Saturday, April 9, 2016

Tim Smith's Henry and Donelson

I'm neither overjoyed with nor particularly dissatisfied with the literature of the Fort Henry and Fort Donelson campaign of February 1862, but historian Timothy Smith is rapidly becoming one of my favorite Civil War military historians and his masterful treatments of Shiloh and Corinth make his upcoming history of Grant's river campaign a welcome bit of book news. Grant Invades Tennessee: The 1862 Battles for Forts Henry and Donelson is currently scheduled for a Fall '16 release by Kansas. Though done out of order, I would consider this study with Corinth 1862: Siege, Battle, Occupation (2012) and Shiloh: Conquer or Perish (2014) the completion of a 'Twin Rivers Trilogy' (he can borrow that if he wants) accomplished at an impressive Earl Hessian rate of march.

7 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Hi Brett,
      I noticed you haven't been posting much on TOCWOC of late. Is the Petersburg site stuff sucking up all your time?

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  2. Tim is a good historian and a great guy. I read his Corinth study in manuscript way back in the 1990s. It wasn't ready then for publication as he was still learning his craft, hence we worked together on "Champion Hill" (which I still consider his finest tactical study, with "Shiloh" a very close second. Yes, I may be a bit biased).

    You can bet all of Tim's work will be high quality. He knows how to research and he studies terrain carefully -- unlike so many writers today who look at maps and pen things from the comfort of a kitchen table.

    I am very pleased to watch him blossom. Since he is still young, hopefully he has decades of rocket fuel left in him.

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  3. One of the downsides to doing this site is I have no time for the pleasures of rereading books I loved the first time around (like Smith's "Champion Hill"). I really should force myself to do it.

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    1. Champion Hill was fun to put together. Tim and I sorted through hundreds of pages of material together, debated this and that, etc. as I drafted the maps for it (back when I had the time to do such things). Glad you enjoyed it.

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  4. Definitely on my consideration list for this year. His Champion Hill study might be the best tactical work on a Civil War battle ever written.

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    1. Derek--I agree, I think it is right up there in the top three or five.

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