Roughshod Through Dixie: Grierson's Raid 1863

Description

On April 17, 1863 Benjamin Grierson led a force of 1,700 Union cavalrymen across enemy lines into Confederate-held Tennessee in a bold diversionary raid. Over the next seventeen days, Grierson's horsemen caused havoc by destroying railroad lines, attacking outposts, burning military stores and fighting numerous small actions, before breaking back through the lines at Baton Rouge. The raid was a tremendous success, not only by virtue of the destruction it caused, but also because the Confederates were forced to divert thousands of troops away from the front lines during General Grant's critical Vicksburg offensive. This book tells the complete story of one of the most daring Union raids of the war.

Mark Lardas holds a degree in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, but spent his early career at the Johnson Space Center doing Space Shuttle structural analysis, and space navigation. An amateur historian and a long-time ship modeller, Mark Lardas is currently working in League City, Texas. He has written extensively about modelling as well as naval, maritime, and military history.

"This study has all of the typical visual presentation hallmarks of an Osprey book, with numerous period photographs and illustrations, as well as original color artwork [among them, bird's eye view paintings of the attacks on the towns of Enterprise and Hazelhurst]. The operational map traces the progress of the main force, as well as the movements of its trio of diversionary and supporting detachments. Confederate troop concentrations are also marked. Roughshod Through Dixie is a solid history of Grierson's famous raid." --Andrew Wagenhoffer, Civil War Books and Authors "By far the type of history that outshines any fictional tale. A gripping story that will keep you engrossed. A book I found to be a fascinating read and one that I can highly recommend to you." --Scott Van Aken, Modeling Madness "... the complete story of one of the most courageous and successful Union raids of the war." --www.mataka.org (November 2010)