First published 1984
General John Bell Hood stands on a November afternoon in 1864, watching his exhausted army prepare for what will become a catastrophic mistake. As dusk approaches, he signals the attack on Federal forces entrenched at Franklin, Tennessee. Twenty thousand Confederate soldiers charge across two miles of open ground without adequate artillery support. The assault becomes a slaughter that lasts five brutal hours. Hood's decision defies military logic, especially since the war's outcome has already been determined. His appointment to command the Army of Tennessee set the stage for this senseless tragedy. The battle unfolds with devastating consequences as Confederate forces rush forward into withering Union fire. McDonough examines why Hood chose such a disastrous strategy when victory was impossible and defeat would cost thousands of lives. The story captures the futility of this late-war engagement, where brave soldiers died for a cause already lost, victims of their commander's fatally flawed judgment.
Genres: american-civil-war, american-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, military-fiction, military-history, 19th-century, american-history
Vibes: dark, emotional, thought-provoking
Tropes: futility-of-war, military-blunder
Setting: Franklin, Tennessee
Period: 1864
232 pages · Paperback · University of Tennessee Press
Content warnings: death, graphic-violence, war