War Like the Thunderbolt: The Battle and Burning of Atlanta
Three cheers for Russell Bonds. This lawyer for the Coca-Cola Company, who previously penned Stealing the General, has produced a study of the 1864 Atlanta Campaign that is “the real thing.” This reader was a little anxious when the book’s preface began with a discussion of the filming of Gone with the Wind. Thereafter, however, almost everything about this book seemed letter perfect. Bonds presents a thoroughly documented study of the Atlanta Campaign that begins on the day Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman crossed the Chattahoochee River in July 1864 and ends, in effect, with the burning of much of Atlanta in November 1864. In between, Bonds studies Confederate general John Bell Hood’s three July sorties, the month-long Union bombardment of the city, the conclusive battle of Jonesboro, the evacuation of the Confederate defenders, Sherman’s September expulsion of most of Atlanta’s remaining civilians, and his harsh November treatment of towns in his rear (Cassville and Rome). Discussion of the four important battles around Atlanta comes with the aid of 11 good maps and an order of battle to division level. There are generous profiles of Sherman, Hood (and his predecessor Gen. Joseph E. Johnston), many subordinate commanders on both sides and various Atlanta civilians, black and white. All of this is enlivened by more than 50 illustrations. Bonds carries his investigation well beyond the battlefield. He lays out the importance of Atlanta as a strategic objective, gives a good account of the civilian experience in Atlanta during and after the campaign, nicely demonstrates the campaign’s importance to the 1864 election, and includes a chapter about Atlanta’s rebirth after Sherman’s departure and the conclusion of the war. The author provides an extensive bibliography and seems to have done a prodigious amount of research. This reader was delighted to find many discussions, in the text and the notes, trying to sift through conflicting evidence and reach reliable conclusions. For example, was one-third or two-thirds of Atlanta destroyed by the November fire? Bonds reasonably concludes two-thirds or more. To this reader, everything about the book seemed fresh, including use of a rarely seen photograph of Sherman. Bonds writes well and the battle narratives are enriched by research that allows him to present the evolving tactical situations from both sides of the battle lines. Inevitably, Sherman becomes the leading character in the book. Bonds presents a lively and detailed profile of Sherman at the outset, enhances it as he progresses, and concludes with an afterwoard that tries to sum up the general’s historical credits and debits. Bonds rates Sherman more highly as a general than do critics such as Albert Castel, but calls him to task for making too much war on civilians, with his shelling of the city, the expulsion of civilians and the eventual burning of much of Atlanta. What are the limitations of this book? With its tight focus on Atlanta, the book passes lightly over the early stages of the Atlanta Campaign, its far-flung cavalry operations and Sherman’s subsequent march to the sea. Also, this reader missed a pointed inquiry into the question whether Sherman’s hard-war methods met his own goal of shortening the war by making Southern civilians feel it. Further, this reader noted a half dozen errors of detail; presumably there are others as well. And it appears that the publisher has not set up the promised Web site to supplement the book’s order of battle. Let there be no mistake, though. The book’s many strengths make the Atlanta Campaign come alive and make the book an absolute pleasure to read. Let’s make that four cheers for Russell Bonds. Reviewer: Carl R. Schenker Jr. Carl R. Schenker Jr. is a lawyer living in Washington, D.C. His wife, Susan Sherman Richardson, is a great-great-granddaughter of William Tecumseh Sherman. Schenker is the author of “Grant’s Rise from Obscurity” in North & South magazine.
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