Snapshot Review - Forging a New South: The Life of General John T. Wilder

Having lived a long and remarkable life on and off the battlefield, along the way justly earning a historical reputation as one of the Civil War's more talented citizen-generals, Indiana's John Thomas Wilder is richly deserving of a up to date and full biographical treatment of the kind presented in the pages of Maury Nicely's Forging a New South: The Life of General John T. Wilder  (University of Tennessee Press, 2023). This "Snapshot" review feature will solely address those parts of the book that detail Wilder's Civil War career, leaving his lengthy and eventful postwar life as a New South industrialist and politician for others to comment upon elsewhere in the review sphere.

During the years leading up to the outbreak of the Civil War, the New York-born Wilder achieved business and financial success in Indiana. Patenting an efficient horizontal waterwheel to power industry, Wilder's technologically innovative mind was also on display in his adopted western state. Though praised for his vision and drive, his highly individualistic and impulsive nature concerned those suddenly left behind to manage his business partnerships. As Nicely keenly observes, these character traits carried over into Wilder's military career.

Quickly deciding to personally join the war effort, Wilder raised and led a company of the 17th Indiana VI into western Virginia in 1861. He quickly climbed the officer ranks, becoming the regiment's colonel by the time of the summer 1862 campaign and siege of Corinth. During the ensuing Kentucky Campaign of that year, Wilder commanded the brigade-sized Munfordville garrison. On September 17, after engaging in the highly irregular practice of consulting with and seeking advice from the enemy about where his duty lay, Wilder surrendered the post to General Braxton Bragg's army. However, he escaped strong censure on the merits of the daunting odds he faced and the fact that he had successfully defended Munfordville a short time earlier against a headlong Confederate assault, inflicting heavy casualties on the enemy. Missing the theater's big battles at Shiloh, Perryville, and Stones River, Wilder's frustrations grew as an infantry commander forced to contend with mobile Confederate cavalry raiders. The maddening inability to come to grips with elusive enemy forces such as those led by John Hunt Morgan helped inspire Wilder to transform his command into what would eventually be celebrated as the "Lightning Brigade."

Troubled by his situation, Wilder's inventive, problem-solving mind went to work in Kentucky and Middle Tennessee, the end result being the conversion of his infantry brigade into mounted infantry armed with repeating rifles. With the goal of creating a brigade with the swiftness of cavalry and fighting power of infantry (an enticing combination that some of his more skeptical superiors did not believe possible), Wilder trained his men in open order dismounted fighting tactics and tirelessly lobbied to arm them with the latest repeaters (eventually getting the vaunted Spencers). Such weapons would compensate both for dispersal on the firing line and diminished strength due to horseholders. In describing the process, the author, as others have also done in the literature, appropriately credits Army of the Cumberland commander William S. Rosecrans for being Wilder's partner in innovation and necessary ranking sponsor. Along the way, however, Wilder's singlemindedness not only ruffled the feathers of superiors but put the countryside surrounding his camps into an uproar through the brigade's repeated scouring of Middle Tennessee farms and homes for horseflesh, riding equipment, trophies, and supplies. Except for the weapons (of course), Wilder's goal of making the enemy pay for his command's upgrade and upkeep was largely successful.

The Civil War portion of Nicely's cradle-to-grave biographical narrative fills roughly half of the nearly 550-page volume. Two Wilder biographies have been published in 2023, this one and Steven Cox's John T. Wilder: Union General, Southern Industrialist (Mercer UP). The depth of Nicely's research far outstrips Cox's, and the breadth and detail of his narrative is also on another level. Utilizing a truly vast number and diversity of primary and secondary sources, Nicely's text covers with broad satisfaction the very significant role played by Wilder and his brigade during the 1863 Tullahoma and Chickamauga campaigns. Though critical observations are dutifully included, Nicely's highly laudatory interpretations of Wilder's actions are strongly supported by modern published accounts of mounted operations in both campaigns, including the best and most recent ones authored by David Powell and Eric Wittenberg. Interestingly, the Tullahoma study co-written by Powell and Wittenberg is not included in the bibliography. Perhaps its recent publication post-dated the author's completion of those sections of the book. Map quality is very good, though a few more would have helped (especially for the Chickamauga coverage).

As Nicely reveals, chronic health problems seriously curtailed Wilder's field service during 1863 and 1864, leaving most of his brigade's post-Chickamauga activities only briefly summarized in the text due to its commander's frequent absences. While sickness cut Wilder's front-line service short, both before and after his 1864 resignation he still was able to significantly contribute to the war effort as a recruiting agent for Indiana governor Oliver Morton. Indeed, it remains curious that Wilder, a field-grade officer having an enviable record of battlefield distinction and top-level supporters (both Morton and General George Thomas urged his promotion), did not receive his general's star until August of 1864. By then, Wilder was effectively out of the war. The possibility is raised that the Lincoln administration, wary of Morton's presidential aspirations, slow-tracked the governor's appointment requests, but the author seems more accepting of the simpler explanation that a lack of suitable vacancies delayed Senate approval. Perhaps it was a bit of both.

As mentioned earlier, the second half of the book covers Wilder's ironworks and railroad manufacturing activities in post-Civil War East Tennessee as well as his political aspirations, which included an unsuccessful congressional run but successful election as mayor of Chattanooga. The volume also includes a large gallery of photographs, many presumably little-seen before now.

Judging from this substantial foray into the book's content, all evidence points toward Maury Nicely's Wilder biography being the clear frontrunner of the two candidates and well worthy of recommendation.