​The Chickamauga Campaign: Barren Victory
David A. Powell
Savas Beatie, 2016, 392 pp., $34.95
ISBN: 978-1-61121-328-7
Image courtesy of amazon.com               
 
Since 2015, we have been reading the Magnum Opus of David A. Powell, The Chickamauga Campaign.  The first book, A Mad Irregular Battle, provided a coherent study into one of the more complex, and understudied, campaigns of the western theater and walked us through the first and second day of battle.  The second, Glory or the Grave, focused on the third day’s combat which also was an incredible read.  Barren Victory, is the third and final volume of his trilogy; this book brings a complete understanding of the Chickamauga Campaign by chronicling the aftermath of the battle from September 21 to October 20, 1863. 
                David A. Powell is a graduate of the Virginia Military Institute with a BA in history.  For the past ten years, his focus has been on the Battle of Chickamauga, submitting many articles for magazines and the creation of historical simulations.  He is the author of The Maps of Chickamauga and Failure in the Saddle of which he won the Atlanta Civil War Round Table’s 2010 Richard Barksdale Harwell Award.  He won the same award in 2016 for Glory or the Grave, the second volume in his Chickamauga trilogy. 
                The third book in this Chickamauga Trilogy opens at the close of the second.  The narrative begins with General Bragg with the realization of the victory he obtained.  This opening flawlessly leads us into the rest of the narrative, not only giving us a feeling for what one officer for the Confederacy felt, but for what most of the others seemed to feel as well.  As I read through the work, I got a sense that many of the officers on both sides of the conflict, seemed to have either a difficulty or a disbelief of the outcome of battle.  The narrative in this book is rather short compared to the last two volumes, but the overall meat of this work comes in the exhaustive appendices.  These give insights into both Union and Confederate losses, along with order of battle, along with Confederate sources and methodology.  Also in the appendices are some analyses of other clashes and commanders who took part in the Chickamauga campaign.  Needless to say, there is no stone unturned in this work.  But besides the appendices, the narrative for this book shows the victorious Union army grasping with what they had just gained, and it also shows the crushing emotions running through the Confederate end of battle.  One of the points of Chickamauga which has always intrigued me was the presence of General Longstreet fresh off the defeat of Gettysburg.  Powell does a fine job showcasing his decline as a well respected commander.
                I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the Civil War.  You do not have to be interested in the Chickamauga Campaign only to enjoy this work.  Powell’s final volume in the trilogy brings everything full circle and is an incredible study into the campaign.  Speaking on the work as a whole, the entire trilogy should be considered one of the highlights of this age.  The Chickamauga Campaign is rarely handled in the annals of Civil War studies, since most studies tend to focus on the war in the east, and Powell has done a fine job of giving us the research and narrative we needed for this battle.  With Barren Victory, Powell’s amazing Magnum Opus comes to a close.
                

​Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain and the Petersburg Campaign: His Supposed Charge from Fort Hell, his Near Mortal Wound, and  a Civil War Myth Reconsidered.
Dennis A. Rasbach
Savas Beatie, 2016, $29.95, 248 pp.
ISBN: 978-1-61121-306-5
Image courtesy of amazon.com               
 
There has been a swell of research into the life of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain ever since the publication of Michael Shaara’s The Killer Angels.  This popularity was even more heightened when the film Gettysburg arrived.  Due to this research and overall attention Chamberlain has gained, there are those who adore his contributions and writings of the American Civil War.  But beyond the veil, there are some things which are questionable, mainly his actions during the Petersburg Campaign.  Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain and the Petersburg Campaign, by Dennis A. Rasbach, looks into the charge he made and whether or not it is truly a myth. 
                Dennis A. Rasbach is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine where he holds an MD and is a practicing surgeon.  He has ancestors in the 21st Pennsylvania Cavalry and while researching the movements of that unit, he found contradictions in Chamberlains accounts.  This started a new interest in the American Civil War, mainly the Petersburg Campaign.    He is a member of the Civil War Round Table of Southwest Michigan.  This is his first book.
                I had an interest in this book when I first heard about its publication.  Throughout my readings on Civil War primary sources, I have often found possible contradictions in Chamberlain’s writings, mainly in his Passing of the Armies.  Therefore, this book intrigued me.  Throughout his narrative, Rasbach gives evidence for some of the fissures within Chamberlain’s writings, mainly the position he was in during his charge.  Rasbach also recognizes that Chamberlain was a “brave and honest man” but the battlefield promotion he obtained at Petersburg was given through much confusion.  One of the most helpful parts of this work was the Dramatis Personae before the introduction.  This gave the reader some help in identifying the people who played their part.  I believe this is helpful for the Civil War novice who is introduced to Chamberlain through works of fiction, much like myself when I first started.  By looking at the evidence which Rasbach shows us, the position which Chamberlain wrote of years later was the attack he made was not against Fort Mahone , but actually about one mile away .  Rasbach also presents the perspectives of the Confederates whom Chamberlain fought against during this charge which seems to negate what was written by this Union commander. 
                I highly recommend Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain and the Petersburg Campaign.  I not only recommend it for people interested in the Petersburg Campaign, but I recommend it for the student of Chamberlain.  This narrative is full of incredible research and well drawn maps which seem to point to his attack at another point of the Confederate line than Chamberlain believed.  Not only does this book help in clearing up a situation which has much mystery to it, but it defines the truth of the matter and even gives the proper credit to which those involved needed.  Rasbach should be thanked for his research here and I do believe that this book will be a welcome addition to writings on Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain.