The Confederate sword of Lieutenant Colonel Axalla John Hoole, 8th S.C. Infantry, was engaged in many of the most important battles of the Civil War. Responding to the first call to arms, it was present at Fort Sumter and saw action at First Manassas, the Warwick-Yorktown Line, Williamsburg, Savage's Station, Malvern Hill, Harpers Ferry, Sharpsburg, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg. It fell silent on the last day of the Battle of Chickamauga, September 20, 1863, in the fierce fighting on the slopes of Snodgrass Hill. Fourteen decades and four generations later, the sword has returned to Chickamauga. Today it is handsomely displayed at the Chickamauga Battlefield Museum and Visitor Center, Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia. This is its remarkable story, told by Dr. Elizabeth Hoole McArthur, educator, author, historian, and great-granddaughter of the soldier who carried it.

Winner of the Laney Book Prize from the Austin Civil War Round Table: “The post-battle coverage is simply unprecedented among prior Chickamauga studies.” —James A. Hessler, award-winning author of Sickles at Gettysburg This third and concluding volume of the magisterial Chickamauga Campaign trilogy, a comprehensive examination of one of the most important and complex military operations of the Civil War, examines the immediate aftermath of the battle with unprecedented clarity and detail. The narrative opens at dawn on Monday, September 21, 1863, with Union commander William S. Rosecrans in Chattanooga and most of the rest of his Federal army in Rossville, Georgia. Confederate commander Braxton Bragg has won the signal victory of his career, but has yet to fully grasp that fact or the fruits of his success. Unfortunately for the South, the three grueling days of combat broke down the Army of Tennessee and a vigorous pursuit was nearly impossible. In addition to carefully examining the decisions made by each army commander and the consequences, Powell sets forth the dreadful costs of the fighting in terms of the human suffering involved. Barren Victory concludes with the most detailed Chickamauga orders of battle (including unit strengths and losses) ever compiled, and a comprehensive bibliography more than a decade in the making. Includes illustrations

»Chickamauga« is a short story by Ambrose Bierce, originally published in 1889. AMBROSE BIERCE [1842-1914] was an American author, journalist, and war veteran. He was one of the most influential journalists in the United States in the late 19th century and alongside his success as a horror writer he was hailed as a pioneer of realism. Among his most famous works are The Devil's Dictionary and the short story »An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.«

This book tells the full and fascinating story of how the country's first federally preserved national military park came into being and how it paved the way for all that came afterwards, including preservation efforts today. As the author explains, most battlefield preservation and commemoration efforts before 1890 were done on a private and state level with veterans' groups and states marking unit positions on battlefields. The Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park has served from bringing veterans of the Civil War together and has played host to numerous military units during the Spanish-American War as well as World War I and II. The most important aspect was the creation of historical memory of the men who fought during those wars and the memorials that followed.

Bound for Glory A Brief History of the Darlington Rifles, Precursor Volunteer Militia to Company A, Eighth South Carolina Volunteer Infantry, C.S.A. Origin through First Manassas Bound for Glory takes a fresh, exciting look at a fascinating aspect of Civil War history, citizen-soldier militia company. The militia organization has had a distinguished record America since the Colonial Period-and continues today as the National Guard. One of the finest South Carolina antebellum volunteer companies was the Darlington Rifles, organized in 1834. When war began the Rifles, led by Captain Axalla John Hoole, became Company A, Eighth S.C. Volunteer Infantry, CSA. This well-researched study featuring several previously unpublished documents) traces their stirring history through first battle, Manassas. Later elected Lieutenant Colonel of his regiment, Hoole was killed at the Battle Chickamauga. Today he and the Darlington Rifles are featured in a striking, dramatic exhibit at Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia. Finally, the legacy of these citizen-soldiers belongs to all Americans. Their captivating is told- in Bound for Glory. Dr. Elizabeth Hoole McArthur is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of University of Alabama, earning B.A. and M.A. degrees in history. She was awarded the Ed.S. from Georgia College, and the Ed.D. in Educational Administration from University of Georgia. Dr. McArthur acquired her life-long interest in history and writing from her father, the late Dr. William Stanley Hoole, Dean of University of Alabama Libraries, eminent historian, prolific author, and noted Southern scholar. With her father she co-authored The Yankee Invasion of West Alabama, March-April, 1865. During a successful, thirty-year career in public education, Dr. McArthur received high school yearbook dedication, was selected "Teacher of the Year" twice by her school and once by her district, and was named one of twelve most outstanding teachers in Georgia. Now retired, she pursues historical research, and has published in national regional magazines. She and her husband Hugh reside in Dalton, Georgia.

With a potent combination of rapid-firing Spencer rifles, aggressive and determined leadership, and unlimited confidence in themselves, the soldiers of Colonel John T. Wilder's mounted Lightning Brigade -- so christened during the summer of 1863 -- solidified a reputation in the savage battle of Chickamauga as one of the Union Army's hardest fighting and most effective combat organizations. His five Indiana and Illinois regiments, along with Eli Lilly's Indiana Battery, confronted troops from five different Confederate brigades during three clays of fighting, and badly bloodied them all. In Blue Lightning, author Richard A. Baumgartner skillfully blends dozens of first-person narratives, including eyewitness accounts from 60 Lightning Brigade officers and enlisted men, with 156 photographs -- many of them never before published -- to vividly depict one major segment of this brigade's proud history during the Civil War.