By Larry J. Daniel
Three days of savage and bloody fighting between Confederate
and Union troops at Stones River in Middle Tennessee ended with nearly 25,000
casualties but no clear victor. The staggering number of killed or wounded
equaled the losses suffered in the well-known Battle of Shiloh. Using
previously neglected sources, Larry J. Daniel rescues this important campaign
from obscurity.
The Battle of Stones River, fought between December 31,
1862, and January 2, 1863, was a tactical draw but proved to be a strategic
northern victory. According to Daniel, Union defeats in late 1862--both at
Chickasaw Bayou in Mississippi and at Fredericksburg, Virginia--transformed the
clash in Tennessee into a much-needed morale booster for the North.
Daniel's study of the battle's two antagonists, William S.
Rosecrans for the Union Army of the Cumberland and Braxton Bragg for the
Confederate Army of Tennessee, presents contrasts in leadership and a series of
missteps. Union soldiers liked Rosecrans's personable nature, whereas Bragg
acquired a reputation as antisocial and suspicious. Rosecrans had won his
previous battle at Corinth, and Bragg had failed at the recent Kentucky
Campaign. But despite Rosecrans's apparent advantage, both commanders made serious
mistakes. With only a few hundred yards separating the lines, Rosecrans allowed
Confederates to surprise and route his right ring. Eventually, Union pressure
forced Bragg to launch a division-size attack, a disastrous move. Neither side
could claim victory on the battlefield.
In the aftermath of the bloody conflict, Union commanders
and northern newspapers portrayed the stalemate as a victory, bolstering
confidence in the Lincoln administration and dimming the prospects for the
''peace wing'' of the northern Democratic Party. In the South, the deadlock led
to continued bickering in the Confederate western high command and scorn for
Braxton Bragg.
About the Author
Larry J. Daniel
is the author or coauthor of six books on the American Civil War, including Days
of Glory: The Army of the Cumberland, 1861-1865 and Shiloh:
The Battle That Changed the Civil War.
ISBN 978-0807145166, Louisiana State University Press, ©
2012, Hardcover, 336 pages, Maps, Photographs, Illustrations, Appendices, End
Notes, Bibliography & Index. $38.50
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