****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
I was drawn to this book because my great-great-grandfather was a private in Co. F, 26 Arkansas Infantry and was present at the Battle of Prairie Grove. I wanted to know more, and I was not disappointed.Like many others, most of my knowledge of the Civil War was of the events which took place east of the Mississippi. This book helps to draw our attention to the war, hardships, and struggles of soldiers and civilians who lived to the West of the Mississippi.Mr Shea's book is well researched, not only from official records, but also from diaries and letters of the participants in both armies, as well as from civilians who were - quite literally - in the middle of the conflict.He tells of the struggles of Hindman for supplies, the privations of his army, his bold plan and his inability to bring his plan to fruition. And yet, his army, under equipped (2,000 men couldn't even take the field because they didn't have guns), underfed, and exhausted - nearly pulled it off.There are also the struggles in the Union Army. The politics of Schofield (and the aside that Schofield Barracks in Hawaii was named after him was interesting), the enthusiasm of Blunt, the sheer determination of Herron to bring his men 100 miles in three days.And there are the reports from the civilians. From those who huddled in their cellar while the fighting raged around them. Those who had their homes burnt by the victorious Union Army. The looting, and the foraging of food which - while it fed the army, it doomed the civilians to hunger. One could feel the pain of those who, upon finding their brothers and husbands dead on the field, wailed and wept.This book is well written and has numerous maps which help one to visualize the movements of the armies and the battle as it progresses. I would have appreciated one final map of the raid on Van Buren, but that is a minor thing. There are also a large number of photographs of the major players who participated and the area where the fighting took place.
