In chapters that span the Atlanta Campaign to the Battle of Nashville in 1864, this book draws on a broad set of sources - newspapers, manuscripts, archives, diaries, and official documents - to tell a story that knits together accounts of officers, the final campaigns of the Western Theater, and the experiences of the civilians and rebel soldiers.
"Generally, volumes in the Voices of the Civil War series are edited diaries, letter collections, or journals by a single soldier or civilian. In Christopher Thrasher's unique contribution to the series, Suffering in the Army of Tennessee, the author draws upon diaries, letters, newspapers, memoirs, official reports, and genealogical sources to capture from as many points of view as possible the experiences of ordinary soldiers in the Army of Tennessee from the Atlanta Campaign to the end of the war. In addition to extensive primary documentation, Thrasher provides context for understanding how events developed from 1864 to the total collapse of General John Bell Hood's forces. While volumes have been written on the Atlanta Campaign or the Battles of Nashville and Franklin, no previous historian has constructed what amounts to a sweeping social history of the Army of Tennessee"--