Atlanta Will Fall - (American Crisis Series: Books on the Civil War Era) by Stephen Davis (Paperback)

About the Book

General John Bell Hood tried everything he could: Surprise attack. Flanking march. Cavalry raid into the enemy's rear lines. Simply enduring his opponent's semi-siege of the city. But nothing he tried worked. Because by the time he assumed command of Confederate forces protecting Atlanta, his predecessor Joe Johnston's chronic, characteristic strategy of gradual withdrawal had doomed the city to fall to William T. Sherman's Union troops.

Joe Johnston lost Atlanta and John Bell Hood has gotten a bum rap, Stephen Davis argues in his new book, Atlanta Will Fall: Sherman, Joe Johnston, and the Yankee Heavy Battalions. The fall of the city was inevitable because Johnston pursued a strategy that was typical of his career: he fell back. Again and again. To the point where he allowed Sherman's army to within five miles of the city. Against a weaker opponent, Johnston's strategy might have succeeded. But Sherman commanded superior numbers, and he was a bold, imaginative strategist who pressed the enemy daily and used his artillery to pound their lines. Against this combination, Johnston didn't have a chance. And by the time Hood took over the Confederate command, neither did he.

Atlanta Will Fall provides a lively, fast-paced overview of the entire Atlanta campaign from Dalton to Jonesboro. Davis describes the battles and analyzes the strategies. He evaluates the three generals, examining their plans of action, their tactics, and their leadership ability. In doing so, he challenges the commonly held perceptions of the two Confederate leaders and provides a new perspective on one of the most decisive battles of the Civil War.

An excellent supplemental text for courses on the Civil War and American nineteenth-century history, Atlanta Will Fall will engage students with its brisk, concise examination of the fight for Atlanta.

Book Synopsis

General John Bell Hood tried everything he could: Surprise attack. Flanking march. Cavalry raid into the enemy's rear lines. Simply enduring his opponent's semi-siege of the city. But nothing he tried worked. Because by the time he assumed command of Confederate forces protecting Atlanta, his predecessor Joe Johnston's chronic, characteristic strategy of gradual withdrawal had doomed the city to fall to William T. Sherman's Union troops. Joe Johnston lost Atlanta and John Bell Hood has gotten a bum rap, Stephen Davis argues in his new book, Atlanta Will Fall: Sherman, Joe Johnston, and the Yankee Heavy Battalions. The fall of the city was inevitable because Johnston pursued a strategy that was typical of his career: he fell back. Again and again. To the point where he allowed Sherman's army to within five miles of the city. Against a weaker opponent, Johnston's strategy might have succeeded. But Sherman commanded superior numbers, and he was a bold, imaginative strategist who pressed the enemy daily and used his artillery to pound their lines. Against this combination, Johnston didn't have a chance. And by the time Hood took over the Confederate command, neither did he. Atlanta Will Fall provides a lively, fast-paced overview of the entire Atlanta campaign from Dalton to Jonesboro. Davis describes the battles and analyzes the strategies. He evaluates the three generals, examining their plans of action, their tactics, and their leadership ability. In doing so, he challenges the commonly held perceptions of the two Confederate leaders and provides a new perspective on one of the most decisive battles of the Civil War. An excellent supplemental text for courses on the Civil War and American nineteenth-century history, Atlanta Will Fall will engage students with its brisk, concise examination of the fight for Atlanta.

Review Quotes

"An excellent analysis of the Atlanta campaign, from Dalton to Jonesboro, with an explanation of the mistakes General Joe Johnston made that allowed Sherman to succeed." --The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

"Davis provides a ringing defense of General John Bell Hood who, he says, got a bum rap in the fall of Atlanta to Sherman's relentless pressure on the Confederate defenders." --Abilene Reporter-News (Texas)

"Demolishes old myths and replaces them with new truths, and does so in a fashion that is as hard-hitting as a 20-pounder Parrott shell striking its target. To be read with profit and joy." --Albert Castel, author of Decision in the West: The Atlanta Campaign of 1864

"A lively, virgorously argued study. Steve Davis contends that William T. Sherman's confident handling of a numerically superior force against the faltering Joseph E. Johnston rendered Union success inevitable. Davis's assessments of Sherman, Johnston, and John Bell Hood are sure to spark controversy, but they cannot be ignored." --Brooks D. Simpson, Arizona State University, author of Ulysses S. Grant: Triumph over Adversity

"A first-rate tactical study of a pivotal Civil War battle. Steve Davis's favorable evaluation of John Bell Hood's performance at Atlanta and his condemnation of Joe Johnston will not please all readers, but it will certainly cause them to take another look at this crucial military engagement." --John F. Marszalek, Mississippi State University

"Steve Davis has produced a book that will add much to the debate now raging about the conduct of the war in the crucial Western theater. Agree or disagree, you'll have to take his ideas into account." --Richard McMurry, author of Atlanta 1864: Last Chance for the Confederacy

About the Author

Stephen Davis is book review editor for Blue & Gray magazine and is Medical Relations Manager for MAG Mutual Insurance Company.