternoon: Grant, Pillow, and Disaster in the Balance 259
30 Sunday, February 16: A White Rag Rebuffed 293 Part IV Spoils
31 February 16, Forrest Leaving: "Damn Your Judgment" 323
32 February 16, Nashville Under the Gun: "A Perfect Panic" 325
33 Monday, February 17, Nashville and Fort Donelson: Fear and Misery 333
34 February 18-21, Union and Confederate: Consequences 338
35 February 18-24, Forrest in Nashville: "Ruin at Every Step" 347
36 February 16-March 13, Grant-Halleck: "Enemys Between You and Myself" 355
37 Mid-March, Harvest of Donelson: A Military Governor 369
38 February 23-Onward; Forrest, "Come On, Boys" 373
39 Early March 1862, Grant: "Hope to Make a New Subject Soon" 376 Part V Aftermaths 381 Notes 395 Bibliography 419 Acknowledgments 425 Index 427
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