Wilson's Raid: The Final Blow to the Confederacy

by Russell W. Blount Jr.

Relive the final days of the Civil War with this compelling account of Wilson's Raid told by memoirs of those who witnessed it.

In the closing months of the Civil War, General James Wilson led a Union cavalry raid through Alabama and parts of Georgia. Wilson, the young, brash "boy general" of the Union, matched wits against Nathan Bedford Forrest, the South's legendary "wizard of the saddle." Wilson's Raiders swept through cities like Selma, Tuscaloosa and Montgomery, destroying the last remaining industrial production centers of the Confederacy along with any hopes of its survival. Forrest and his desperately outnumbered cavalry had no option but to try to stop the Union's advance. Join Russell Blount as he examines the eyewitness accounts and diaries chronicling this defining moment in America's bloodiest war.

179 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 26, 2018

Reviews

[John Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wilson's Raid, by Russell W. Blount Jr.; The History Press, Charleston, SC; $21.99 paperback



The mightiest cavalry action of the Civil War took place in Alabama. Thousands of well prepared Union cavalrymen set off across the flooded Tennessee River in 1865 to tear through the poorly defended Confederate heartland. Russell W. Blount Jr., often requested speaker and author of Civil War history, offers us this utterly readable, adroitly sourced, and fast paced account of Union General James Harrison Wilson's raid through Alabama, The Final Blow to the Confederacy.

The War neared its end. The Confederate armies of Lee at Appomattox and Johnston in North Carolina were in their death throes. John Bell Hood's Confederates had been slaughtered in Tennessee, and yet the masses of Yankees kept coming. Wilson's mission was to raid through northern Alabama to Tuscaloosa, then Selma and its massive iron works, and then on to Montgomery and beyond. At each site along the way, he was to destroy anything associated with the southern war effort, including any civilian or military buildings so engaged. To oppose him, however, was the 'Wizard of the Saddle', Nathan Bedford Forrest. Forrest had never lost a battle, yet after years of war, his men were worn, desperate, and the cause seemed hopeless.

Blount is a master of the telling anecdote. He finds actual comments from diaries, post war memoirs, contemporary newspapers, even private letters to make his tale appear alive, as if being told by those who were there. To that end, he tells the story in present tense, the better to engage the reader in the currency of his account.

And such a story he tells. From private accounts we discover the shock of Union cavalrymen at the utter poverty of north Alabama. They wonder that the rude settlements could exist at all. Battle, however, is quickly offered. Not only are the conflict movements well expressed, we find the characters of the soldiers described, making such movements understandable. Why would Forrest send some men on leave when the enemy was near? How could Wilson lose an entire Union brigade for days? What happened at the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa? Why were southern cities burned? Blount gives us the background to great events, remembered even today. Tuscaloosa surrendered after a brief skirmish. Yet, the University was burned largely due to it having sent whole classes of officer cadets to fight for the Confederacy. The incredible events that resulted in only one book, a Koran, being rescued from the torching of the university's library is unforgettable. Likewise civilian, especially women's comments, breathe life into the affray, showing how chivalry wasn't totally dead. A wedding interrupted by invading Union soldiers was saved when the captured Confederate groom bade his captor for mercy. He was paroled with a promise to remain with his bride.

Yet the main story is violent, brutal, and destructive. We learn that despite surrender, fires begun in government buildings spread to private homes. We read accounts of the burning of Tuscaloosa and Selma as if reading of the destruction of Pompeii, a major credit to Blount's writing style. Eyewitness shock, horrified women, beaten civilians, and soldiers characterized the southerners. Only newspapers safely distant rail against barbarian 'Yankees'. The truth was, as Forrest said, they had been defeated.

Blount is to be commended for this master work. He keeps the reader engaged, alert, but aware of how personal traits influenced great events of grand armies. He shows us clear human tragedy, and how war came home to Alabama.

[Bryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great read on Wilson's raid into the state of Alabama. As an Alabamian myself it was fascinating to read about all the cities I grew up in and the historical markers I see day to day. Wilson goes toe to toe with Forrest and whips him and the remaining confederates all over the state of Alabama burning military stores and foundries. While too late to be a significant part of the overall victory, Wilson's raid completely destroys any confederate chance of remaining viable after the fall of Richmond.

NBF does play a significant role in this book once again. I despise this man and if anything else an other brutality is attributed to him during this battle. He's one person I just get the creeps from reading about.

[W Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very well done narrative of Wilson’s Alabama raid of 1865. It is extremely well written and researched. The author balances his account between both the Federal and Confederate perspectives. The concluding chapter is a well reasoned analysis of both sides during this campaign.