The Meanest and 'Damnest' Job: Being the Civil War Exploits and Civilian Accomplishments of Colonel Edmund Winchester Rucker During and After the War

by Michael P. Rucker

Overview

Most Civil War histories focus on the performance of top-level generals. However, it was the individual officers below them who actually led the troops to enact the orders. Some of these were remarkably effective. One such officer was Edmund Winchester Rucker. He was a force to be reckoned with, both during the Civil War and in his post-war business ventures. He was courageous, tough and resourceful, and achieved significant results in every assignment. During the campaign by the United States Army to capture the upper Mississippi River, Rucker and his faithful Confederate artillerists, with only three operable cannons, held off the entire Federal fleet which possessed 105 heavy guns. Later, in East Tennessee, Rucker’s duties included punishing saboteurs and conscripting unwilling local citizens into the Confederate Army. He described these assignments as: “The meanest and damnest [sic] duty a soldier had to perform.” Following the battles for Chattanooga, he served with General Nathan Bedford Forrest as a cavalry brigade commander, earning high merits for his performance. Rucker’s leadership was a major factor in the Confederate victory in the Battle of Brices Cross Roads, which has been called “History’s Greatest Cavalry Battle.” Subsequent to the Battle of Nashville, Rucker was wounded and captured; although his left arm was amputated, this did not impede his future achievements. After the war, Colonel Rucker and General Forrest became business partners in a railroad-building project. Rucker did well from this venture and became one of the wealthiest early entrepreneurs in Birmingham. In recognition of his many accomplishments, Fort Rucker Alabama was named in his honor. This first biography on his life examines, at a fast-moving pace, the military and business accomplishments of this outstanding leader who left his mark on both the Civil War and Southern industry of the time.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781588383822
Publisher:	NewSouth Books
Publication date:	08/15/2019
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	1,085,597
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

MICHAEL P. RUCKER, a Civil War enthusiast since his high school days, calls Virginia his home despite residing in Peoria, Illinois for much of his adult life. He is a lecturer on the War Between the States and conducted research for The Meanest and 'Damnest' Job for fifteen years. Mike is also the author of 20 children’s books and a book about the exploits of Dr. William Parks Rucker entitled Bridge Burner. Mike was married to a Rucker family fourth cousin, Harriet, who passed away November 2016 after 42 years of beautiful marriage. His son Derek and his daughter-in-law Diane live with their three daughters—Brianna, Fiona, and Sabrina—in Apple Valley, Minnesota.

MICHAEL P. RUCKER, a Civil War enthusiast since his high school days, calls Virginia his home despite residing in Peoria, Illinois for much of his adult life. He is a lecturer on the War Between the States and conducted research for The Meanest and 'Damnest' Job for fifteen years. Mike is also the author of 20 children’s books and a book about the exploits of Dr. William Parks Rucker entitled Bridge Burner. Mike was married to a Rucker family fourth cousin, Harriet, who passed away November 2016 after 42 years of beautiful marriage. His son Derek and his daughter-in-law Diane live with their three daughters—Brianna, Fiona, and Sabrina—in Apple Valley, Minnesota.

Table of Contents

Maps vii

Significant Dates in the Life of Edmund Winchester Rucker ix

Preface xi

Introduction 3

1 A Self-Trained Engineer 5

2 Tennessee Prepares for War 8

3 Fortifying the Mighty Mississippi 15

4 Occupying Columbus: A Strategic Error 22

5 The Kentucky Pro-U.S. 'Neutrality' 26

6 Grant Takes the Initiative-Seizes Paducah 32

7 Fort DeRussy-'Gibraltar of the West' 38

8 The Inconclusive Battle of Belmont - 'Seeing the Elephant' 47

9 The Horrifie Lady Polk Calamity-She was No 'Lady' 57

10 Forts Henry and Donelson-Who's in Charge? 60

11 The Abandonment of Fort DeRussy-'Goodbye Columbus' 71

12 Fortifying Island Number 10-A Soggy Sandbar 75

13 The Construction of Rucker's Redan 79

14 The Bombardment of Rucker's Redan-Three Cannons Hold Off 105 83

15 The Abandonment of New Madrid and the Surrender of Island Number 10 93

16 'Bloody Shiloh' and the Retreat to Corinth 103

17 Rucker Assigned to East Tennessee 108

18 Braxton Bragg and Kirby Smith Invade Kentucky 112

19 Martial Law: 'The Meanest and 'Damnest' Job' 116

20 Rucker Not Re-elected as an Officer by His Men 123

21 Rosecrans vs. Bragg-Two Procrastinators 128

22 Rucker Provides the Rear Guard in the Evacuation of Chattanooga 135

23 Chickamauga-Bragg Snatches Defeat from the Jaws of Victory 141

24 Chattanooga-'Grant Sprang like a Caged Lion' 145

25 Rucker (Finally) Assigned to Serve with Forrest 149

26 The Battle of Brices Cross Roads-'The Greatest of All Cavalry Battles' 154

27 The Battle of Tupelo-Confederate Lack of Coordination 168

28 Rucker Returns to Duty-and Controversy 174

29 'See the Boat Come 'Round the Bend'-The Horse Marines 176

30 The Cannonade of Johnsonville-A 'Baby Waker!' 183

31 Onward to Nashville-and Disaster 191

32 The Battle of Nashville-Confederate Misfortune 200

33 Prisoner of War 208

34 Forrest Calls It Quits 215

35 After the War-Railroad Boom and Bust-and Boom Again 219

36 From Railroad Builder to Pig Iron Magnate 229

Appendices

A Tennessee Declaration of Independence and Ordinance 237

B Military Organization and Rank 238

C Forts Named DeRussy 240

D Johnsons Island Military Prison 241

E Forrest's Farewell Address to His Troops 242

F That Matter of Rank for Rucker-and a Final Conundrum 244

Bibliography 250

Notes 266

Image Credits and Notes 292

Index 296

Editorial Reviews

During the 1880s, Edmund Winchester Rucker, prominent Birmingham banker and former Confederate cavalry officer, played a significant role in transforming the Sloss Furnace Company into the newly formed chartered Sloss Iron and Steel Company. Although a major player in the development of Alabama’s "Magic City," Rucker's contributions to early Birmingham have been largely overlooked. Now, a new book brings to life his participation in the Civil War and his involvement in post-war Alabama railroad construction and Birmingham industry. The Meanest and "Damnest" Job is a lively account, painstakingly researched, that recovers for a new generation of readers the fascinating story of Rucker's life. The book serves as an interesting character study, but also usefully fills in the blanks of our understanding about a lesser-known Civil War leader.

Karen R. Utz

This book accurately and dramatically covers the amazing and varied exploits of Confederate Colonel Edmund Winchester Rucker during the Civil War and his post-war industrial accomplishments in Birmingham. At a fast-moving pace, it tells the military and business accomplishments of an outstanding leader who left his mark on both the Civil War and Southern industry of the time.

Ross Massey

The Civil War community has long needed a book on Edmund Winchester Rucker, and at last it has one. Aside from some very brief biographies, little has been written about this outstanding Confederate officer, excepting his dashing charges at Brice's Crossroads. But this work finally introduces us to the man, who was a Tennessee-born civil engineer-turned-soldier. During the Civil War Rucker earned a reputation as a bulldog fighter even before his assignment to Bedford Forrest's cavalry corps. In fact, his reputation was such that 77 years after the end of the Civil War the U.S. Army created Fort Rucker, which serves today as an aviation training facility in southeast Alabama. And don't let the author's surname deceive you. Mike Rucker is the first to admit that his family connection to Edmund Winchester is quite distant, so he tackles the subject objectively. In doing so, the book covers the man's life extensively, and in a most readable style, while discussing the events that influenced Edmund Rucker's calls to duty. Despite his many combat wounds, and even a stint as a POW at the infamous Johnson's Island on Lake Erie, Edmund Rucker refused to be beaten down, and he became one of the post-war City of Birmingham's most prominent citizens. Any Civil War enthusiast will enjoy this work. Any Civil War library will be improved by its addition.

Brig. Gen. Parker Hills

The Civil War community has long needed a book on Edmund Winchester Rucker, and at last, it has one. Aside from some very brief biographies, little has been written about this outstanding Confederate officer, excepting his dashing charges at Brice's Crossroads. The Meanest and 'Damnest' Job covers the man's life extensively, and in a most readable style, while discussing the events that influenced Edmund Rucker's calls to duty. Any Civil War enthusiast will enjoy this work. Any Civil War library will be improved by its addition. — Brig. Gen. Parker Hills, Ret.

The Meanest and 'Damnest' Job brings to life Edmund Winchester Rucker's participation in the Civil War and his involvement in post-war Alabama railroad construction and Birmingham industry, where he played a significant role in transforming the Sloss Furnace Company into the newly formed chartered Sloss Iron and Steel Company. The book is a lively account, painstakingly researched, that recovers for a new generation of readers the fascinating story of Rucker's life. It serves as an interesting character study, but also usefully fills in the blanks of our understanding about an important but lesser-known Civil War leader. — Karen R. Utz, curator and historian, Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark

This book accurately and dramatically covers the amazing and varied exploits of Confederate Colonel Edmund Winchester Rucker during the Civil War and his post-war industrial accomplishments in Birmingham. At a fast-moving pace, it tells the military and business accomplishments of an outstanding leader who left his mark on both the Civil War and Southern industry of the time. — Ross Massey, Middle Tennessee Civil War historian

An extraordinary and detailed seminal biography that is an unreservedly recommended addition to the growing library of Civil War histories and biographies. — Midwest Book Review

From the Publisher

This book accurately and dramatically covers the amazing and varied exploits of Confederate Colonel Edmund Winchester Rucker during the Civil War and his post-war industrial accomplishments in Birmingham. At a fast-moving pace, it tells the military and business accomplishments of an outstanding leader who left his mark on both the Civil War and Southern industry of the time. — Ross Massey, Middle Tennessee Civil War historian

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