Hidden History of Civil War Tennessee

Hidden History

by James B. Jones Jr.

A collection of lesser-known historical stories from Tennessee during the Civil War.

Genres: Civil War, Nonfiction

128 pages, Paperback

First published July 7, 2013

Reviews

[Clint Ashford · Rating 4 out of 5]

A worthwhile detour off the well-worn battlefields. Instead of retreading Shiloh and Stones River, James B. Jones Jr., a public historian with the Tennessee Historical Commission, digs into the state's overlooked corners, guerrilla warfare across the state, occupied Nashville, and the messy home-front divisions that made Tennessee a civil war inside the Civil War. The author's deep archival roots show, he compiled the Tennessee Civil War Sourcebook, so the anecdotes carry real documentation rather than recycled legend. Chapters are short and episodic, which makes it a great nightstand read for picking up and putting down. Occasional academics creeps in, but the stories underneath are gold.

[Lane Willson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Legalized prostitution, guerrilla warfare, General Sherman exiling Memphians to Arkansas, or God forbid... the North, were all things about Tennessee's Civil War years missing from my Volunteer State education. Tennesseans, possibly more than residents of any other Confederate state, were conflicted not only with the Yankee enemy, but with one another. Battles fought inside families are often the least likely to see the light of day, and this often seemed the unspoken element of each of these stories. It was an enjoyable education of some of Tennessee's lesser known Civil War trials.