The Civil War in Grundy County and Southern Middle Tennessee


Book Description

Grundy County, Tennessee and surrounding areas suffered under the occupation of the Confederate and Union forces for most of the Civil War. Though no major battles were fought here, the are was important for several strategic reasons. Nathan Bedford Forrest, along with Tennessee governor Isham Harris, planned Forrest's famous raid on Murfreesboro in Beersheba Springs. The Confederate raid on the Union garrison at Tracy City created a flurry of troop movement to protect the coal mines and Union supply depot. The bridge over the Elk River at Pelham was one of the most important strategic sites in the battle for Tennessee. Once Colonel John Wilder, equipped with repeating rifles, seized the bridge over the rain swollen Elk River at Pelham, Braxton Bragg knew he could not defend Tullahoma, and the Army of Tennessee retreated over the mountain to Chattanooga. Bushwhackers and deserters roamed the sparsely populated mountains and coves. Calvin Brixey, the most notorious of the bunch, caused much death and destruction. It would be years before the area would recover.




Civil War along Tennessee's Cumberland Plateau, The


Book Description

Tennessee's Cumberland Plateau played host to some of the most dramatic military maneuvering of the Civil War. As Federal forces sought to capitalize on the capture of Nashville, they moved into a region split by the most vicious guerrilla warfare outside Missouri. The bitter conflict affected thousands of ordinary men and women struggling to survive in the face of a remorseless war of attrition, and its legacy continues to be felt today.




The Civil War along Tennessee's Cumberland Plateau


Book Description

Tennessee's Cumberland Plateau played host to some of the most dramatic military maneuvering of the Civil War. Straddling the entire state of Tennessee, the formidable tableland proved to be a maze of topographical pitfalls and a morass of divided loyalties. As Federal forces sought to capitalize on the capture of Nashville, they moved into a region split by the most vicious guerrilla warfare outside Missouri, including the colorful and intensely violent rivalry between Confederate Champ Ferguson and Unionist "Tinker" Dave Beaty. The bitter conflict affected thousands of ordinary men and women struggling to survive in the face of a remorseless war of attrition, and its legacy continues to be felt today.




Moon Over Tennessee


Book Description

Publisher Description




Tennessee Civil War Monuments


Book Description

“A superb guide to 400 statues, columns, reliefs, and other components of the state’s commemorative landscape.” —Gary W. Gallagher, author of The Union War Throughout Tennessee, Civil War monuments stand tall across the landscape, from Chattanooga to Memphis, and recall important events and figures within the Volunteer State’s military history. In Tennessee Civil War Monuments, Timothy S. Sedore reveals the state’s history-laden landscape through the lens of its many lasting monuments. War monuments have been cropping up since the beginning of the commemoration movement in 1863, and Tennessee is now home to four hundred memorials. Not only does Sedore provide commentary for every monument—its history and aesthetic panache—he also explores the relationships that Tennessee natives have with these historic landmarks. A detailed exploration of the monuments that enrich this Civil War landscape, Sedore’s Tennessee Civil War Monuments is a guide to Tennessee’s spirit and heritage.




The Widow of the South


Book Description

Based on a true story, this debut Civil War novel follows a Southern plantation woman's journey of transforming her home into a hospital for the war. This debut novel is based on the true story of Carrie McGavock. During the Civil War's Battle of Franklin, a five-hour bloodbath with 9,200 casualties, McGavock's home was turned into a field hospital where four generals died. For 40 years she tended the private cemetery on her property where more than 1,000 were laid to rest.




Hidden History of Tennessee Politics


Book Description

The Volunteer State plays politics according to its own particular set of rules. Witness the rise and fall of the lost state of Franklin, Tennessee's first instance of secession. Pull back the curtain on the disputed election of 1894 and get the inside scoop on the acerbic editorial cartoons of James Pinckney Alley. Glad-hand influential figures like Andrew Jackson and Kate Bradford Stockton, the state's first female gubernatorial candidate. Pick through filibusters and fiercely partisan quarrels as James B. Jones navigates the twists and turns of Tennessee's political heritage.




Broken Valley


Book Description

The Barker family lives in a remote valley of Tennessee during the Civil War, finding themselves in the chaos of the bloody conflict. Although to many the issues are black and white, the Barkers exist in a world of uncertainty. To protect their homes and lives, they must often reevaluate their beliefs in the midst of life altering upheaval. Their valley neighbors are no different. They also must make quick decisions about loyalty, family, and duty. The Sequatchie Valley is not one of wealth, but it is one of beauty. War threatens at their very doorsteps, and actions have far-reaching and unexpected consequence. Even as the war comes to an end, things are no easier. The country might be under the guise of peace, but conflicts do not cease. The Barker's isolation brings dangerous people to their realm. Externally, they must fight as they heal from the physical and emotional scars of the Civil War. They will persevere, as Americans always have, but at what price?




Cumberlands, a Story of the Civil War


Book Description

The book has been copy edited. Editing completed July 31, 2014. Edward Kruger is a small farmer and part time student living on Middle Tennessee's Cumberland Plateau when he is swept into the Civil War after the South passes a Conscription Act in 1862. Despite reservations because of his family's Mennonite past and against the will of the Northern woman he cares for Edward becomes a member of a Confederate cavalry company and participates in the Confederate invasion of Kentucky and then fights in the hard fought battle of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Edward senses changes in himself questioning his fate as the war continues and he finds himself back home on the Plateau engaging in a merciless and bitterly fought guerilla war. His cavalry company moving with the currents of the fluid conflict eventually joins the forces of Fighting Joe Wheeler in Georgia opposing Union commander William Tecumseh Sherman's March to the Sea. As the relentless fighting continues through Georgia and into the Carolinas Edward is forced to come to terms with his role in the war and ask himself one important question. Can he survive the war intact and return home to the woman he can only hope is waiting there for him?




Tennessee Civil War Monuments


Book Description

“A superb guide to 400 statues, columns, reliefs, and other components of the state’s commemorative landscape.” —Gary W. Gallagher, author of The Union War Throughout Tennessee, Civil War monuments stand tall across the landscape, from Chattanooga to Memphis, and recall important events and figures within the Volunteer State’s military history. In Tennessee Civil War Monuments, Timothy S. Sedore reveals the state’s history-laden landscape through the lens of its many lasting monuments. War monuments have been cropping up since the beginning of the commemoration movement in 1863, and Tennessee is now home to four hundred memorials. Not only does Sedore provide commentary for every monument—its history and aesthetic panache—he also explores the relationships that Tennessee natives have with these historic landmarks. A detailed exploration of the monuments that enrich this Civil War landscape, Sedore’s Tennessee Civil War Monuments is a guide to Tennessee’s spirit and heritage.