The Battle of Spring Hill - Seabrook Lochlainn

Why are the military movements of the Battle of Spring Hill, November 29, 1864, the most discussed of any conflict in the American Civil War? Discover the astounding answer from those who were there in The Battle of Spring Hill: Recollections of Confederate and Union Soldiers, the brief but powerful book by award-winning author, historian, and Civil War scholar Lochlainn Seabrook.

Though this is not meant to be a detailed history, the events leading up to and resulting from the battle are discussed, as are the many odd blunders committed by the Union and Confederate armies.  In particular Col. Seabrook focuses in on the South’s “lost opportunity,” also known as the Spring Hill Affair.  In doing so he and his Victorian contributors address two important questions: Why did Confederate General John Bell Hood and his subordinate officers squander their best chance of destroying Union power in the Western Theater, and why did Yankee Major General John M. Schofield unnecessarily risk his troops by marching them through the midst of one of the largest Confederate encampments of the War?

Mainstream writers like to downplay the Battle of Spring Hill as “one of the most controversial non-fighting events of the entire war,” but this is wrong.  There was plenty of fighting and bloodshed, with hundreds of men on both sides injured, killed, or missing.  For what?  Why did the Confederate soldiers draw arms at Spring Hill that November day?  As Col. Seabrook explains, it was not to “preserve slavery” or to “destroy the Union,” as we have been falsely taught.  If you are not familiar with authentic Southern history, the answer will surprise you!

Col. Seabrook’s thirty-two eyewitness accounts relay the amazing story of the Battle of Spring Hill (and the subsequent Confederate disasters at Franklin and Nashville) in a gripping you-are-there manner, while its many photos (most taken by the author) help convey the incredible drama which transpired.  His Introduction and Summary round out the work, providing background and context for the modern reader.  The book includes notes, a bibliography, maps, and a list of notable Confederate and Union officers who were present.  Available in paperback and hardcover.

Col. Seabrook’s other titles include: Abraham Lincoln Was a Liberal, Jefferson Davis Was a Conservative; Lincoln’s War: The Real Cause, the Real Winner, the Real Loser; Confederate Monuments: Why Every American Should Honor Confederate Soldiers and Their Memorials; The Unholy Crusade: Lincoln’s Legacy of Destruction in the American South; The Great Yankee Coverup: What the North Doesn’t Want You to Know About Lincoln’s War; Abraham Lincoln: The Southern View; Victorian Confederate Poetry: The Southern Cause in Verse, 1861-1901; Confederacy 101: Amazing Facts You Never Knew About America’s Oldest Political Tradition; Confederate Flag Facts: What Every American Should Know About Dixie’s Southern Cross; Women in Gray: A Tribute to the Ladies Who Supported the Southern Confederacy; Everything You Were Taught About American Slavery is Wrong, Ask a Southerner!; The God of War: Nathan Bedford Forrest As He Was Seen By His Contemporaries; Honest Jeff and Dishonest Abe: A Southern Children’s Guide to the Civil War; The Constitution of the Confederate States of America Explained; A Rebel Born: A Defense of Nathan Bedford Forrest; The Ultimate Civil War Quiz Book.