by Ed Lowe
El Dorado Hills, Ca.: Savas Beatie, 2024. Pp. xxiv, 167.
Illus., maps, append, e-notes, biblio., index. $16.95 paper. ISBN:1611216737
James Longstreet’s Forgotten Campaign in East Tennessee
Much has been written about how, in the late summer of 1863, elements of the Army of Northern Virginia, under Lt. Gen. James Longstreet were sent west and played a major role in the Confederate victory in the Battle of Chickamauga, which led to the siege of Union forces at Chattanooga. Less has been written about the operations of Longstreet’s troops in the West in after Chickamauga, a matter addressed in this new book by retired U.S. Army colonel Ed Lowe.
After Chickamauga, relations between Longstreet and Braxton Bragg began to deteriorate. While the irascible Bragg usually had problems with subordinates, Longstreet certainly contributed to the tension by lobbying to have Bragg relieved, and failing to properly carry out his orders. during the battle of Wauhatachie. As a result, in November 1863 Longstreet and his two divisions were sent to East Tennessee, to retake the region and Knoxville from Ambrose Burnside’s Union forces.
Lowe argues that this independent command gave Longstreet an opportunity to demonstrate his strategic and operational abilities but, unfortunately, he proved a failure and returned to Lee’s command and the Army of Northern Virginia.
Lowe compares Longstreet’s performance with Burnside’s, who also had a chance to redeem his reputation with his autonomous command in Tennessee, his early war achievements in North Carolina having been overshadowed by his disastrous time in command of the Army of the Potomac in late 1862 - early 1863. He concludes that while Longstreet failed, Burnside succeeded.
Lowe offers a highly readable account of one of the least known campaigns in the Civil War, in a region very important to President Lincoln who believed, more or less correctly, that it was strongly Unionist. He gives us good accounts of operations in the region notably the battles of Campbell's Station and Fort Sanders, and does an admirable job of providing readers with the reasons Longstreet’s campaign was a failure, a combination of terrible weather, supply and transportation issues, and insubordinate subordinates.
A good addition to the “Emerging Civil War Series,” Lowe has succeeded in providing students with an interesting and worthwhile study of a little known chapter in the Civil War. Recommended for buffs, Civil War enthusiasts, and scholars with an interest in James Longstreet and the Western Theater.
Our Reviewer: David Marshall has been a high school American history teacher in the Miami-Dade School district for more than three decades. A life-long Civil War enthusiast, David is president of the Miami Civil War Round Table Book Club. In addition to numerous reviews in Civil War News and other publications, he has given presentations to Civil War Round Tables on Joshua Chamberlain, Ulysses S. Grant, Abraham Lincoln, the Battle of Gettysburg, and the common soldier. His previous reviews here include The Civil War Memoirs of Captain William J. Seymour, Stay and Fight it Out, Calamity at Frederick, John T. Wilder, The Sergeant: The Incredible Life of Nicholas Said, Contrasts in Command: The Battle of Fair Oaks, Brigades of Antietam, Lee Invades the North, From Antietam to Appomattox with Upton’s Regulars, Our Flag Was Still There, Never Such a Campaign, The Boy Generals: George Custer, Wesley Merritt, and the Cavalry of the Army of the Potomac, from the Gettysburg Retreat through the Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1864, Longstreet: The Confederate General Who Defied the South, Unforgettables, Bayou Battles for Vicksburg, Race to the Potomac, Conflict of Command, The World Will Never See the Like, The War that Made America, and A Fine Opportunity Lost,
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Note: A Fine Opportunity Lost is also available in e-editions.
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