"The Real Horse Soldiers: Benjamin Grierson’s Epic..." Topic

… 1863 Civil War Raid Through Mississippi.

"Benjamin Grierson's Union cavalry thrust through Mississippi is one of the most well-known operations of the Civil War. The last serious study was published more than six decades ago. Since then other accounts have appeared, but none are deeply researched full-length studies of the raid and its more than substantial (and yet often overlooked) results. The publication of Timothy B. Smith's The Real Horse Soldiers: Benjamin Grierson's Epic 1863 Civil War Raid through Mississippi rectifies this oversight.

There were other simultaneous operations to distract Confederate attention from the real threat posed by U. S. Grant's Army of the Tennessee. Grierson's operation, however, mainly conducted with two Illinois cavalry regiments, has become the most famous, and for good reason: For 16 days (April 17 to May 2) Grierson led Confederate pursuers on a high-stakes chase through the entire state of Mississippi, entering the northern border with Tennessee and exiting its southern border with Louisiana. The daily rides were long, the rest stops short, and the tension high. Ironically, the man who led the raid was a former music teacher who some say disliked horses. Throughout, he displayed outstanding leadership and cunning, destroyed railroad tracks, burned trestles and bridges, freed slaves, and created as much damage and chaos as possible…"

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Have anyone read this book?
If the answer is yes… comments please?

Thanks in advance for your guidance.

Amicalement
Armand

I just read it last week, and I highly recommend it. The story is very exciting and much better than the John Wayne movie fictionalization.

Rick

Many thanks Rick!

Amicalement
Armand

Curiously, Grierson never went back to music. He remained in the Army after the war, and commanded the 10th cavalry. I thought Dee Brown's book about the raid was pretty good.

Thanks also.

Amicalement
Armand

Anything Tim Smith (the Western Theater Tim Smith, not the Gettysburg guide) writes is very, very good. Shiloh, Corinth, Fort Henry/Donelson Campaign, Champion Hill, histories of the parks at Chickamauga and Shiloh…all excellent books!

Thanks to you too my friend.

Amicalement
Armand