Fighting For Atlanta : Earl J. Hess

Tactics, Terrain, and Trenches In The Civil War 

As William T. Sherman’s Union troops began their campaign for Atlanta in the spring of 1864, they encountered Confederate forces employing field fortifications located to take advantage of rugged terrain. While the Confederates consistently acted on the defensive, digging eighteen lines of earthworks from May to September, the Federals used field works both defensively and offensively.  Hess examines how commanders adapted their operations to the physical environment, how the environment in turn affected their movements, and how Civil War armies altered the terrain through the science of field fortification.