The Campaigns for Vicksburg, 1862-63: Leadership Lessons by Kevin Dougherty

Five stars plus! I loved reading this amazing book by Kevin Dougherty. “The Campaigns for Vicksburg, 1862-63: Leadership Lessons” is too good of a book to be relegated as just another history of Vicksburg. Bookstores should not limit the book to assignment in the military history section. It deserves a prominent place in the business section with the books on leadership and management as well as the military history section. As I read the book I was reminded of a book I read in the early 1990s, "Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun". The book is that good!

Kevin Dougherty does a great job of providing leadership lessons from the key military and political leaders of the time.  He helps us understand Vicksburg. He does this by sharing the challenges, characteristics, and styles associated with leadership during the Civil War. He follows with an overview of the entire Vicksburg Campaign.

Next, he provides thirty case studies or leadership vignettes. He starts with General Winfield Scott’s Anaconda Plan. He carries us systematically through the campaign. We meet and learn about the key leaders and engagements. Each of the thirty vignettes begins with the short summary. It follows with a succinct history of the event (e.g. Chickasaw Bayou: William Sherman and Knowing When to Quit). Sharing the resulting leadership lessons learned from the event follow. The chapters (vignettes) conclude with a sidebar of “Takeaways” which provide a succinct summary of the lessons learned.

As you are enjoying reading the book, you learn valuable lessons on the difference between management and leadership. You gain an understanding of servant leadership. You see the value of clear communication from leaders to their subordinates. You comprehend the worth of personal presence of the leader in an organization. 

The author ends the book with conclusions about leadership during the Vicksburg campaign. The areas covered are strategy, confidence, unity of effort, frame of reference, situational awareness, risk taking, problem solving, personal bravery, and technical skill. The inclusion of the Vicksburg Campaign Order of Battle as an appendix is appreciated and helps with the understanding of the size of the leadership task faced by General U.S. Grant.

“The Campaigns for Vicksburg, 1862-63: Leadership Lessons” is a valuable addition to the study of leadership and Vicksburg.  It would be an excellent study for business leaders as well as the professional officer and soldier. I recommend its addition to the personal library of all students of military science. My hope is it would be included in the reading lists of the officer basic or advanced courses. As in "Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun", the lessons presented in "The Campaigns for Vicksburg, 1862-63: Leadership Lessons" are timeless.

Well done, Lt. Col. Kevin Dougherty, Ph.D. , US Army (retired) Adjunct Professor, Tactical Officer at The Citadel. I enjoyed your book. Well done, indeed!

Grant and Sherman: The Friendship That Won the Civil War by Charles Bracelen Flood

Grant and Sherman: The Friendship That Won the Civil War by Charles Bracelen Flood examines the relationship between the two great generals. It provides much information, but little of it new, on the two individuals. It shows as Sherman is quoted, "that we are as brothers."

The book gives the background of each man and his family prior to the outbreak of the Civil War. I enjoyed the coverage given of Grant's and Sherman's relationships with friends, family members, and their wives. The book shows the chemistry and respect the two have for each other. The book depicts Grant as the commander and Sherman as the consummate subordinate who managed to achieve the ideal balance between loyalty and strong advice. It becomes clear that one would not have accomplished nearly as much without the other.

The book could have been titled from failure to success as it explains how each man came to his responsibilities in the US Army. I enjoyed seeing the relationship between the two develop. We see it grow as they had a nominal knowledge of each from their West Point days where Sherman was two years ahead of Grant to where Sherman's presence encourages Grant while he is writing his memoirs.
The book achieves its point of showing they had a friendship. I remember examples at Fort Henry where Sherman was supplying Grant with what he needed even though Sherman had date of rank on Grant. Sherman and Grant talking at Shiloh were Sherman was ready to retreat and regroup and Grant to advance on the second day. Sherman encourages Grant not to leave after Major General Halleck takes field command of the Army from Grant following Shiloh. The Corinth Campaign, Military governorship of Memphis, Vicksburg Campaign, Grant in charge of the entire US Army, Chattanooga, Knoxville, Atlanta, Savannah, Columbia, and on to Raleigh for Sherman as well as the Wilderness, Petersburg, fall of Richmond and finally Appomattox for Grant. Their clear strategy in Sherman's words: "He was to go for Lee and I was to go for Joe Johnston."

The chapter on Sherman in trouble was very interesting as it gave the most in depth record I personally have read of the controversy surrounding Johnston's surrender to Sherman. We see how Grant has Sherman's back and helps him through this time.

It is a relatively short work of just over 400 pages. It was an enjoyable read. Read and reviewed by Jimmie A. Kepler.

With Nothing but Victory: The Army of the Tennessee, 1861-1865 Dr. Steven E. Woodworth

With Nothing but Victory: The Army of the Tennessee, 1861-1865 Dr. Steven E. Woodworth continues to show he is an excellent writer. This is a long book, 641 pages. It took me about thirty two days to read it. Woodworth’s writing is a refreshing, narrative style. His goal of giving attention to all levels of the army from private to general was accomplished. The thoughts, actions, and attitudes of the soldier he sought to communicate rang clear in his writing.

My initial thought was this may be the definitive work on the Civil War in the west. My undergraduate degree in history included course work in US Military History, Antebellum History, Civil War and Reconstruction. I am well read in the area of personal memoirs and definitive biographies of key persons in the US Civil War. My point in sharing my background is this – Dr. Woodworth certainly heavily leaned on the Personal Memoirs of US Grant. I had read that book recently so it was very fresh in my memory. It would have been interesting to see more sources from the southern soldiers who fought the Army of the Tennessee. In some battles I found that some of the other Union Armies’ contributions or lack of contribution were not covered in the detail I would have enjoyed. I believe this is a definitive work on the Civil War in the west.

With the above opinion stated, I still strongly recommend the book and will read it again. Steven Woodworth’s writing style is so enjoyable that I fear academic historians may be jealous of him as has happened with other best selling historians.

The story of how the army develops is shared with many sources. I was distracted initially by all the footnoting, but after a while ignored most unless I was curious about the statement. It was interesting to learn of the training and the logistical skills of the leadership - Grant and Sherman.

Some may think there is too much focus on General Grant prior to the fall of 1863. Grant was such a key figure that the coverage is merited. At times the author seems like a Grant apologist. Maybe some writers have diminished Grant’s contribution. Having a great, great, grandfather who served and died in the Army of the Tennessee I have had interest in learning what I can of the grand army. I learned new information on Grant. So my time was well spent.

I found the treatment of General Henry Halleck leadership role over Grant enlightening. I was previously unaware of General John A. McClernand and his never ending politicking and rumor spreading. Seeing the roles of General like Dodge, Hampton, McPherson and Logan sowed the seeds for further reading on some of these men.

The narrative made feel like I was there with the army as the moved from Cairo to Fort Henry and Fort Donaldson, to Shiloh, to Corinth, to Vicksburg and that whole complex campaign including Port Gibson, Jackson, Champions Hill and Vicksburg and Meridian.

The battles around Chattanooga were as clearly explained as I have every read. The coverage of the Atlanta campaign and movement through Georgia were excellent. I would love to see a book by him on just this campaign. It had points of view and information I have not encountered. I twice have lived in Georgia (mid 1970’s as a new second lieutenant and early 1980’s fresh with Master’s in hand living in Atlanta). I was always amazed at how Georgia natives acted as if Atlanta fell last week and the foraging was still happening. His narrative on the march across Georgia was enlightening. Woodworth's account of the movement from Savannah through South Carolina is rich in detail that rivals any other resources known. We understand why South Carolina was divested by the Sherman’s army. Then the march through North Carolina, the way Logan keeps Raleigh from being burned and then ultimate the movement to Washington, DC and the May 24th pass in review was well done.

I did not find just another retelling of the history of the Army of the Tennessee. It is a fun to read narrative written by a good story teller. Thank goodness this is not just another dry lengthy, dry historical paper. History can be well written and interesting. He made it interesting by sharing the soldier’s thoughts, emotions, and victories through the liberal use of diaries. We learned the heart of the Army of the Tennessee. We understand why and how it fought and how it developed esprit de corps.

I recommend adding this book to every library of those with an interest in the US Civil War. Read and reviewed by Jimmie A. Kepler.