Through the howling wilderness
Subtitle: the 1864 Red River Campaign and Union failure in the West
By: Gary D. Joiner ; with a foreword by Edwin C. Bearss.
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher: University of Tennessee Press
Published: 2006
Place of publication: Knoxville
Language: eng
Number of pages: 305
ISBN-13: 9781572335448
Subjects: United States. -- Army -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865; United States. -- Navy -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865; Red River Expedition, 1864; Strategy -- History -- 19th century; Louisiana -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Campaigns; Arkansas -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Campaigns; United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Campaigns; United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Riverine operations
Description: "The Red River Campaign of 1864 was a bold attempt to send large Union army and navy forces deep into the interior of Louisiana, seize the Rebel capital of the state, and defeat the Confederate army guarding the region, enabling uninhibited access to Texas to the west. Through the Howling Wilderness emphasizes the Confederate defensive measures and the hostile attitudes of commanders toward each other as well as toward their enemies."

"Gary D. Joiner contends that the campaign was important to both the Union army and navy in the course of the war and afterward, altering the political landscape in the fall presidential elections in 1864. The campaign redirected troops originally assigned to operate in Georgia during the pivotal Atlanta campaign, thus delaying the end of the war by weeks or even months, and it forced the navy to refocus its inland or "brown water" naval tactics. The Red River Campaign ushered in deep resentment toward the repatriation of the State of Louisiana after the war ended. Profound consequences included legal, political, and sociological issues that surfaced in Congressional hearings as a result of the Union defeat."

"The efforts of the Confederates to defend northern Louisiana - building an army and preparing to trap the Union naval forces before the campaign began - have been all but lost in the literature of the Civil War." "Replete with in-depth coverage on the geography of the region, the Congressional hearings after the Campaign, and the Confederate defenses in the Red River Valley, Through the Howling Wilderness will appeal to Civil War historians and buffs alike."--Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [259]-295) and index.
Table of contents: title: The campaign in context; title: Confederate preparations; title: Union plans; title: The Union advance; title: The battles of Mansfield and Pleasant Hill; title: The campaign in Arkansas; title: Union retreat in Louisiana; title: Congressional investigation; title: Conclusion; title: Appendix 1 : Mississippi squadron vessels deployed in the Red River Campaign, March-May 1864; title: Appendix 2 : orders of battle for the Red River Campaign; title: Appendix 3 : David Dixon Porter letter; title: Appendix 4 : Richard Taylor letter; title: Appendix 5 : chronology of combined operations; title: Appendix 6 : David French Boyd letter; title: Appendix 7 : Red River Campaign time line.