Struggle for the Heartland: The Campaigns from Fort Henry to Corinth

This book by Stephen D. Engle gives good background from the beginning of the Civil War in the Western Theater to the fall of Corinth May 30, 1862. The author describes the area known as the Southern Heartland (Kentucky, Tennessee, Northern Alabama/Mississippi/Georgia)and its importance to the Confederacy militarily, logistically, and economically. He describes how this region actually related to the Northwest more than the deep South, even if the residents owned slaves, due to trade and commerce, dependence on the rivers, and eventually the new railroads. He then describes the military campaigns and battles that lost Kentucky, West Tennessee, and Central Tennessee (also portions of Northeast Mississippi and Northern Alabama) for the Confederacy and the Union militaries use of the Tennessee, Cumberland, and Mississippi Rivers to obtain this victory. The author makes the case effectively that the Union victories and the vast territorial conquest that accompanied them made necessary and sped up the acceptance of "hard" war. The leading factors were the Union military forces increased interaction with Southern civilians, runaway slaves, and the increased irregular warfare adopted by many pro Confederate civilians after the area was occupied. The book tells how southern civilians had to learn to adjust their lives to deal with the new situation they found themselves in once the Confederate forces were gone and trade and commerce were disrupted in the region. The Union militaries interaction and methods for dealing with the runaway slaves/contrabands in these areas is also explained. The author has created a good book that is equal parts military, social, and political history for the American Civil War in the Southern Heartland 1861-1862. It is an overview, not too detailed, but for myself, the social history, and much of the political history of the region during the timeframe covered was very informative. The military actions are sufficiently covered also but more for the novice reader interested in these actions. That said, the description of the Union campaign to capture Corinth was very informative since unfortunately there are no histories describing the campaign at this time. The book has 8 maps that are ok. The Theater of Operations (T.O.) maps for the Southern Heartland region are pretty good and show the strategically important rivers and rails that were in the region. For the Twin Rivers Campaign (Fort Henry/Fort Donelson) there is an inset on the second T.O. map, an Area of Operations (A.O.) map, and two battle maps for Fort Donelson (13th and 15th of February). For the battle of Shiloh there are two maps, one for the campaign, and one for the battle. For the Union advance and investment of Corinth there is a campaign map. The T.O., A.O., and campaign maps work, but the book needed more and better detailed battle maps. The book has 18 photos and illustrations, Notes, and a Biblilgraphic Essay for furhter reading. I recommend this bo

Stephen D. Engle's Struggle for the Heartland takes the latest scholarship on "the campaigns from Fort Henry to Corinth" and ties the military, political, and social issues faced during the campaign into an efficient and readable discussion of these events. The book is an entry in the University of Nebraska Press' Great Campaigns of the Civil War series of books. The book covers the time frame of the military campaign from Fort Henry to Corinth, including the Battle of Shiloh. Rather than focusing solely on military events, however, Engle provides a large amount of coverage to social and political considerations as well. The result, then, is a balanced overview of a campaign in which there was a "struggle for the heartland" of the Confederacy. Northern military planners saw the obvious routes of attack into the Confederate "heartland" region provided by the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers. It was simply a matter of preparing the armies to move in this direction, at least according to timid, methodical minds such as Henry Halleck and Don Carlos Buell, the two department commanders in the west. Albert Sidney Johnston, the overall Confederate commander in the west, gave wide latitude to his subordinates. One of these, Bishop Polk, had become obsessed with defending Columbus, Kentucky along the Mississippi River and virtually ignored the forts on the Tennessee and Cumberland to the east, even though they were in his department. The Union preparation may have taken quite a long time if not for the aggressive nature of Halleck's then unknown subordinate Ulysses S. Grant. Grant was determined to take Forts Henry and Donelson, defenders of the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers, respectively. His movement south caught both Halleck and Buell somewhat by surprise. The end result was that Grant managed to take both forts and capture over 10,000 Southern prisoners while Halleck and Buell haggled over cooperating in the expedition. As Grant's Army of the Tennessee rested and refitted along the Tennessee River south of the now captured forts Buell was to march his army southwest to meet them. Continued arguments between Halleck and Buell coupled with Grant's complacency at his Pittsburg Landing camp almost ended in disaster at the Battle of Shiloh. While Buell slowly marched toward the Tennessee River, Johnston and his subordinates had been busy at Corinth trying to recover the large amount of territory lost to Grant at the forts. The Battle of Shiloh prematurely ended these hopes as Grant's army was able to recover from their shock at being attacked and hold on as Buell's Army of the Ohio reached the field of battle. Johnston was killed and Beauregard, his second in command, was forced to retreat to Corinth. At this point in the campaign, Henry Halleck managed to obtain sole command of the armies in the West, and he gathered the armies of Grant, Buell, and Pope (fresh off a victory at Island No. 10 on the Mississippi) for a laborious advance on Corinth, the mos

Struggle For The Heartland: The Campaigns From Fort Henry To Corinth by Stephen D. Engle (Professor of History, Florida Atlantic University) relates the Civil War campaign that began in early 1862 with Union penetration under General Ulysses S. Grant into the Confederate held west that culminated with the Northern capture of the Southern defended town of Corinth, Mississippi. Historian Stephen Engle also examines how prewar economic relations formed in this region, how relationships between locality and loyalty were developed and expressed, the commanders on both sides of the conflict, as well as other civil and military authorities. Engle also describes the campaigns' significance within the larger theater of war and the post-war era of Reconstruction. The Struggle For The Heartland is an informed and informative contribution to Civil War Studies and an enthusiastically recommended contribution to academic reference collections, as well as Civil War buff reading lists.

Struggle For The Heartland: The Campaigns From Fort Henry To Corinth by Stephen Engle (professor of history, Florida Atlantic University) is the exhaustively researched, in-depth story about the military campaign that was the first significant Northern advance into the Confederate west. This campaign crushed all hopes the South had for avoiding a protracted battle, and set the stage for a grim and bloody war of attrition. Highly recommended for Civil War studies reading lists and reference collections, Struggle For The Heartland is an alternately fascinating and disturbing portrayal of a pivotal aspect of American military history.