The Summer of '63: Vicksburg & Tullahoma: Favorite Stories and Fresh Perspectives from the Historians at Emerging Civil War

by Chris Mackowski, Dan Welch (Editor), Matt Atkinson (Foreword)

“An important contribution to Civil War scholarship, offering an engrossing portrait of these important campaigns . . . this reviewer recommends it highly.” —NYMAS Review   The fall of Vicksburg in July 1863 fundamentally changed the strategic picture of the American Civil War, though its outcome had been anything but certain. Union general Ulysses S. Grant tried for months to capture the Confederate Mississippi River bastion, to no avail. A bold running of the river batteries, followed by a daring river crossing and audacious overland campaign, finally allowed Grant to pen the Southern army inside the entrenched city. The long and gritty siege that followed led to the fall of the city, the opening of the Mississippi to Union traffic, and a severance of the Confederacy in two.   In Tennessee, meanwhile, the Union Army of the Cumberland brilliantly recaptured thousands of square miles while sustaining fewer than six hundred casualties. Commander William Rosecrans worried the North would “overlook so great an event because it is not written in letters of blood”—and history proved him right. The Tullahoma campaign has stood nearly forgotten compared to events along the Mississippi and in south-central Pennsylvania, yet all three major Union armies scored significant victories that helped bring the war closer to an end.   The public historians writing for the popular Emerging Civil War blog, speaking on its podcast, or delivering talks at its annual Emerging Civil War Symposium in Virginia always present their work in ways that engage and animate audiences. Their efforts entertain, challenge, and sometimes provoke with fresh perspectives and insights born from years of working at battlefields, guiding tours, and writing for the wider Civil War community. The Summer of ’63: Vicksburg and Tullahoma is a compilation of some of their favorites, anthologized, revised, and updated, together with several original pieces. Each entry includes helpful illustrations. This important study, when read with its companion volume The Summer of ’63: Gettysburg, contextualizes the major 1863 campaigns in what arguably was the Civil War’s turning-point summer.</

Genres: Civil War

322 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 10, 2021

Reviews

[robin friedman · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Summer Of 1863 At Gettysburg

This new book, "The Summer of '63 Gettysburg: Favorite Stories and Fresh Perspectives from the Historians at Emerging Civil War", commemorates both the Battle of Gettysburg and the tenth anniversary of the Emerging Civil War. The Battle of Gettysburg (July 1 -- July 3, 1863) needs no introduction. The Emerging Civil War is a history-oriented platform which aims to increase interest and knowledge of the Civil War to a large public and to offer a broad range of writers the opportunity to share their thoughts on America's greatest conflict. Among other things, ECW maintains a blog, hosts an annual Civil War Symposium, and publishes a wide range of accessible books for non-specialist readers in its Emerging Civil War Series published by Savas Beatie. I have learned a great deal from these books.

"The Summer of '63" collects a wide variety of essays on Gettysburg from ECW writers. Many of the essays are expanded versions of works originally posted as blogs while others are new. The volume also includes eight maps of the battlefield together with many images.

The essays take a broad, diverse approach. Some offer relatively detailed looks at various aspects of the battle while others offer more personal responses to the battle together with human interest stories of the participants. Caroline Davis' short essay, "A Poet's Perspective: Melville on Pickett's Charge" combines battle history with literature. She explores Pickett's Charge through its treatment in Herman Melville's poem, "Gettysburg: The Check" from his collection of Civil War poetry, "Battle Pieces and Aspects of the War". Melville's poetry is rarely discussed in books focusing on Civil War history. It was a creative touch for Davis and ECW to present Pickett's Charge through Melville's reflections.

The essays in the volume begin with background to the battle in Eric Wittenberg's essay "Nobody can Truly Understand the Battle of Gettysburg without a Solid Understanding of the Battle of Chancellorsville" followed by Kristopher White's essay discussing the change in command in the Army of the Potomac from Joseph Hooker to George Meade only three days before the battle. The book includes several essays on the sometimes underestimated first day of the battle, including one of several contributions by Kristopher White, "The Curmudgeon, the Eccentric and the Norse God" which explores the failure of the Confederate Army to attempt the capture of Culp's Hill and Cemetery Hill at the conclusion of the first day's battle.

The essays on the second day have lttle to say about Joshua Chamberlain and his role in the defense of the far Union left at Little Round Top, but they cover much else of this remarkable day of war. The jointly-written essay "Gettysburg: Day Two" offers an excellent overview while Dan Welch's contribution, "Where all so well did their Duty" offers a clearly written and well detailed overview of the often overlooked heroics on the far right of the Union line in the defense of Culp's Hill.

Caroline Davis' discussion of Melville is the main essay focusing on the third day of the battle. An excellent essay by Eric Wittenberg explores the retreat from Gettysburg and largely vindicates the pursuit offered by Meade in the face of strong criticism from his day to the present. Cecily Nelson Zander's essay "Unintentional Reconciliation" is a historiographical study of how Gettysburg and the Civil War were perceived in the War's aftermath. She raises questions about the reconciliationist view between North and South that is one of the major ways of thinking about the post-War period. The final essay I want to mention is Dan Welch's "Traveling to Gettysburg: Chester S. Durfee and the 1913 Reunion" which offers a rare glimpse of a survior of the First Minnesota on his train journey to Gettysburg for the 50th anniversary of the Battle.

This book helped me understand my continued fascination with Gettysburg, a fascination which has helped me better understand our country. The publisher, Savas Beatie, kindly sent me a review copy.

Robin Friedman

[robin friedman · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Summer Of 1863 At Vicksburg And Tullahoma

In these difficult times, Americans may look to history to remind themselves of their ideals and of the sacrifices they have made for their country and for freedom and democracy. One of the best ways to think about the United States is through the Civil War which remains the pivotal event in our history. Two recent books from the Emerging Civil War, a public history forum devoted to bringing the Civil War to a broad, non-specialist audience, present an excellent way towards understanding crucial moments of the Civil War. The books celebrate ECW's 10th anniversary and examine campaigns from the Civil War in the summer of 1863. The first book, "The Summer of '63: Gettysburg", edited by Chris Mackowski and Dan Welch, covers the famous battle of Gettysburg, fought July 1 -- 3, 1863 between Robert E. Lee and George Meade in Pennsylvania. This second volume, also edited by Mackowski and Welch, "The Summer of '63: Vicksburg and Tullahoma" follows the crucial events of 1863 to Vicksburg, Mississippi and to Tullahoma, Tennessee, the sites of Union victories which, particularly for Tullahoma, are not as well-known as the Battle of Gettysburg.

Ulysses Grant accepted the surrender of Vicksburg on July 4, 1863, after a lengthy siege and an even lengthier campaign. The surrender of Vicksburg gave the Union control of the Mississippi River and divided the Confederacy in two The Tullahoma campaign conducted by Union General Rosecrans against the Confederacy's Army of Tennessee commanded by Braxton Bragg was an action of maneuver more than bloodshed. The campaign captured middle-Tennessee for the Union, setting the stage for Chickamauga, the Atlanta Campaign, and Sherman's March to the Sea.

This book consists of a series of essays from ECW historians, most of which are revised versions of essays which were published on ECW's blog. Some of the essays offer brief overviews of the two campaigns for readers new to them, but the majority of the essays focus on particular aspects of the campaign, including people, places, and human interest stories. The essays are short and readable and accompanied by maps and photos.

In the Gettysburg volume, Caroline Davis contributed an essay on a poem by Herman Melville about Pickett's Charge. Davis continues her exploration of Melville's Civil War poetry with her essay in this volume discussing Melville's poem about the Union's running of the batteries at Vicksburg. Bringing Melville to bear in this book of public history is a welcome and creative addition.

The running of the Vicksburg batteries by Union Admiral Porter has always been one of the most fascinating aspects of the Vicksburg campaign, and it is discussed by several essays in this volume in addition to Davis's exploration of Melville. Other subjects that the volume treats well include the two large scale and costly assaults on Vicksburg that Grant ordered on May 19 and 22 before settling down to the siege. These assaults often are not covered in detail in studies of Vicksburg. The essays explore the suffering caused by the siege to the civilian population of Vicksburg, the meeting surrendering Vicksburg between its commander, Pemberton, and Grant, and many human interest stories focusing on individual participants in the battle. The essays offer an excellent approach to understanding Vicksburg and its significance.

The shorter portion of the book is devoted to the Tullahoma Campaign, which tends to be known only to serious students of the Civil War. Following the success of the campaign, Union General Rosecrans worried that the Union would "overlook so great an event because it is not written in letters of blood." Unfortunately, history has proven Rosecrans correct. This volume in addition to some recent detailed studies may help give Tullahoma the attention it deserves. Rosecrans out-maneuvered his opponent decisively, driving the Confederacy from most of Tennessee and setting the stage for the famous events which followed. The essays in this volume give an overview of the campaign and describe the squabbling and divisiveness of the Confederate leadership. They explore the geography of the campaign, some its actions, and the brilliance of Rosecrans's strategy turning and almost capturing the Confederate Army. These essays will help the new reader understand an often overlooked action in the Civil War.

This volume and the companion volume on Gettysburg offer an excellent way for non-specialist readers as well as for readers with a strong interest in the Civil War to better understand and appreciate the critical events of the summer of 1863. The volumes may also remind readers of the valor and values of our country in defending liberty and democracy, and thus offer a vision of hope, strength, and ideals as we move forward.

Both the ECW Vicksburg and Tullahoma book and the Gettysburg book are published by Savas Beatie. The publisher kindly sent me copies of the books for review.

Robin Friedman

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just a side note before the review: this book is actually 305 pages, not 244 as listed for the hardcover edition. Alright, now for the review; this book was one of only a handful of Civil War titles I've been able to add to my library since COVID19 started and I'm not sure exactly why...the Big 5 are still publishing as far as I know, but Civil War material is becoming hard to find, at least in NE Ohio where I live. The book was a good collection of blog posts, interviews, and podcasts that I hadn't taken the time to look up on the internet. Although I didn't learn all that much from the book, it was still a very satisfying read and well worth the effort.

[Schoppie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of blog postings from the Emerging Civil War was a joy to read. The various authors each illustrate different aspects of these vital campaigns that encompass civilian and military, high command and private soldier perspectives. Even those familiar with these campaigns will find something new in this book.

[Randall L. Strunk · Rating 5 out of 5]

An Interesting Compilation

An interesting compilation of articles from several writers on the Civil War in the west from the lead up to Vicksburg to the consequences of Rose crane at Tullahoma.

[Brad Dunleavy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding book

Really enjoyed it. Makes you understand the turning point waa not a single battle.or campaign. But a series of campaigns. Well done and enjoyed it

[Eric Burroughs · Rating 4 out of 5]

As with any collection of essays there are good ones that make it worth it (Sallie, Culps Hill, and the retreat), forgettable articles, and duds. Overall worth the read and an easy read.

[W Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a very interesting read. It is a compilation of stories that first appeared in The Emerging Civil War blog with some longer articles included. Some articles address controversies from the Battle of Gettysburg. Others look at the many aspects pertaining to the history of preservation and visitation of the battlefield. It is not a general history of the battle, but worth the read.

[W Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very good book of essays on the Vicksburg and Tullahoma Campaigns of 1863. This is well worth the time to read.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection of articles from the Emerging Civil War website has some interesting stories and perspectives.