TOCWOC – A Civil War Blog

Category: Western Theater

  • General Jacob Cox on Assault Tactics

    When discussing tactics one needs to look not just at what pundits are saying now but what the people who actually practiced them said about it. I came across an excellent description of the failure of the column attacks at Kennesaw Mountain by someone who was there, Maj. Gen. Jacob Cox, who commanded a division […]

  • Where was Rosecrans?

    Previously I wrote about who really won the battle of Iuka. This time I am going to dig deeper into Rosecrans’ performance at that battle. Attention has often been deflected from Rosecrans by questions about where Grant and Ord were during the battle. A lot of ink has been spilled about ‘acoustic shadows’, mis-communication or […]

  • Will the Real Winner of Iuka Come On Down!

    Brett’s post last month on the new book by Frank Varney inspired me to write this post. In my view, the standard conclusion about the Battle of Iuka is wrong, but not in the way Varney would like. I agree that the winner of the battle has been unjustly overlooked, but its not Rosecrans that […]

  • Civil War Book Review: Kennesaw Mountain: Sherman, Johnston, and the Atlanta Campaign

    Hess, Earl J. Kennesaw Mountain: Sherman, Johnston, and the Atlanta Campaign. (The University of North Carolina Press, April 22, 2013). 344 pages, 25 illustrations, 21 maps, 1 table, appendices, notes, bibliography, index. ISBN: 978-1-4696-0211-0 $35.00 (Cloth). Why did William T. Sherman decide to attack one of the most strongly fortified and imposing positions the Confederates held […]

  • Reader Challenge: Prove Rosecrans was Panicked at Chickamauga

    As I slowly work my way to the end of General Grant and the Rewriting of History: How the Destruction of General William S. Rosecrans Influenced Our Understanding of the Civil War, I continue to find interesting questions raised.  My goal today is to explore one of those questions, with your help. The Question: First, […]

  • How Sherman Won Lookout Mountain

    Yes, you read the title right.  I am going to put forth an alternative argument about the capture of Lookout Mountain. While the dramatic story of Hooker’s advance around the face of the mountain might be well known, I think the cause and effect is not. On the morning of November 23rd the Confederates had […]

  • First reactions to “The Chattanooga Campaign”

    This week I was excited to get my hands on The Chattanooga Campaign, a collection of essays released by Southern Illinois University Press on August 27, 2012.    Since writing back in May about Walker’s division at Chattanooga, I have wanted to blog some more about the fighting at the north end of Missionary Ridge.  […]