Notes on Ordnance of the American Civil War, 1861-1865 (review)

434CIVIL WAR HISTORY Notes on Ordnance of the American Civil War, 1861-1865. By Harold L. Peterson. (Washington, D.C: The American Ordnance Association. 1959. Pp. 18. $1.00 to AOA members; $2.00 to others.) this paper-bound brochure is the first of a proposed series of monographs commemorating the centenary observance of the American Civil War. The text and tables were written and compUed by Harold L. Peterson, staff historian, National Park Service, with drawings by Robert L. Miner, contributing editor of the Military Collector and Historian. Briefly discussed and illustrated in the text are the basic small arms and artillery pieces used by both sides in the Civil War. The tables provide physical and ballistic data for the weapons and ammunition covered in the text. The drawings are both detailed and accurate. This brochure assembles in one place information previously found in many different publications and permits the student of Civil War tactics to make direct comparisons of the military characteristics of the armament employed and to evaluate their effect. Set forth in the text are some of the capabilities and limitations of the individual weapons. This is a valuable addition to the Civil War student's library. John D. Billingsley U.S. Military Academy West Point, New York. The Decisive Battle of Nashville. By Stanley F. Horn. (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press. 1956. Pp. xiii, 181. $3.00.) when general john bell hood assumed command of the Army of Tennessee , it was made clear that the delaying tactics of his predecessor, General Joseph E. Johnston, must be abandoned. Hood accepted this mandate and, after fighting northward from Atlanta to Dalton, started on a campaign that called for the capture of Nashville and the penetration of Kentucky and even the North itself. This was, indeed, offensive action. After several weeks of frustrating delays, caused by bad weather and transportation problems, the Army crossed the Tennessee River. When the crossing was made, on November 20, 1864, Hood commanded a force of 30,000 infantry and 8,000 cavalry. Corps commanders were Benjamin F. Cheatham, Alexander P. Stewart, and Stephen D. Lee. The Confederacy's most feared cavalry commander, Nathan Bedford Forrest, joined Hood at Tuscumbia, Alabama, about a week before the crossing. AU told, this was a formidable army of seasoned officers and men. They would need all the strength that could be mustered . The Federal defense of Tennessee was in the hands of Major General George H. Thomas, whose Army of the Cumberland operated out of Nashville, which had been developed as a supply center of major importance. The Federal troops were superior in number, better equipped, and, as it turned out, far better commanded. Hood's invading army began running into difficulty from its first encounter. As a result of inept communications, a major road into Spring HiU was left ...