The Shipwreck of Their Hopes: The Battles for Chattanooga

The Civil War In The West #3

by Peter Cozzens

Civil War enthusiasts will welcome this new volume of Peter Cozzens's highly praised works on the Civil War in the West. The battles around Chattanooga in the late fall of 1863 were among the most decisive of the Civil War, opening the Deep South to the Union and setting the stage for the Atlanta campaign and the March to the Sea. After Chattanooga, the principal Confederate army in the West fought without spirit or hope of victory.

Cozzens's comprehensive account details movements of individual regiments, even as it reveals the larger impact of the campaign on the outcome of the war. In The Shipwreck of Their Hopes, Cozzens draws on his acclaimed storytelling skills and exhaustive research efforts to fully chronicle one of the South's most humiliating defeats. As in his earlier books, he brings to life the officers and enlisted men who fought the war.

Genres: Civil War, History, American Civil War, Nonfiction, Civil War Western Theater, Military History, American History

536 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1994

About the author

Peter Cozzens is the award-winning author of seventeen books on the American Civil War and the West. Cozzens is also a retired Foreign Service Officer.

His most recent book is A Brutal Reckoning: Andrew Jackson, the Creek Indians, and the Epic War for the American South (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2023). Cozzens's next book is Deadwood: Gold, Guns, and Greed in the American West (Knopf: September 2025).

Cozzens's penultimate book, Tecumseh and the Prophet: The Shawnee Brothers Who Defied a Nation, was published by Knopf in October 2020. It won the Western Writers of America Spur Award and was a finalist for the George Washington Prize.

His The Earth Is Weeping: The Epic Story of the Indian Wars for the American West was published by Alfred A. Knopf in October 2016. Amazon selected it as a Best Book of November 2016. Smithsonian Magazine chose it as one of the ten best history books of 2016. It has won multiple awards, including the Gilder-Lehrman Prize for the finest book on military history published worldwide. It also was a London Times book of the year and has been translated into several languages, including Russian and Chinese.

All of Cozzens' books have been selections of the Book of the Month Club, History Book Club, and/or the Military Book Club.

Cozzens’ This Terrible Sound: The Battle of Chickamauga and The Shipwreck of Their Hopes: The Battles for Chattanooga were both Main Selections of the History Book Club and were chosen by Civil War Magazine as two of the 100 greatest works ever written on the conflict.

The History Book Club called his five-volume Eyewitnesses to the Indian Wars "the definitive resource on the military struggle for the American West."

His Shenandoah 1862: Stonewall Jackson's Valley Campaign was a Choice "Outstanding Academic Title" for 2009.

He was a frequent contributor to the New York Times "Disunion" series, and he has written articles for Smithsonian Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, True West, America's Civil War, Civil War Times Illustrated, and MHQ, among other publications.

In 2002 Cozzens received the American Foreign Service Association’s highest award, given annually to one Foreign Service Officer for exemplary moral courage, integrity, and creative dissent.

Cozzens is a member of the Advisory Council of the Lincoln Prize, the Western Writers Association, the Authors' Guild, and the Army and Navy Club.

Cozzens and his wife Antonia Feldman reside in Maryland.

Reviews

[Theo Logos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cozzen has produced the comprehensive tome on the battle of Chattanooga. All the information you need to understand the flow of this complex, multifaceted battle as well as the political intriguing that helped to shape the results is here. What it lacks is a spark of life, a sense of being there. Admittedly, the complexity of this story that begins with the Union rout at Chickamauga, follows through a month long Rebel siege of Chattanooga, and continues with several small actions and scattered attacks presents difficulties for a storyteller. Cozzen did not overcome those difficulties. With a few exceptions, Cozzen's battle descriptions have more of the feel of a wargame played out on a map than the chaotic, life and death struggle that it surely was.

Despite this, Cozzen’s book should be considered required reading for those who have an interest in the battle. It may be dry reading, but his research is meticulous, and the information presented is comprehensive and impressive. Anyone with an interest in this pivotal Civil War battle, or the larger picture of how the war was won in its Western theater needs to read this book.

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

With a year and a half of fighting still ahead, it seems too soon to call the November 1863 Union victory at Chattanooga the beginning of the end of the Confederacy. But it sure seems like the writing is on the wall, at the end of this third book in Cozzens’ trilogy on the battles for Tennessee. 

Reading this immediately after the second book, I pretty much knew what to expect - a promising beginning, a thoughtful conclusion, and somewhat of a slog in between. I had to go back and reread my review of the first book to see why I seemed to like that one a lot better than the next two. Apparently it was the brevity - at half the length of this one, and a third the length of the second, that book had the promising beginning and thoughtful conclusion, but with a much more efficient and readable middle. In this book, as in the second, Cozzens got much, much more detailed about every battle engagement and maneuver. It’s thorough at the expense of being an engaging narrative, and detailed at the expense of providing a broader, more understandable big picture. 

What does set this book apart is that it describes what really starts to feel like a turning point in the war. After two major battles pitting the hapless Union Gen. Rosecrans against the inept Confederate Gen. Bragg, the tide turns as Ulysses Grant arrives to take command following his recent victory at Vicksburg. Union forces are hunkered down in Chattanooga following their loss at Chickamauga, while Bragg squanders his victory by engaging in infighting with his officers and failing to come up with any plan to retake Chattanooga, allowing Grant time to gather strength as his reinforcements arrive. 

Early Union maneuvers are compellingly described, as troops break out of Chattanooga to confront the Confederate forces who had been besieging them in the city. Then the battles to take Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge are told in exacting detail that I found hard to follow and visualize, despite having been to the area many times. 

By now, Cozzens’ opinions about Bragg are no surprise, as he manages to come up with new ways to critique him, writing at one point that Bragg “lacked the charisma to inspire even the most simpleminded private.” Perhaps more surprising is that Cozzens is an equal opportunity critic, finding fault with everyone from Gen. Sherman (for straggling and making strategic errors while making his way toward Grant) to Grant himself. While Grant was the well-deserved victor, Cozzens harshly calls him out for eliding his errors, “rewriting history… almost to outright mendacity” as he “chose to lie” in his after action report about having given confusing orders to Gen. Thomas, and accuses him of “dissembling regarding the performance of his friend Sherman” to make him look better in retrospect.

But in response to criticism that Grant allowed Bragg to escape and failed to more vigorously pursue and destroy the retreating enemy, Cozzens defends him. As Bragg’s bedraggled forces fled south into Georgia, Lincoln wanted Grant to focus on assisting Gen. Burnside who was under siege in Knoxville. Say what you will about the military maxim that an army’s primary aim should be destroying the enemy rather than defending territory, but “Grant ultimately had to bow to the wishes of the president,” Cozzens writes, and “Lincoln was not Clausewitz.”

Still, the Confederate loss was one from which it would not recover. Tennessee was lost for good, Union-held Chattanooga became the base of operation for Sherman’s eventual march into Georgia, and Grant was poised to head east to oversee the war’s final act. Among Confederate soldiers, “most probably knew that the collapse of their cause was only a matter of time,” Cozzens writes. The Civil War battles for Tennessee may not get the attention that others do. But despite their flaws, Cozzens’ trilogy ensures that these battles are understood as the pivotal turning point that they really were.

[Cropredy · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Shipwreck of Their Hopes" - what a title. Could be used to describe so many situations in one's own life or in other's lives.

But anyway, back to 1863. This book completes Peter Cozzens' series on the campaigns of central Tennessee 1862-63. Before reading this book, I heartily recommend visiting the top of Lookout Mountain and gazing down (on a clear day) the twists and turns of the Tennessee River, the railroad lines in and out of Chattanooga, and all the hills from west-to-north-to-east. Missionary Ridge stands out (it would otherwise be too difficult to discern from city level in modern day built-up Chattanooga). Even Orchard Knob can be made out (although not easily). My point is that Chattanooga was strategic because of its rail nexus but also easily besieged (as did the Confederates) due to the easily-defended valley choke points. It wasn't a pure siege as the Union were able to get supplies over tortuous mountain roads from Nashville but not enough supplies. Horses and mules suffered terribly from lack of forage. When you are up top of Lookout Mountain, the siege, Grant's relief effort that broke the siege, and the eventual key points of the battle in late November become seared into your mind and are of great aid as you read the book.

Now of course, not everyone will make it to this mountain top and Cozzens does a good job with maps explaining the Union army predicament and how and where the siege was broken. The map graphics make clear the steep terrain, narrow valleys, and sparse road network.

As with all his books, the author does an excellent job setting up the scene with the situation in late September after the cataclysmic defeat at Chickamauga. Grant takes command, Rosecrans is out. Meanwhile Bragg seethes over perceived disloyalty from his corps commanders. It rains (a lot). Everyone is hungry. The little known battle of Wauhatchie is described in great detail (the battle that broke the siege).

Next, Cozzens delves into the preparations for the battle where Grant aims to break the Confederate army and prepare the way to drive into Georgia and Atlanta. Bragg assumes his position is easily defensible and sends his hated subordinate, Longstreet, off to Knoxville to get out of his sight. The feeling is mutual.

Unlike Chickamauga that was a confused three day battle fought in the woods, the battles of Chattanooga unfold serially and over distinct terrain. This makes for an easier-to-follow narrative. Hooker takes Lookout Mountain. Sherman comes in for some justly deserved criticism over his mishandling of his large force that could have turned Bragg's right flank but was instead squandered attacking the wrong hill.

The battle turns on the famous unordered assault up Missionary Ridge where the soldiers (and their immediate leaders) quickly realized that to stay at the bottom of the ridge was suicide and to retreat was equally bad. So, up they went over rocks and brush. Outnumbered, hungry, and poorly positioned Confederates broke and it was all over by nightfall.

As is usual with Civil War battles, the pursuit by the Union was not carried out with sufficient zeal and Bragg's army gets away to fight another day (although without Bragg who was metaphorically shipwrecked). Cozzens covers the rearguard action at Ringgold Gap, nicely bookending the whole two month campaign/battle.

On a personal note, when I was a kid, I had a jigsaw puzzle that depicted Hooker on his white horse and Lookout Mountain in the background, with Union forces surging up the slopes. The puzzle was based on a James Walker painting that now hangs in the National Battlefield Park Visitor's Center atop Lookout Mountain. You can imagine a boy of 10 being inspired by this panorama to dig into Civil War history.

To sum up, read this book after "No Better Place to Die" (Stones River) and "This Terrible Sound" (Chickamauga) to get the proper sequence of events. I think this was Cozzen's best work of the bunch but I could be biased with my recent acquaintance with the panorama atop Lookout Mountain.

[Todd Price · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cozzens again proves himself a master of his craft in “Shipwreck”. He is adept at interpreting military maneuvers and subtleties, wading through the decades of after action reports by players in the events to come as close to the reality of the days’ actions as possible, short of time travel.

The Battle of Chattanooga is of particular interest to me. I lived in Chattanooga for 4 years. My undergraduate university was mere blocks from Grant’s Union Army headquarters on Orchard Knob(in fact, the main thoroughfare through campus is named Orchard Knob). My primary classroom building looked across the Tennessee River valley at the imposing eminence of Lookout Mountain. Cozzens’ relation of the battle for the mountain named “The Battle Above the Clouds” is something I can fully appreciate. The fog from the river valley, paired with the dizzying heights of Lookout Mountain often obscure the slopes in a misty shroud. I also had an apartment on the East slope of Missionary Ridge, not more than a mile behind the Confederate center lines during the battle. Many a late night I stepped out onto my yard or the road, thinking of possible wounded or retreating Confederate soldiers having passed through or rested there on the frosty night of November 25, 1863.

Cozzens accurately relates how Chattanooga was a series of several battles, rather than a single engagement. Lookout Mountain, Tunnel Hill, and Missionary Ridge occupied November 23, 24, and 25, 1863, but as separately initiated and fought battles in their own right. While Gettysburg was the Confederacy’s “high water mark”, and Vicksburg its seal of doom, Chattanooga was the straw that broke the camel’s back, metaphorically speaking in the momentous year of 1863. The victories that put the Confederacy on a purely defensive posture in the West for the remainder of the war also catapulted one General Ulysses Grant to overall operational leadership of the Union Army, guaranteeing its ultimate demise.

Chattanooga is a poorly understood battle, sparingly written about. While having lived in the area, I was familiar with the basics. Yet, Cozzens deftly relates the amazing details of the battle, including the siege of the Army of the Cumberland under William Rosecrans by Braxton Bragg’s victory drunk Army of Tennessee following the bloody fighting at Chickamauga, through the logistically based operations to open Union supply lines, concluding with Grant’s arrival to take command and order offensive operations against the besieging Confederates. For any Civil War enthusiast, this is incredibly detailed and fascinating reading. For those unfamiliar with the overall picture of the Civil War, it would be a challenging read at best.

[Peter Corrigan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent in almost every regard. This completes my reading of the trilogy by Peter Cozzens on the campaigns that spelled the doom of CS Army of the Tennessee (also Stone's River and Chickamauga) and the CSA itself. I will be visiting Chattanooga in less than 10 days and I am excited to see some of the dramatic landscapes. This is a fairly exhaustive account and written primarily for the military enthusiast who can follow the action in all of it's complexity and intricacies. Actions down to regimental level and even company are described in some detail. You might say that it can be a 'dry' account at times but using a little imagination the drama and insanity of it all becomes all too evident. Yet the 'Battle Above the Clouds' is one of the iconic images of the now very 'late unpleasantness' and this book goes a long way to a thorough understanding of how and why it unfolded as it did. I basically knew the outcome but still learned a whole lot about the how. Perhaps most riveting however (and totally unknown to me) was the Battle of Ringgold Gap (Nov. 27) that saved the retreating Army of the Tennessee (AoT), as a single totally outnumbered division under the brilliant Patrick Cleburne staved off Hooker's attempt to crush the AoT completely. It almost had shades of Thermopylae! Would make a great little wargame! Sad that the superb Cleburne had to die at the debacle of Franklin, TN just a year later.

[Mark Harden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cozzens is the best writer of Civil War campaigns and this is his masterpiece. Definitive, engagingly written, with compelling descriptions of all the leading characters. It was a joy to read.

[Jerome Otte · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thorough, well-written and insightful history of the Chattanooga campaign, which Cozzens argues was the single most decisive campaign of the war.

Cozzens does a great job describing the political and military context and the lead-up to the battle, as well as the aftermath. The narrative of the battle itself is vivid, energetic and detailed, and all of the tactical developments are clearly represented. The thumbnail biographies of all the major figures are insightful and don’t disrupt the flow of the narrative, although the coverage of the various engagements can get a little confusing at times and sometimes make it hard to grasp the overall picture.

Cozzens is fairly critical of pretty much everyone. Grant, Sherman, and Thomas, seem to come in for the least criticism, and he describes how the battle was a chaotic stalemate until the former arrived on scene (he does, however, describe all of Sherman’s blunders as well, and Grant, while competent and determined is criticized for indecision at Missionary Ridge and for being unimaginative when it came to employing Sherman) While Chattanooga was a success for Grant, he had plenty of help from the blunders of the Confederates, who, Cozzens argues, were quite capable of driving US troops from Chattanooga. While Bragg is slammed for conceding the initiative, Cozzens concludes that Jefferson Davis is ultimately at fault for his “quixotic” advice. Thomas also comes off as reluctant and slow.

The maps, unfortunately, are of poor quality and there aren’t enough of them, and some parts of the narrative are rather dry. Sherman is criticized, and it does seem like Sherman wasn’t the type of general one could trust to direct a battle, but some of this criticism seems excessive. Cozzens slams Sherman for “incompetence that bordered on extreme negligence,” and he seems puzzled by Sherman's defensive preparations during his attack. However, there could have been a little more consideration of the terrain Sherman had to deal with, as well as Sherman’s caution about enemy counterattacks.

Still, a deft, readable and dramatic volume, although I’m not sure how accessible it may be for the general reader.

[Sean Chick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cozzens again proves why, a few minor errors notwithstanding, he is one of the best. The experience of the foot soldiers is a thread throughout the work, which also details the plans and machinations of both high commands. Bragg was openly feuding with his senior commanders and Grant disliked Hooker, Thomas, and in particular Granger. This bickering, combined with the terrain and logistics, explains why this was the most unusual battle of the war. Attacking infantry managed to carry two imposing heights. The battle was won through the unexpected initiative of the soldiers, in spite of errors made by Grant, Sherman, and to a lesser degree Granger. Lastly, the men who won the day were denied much of the credit. As Granger wrote in July 1864, if Grant and Sherman won, he, and by default Rosecrans and Thomas, would be forgotten. And so they were, effectively written out of the grand narrative of the war, mostly passing footnotes in textbooks and documentaries.

Cozzens, by having no favorites, is blunt about everyone. Sherman was at his worst here. Grant simply enacted Rosecrans' plan (Cozzens fails to mention it was already in motion) and made bad plans during the fighting. Bragg, Breckinridge, and to a lesser degree Hardee, bungled the defense. Davis, by sending Longstreet north, committed one of the war's gravest errors. Cozzens could have gone further. His final chapter on the aftershocks of the battle is a bit too brief, but is still welcome for its honesty. Grant's treatment of Thomas and the Army of the Cumberland, in his memoirs and reports, was an extreme case of mendacity.

This book is certainly a classic, a fine example of being descriptive without being purple and of clear and honest analysis. Maps could have been better, but they still achieve their purpose.

[Anson Cassel Mills · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cozzens has written a fine, detailed exposition of the Chattanooga campaign that is meticulous enough to satisfy most military history buffs. At the same time, the author properly emphasizes that personalities and political realities significantly shaped military decisions and their outcomes.

Cozzens has done a fine job of including appropriate quotations from the diaries and letters of enlisted men as well as the often self-serving declarations that lard official reports; and he makes what seems to me to be sound evaluations of the various generals and their comportment during the campaign.

The plethora of characters who charge and retreat across the battlefields can sometimes numb the non-expert, and I have a dim view of regularly using nicknames such as “the Tennessean” or “the Irishman” simply to avoid repeating proper names. Although the maps are good, a few more would have been helpful.

[Mark Gallagher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Peter Cozzens has written with style and clarity an excellent military history of the Battles for Chattanooga in the late fall of 1863. Using an impressive array of contemporary sources, ranging from letters and diaries to official battlefield communiques and memoirs of the participants, he delivers a highly detailed account of all the moving parts of the campaign and a cast of characters from privates to general staff officers. I learned more about Civil War era warfare than I ever had from previous reading: about the role of terrain, or how easily good plans unraveled due to poor communications. He also exposes the feet of clay of quite a few revered Generals from both sides and reveals how their mistakes, hesitancy, or miscalculations throughout the several days of battle contributed to the final outcome.

[Leonard · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great story about the Western Theatre of the Civil War. It covers the battles for Chattanooga in the Western theatre. the major players were Grant, Sheridan and Sherman of the North and Bragg, Hagee and Longstreet with the south.

And, as typical of the Civil War, chances and blown chances riddled all the battles of this campaign. In the end, the South made more errors and lost the area and almost the entire army of Tennessee.

[Kevin Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Readable History of a Critical Campaign

The account is extremely well written. I was able to read it while in Chattanooga visiting the battlefields. It was invaluable. The author has some biases, don’t we all, but except for his treatment of Longstreet, he tends to be balanced. His dislike and criticism of Longstreet is a bit harsh.

[Tomlikeslife · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book except for the author's constant references to commanders as the Kentuckian, or Virginian, or another state. It got confusing at times. Other than that, it was a good description of the battle.

[Arthur Rohloff · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic finish to the Tennessee trilogy. Cozzens does a great job of bringing the major characters to life, exposing both their strengths and more often their weaknesses. Wonderful description of the battles, highlighting all the nuances that could have changed the outcome.

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderfully written. Concentrates on the ground level. This is an account of the battle as soldiers saw it, not a biography of the commanding general's who are mentioned infrequently.

[Seth J. Vogelman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read and recommended

[Michael Cawley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and detailed history of the pivotal Battle of Chattanooga

[Pancho · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's pretty good, but suffers from extremely poor maps.

[Sandra Oldfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely the books to read if you want details. I don't like them as much as others that bring in more narration but they are researched to the last degree.

[Stephen H. Guerin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding book, meticulously researched and scholarly yet an extremely engaging read.

[Steven Peterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

After the near disastrous Union defeat at Chickamauga, the northern forces retreated to Chattanooga. Confederate troops encircled the city and held key heights. This book examines the situation from the beginning of the siege to the final Union victory.

We get a taste of the key figures in the fighting, including the internecine warfare among Confederate generals, with the tension between James Longstreet and Braxton Bragg being a fine example. On the Union side, General Rosecrans, after his defeat at Chickamauga, was finally relieved and General George Thomas ("the rock of Chickamauga" took over). To break the siege, the Union sent forces under Joseph Hooker (two corps from the Army of the Potomac) and forces under William T. Sherman. Overall command? Ulysses Grant was sent to Chattanooga to orchestrate an end to the siege.

The book covers in fine detail the breaking of the Confederate line to open "the Cracker Line" and end the serious food shortage afflicting the Union command. It discusses the near thing, when Hooker allowed his forces to become separated--but recovering to hold their line. Then, we see Sherman's inability to win the struggle at Tunnel Hill; we experience "the battle above the clouds," in which a ragtag force, with troops from a number of commands, capturing Lookout Mountain. Finally, the surge against Missionary Ridge where, seemingly against the odds, Thomas' forces scaled the heights and sent Bragg's army to flight.

Nicely detailed. The writing is functional but does not sing. There are enough maps to give a sense of the layout of the fighting. At the end of the text is the "order of battle," so the reader can keep straight to forces under each command. If interested in the fighting at Chattanooga, this is a good resource.

[Josh Liller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cozzens wraps up his Army of the Cumberland trilogy (preceded by books on Stones River and Chickamauga). Cozzens writing seems to subtly improve with each book, as I found this better than "No Better Place To Die" (about Chickamauga) and I've heard some negative reviews of his Stones River book. The campaign is covered extensively, from Rosecran's replacement through the opening of the Cracker Line, the battles on Lookout Mountain, Tunnel Hill, and Missionary Ridge and even a chapter about the post-battle pursuit ending in the battle of Ringgold Gap.

Cozzens is rightfully critical of numerous commanders in the campaign, especially Sherman's poor performance at Tunnel Hill and the ongoing disaster that was the Confederate upper command.

The maps in this book are better than those from his previous book, with a better sense of movement rather than static snapshots. The book really could have used some painting and/or photographs of the terrain of the battle, particularly Lookout Mountain which is presented as being far less imposing than is commonly regarded.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clarity in writing and keen analysis throughout the work. Strategy and on-field tactics cleanly rendered for the reader. Author does a great job of showing how personalities and personal piques shaped the overall outcome of the events. Diligent research provides the reader with quotes from the average soldier at key situations in the ongoing battles and marches. You can get lost a bit in teh left-flank, right-flank stuff but that is probably more about me than the book.

[Jerry Walsh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book on one of the least covered battles of the civil war. I read the book because I wanted to know about the battle before we visited it.

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

The third of Cozzen's Tennessee trilogy is, like his book on Chickamauga, absolutely top-notch.

[Jim]

Cozzens is superb as usual in his detailed tactical descriptions, down to the individual unit level.

[Alec Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cozzens trilogy of the Tennessee campaigns is comprehensive and excellent

[Cliff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maps bad. Needs better summation of battle at end.

[Joseph Hofmann]

Extremely in depth of the battles for the heights surrounding Chattanooga. Very well written