Border Wars: The Civil War in Tennessee and Kentucky ed. by Kent T. Dollar, Larry H. Whiteaker, and W. Calvin Dickinson (review)

In December 2014 Gary W. Gallagher and Kathryn Shively Meier issued a call to arms in the Journal of the Civil War Era. Decrying the absence of academic military history and arguing that Civil War historians had conceded military history to popular writers, they called for increased scholarly focus on the armies themselves (“Coming to Terms with Civil War Military History,” Journal of the Civil War Era, 4 [December 2014], 487–508). Border Wars: The Civil War in Tennessee and Kentucky, edited by Kent T. Dollar, Larry H. Whiteaker, and W. Calvin Dickinson, will be a welcome volume for those historians who agree with Gallagher and Meier. Border Wars was designed to supplement the editors’ book Sister States, Enemy States: The Civil War in Kentucky and Tennessee (Lexington, Ky., 2009), and while the earlier volume aimed its attention at “the political, economic, and social aspects of the conflict,” Border Wars, by contrast, focuses strictly on “military matters” (p. vii).

The first half of the book is titled “Battles, Skirmishes, and Soldiers,” while the second focuses on “Leaders.” Covering various topics related to the conflict in Kentucky and Tennessee, this book exposes readers to operations and campaigns that were largely a sideshow to the larger war, and it does so while juxtaposing classic military history with newer approaches to and interpretations of the military conflict in these states. The book’s combination of young and up-and-coming names in the field with those of well-known senior scholars ensures that readers interested in the Civil War’s effect on the region will find this collection a welcome addition to their library.

Those who enjoy operational military history of the Civil War will find numerous thought-provoking chapters. For example, Earl J. Hess attempts to recover some of Confederate general Braxton Bragg’s reputation by arguing that the Stones River campaign was more successful than historians have acknowledged, contending that Bragg’s massive impact on the western theater “was not entirely negative” (p. 194). Lovers of battlefield history will find that Wiley Sword’s dramatic recounting of the often forgotten battle of Franklin displays the late author’s consummate talent for vivid narrative that made him such a popular writer. In what must be one of the last chapters he wrote before his recent death, Sword contends that “[f]or sheer drama, for military pageantry, for a bold demonstration of the essence of Southern spirit, and perhaps even as an ultimate example of the valor of the American fighting man, the vicious encounter at Franklin . . . seems without parallel” (p. 130). His gripping account cannot help but remind readers that John Bell Hood’s assault at Franklin was nothing short of a slaughter, which required a great deal of nerve from those who participated. Stephen D. Engle, Christopher Losson, Jack Hurst, and Sam Davis Elliott also provide chapters on various commanders, while Michael Toomey addresses the 1861 campaign in East Tennessee.

Other chapters broaden the focus of Border Wars beyond the battlefield, presenting readers with compelling arguments. Aaron Astor’s examination of the role of prewar militias in mobilizing troops is a new and innovative contribution to the field. Astor convincingly argues that some of the “unit cohesion and élan” found across the Army of Tennessee, even in the face of defeats, had roots in prewar militias (p. 25). Brian D. McKnight’s excellent, insightful chapter on Felix Zollicoffer innovatively reinterprets Zollicoffer’s abilities through the lens of weather and terrain. Before the disaster at Mill Springs, McKnight submits, Zollicoffer skillfully used weather and terrain to his advantage in the defense of East Tennessee. The Appalachians’ unique weather and geography posed a challenge to all commanders. Zollicoffer, McKnight explains, recognized “these difficulties up close and initially saw them as advantages, but as situations changed...