Battle of Stones River: The Forgotten Conflict between the Confederate Army of Tennessee and the Union Army of the Cumberland Paperback – Illustrated, 30 July 2020

Highly recommend this title by an excellent author, and historian. If you enjoy military history and books on battles then buy this title.

A very good account of the bloody Stones River battle, though not at the level of other writers such as Shea & Hess (Pea Ridge), Cozzens (Chattanooga), or Smith (Shiloh and Champion Hill). This author does a fine job describing the run-up to the battle, blow-by-blow accounts of the action, and the main personalities and their interactions, which largely determined the outcome of this battle.Although the Confederate Army under Bragg had the Union Army reeling from a massive attack on the Union's right flank on day one, the attack ran out of steam due to heavy casualties, exhaustion, and peicemeal attacks toward the end of the day on determined Union troops who had consolidated their defensive line and used artillery effectively. Two days later, Bragg ordered a major attack on the opposite flank of the Union, which turned into a rout when the rebels ran into an overwhelming barrage of artillery and a Union counterattack, resulting in an overnight retreat by the rebel army. Although casualties were similar for both sides (roughly 13,000), the casualty rate for the rebels was higher because of their smaller force, and a higher percentage of Union casualties encompassed prisoners captured by the fast-moving rebels during day one. A large number of brigade and regimental commanders were killed or wounded on both sides, indicating the ferocity and close quarters of this battle.I agree with one reviewer in that a couple of additional maps showing the entire battlefield and changing of lines would have been beneficial to the readers understanding of this complex battle, vs only a single map of the battlefield prior to the initial action, with only additional maps of individual actions. Also, there are numerous inconsistencies between the text and the maps, namely regimental identities. There are also inconsistencies within the text itself, as well as a number of typos, revealing poor editing and attention to detail, making one wonder whether there are other mistakes or errors in the book regarding what happened and how it happened.

I found this book to be most excellent, and an enjoyable read. The author managed beautifully to convey both the general picture--the seesawing nature of the battle as a whole--and the detailed, individual fights at various hot spots in which sometimes one side, sometimes the other, prevailed. I now understand how excruciatingly crucial this battle was for both General Rosecrans and General Bragg. But the best part is how the author lets the combatants speak to us, transmitting their immediate impressions, fears, disgust, confusion, exhilaration, desperation, horror. He also mines many precious, delicious details, such as General McCook's galloping to the front with shaving lather covering his face, and the "wounded piano." I appreciate his efforts to sift through questionable or contradictory source material in an attempt to discern and clarify the truth behind prior misconceptions or controversies. And speaking of controversies, he dealt fairly with the post-battle imbroglio between Bragg and his immediate subordinates. His treatment provided me with new insights into the personalities involved.However, I felt that his statement "In June [1863] Bragg sustained a complete physical and mental breakdown, although he continued to maintain command" (p. 210) was inaccurate, or at least way too simplistic. Bragg suffered from chronic health problems and many stresses arose that month, but on June 20 he wrote his wife (who had been gravely ill herself) that he felt better than he had in some time. It was not until June 29 that he took ill (unfortunately the date that Rosecrans advanced, forcing Bragg to retreat from Tullahoma), and he went into hospital the following month, at which time he confided to a friend that he felt utterly "broken down," a reference to physical, not mental, health. (Sorry, didn't mean to belabor the Bragg question, but many writers have piled on him based on nothing more than prior writers' mischaracterizations.)Another fine aspect of the book is the author's generous explanations of the modern location of the various key points of the battle--much appreciated by those of us who like to walk the ground. I will definitely have this book with me when the opportunity arises to visit the battlefield! I also appreciated his detailed focus on the role of artillery.The only thing that I would change would be to eliminate the frequent [sic]'s inserted into quotes. This is unnecessary as most of us are accustomed to--in fact, are fond of--the peculiarities of Civil War writing.Overall, "Battle of Stones River" is a superb work and I recommend it highly! It is one of my books that I will consult regularly in the future. I am grateful for the effort that went into it.

The details of the battle and strategy were good.However, I became very confused because the author named all the commanding officers for each attack. My memory for names just wasn't good enough to keep track of all those different names. Believe it would have been better to just tell me it was the 2nd TN, or 1st NY (example). Then at least I would have know who was who.Also not having a battle plan map handy added to the confusion. I read this book on my Kindle which is not good to go back and look at a map that was shown 50 pages earlier. In a paper book that may have worked.

This seems to be a very accurate account of the important battle. It is well written and includes maps that help explain what happened. I would highly recommend it.