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Bushwhacking on a Grand Scale: The Battle of Chickamauga, September 18-20, 1863
The battle of Chickamauga brought an early fall to the Georgia countryside in 1863, where men fell like autumn leaves in some of the heaviest fighting of the war. The battlefield consisted of a nearly impenetrable, vine-choked forest around Chickamauga Creek. Unable to see beyond their immediate surroundings, officers found it impossible to exercise effective command, and the engagement deteriorated into what many participants later called “a soldier’s battle.” It was, explained Union General John Turchin, “Bushwhacking on a Grand Scale.”
The stakes were control of Chattanooga, “the Gateway City” to the Deep South. The two-day battle of Chickamauga was the only major victory of the war for the ill-starred Confederate Army of Tennessee, which managed to break through on the second day and drive the Union army off the field in a wild rout. The victory, however, left a legacy of dashed hopes for Braxton Bragg and his Confederate army. Ironically, Bragg won the costly victory but lost the city, while Union commander William Rosecrans lost the battle but somehow managed to hold the city which President Lincoln considered as important as the Confederate capital of Richmond. Despite its importance, however, Chickamauga has been largely overlooked and is rife with myths and misunderstandings.
Author William Lee White has spent most of his life on the Chickamauga battlefield, taking thousands of visitors through the wooded landscape and telling the story of the bloodiest engagement in the Western Theater. Bushwhacking on a Grand Scale describes the tragic events of Chickamauga, but also includes many insights about often-neglected aspects of the fighting that White has gained from his many years studying the battle and exploring its scenic landscape.
Bushwhacking on a Grand Scale can be enjoyed in the comfort of one’s favorite armchair or as a battlefield guide. It is part of the new Emerging Civil War Series, which offers compelling, easy-to-read overviews of some of the Civil War’s most important stories. The masterful storytelling is richly enhanced with more than one hundred photos, illustrations, and maps.
The stakes were control of Chattanooga, “the Gateway City” to the Deep South. The two-day battle of Chickamauga was the only major victory of the war for the ill-starred Confederate Army of Tennessee, which managed to break through on the second day and drive the Union army off the field in a wild rout. The victory, however, left a legacy of dashed hopes for Braxton Bragg and his Confederate army. Ironically, Bragg won the costly victory but lost the city, while Union commander William Rosecrans lost the battle but somehow managed to hold the city which President Lincoln considered as important as the Confederate capital of Richmond. Despite its importance, however, Chickamauga has been largely overlooked and is rife with myths and misunderstandings.
Author William Lee White has spent most of his life on the Chickamauga battlefield, taking thousands of visitors through the wooded landscape and telling the story of the bloodiest engagement in the Western Theater. Bushwhacking on a Grand Scale describes the tragic events of Chickamauga, but also includes many insights about often-neglected aspects of the fighting that White has gained from his many years studying the battle and exploring its scenic landscape.
Bushwhacking on a Grand Scale can be enjoyed in the comfort of one’s favorite armchair or as a battlefield guide. It is part of the new Emerging Civil War Series, which offers compelling, easy-to-read overviews of some of the Civil War’s most important stories. The masterful storytelling is richly enhanced with more than one hundred photos, illustrations, and maps.
192 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
September 20, 2025
A Visit To Chickamauga
September 18 -- 20, 2013, marked the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Chickamauga, fought near Chickamauga Creek in northern Georgia. The National Park Service recently held a commemoration of the battle's anniversary at the Chickamauga National Park. The release of William Lee White's new book, "Bushwacking on a Grand Scale: The Battle of Chickamauga" (2013), was timed to help commemorate and understand the anniversary of this pivotal and complex battle. White was born and raised near the battlefield. Understanding and teaching about the Battle of Chickamauga became his life work. White has been a ranger and interpreter at the Chickamauga and Chattanooga Park for 20 years.
This short paperback may be used as a guide to the battlefield or read independently. It is arranged as a driving tour with good directions from one point of the field to the next. The National Park Service tour of the battlefield focuses on September 20, the third and climactic day of the battle, but White's study describes the action of each of the three days. The book includes eight clear and useful maps prepared by Hal Jesperson showing the recommended driving tour and illustrating the progress of the battle. It also includes over 160 photographs and illustrations of the battle and its participants, of monuments, and of the field as it looks today. The maps and photographs are annotated and add a great deal to the book.
White offers a clearly-written overview of the action of the battle that will be useful for readers with little prior background as well as for those who have already studied it. The book begins with an overview of the Chickamauga campaign followed by chapters discussing the action on each of the three days of the battle. In a short epilogue, White puts the battle in context with the Battle of Chattanooga that followed Chickamauga about two months later.
With 32,000 casualties, Chickamauga was the second bloodiest battle of the Civil War after Gettysburg fought two months earlier. The commander of the Union Army of the Cumberland, William Rosecrans had maneuvered brilliantly to take the City of Chattanooga, but he advanced south too quickly and divided his forces. The Confederate Army of Tennessee under Braxton Bragg counterattacked at Chickamauga and tried to flank the Union Army and cut it off from Chattanooga. The battle soon became "Bushwacking on a Grand Scale" in the words of Union Brigadier General John Turchin. It was fought in the woods, and sometimes at night. Vision and fields of fire were poor and military coordination difficult. It became a brutal, largely disjointed soldiers' fight. The battle is best remembered for the courageous defense of Snodgras Hill by General George Thomas which prevented a total rout of the Union army. Thomas became forever known as the "Rock of Chickamauga".
This is a fast-paced account which follows the action on the ground and the strategy of the commanders. White's perspective of the battle is somewhat kinder to the commanding generals, Bragg and Rosecrans, than are many studies. He is also more critical than are many accounts of the vaunted Confederate cavalry commander, Nathan Bedford Forrest who played a large role at Chickamauga. White praises the actions of Confederate General John Bell Hood, who suffered another serious wound at Chickamauga following his wounding at Gettysburg. He offers a balanced assessment of Longstreet who arrived with his Division from Lee's army after a torturous rail journey and who played a major role in the result. White does not entirely portray the battle as a disaster for the Union. He points out that the Union maintained control of Chattanooga throughout, which was the objective of Rosecrans' campaign. The book does not spend a great deal of time discussing the many controversies surrounding the battle, the generalship, and the pursuit in the battle's aftermath.
The texts, maps, and illustrations make White's book an excellent battlefield account. The book also includes the Order of Battle together with a short annotated bibliography for readers wishing to study the battle in greater detail. The book is part of a series of Civil War studies, called the "Emerging Civil War" published by Savas Beatie, LLC. The publisher kindly gave me the opportunity to read and review this book.
Robin Friedman
September 18 -- 20, 2013, marked the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Chickamauga, fought near Chickamauga Creek in northern Georgia. The National Park Service recently held a commemoration of the battle's anniversary at the Chickamauga National Park. The release of William Lee White's new book, "Bushwacking on a Grand Scale: The Battle of Chickamauga" (2013), was timed to help commemorate and understand the anniversary of this pivotal and complex battle. White was born and raised near the battlefield. Understanding and teaching about the Battle of Chickamauga became his life work. White has been a ranger and interpreter at the Chickamauga and Chattanooga Park for 20 years.
This short paperback may be used as a guide to the battlefield or read independently. It is arranged as a driving tour with good directions from one point of the field to the next. The National Park Service tour of the battlefield focuses on September 20, the third and climactic day of the battle, but White's study describes the action of each of the three days. The book includes eight clear and useful maps prepared by Hal Jesperson showing the recommended driving tour and illustrating the progress of the battle. It also includes over 160 photographs and illustrations of the battle and its participants, of monuments, and of the field as it looks today. The maps and photographs are annotated and add a great deal to the book.
White offers a clearly-written overview of the action of the battle that will be useful for readers with little prior background as well as for those who have already studied it. The book begins with an overview of the Chickamauga campaign followed by chapters discussing the action on each of the three days of the battle. In a short epilogue, White puts the battle in context with the Battle of Chattanooga that followed Chickamauga about two months later.
With 32,000 casualties, Chickamauga was the second bloodiest battle of the Civil War after Gettysburg fought two months earlier. The commander of the Union Army of the Cumberland, William Rosecrans had maneuvered brilliantly to take the City of Chattanooga, but he advanced south too quickly and divided his forces. The Confederate Army of Tennessee under Braxton Bragg counterattacked at Chickamauga and tried to flank the Union Army and cut it off from Chattanooga. The battle soon became "Bushwacking on a Grand Scale" in the words of Union Brigadier General John Turchin. It was fought in the woods, and sometimes at night. Vision and fields of fire were poor and military coordination difficult. It became a brutal, largely disjointed soldiers' fight. The battle is best remembered for the courageous defense of Snodgras Hill by General George Thomas which prevented a total rout of the Union army. Thomas became forever known as the "Rock of Chickamauga".
This is a fast-paced account which follows the action on the ground and the strategy of the commanders. White's perspective of the battle is somewhat kinder to the commanding generals, Bragg and Rosecrans, than are many studies. He is also more critical than are many accounts of the vaunted Confederate cavalry commander, Nathan Bedford Forrest who played a large role at Chickamauga. White praises the actions of Confederate General John Bell Hood, who suffered another serious wound at Chickamauga following his wounding at Gettysburg. He offers a balanced assessment of Longstreet who arrived with his Division from Lee's army after a torturous rail journey and who played a major role in the result. White does not entirely portray the battle as a disaster for the Union. He points out that the Union maintained control of Chattanooga throughout, which was the objective of Rosecrans' campaign. The book does not spend a great deal of time discussing the many controversies surrounding the battle, the generalship, and the pursuit in the battle's aftermath.
The texts, maps, and illustrations make White's book an excellent battlefield account. The book also includes the Order of Battle together with a short annotated bibliography for readers wishing to study the battle in greater detail. The book is part of a series of Civil War studies, called the "Emerging Civil War" published by Savas Beatie, LLC. The publisher kindly gave me the opportunity to read and review this book.
Robin Friedman
August 17, 2025
I was fortunate to visit Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park in June 2025. I knew a little bit about the battle prior this trip, so I certainly have more understanding now. I read the first volume of David Powel's trilogy about Chickamauga, and I realize I should have started with William Lee White's book first because I find the Battle of Chickamauga to be a bit confusing. The author provides a basic understanding of the battle, so I recommend this book if you want a simple explanation. However, if you are looking for greater detail than Powel's books are what you want to read. White also provides a tour of the battlefield and provides modern images to help show the battlefield. You can look at the image and read his writing to help visualize what happened. The Emerging Civil War books in general are great books to bring to a battlefield and can use as a reference anytime.
June 10, 2016
If interested in the battle at Chickamauga, one of the nastiest and most confused (and confusing) battles of the Civil War, this book contributes at two levels: (a) a pretty good (although not greatly detailed description of the battle) and (b) a description of the battlefield today and how to get around to see various parts of the battlefield. The latter, in the Savas Beatie series, is a nice contribution of the series. One can get a sense of the battle--but if visiting the battlefield, the second contribution becomes awfully special!
When one reads about this battle, one of the main takeaways is how confusing it was and how much of the battle was feeding rather small unites--brigade and regiment level--into combat. Given the inability to be sure where units were and who was doing what, many engagements led to units being outflanked and driven from the field. Wild and somewhat chaotic.
The book does a nice job of providing a bigger picture--great acts of generalship and moments of mediocrity. Some did well--Longstreet to some extent (although luck helped him, although his tactical use of his columns was productive), George Thomas, the unfocused Gordon Granger (who often seemed more interested in sighting cannons than leading troops). On the other hand, some generals did not perform well. Not surprisingly, Braxton Bragg would be on this list (although his subordinate generals had some bad days--such as D. H. Hill and even Nathan Bedford Forrest). On the Union side? William Rosecrans had some real ability, but he sometimes lost control of a situation (e.g., his army strung out with different units not in supporting distance of on e another). A garbled order led to disaster--just as Longstreet's horde attacked an area that had become barren of troops.
At any rate, a nice addition to this series!
When one reads about this battle, one of the main takeaways is how confusing it was and how much of the battle was feeding rather small unites--brigade and regiment level--into combat. Given the inability to be sure where units were and who was doing what, many engagements led to units being outflanked and driven from the field. Wild and somewhat chaotic.
The book does a nice job of providing a bigger picture--great acts of generalship and moments of mediocrity. Some did well--Longstreet to some extent (although luck helped him, although his tactical use of his columns was productive), George Thomas, the unfocused Gordon Granger (who often seemed more interested in sighting cannons than leading troops). On the other hand, some generals did not perform well. Not surprisingly, Braxton Bragg would be on this list (although his subordinate generals had some bad days--such as D. H. Hill and even Nathan Bedford Forrest). On the Union side? William Rosecrans had some real ability, but he sometimes lost control of a situation (e.g., his army strung out with different units not in supporting distance of on e another). A garbled order led to disaster--just as Longstreet's horde attacked an area that had become barren of troops.
At any rate, a nice addition to this series!
May 25, 2024
A very well written account of the 2nd bloodiest battle of the Civil War. The author was born and raised in the area and now works as a park ranger. It was a very easy read with lots of quotes and stories of the soldiers from both sides. The appendix of the story of the families who lived on the battlefield was a great addition. White gives a detailed account of the battle and also includes directions for a driving tour. I just wished some of the photos were a higher quality.
April 16, 2022
My review is less a reflection on the quality of this book, but more my personal enjoyment reading it, which in all fairness, historical accounts of war are not really my thing. After actually going to Chickamauga and going on a tour with the author, I found his storytelling to be engaging enough to give his book a try. And the parts before, after and during lulls in the battle that fill in backstory on the people involved are interesting to read. The story of the battle itself is another animal entirely. Most of this book feels like a minute by minute account of combat, trying to simultaneously follow the actions of thousands of soldiers as the carefully planned strategies of the generals devolve into chaos. On one hand, it's immersive in the sense that there is death and violence everywhere and the reader has no idea what's going on, but it can also be overwhelming and take you out of the story in frustration. Based on the extremely detailed park guide instructions, it seems like this book is meant to be a self guided tour for someone actually at the park. Perhaps being onsite would have made it easier to follow the events. Perhaps having a physical copy of the book, rather than an electronic one, where it would be easy to dog ear the maps and military leader bios and flip to them for reference as needed in the sea of names and places rushing at me, also might have helped. Either way, I could only read a little at a time before losing track of what was going on, getting frustrated and putting the book down. Thus it took a while to read this and was something of a relief when it was done. It's probably a useful text for park visitors or Civil War enthusiasts. So I recommend it to them and probably not anyone else.
June 8, 2018
This is an interesting book, a blend of historical narrative with a bit of guidebook text permitting modern visitors to navigate the battlefield.
In the historical narrative, my only criticism is that another map or two would have been helpful, as some of the narrative text in a battle this complicated can get confusing. In the physical production of the book, another pass by a copy editor might have helped, as there are just enough typos to be distracting. Most are just misspellings, but at least one that I noticed lost actual text.
The writing, though, is clear and interesting, and I had never encountered some of the local history anecdotes about the families whose homes had been on the battlefield. Those were nice as part of the closing section of the book.
The author's profession as a park ranger has given him insights into the terrain features of the battlefield, and a chance to gather nice modern photos of the various monuments. The latter were more of a bonus than a necessity, other than a few where there is a context for the battle involved in the location. Good bonus work in such a short book, though.
This is not an in-depth work, just a really good overview, but as such, very much worth reading.
In the historical narrative, my only criticism is that another map or two would have been helpful, as some of the narrative text in a battle this complicated can get confusing. In the physical production of the book, another pass by a copy editor might have helped, as there are just enough typos to be distracting. Most are just misspellings, but at least one that I noticed lost actual text.
The writing, though, is clear and interesting, and I had never encountered some of the local history anecdotes about the families whose homes had been on the battlefield. Those were nice as part of the closing section of the book.
The author's profession as a park ranger has given him insights into the terrain features of the battlefield, and a chance to gather nice modern photos of the various monuments. The latter were more of a bonus than a necessity, other than a few where there is a context for the battle involved in the location. Good bonus work in such a short book, though.
This is not an in-depth work, just a really good overview, but as such, very much worth reading.
May 22, 2022
battle history with Tour Stops helps to visualize troop movemsntss
As a Chatttanooga resident and frequent visitor to Chickamauga Battlefield the "Tour Stop" format is especially meaningful. I've never followed the tour from beginning to end usually stop along the way exploring the nearby trails and monument.
My favorite area is Snodgrass Hill past The Union Positions on hill 1, 2 & 3 then down the horse trail and back up "Vittetoe" Road where the Confederate charged time after time trying to dislodge the Union soldiers.
Seeing the topography of the area brings a sense of sadness at the futility faced by each side.
A guide to the hiking trails available in the park as an addendum to this work would be enjoyed by many.
As a Chatttanooga resident and frequent visitor to Chickamauga Battlefield the "Tour Stop" format is especially meaningful. I've never followed the tour from beginning to end usually stop along the way exploring the nearby trails and monument.
My favorite area is Snodgrass Hill past The Union Positions on hill 1, 2 & 3 then down the horse trail and back up "Vittetoe" Road where the Confederate charged time after time trying to dislodge the Union soldiers.
Seeing the topography of the area brings a sense of sadness at the futility faced by each side.
A guide to the hiking trails available in the park as an addendum to this work would be enjoyed by many.
December 21, 2021
Good overall view of the battle and some interesting battlefield highlights.
This book is intended to be a guide for visiting the battlefield. The author is a park ranger at the battlefield who grew up in the area. He does a good job of laying out what happened, where and explaining how to get an idea of the action from the sites and markers in the park.
The book is good for what it is intended for, however; out of necessity it is not an in depth look at the Battle of Chickamauga, but rather an overview and highlights.
This book is intended to be a guide for visiting the battlefield. The author is a park ranger at the battlefield who grew up in the area. He does a good job of laying out what happened, where and explaining how to get an idea of the action from the sites and markers in the park.
The book is good for what it is intended for, however; out of necessity it is not an in depth look at the Battle of Chickamauga, but rather an overview and highlights.
October 25, 2024
Very rare for this reader has been the case of finding a book on a battle in the American Civil War that almost acts as a battlefield tour guide as well. William Lee White's "Bushwhacking on a Grand Scale: The Battle of Chickamauga, September 18-20, 1863" does just that by breaking up the events of this battle into sections that correspond with the stops of the tour. By breaking things up, it actually makes this book extremely easy to read and honestly as someone who has toured this battlefield in Northern Georgia, it would work well as an audio companion to things.
January 19, 2014
Since I have never been a serious history student, Mr. White’s book gave me basic knowledge about many of the landmarks and items in Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park that I had overlooked on my trips hiking the trails. His descriptive and interesting details helped me to clearly see a vision of what happened at many locations in the park. He includes personal stories of individuals who participated in the battle, along with the part they played in the battle, but also those involved in the area’s history. I can now imagine the life here before, during and after the battle. The information about individuals he provides flows with the telling of the story. and is not distracting to the action described. Mr. White also gives “Tour Stops” for you to follow at the end of every chapter and numbered accordingly. These “Tour Stops” do not necessarily coordinate with those of the National Park self-guided tour. I love that he has also provided GPS coordinates for these “Tour Stops.”
I believe that everyone would benefit from a reading of this book while visiting this park and battlefield. Or even better, to read the book before visiting would add to your enjoyment. Reading the book makes me want to go back to the park, hike the trails, and have another look around to see everything anew with more knowledgeable eyes.
I believe that everyone would benefit from a reading of this book while visiting this park and battlefield. Or even better, to read the book before visiting would add to your enjoyment. Reading the book makes me want to go back to the park, hike the trails, and have another look around to see everything anew with more knowledgeable eyes.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews