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This book has been on my shelf for quite some time and I finally decided to sit down and give it a read. As far as a military campaign study, there is really nothing outstanding about it but it is adequate in describing the movements of the armies and some of the battles. There are no in-depth battle summaries but, after all, this volume is looking at the campaign as a whole and not the individual fights that made it.
I was disappointed in the lack of good maps. While the maps are nice overall views of the Georgian campaign, they are lacking in showing where troops were placed so the reader has to refer back to the text to find mentions of locations that units were at and then transfer that mentally to the map. It makes for some slow going. Another thing that was frustrating to me was that locations mentioned in the text that seemed to be important to the narrative weren't even shown on the map which made it difficult sometimes to follow just what was happening with the movement of the armies.
One thing that McMurry does very well though is discuss the high commands of both sides and the big political picture and how it fit in with the campaign. While the narrative is less about the Union that is understandable since there was not as much dissension in the Union command or the relationship with the President. McMurry does look at some of the issues going on in the Union though, especially the upcoming 1864 election, it's potential to change the war, and how the Confederacy possibly missed some opportunities to effect it to their advantage.
McMurry does a good job, in my opinion, of providing a good general view of the erratic and usually inept command and management of the Army of Tennessee. These good soldiers were continuously mishandled and victimized by bickering among commanders and infighting between command and Richmond. I found this area of the book to be the most interesting and it gave some food for thought about what might have been if circumstances had been different.
The appendices are good, and deal with Grant's and Johnston's grand strategies, losses and the 1864 election and how the Atlanta campaign affected it. Though short, as appendices are, they made me want to look into some of the subjects in more depth.
If you are more into tactical treatises and battle books, you probably will be a bit disappointed in this volume but if you like grand strategy and the Western Theater, you might want to give this one a look. At 208 pages including the appendices, it's not too long of a read.
I was disappointed in the lack of good maps. While the maps are nice overall views of the Georgian campaign, they are lacking in showing where troops were placed so the reader has to refer back to the text to find mentions of locations that units were at and then transfer that mentally to the map. It makes for some slow going. Another thing that was frustrating to me was that locations mentioned in the text that seemed to be important to the narrative weren't even shown on the map which made it difficult sometimes to follow just what was happening with the movement of the armies.
One thing that McMurry does very well though is discuss the high commands of both sides and the big political picture and how it fit in with the campaign. While the narrative is less about the Union that is understandable since there was not as much dissension in the Union command or the relationship with the President. McMurry does look at some of the issues going on in the Union though, especially the upcoming 1864 election, it's potential to change the war, and how the Confederacy possibly missed some opportunities to effect it to their advantage.
McMurry does a good job, in my opinion, of providing a good general view of the erratic and usually inept command and management of the Army of Tennessee. These good soldiers were continuously mishandled and victimized by bickering among commanders and infighting between command and Richmond. I found this area of the book to be the most interesting and it gave some food for thought about what might have been if circumstances had been different.
The appendices are good, and deal with Grant's and Johnston's grand strategies, losses and the 1864 election and how the Atlanta campaign affected it. Though short, as appendices are, they made me want to look into some of the subjects in more depth.
If you are more into tactical treatises and battle books, you probably will be a bit disappointed in this volume but if you like grand strategy and the Western Theater, you might want to give this one a look. At 208 pages including the appendices, it's not too long of a read.
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