Description: "The Battle of Atlanta, also known as the Battle of July 22 [1864] (the only engagement of the Civil War widely referred to by the date of its occurrence), was the largest and most prominent engagement of the four-month-long Atlanta Campaign for control of Atlanta. The Battle of Atlanta was the second engagement of the campaign, fought just east of the city. Confederate commander John Bell Hood's forces flanked William T. Sherman's line and crushed the end of it, they could go no further. Yet the Confederates came closer to achieving a major tactical victory on July 22 than on any other day of the Atlanta campaign. One scholar commented that Hess is "taking fresh and interesting approaches and looking at aspects of the battle, the personalities that fought it, the terrain and other factors that shaped its course and outcome, and analyzing and assessing events and people in ways that make a truly unique contribution to scholarship.""--
Brief description:
Earl J. Hess is emeritus professor, Lincoln Memorial University and author of The Rifle Musket in Civil War Combat: Reality and Myth and The Union Soldier in Battle: Enduring the Ordeal of Combat, both from Kansas.
Review Quotes:
"In the brutal battle fought east of Atlanta on July 22, 1864, the Army of the Tennessee once again demonstrated it was one of the truly great fighting forces in American military history. In this marvelously detailed study of that battle, Earl J. Hess makes yet another valuable contribution to scholarship on the struggle for Atlanta, the commanders who shaped its course, and Civil War military history in general. In addition to providing plenty to satisfy enthusiasts of traditional 'drums and trumpets' military history, Hess also offers intriguing discussions of such topics as battlefield commemoration and how both sides dealt with the wounded. Highly recommended."--Ethan S. Rafuse, editor of Corps Commanders in Blue: Union Major Generals in the Civil War and Guide to the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign
"Earl Hess's July 22 immerses the reader in this crucial conflict at a level of detail never before achieved in any study of the battle. A tour de force of research and analysis, Hess's work represents a massive step forward in our knowledge of this long neglected but vital episode of the war."--Steven E. Woodworth, author of Nothing but Victory: The Army of the Tennessee, 1861-1865