The Smoke At Dawn

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"Summer 1863. The Federal Triumph at Vicksburg has secured complete control of the Mississippi River from the Confederacy, cementing the reputation of Ulysses S. Grant. Farther east, Federal forces under the command of William Rosecrans are routed in north Georgia at Chickamauga Creek. Retreating in a panic back to Chattanooga, Rosecrans's army seems doomed to the same kind of defeat that plagued the Confederates at Vicksburg. A disgusted Abraham Lincoln has seen enough. He elevates Grant to command of the entire theater of the war. After replacing Rosecrans, Grant gathers an enormous force, including armies commanded by Joseph Hooker and Grant's friend William T. Sherman. The mission is clear: break the Confederate siege and destroy General Braxton Bragg's army, already rife with dissension and disharmony. Blending evocative historical detail with searing depictions of battle, Jeff Shaara vividly re-creates the climactic months of the war in the West, when the fate of a divided nation truly hangs in the balance."--Back cover