By February 1862 Confederate forces in Kentucky and Tennessee were falling back in disorder. Fort Henry on the Tennessee River and Fort Donelson on the Cumberland River fell to combined land and naval forces under Brigadier General Ulysses S. Grant and Flag Officer Andrew H. Foote. These losses necessitated the abandonment of the Rebel stronghold of Columbus; Kentucky. The entire upper Mississippi Valley lay open to Federal invasion. Toward that end; a new Union army under Major General John Pope began organizing at Commerce; Missouri.Confederate Major General John P. McCown was sent to plug the breach by fortifying Island No. 10; a one-mile-long island positioned in a bend in the Mississippi River that straddled the boundaries of Tennessee; Missouri; and Kentucky. Pope's army had to be held in check long enough for the main Confederate force; under generals Albert Sidney Johnston and P. G. T. Beauregard; to concentrate and launch a counterattack against Grant's advancing army.The ensuing campaign at Island No. 10 created the first extensive siege of the Civil War. The ultimate capture of the garrison resulted in a new army command for Pope in Virginia. As for the Confederates; the campaign pointed to a faulty western strategy. Simply to concede the rivers and their adjoining cities to the Federal navy was politically unacceptable. Garrison after garrison was captured; however; in the attempt to defend the rivers to the last extremity. Between February 1862 and July 1863 the Confederates lost 64;400 troops; some nine divisions; in defending the rivers. This strategy was a significant contributing factor for Confederate defeat in the West.
#1336882 in Books Univ Of Minnesota Press 2002Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.00 x .90 x 5.88l; 1.14 #File Name: 0816640815400 pages
Review
15 of 18 people found the following review helpful. Excellent Scholarly WorkBy A CustomerIn Death of a Nation; David Noble examines America's frequently-shifting foundational myths. This book offers an analysis of the ways in which artists; writers; and historians participated in building and changing American Exceptionalism; from the early national landscape themes; through what Noble repeatedly refers to as "bourgeois nationalism" to the present "international marketplace."Noble tracks the rises; falls; and mid-life ideological conversions of prominent American historians; literary scholars; and artists. Many of his subjects are people he has personally known during his long career at the University of Minnesota; so the conversion stories are frequently quite vivid. Along the way; Noble's anecdotes about his colleagues highlight trends in thinking that contributed to America's changing foreign policy and domestic policy; as well as shifts in pop culture.Death of a Nation is certainly a must-read for students of American Studies/American Civilization programs; or anyone who is curious about why America has become what it is today. Great insights.
