Table of Contents
ALSO BY JACK HURST
Men of Fire: Grant, Forrest,
and the Campaign that Decided the Civil War
Nathan Bedford Forrest: A Biography
To the memory of my mom,
Shirley Jackson Hurst,
Proud descendant of four Mayflower passengers,
Commoners all
The richest ore is oftenest found deep down, and it is in the low stratum of human life that we will find the jewels that will glisten for ages.
IMMIGRANT INDUSTRIALIST
ANDREW CARNEGIE
GLOSSARY OF PARTICIPANTS
Beauregard, Pierre Gustave ToutantOne of the Confederacys five top-ranking full generals; West Pointtrained member of the Louisiana Creole elite; brilliant planner of too-complicated battles; dramatic, fiery, and dashing; unloved by President Jefferson Davis for a tendency to preen in the press and argue with his commander in chief.
Bragg, BraxtonWest Pointer and nationally known Mexican War hero who resigned from the army as a lieutenant colonel in 1856 to become proprietor of a Louisiana sugar plantation after marrying into great wealth. He was a highly opinionated and caustic observer of people and events, a favorite of Jefferson Davis, and a great driller and disciplinarian. He commanded at Mobile during the wars early stages.
Breckinridge, John C.Confederate brigadier general; Kentucky-born and Kentucky-based lawyer and politician. US vice president in the administration of James Buchanan, Breckinridge was a sitting US senator and unsuccessful Democratic presidential candidate in 1860 before resigning to join the Confederacy.
Buckner, Simon BolivarConfederate major general; West Pointer; prewar friend and benefactor of Grant; model of rectitude or, put another way, a balky and mulish stickler for the rules. Captured at Fort Donelson, Buckner was eventually paroled to command the Department of East Tennessee. An excellent writer of caustic prose, he briefly founded and edited a Chicago newspaper in the 1850s.
Buell, Don CarlosUnion major general; West Pointer; Ohio native; commander of the Department of the Ohio and its Army of the Cumberland; distinguished prewar career soldier; Grants contemptuous self-styled rescuer at Shiloh; strict disciplinarian but very slow to commit to a fight.
Chalmers, James R.Confederate colonel; Virginia native; educated in South Carolina. His wealthy family owned property in northern Mississippi, which his father represented as a senator. The elder Chalmers had approved Forrests appointment as constable of DeSoto County; thus, Chalmers and Forrest knew each othersort of. Early on, Chalmers was colonel of a Mississippi regiment at Mobile under Bragg, whom Chalmers admired.
Dana, Charles A.Federal assistant secretary of war; former New York newspaper editor charged with observing and reporting on efficiency and the like to Secretary of War Edwin Stanton. Dana was sharply opinionated with pronounced likes and dislikes; the former included, most notably and profoundly, Ulysses S. Grant; the latter, John McClernand. He was seen at different times and by different officers as an indispensable observer and a waspish busybody.
Forrest, Nathan BedfordConfederate colonel promoted to brigadier general after Shiloh. Forrest had risen from tending leased fields to wealth as a slave-trader across the western South; he also had a brief but notable political career on the Memphis city council. Although he was a fearless and dangerous military wizard, superiors looked down on him for his lack of education and polish.
Gould, A. WillsConfederate artillery lieutenant in Forrests cavalry; quieter friend and schoolmate of Forrest artillery notable John W. Morton; brave and knowledgeable but sensitive and ready to resent a slight.
Grant, Ulysses S.Federal major general; captor of Forts Henry and Donelson. An Ohio tanners son who had reluctantly gone to and graduated from West Point, Grant had resigned from the army with a reputation for drunkenness to fall into poverty as a farmer; he barely got back into the army in 1861 as second choice for colonel of the Twenty-first Illinois Infantry. A reputation for thirst still dogged him.
Hooker, Joseph Fighting JoeFederal major general; West Point class of 1837; born in Massachusetts of New England elite; glittering Mexican War record; intensely ambitious. Hooker spent most of 1861 to 1863 on the eastern front, where he took a lackluster turn commanding the Army of the Potomac.
Johnson, Bushrod RustWest Pointeducated Confederate brigadier general from Ohio. Johnsons self-obscured past included helping his Quaker brothers deliver fugitive slaves up the Underground Railroad and getting cashiered from the army for a smuggling scheme in Mexico. A college professor who kept his own counsel after returning to military life, he escaped surrender at Fort Donelson after two days of hiding out among other prisoners.
Johnston, Albert SidneyConfederate western commander; Jefferson Daviss favorite soldier. A Kentucky native, Johnston had headed the army of the Texas Republic; when Texas joined the Union, he became colonel of the celebrated Second US Cavalry on the frontier. While commanding the Confederacys huge Department No. 2, he became reviled after retreating from Kentucky to Alabama following the Union victories at Forts Henry and Donelson.
Johnston, Joseph E.Confederate full general; non-Tidewater Virginian. Johnston enjoyed wide popularity that obscured his intense ambition for high rank. He protested to Jefferson Davis that he deserved supremacy among the generals of the Confederacy, instead of the fifth slot Davis had given him. A brilliant executor of West Point dogma, he was excellent at defense but hesitant to attack.
Kountz, William J.Union river transportation official; whisky-hating Pittsburgh steamboat magnate with connections to Secretary of War Edwin Stanton and Union general in chief George B. McClellan. Kountz became Grants director of river transport in late 1861. He filed charges of drunkenness against Grant on the eve of the Henry-Donelson campaign. Grant, before leaving on the campaign, ordered him fired and arrested.
Lee, Stephen D.Young, rising Confederate artillery officer; born in secessions cradle, Charleston, South Carolina; 1854 graduate of West Point. An artillerist in the prewar army, Lee began his Confederate career on the eastern front on the staff of General Beauregard.
Logan, John A. Black JackOne of Grants favorite brigadiers; prewar southern Illinois congressman instrumental in persuading his Southern-leaning district to back the Union. Logan became a hard-fighting colonel and, after Shiloh, a brigadier general. He acquired his nickname from the color of his hair and eyes.
Longstreet, JamesConfederate major general; born in South Carolina; West Pointer. An in-law of Grant who served in Grants wedding, Longstreet spent most of his service on the eastern front, where Robert E. Lee called him his Old War Horse.
McArthur, JohnUnion brigadier general; native Scot. The son of a blacksmith, McArthur founded Excelsior Iron Works in Chicago. His brigade fought with more gallantry than success at Fort Donelson, where it was the rightmost unit on a Federal right wing that was crushed and rolled up by the Confederate assault on the battles final day.
