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On September 20, 1863 two great American armies clashed at Chickamauga Creek in Northern Georgia. Through happenstance and a tragic blunder, General Braxton Bragg and his Confederate Army of Tennessee drove the United States Army of the Cumberland from its defensive positions and back to Chattanooga, Tennessee. There followed one of the longest and most arduous sieges that any American army has ever faced.
Upon assuming the heights surrounding Chattanooga, General Bragg held a choke-hold on all supplies leaving or entering Chattanooga. Slowly but surely, he began to starve the Army of the Cumberland into submission. If General Rosecrans did surrender, the Union’s planned march upon Atlanta would be delayed until the following spring if not later. Well aware of this fact and the strong possibility that he would not be reelected if Atlanta didn’t fall before the elections of 1864, President Lincoln watched tensely from Washington.
In Chattanooga, General Rosecrans was foundering. He not only surrendered the heights that allowed Bragg to lay siege to his army, he failed continually to come up with a plan of attack, or at least a scheme to open a supply line to Chattanooga. In Washington, the President continued to watch and wait, hoping that Rosecrans would eventually take the offense. Lincoln had little other choice. His best general by far was Ulysses Grant, but despite his great victories, Grant’s rumored drinking problems made him a risky choice to command the Cumberland. Besides, Lincoln didn’t want Grant in Tennessee. He wanted him in the East facing General Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia. Finally, when he is forced to make a change of command, Lincoln devises one of the most militarily and politically adroit moves of the war.
Mr. Hedges tells the story of the siege and battle for Chattanooga through the eyes of President Lincoln, General Grant, and Billy, Matt, and Clarence Rutledge, three Indiana soldiers who endured the siege and then fought the battle that culminated in what most historians agree as the most miraculous and largest charge made by either army during the war.
The Boys of Chattanooga is a must-read for those who enjoy historical fiction ― especially Civil War enthusiasts. From the White House and General Grant’s headquarters to the deprivations of living on the defensive line surrounding Chattanooga, Mr. Hedges makes you feel as if you’re there yourself. For many, this novel will be a one-sitting read. You won’t want to put it down.
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