The Darkest Days of the War

by Cozzens, Peter

• ISBN13: 9780807823200
• ISBN10: 0807823201
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1997-04-01
• Publisher: Univ of North Carolina Pr

Summary

Peter Cozzens here presents the first book-length study of the battles of Iuka and Corinth. Fought under brutal conditions and resulting in extremely heavy casualties relative to the numbers engaged - at Iuka, nearly one-third of those engaged fell - Iuka and Corinth proved to be two of the most vicious battles of the war. Drawing on extensive primary research, Cozzens details the tactical aspects of each battle, analyzing troop movements down to the regimental level. In addition to a vivid and detailed battle narrative, Cozzens provides compelling portraits of the campaign's key leaders: Generals Grant, Rosecrans, Van Dorn, and Price. He exposes the consequences of their clashing ambitions and antipathies. Finally, Cozzens analyzes the larger, strategic implications of the northern Mississippi campaign, exploring the repercussions of the Confederate defeats suffered at Iuka and Corinth.

Table of Contents

Preface	xi	(4)
Acknowledgments	xv
1 Six and a Half Feet of Missouri Soil	1	(12)
2 Fifth Wheel to a Coach	13	(18)
3 The Darkest Days of the War	31	(7)
4 This Will Be Our Opportunity	38	(12)
5 Things Were Beginning to Wear a Threatening Aspect	50	(16)
6 Let Us Do All We Can	66	(8)
7 Their Delay Was Our Salvation	74	(12)
8 Like Lightning from a Clear Sky	86	(13)
9 Night Quickly Set In	99	(10)
10 We'll I-uker Them Today!	109	(9)
11 Where, in the Name of God, Is Grant?	118	(9)
12 A Pursuit Can Amount to Little	127	(8)
13 We Had Better Lay Down Our Arms and Go Home	135	(14)
14 More Trouble Than We Could Care For	149	(10)
15 Well, Boys, You Did That Handsomely	159	(16)
16 They Ran Like Hens	175	(19)
17 I Bid Them All Good Bye	194	(9)
18 No Time to Cool Off Now	203	(18)
19 The Men Would Do All They Could	221	(11)
20 Death Came in a Hundred Shapes	232	(21)
21 My God! My Boys Are Running!	253	(18)
22 We Must Push Them	271	(9)
23 I Never Saw Such Slaughter	280	(11)
24 Van Dorn Has Done It, Sure Enough	291	(14)
25 The Best We Had in the Ranch	305	(10)
26 The Reckoning	315	(10)
Appendix. The Opposing Forces in the Battles of Iuka, Corinth, and Davis Bridge	325	(6)
Notes	331	(32)
Bibliography	363	(16)
Index	379