Very well researched, very readable. I bought the book originally because I was interested in the period, and was glad I did.

This is one of the most well-researched books on the Federal period of our country that has been written. It has become the "bible" of anyone interested in this turbulent period of our nation's history. If you want to know anything about the settlement of the Northwest Territory, this is the book to read. It has a lot of historical detail in it, but it is still a very readable book. I use it for reference all of the time, living is one of the historical towns mentioned in the book

Being a non-historian (this is the only history book I've read cover to cover in 7 years), I was initially dreading reading this book. However, its well-organized format, its to-the-point style (to which almost all of the authors ascribed), and its information were incredible. This is an enjoyable read. FYI, I also sent an e-mail to the author of the book as I was tracking down Cleburne's original work, and she very graciously replied within a day, informing me that his work was at the University of Arkansas. READ THIS BOOK!!!

This book does an excellent job telling about Patrick Cleburne. It is not a day by day biography of Cleburne, instead, it tells the stories that help us understand Cleburne better, from a drowning incident in the Mississippi to Chattanooga where Cleburne was the only one to hold his ground. This book is a must for all history lovers.

Until I devoured this masterpiece, I thought it impossible for anyone to surpass Purdue's text on Pat Cleburne. Well researched and well written, so much so that even the Civil War novice will thoroughly comprehend Cleburne's battlefield brilliance. Someday history will place Cleburne in his proper place among great leaders and humanitarians. When it happens, this compilation of essays will have paved the way.

Objectivity is Absent Without Leave in Wiley Sword's book about the 1864 Tennessee Campaign by General John Bell Hood. In the latter months of the Civil War, a desperate Jefferson Davis, acknowledging the fading fortunes of the Confederacy, appointed the aggressive young Kentuckian John Bell Hood to command of the Army of Tennessee. Hood's orders were to try to break William T. Sherman's relentless siege of Atlanta. After Sherman's inevitable triumph, in a last gasp effort to save the Confederacy, Hood marched the Army of Tennessee on an ill-fated invasion of Tennessee. The mission was to attack Union occupied Nashville, and seize its considerable stores of weapons and subsistence supplies. This would cut off Sherman's supplies, and provide the same for the starving and ill-supplied Confederates. It would also provide the southern populace with renewed will to continue the war, and hopefully inspire enlistments in the shrinking southern armies. The results were disastrous for the Confederates, with Hood's forces suffering decisive defeats at Franklin and Nashville. A mere sixteen weeks later, Robert E. Lee would surrender his army at Appomattox. Although Wiley Sword does an excellent job of describing the strategies, tactics, and first hand accounts of the fighting, he is obsessed with consistently criticizing every aspect of Hood's performance, character, and even his entire career. Hood's prior brilliant record as a Brigade and Division commander, almost universally praised both during the war, and ever since, is astonishingly brushed off by Sword as dumb luck. Sword essentially censors Hood's admirers and defenders, while quoting his detractors and critics with great frequency. Virtually every explanation for every decision that Hood offered in his post-war memoirs is rejected by Sword as lies and distortions, often without corroboration. Even Hood 's childhood demeanor is mischaracterized. Sword persistently exaggerates Hood's flaws and failures, and minimizes (at best) his accomplishments and virtues. In a final claim of clairvoyance, Sword even accuses Hood of fathering eleven children after the war to impress the public. Unwitting readers, mesmerized by Sword's gifted style and extensive research, are nonetheless being denied balance and unbiased analysis. Objectivity is not only AWOL, it is guilty of Desertion in this work.

Sword's book is a marvelous written chronicle of the destruction of Hood's Confederate Army of Tennessee. The authors ability to weave the horror of war into a detailed military history is especially enticing. This is combined with a keen analysis of the triumphs and failures of the leaders on both sides of the conflict.

The Last Hurrah is the story of the Confederacy's last and probably best chance to reclaim Tennessee and Kentucky for the South and to possibly bring the war once more to Northern soil. But more than that it is also the story of poor leadership on behalf of the Confederate General Hood and the political pressure on Union General Thomas to bring the battle to Hood. Sword, chronicles the planning of Hood's offensive and his miscalculation that the supplies to feed, cloth and arm his army could be obtained through a rail link and from the land that they were invading. This mistake perhaps doomed the campaign given that this was a winter campaign and the Confederate soldiers were often without shoes and blankets.

The best part of the book focuses on the battles of Franklin and Nashville. While Sword does a fine job in detailing the battles themselves as well as the strategy and tactics utilized by the respective Generals, he shines in discussing the human effects of the battles. The slaughter at Franklin and the Confederate charge against a heavily defended Union line, without the benefit of significant supporting artillery, makes one shudder. In reading the depiction of the casualties the horror of the war and the human costs were brought home.

Where Sword also excels is in his critique of the leaders of both sides. Sword obviously is a fan of General George Thomas. On the other hand he is very critical of General Scofield's conduct at Spring Hill and latter at Franklin and Nashville. Scofield's generalship would have led to the destruction of his army during the retreat from Spring Hill to Franklin but for the ineptitude of his Confederate counterparts. His conduct at Nashville, and his failure to commit his troops, probably allowed what remained of the Confederate Army to escape.

Sword's worse criticism was justly saved for Hood. The criticism was well deserved, especially for the decision to make the frontal assault at Franklin and again at Nashville. His poor generalship and inability to take the advise of Nathan Bedford Forrest led to the loss of almost two thirds of his army.

All in all this is a fine book and a must read.

One of the great "myths" is that a good history book is written from an "objective" point of view. In truth, this is simply not possible. Every author approaches the subject with a certain degree of bias and a certain "agenda" that they wish to push. Sword, unlike some other authors, does not seek to hide his "bias", but rather sets out his clear (and frankly rather convincing) case that Sam Hood's generalship was poor. Within this setting, he provides detail about some of the more important, but again forgotten, battles of the Civil War and sheds light on some of the more important, but again forgotten, figures such as Pat Cleburne. All in all a superb book and well worthy of the prizes that it has won and the accolades that it has received.

This book concerns itself with the siege of Chattanooga in the fall of 1863 by the Confederates and the unexpected breakout by Union forces just when it seemed that they on the verge of suffering a major defeat. Historian Willey Sword weaves a brilliant narrative that reveals the behind-the-scenes infighting of the Confederate generals and the ineptness of many of the northern generals as well as the rise of Ulysses S. Grant (this battle helped to cement his reputation). But what I found most compelling about this book was the detailed descriptions of the incredible suffering that was sustained by the common soldiers.

Many people have a romantic image of the Civil War. But the reality is that the average soldier suffered hardships that cannot even be imagined today. For example, so starved were the troops on both sides during the siege that many were driven to such desperate acts as eating bark off trees or picking undigested corn from animal feces. For in those days, supplies to the battlefield often had to travel hundreds of miles on rail which were often sabotaged by the enemy. Even if the supplies made it to the nearest depot safely, they still had to travel dozens of miles by horse-driven wagons over muddy and often impassable roads. The sad truth is that most supplies ended up rotting or otherwise were destroyed before they even got to the troops, ensuring a constant lack of vital supplies and rampant starvation and illnesses.

By this stage of the Civil War, it was apparent that many of the rank-and-file soldiers were sick of the war and just wanted it to end. In fact, soldiers on opposing sides of the picket lines would often banter playfully with each other and trade such items as pocket knives and tobacco back and forth across enemy lines. But they would soon enough be engaged in bloody battle once again. The climactic battle makes for gripping reading and many unexpected (and unheralded) heros turn disaster into victory (for the Union).

The battle described in this book is typical of many Civil War battles. Lots of people were slaughtered and maimed. Many of them senselessly on account of ill-advised orders from their own officers. It is amazing how the United States was able to reunite at all after such a bloody conflict (over 520,000 Americans were killed), but that is a story for other books to tell. This book only concerns itself with the action at Chattanooga in late 1863 and the narrow focus of the book is an advantage as it does not bore the reader with a confusing tangle of battles and generals - the pitfall of many of the other Civil War books.

The only disappointment with this book (and keeping it from getting five stars) is that there are only a few maps and they are horrid and almost useless. This extremely well-written text deserves better situation maps and more of them so that the reader can better picture the action in his/her mind.

Mountains Touched with Fire is a fine history of the the battle of Chickamauga and the resulting siege and relief of Chattanooga. It is the perfect companion to Sword's other book dealing with the western front - Embrace an Angry Wind : The Confederacy's Last Hurrah Spring Hill, Franklin, and Nashville.

Mountains Touched traces the battle in detail from the Union loss of Chickamauga to the raising of the subsequent siege of Chattanooga. Sword excels in describing the effect of the battle on the common soldier and the interplay of the Union and Confederate Generals and the effect that it had on the outcome. His description of the charge up Missionary Ridge is at times griping. He takes particular care in describing the fact that the charge was in direct violation of General Grant's orders and was the result of the spontaneous action of the Union rank and file.

He, like others, is especially critical of Braxton Bragg and almost all of the other Confederate commanders. Of the Union Generals, he is not as critical. However, his description of the successful frontal charge up Missionary Ridge and the simotaineous stalemate with Sherman's troops on the northern side of the Ridge reveals that Sword believed that luck, as much as anything else was the reason for the Union victory. If there is a General that Sword is positive about it is General Thomas. The same is true of his other book. Combined they reveal that Sword believes that Thomas is an unsung hero of the Civil War.

The book is well written, although at times the detail seems excessive. The weakness of the book is the maps or lack thereof. At times it is difficult to follow the battle sequences and place them in a geographical context.

Wiley Sword has a richly deserved reputation as a Civil War historian and a writer. Although the title indicates the book is about the battle of Chattanooga, the book is half gone before you start the fighting that occurred in Nov. 1864.

Sword starts with the Tullahoma Campaign, touches on the events preceding Chickamauga, and with the fires still glowing 12 miles south of Chattanooga, Sword begins to weave the tale of America's Scenic City late in 1863. The Union Army is stranded with little food and little hope of increasing its supply, Rosecrans is arrogently refusing to admit to his problem and General Grant is put in charge of a potentially disasterous situation.

Grant's first concern are the men trapped in this valley between two mountains. He is willing to overlook his distaste for George Thomas, who is, well, a Virginian in the Union Army. Once a supply route is secure and the rations begin to pour into the besieged city, Grant turns his attention to the problem at hand -- lifting the seige and driving the Rebels back. This he does in a series of four battles, Orchard Knob, the "Battle Above the Clouds," Missionary Ridge and Ringgold Gap.

The Confederates are being torn apart by the hatred of most of the generals for their commanding officer, Braxton Bragg. And as much a the book is a big hurrah for General Grant and Thomas, its an indictment of the beleaguered commander of the Army of Tennessee.

Sword's strength is his ability to tell a story without sacrificing historical accuracy. I suppose he could have gone into more detail, but I like it just the way it is. We don't need another Cozzens epic.

Sword has written a well-researched and detailed history of the battle. There's a good balance between coverage of military movements and personal stories. My only complaint is the same that I have for every other book of this type - not enough maps to give the reader a totally clear picture of events. Nevertheless, I'd recommend this book to anyone interested in the battle of Shiloh.

Mr Sword attempts to look into the heart and soul of the Confederate spirit in this relatively reader friendly book. The theme is wrapped around the lives of half-dozen or so characters, based on their respective diaries, letters and such.
Not much ground-breaking work here, but a nice peek at some of the philosophy/psychology of the war. Somewhat big print makes the text very reader-friendly.

I'll put it bluntly: this book was great. The book flowed extremely well, starting out with the mindset before the war and progressing smoothly until the end. The way Sword brings the reader into the minds (and hearts, as the subtitle mentions) is amazing.

The only drawback was that it seemed from Sword's choice of battles and his method of presenting them that, should the reader be unfortunate enough to know nothing about the Civil War, one reading the book would think that the Confederacy lost every battle. This naturally added at times to the effectiveness of what he was trying to present, and this is a MINOR flaw, but it is literally the only reason I did not rate this book as perfect.

A must read for anyone even remotely interested in the U.S. Civil War. It's entertaining, short, and an easy read.

as a southerner, born in south carolina and an avid civil war reader, i found this book wonderful. it clearly defines the sad, but early belief of most souterner's, that ended in almost ruin of the south. mr. sword's book's are excellent and offer a wonderful, if not debating issue of the south during the civil war. 10 members of my family served in the civil war, and reading their letters, etc., at the start and later as the war ended is quite revealing of changing fortunes of war.

Buy this book and you will have something in common with Confederate General John Bell Hood. You will both be victims of author Wiley Sword. The defenseless Hood is villianized by Sword's vicious, albeit eloquently written spin. Hood's critics are given top billing in Sword's pages, while Hood's many defenders are silenced. Statistics are twisted to make Hood's performance appear remarkably poor. Sword's fact-filtering, and cut-and-paste journalism will unfortunately impress the unwitting reader, who will be sixty bucks poorer, and totally misinformed on the 1864 Confederate campaign to liberate Nashville. John Bell Hood has been described as the Civil War's most "famously unfortunate" commander. Much more accurate and complete information on the campaign can be found within the pages of Shrouds of Glory, by Winston Groom, who doesn't try to create a villian where none existed.

Without a doubt the best contemporary, secondary source on the Middle Tennessee Campaign. Wiley Sword writes a splendid military history that reads like a novel.The book is written with excellent prose and an obvious love for the topic.Also of great use to the historian is that the book is well documented with the best use of primary material that one will find in a book of this genre. The use of manuscript material further embellishes this fine book. I highly recommend this book to all those interested in Civil War history!

The book covers Franklin and Nashville better than any other book of the war. It shows the weakness of the Southern cause by this stage of the war and the weakness of General Hood. The book also show the courage of the Southern soilder and the men who led them.

Buy this book and you will have something in common with Confederate General John Bell Hood. You will both be victims of author Wiley Sword. The defenseless Hood is villianized by Sword's vicious, albeit eloquently written spin. Hood's critics are given top billing in Sword's pages, while Hood's many defenders are silenced. Statistics are twisted to make Hood's performance appear remarkably poor. Sword's fact-filtering, and cut-and-paste journalism will unfortunately impress the unwitting reader, who will be twenty bucks poorer, and totally misinformed on the 1864 Confederate campaign to liberate Nashville. John Bell Hood has been described as the Civil War's most "famously unfortunate" commander. Much more accurate and complete information on the campaign can be found within the pages of Shrouds of Glory, by Winston Groome, who doesn't try to create a villian where none existed.

The Civil War is rapidly drawing to a close. The Southern Confederacy is literally being ripped apart by the Union armies. In desperation Jefferson Davis turns command of the Army of the Tennessee to a crippled general with no experience at high level command. The outcome was almost foreordained. Mr. Sword's book recounts the tragic destruction of an army that had been scourged by the effects of bad leadership for far too long. The appointment of John Bell Hood proved to be, argueably, the single worst decision that the Confederate president ever made.
In spite of ample evidence of the futility of frontal assualts Hood sent his army into poorly coordinated, and futile, attacks that sapped both the heart and soul of his army as well as it's strength. The casualties incurred during Hood's 7 month tenure as its commander destroyed it's combat effectiveness and it's self-confidence and hope.
Mr. Sword's book meticulously documents the events that led to the fateful battles that destroyed the Army of the Tennessee with both passion and attention to detail. The suffering and privation of the men; the strategic and tactical decisions; the events that affected the overall war effort are all faithfully portrayed.
Unlike many works of military history this one is hard to put down. It reads like a novel but is backed by extensive research and documentation. One is left with a profound feeling of sadness from the descriptions of the torn and wounded survivors of both the Blue and Grey and also a sense of deep pride at the accomplishments and gallantry of so many of our forefathers.
Civil War buffs will find few books of this caliber and will be moved by the pathos in it's presentation. As a tribute to heroism and endurance this book is withour peer. The Army of the Tennessee was often defeated but never conquered and Mr. Sword's account does them the honor their sacrifices deserved.