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Bibliographical Sources
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Perryville remains, it seems, viewed as “The Campaign That Continues to be Forgotten." Set next to its eastern theater counterpart, Lee's Antietam Campaign, Bragg's momentous Kentucky Invasion is often lost in the writing and interpretation of Civil War scholarship. For let us face it – neither U.S. Grant or Robert E. Lee had their hands in the campaign, and it is too easy to forget the importance the decisions of Bragg and Buell had on the calendar, geographical scope, and timing of the Civil War in the West. Primary Works: There are two primary works written about the battle. Perryville: Battle for Kentucky by Louisville doctor Kenneth A. Hafendorfer, is available in its second edition from KH Press. The strength of Hafendorfer's work is its attention to detail within the scope of the battle, and the outstanding maps that accompany the action. The book is somewhat difficult to find; it requires, for example, a special order from Amazon.com. The book can be found, with a bit of digging, at locations such as Morningside Books. The newest entry into Perryville scholarship is the 2001 release from the University of Kentucky Press of Auburn University professor Kenneth W. Noe entitled Perryville: This Grand Havoc of Battle. Noe's book provides a wonderful counterpart to Hafendorfer's early work, insofar as Noe provides greater insight and interest into the campaign itself, as well as the leaders who brought their armies to the crossroads of Perryville. Perryville: This Grand Havoc of Battle is in-print, and available at most retail book stores. You can order it directly from Amazon.com. A third work on the campaign is James Lee McDonough's War in Kentucky: From Shiloh to Perryville from the University of Tennessee Press. The book was published in 1994. Other sources: Other works treat the Bragg's Kentucky Invasion, and the Battle of Perryville, as part of a larger work. Sources worth consulting include: Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, Volume 2. The articles on Perryville, written by participants in the Civil War itself, will be available on the Web site. Articles in Confederate Veteran Magazine. The western theater counterpart to the papers of the Southern Historical Society, we will provide them on this Web site, copyright rules permitting. The Civil War: A Narrative by Shelby Foote. This work remains a classic, and if it contains factual errors, they are more than offset by Foote's grace and style of writing. Army of the Heartland: The Army of Tennessee and Autumn of Glory by Thomas L. Connelly. The former work contains Connelly's detailing of the Kentucky Invasion, while the latter continues the post-Perryville chronicling of the Army of Tennessee. The latter is worth reading simply for its insights into the command difficulties of Braxton Bragg. Con Carlos Buell: Most Promising of All by Stephen Engle. This book is the only serious biographical work on Buell. Braxton Bragg and Southern Defeat, Vol. 1 by Grady McWhiney. This biography of Bragg takes the reader through the Perryville campaign, and provides outstanding insights into Bragg. The second volume of the biography, written by a student of McWhiney's, is not recommended. The Army of Tennessee by Stanley F. Horn. This book, along with Connelly's two-volume work, remain the definitive works on the Confederate Army of Tennessee. Two Great Rebel Armies: An Essay in Confederate Military History by Richard M. McMurry. McMurry, in this outstanding work, analyzes the similarities and differences in the Army of Tennessee and its eastern counterpart, the Army of Northern Viriginia. How the North Won by Herman Hattaway and Archer Jones, and Why the South Lost the Civil War by Richard Beringer, Herman Hattaway, Archer Jones, and William Still, Jr. provide flip-side looks at the reasons behind success and failure in the Civil War; both deal in part with the Kentucky Invasion and the Battle of Perryville. Jefferson Davis and His Generals: The Failure of Confederate Command in the West by Steven Woodworth. Quite good in its interpretation of the Kentucky Invasion, and the problems inherent in Jefferson Davis's departmental command structure.
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