Following the defeat of Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans’s Army of the Cumberland at the Battle of Chickamauga, Gen. Braxton Bragg and the Army of Tennessee retreated to Chattanooga and surrounded Rosecrans and his men by occupying Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge. The Battle of Chattanooga would prove the final defeat of the Confederacy in East Tennessee and open the door for Sherman’s Atlanta Campaign.

Decisions at Chattanooga introduces readers to critical decisions made by Confederate and Union commanders. Larry Peterson examines the decisions that shaped the way both campaign and battle unfolded. Rather than offering a history of the Battle of Chattanooga, Peterson focuses on the critical decisions, presenting the reader with a coherent and manageable blueprint of the battle’s development. Exploring and studying the critical decisions allows the reader to progress from an understanding of what happened to why events happened as they did.

Complete with maps and a guided tour, Decisions at Chattanooga is an indispensable primer, and readers looking for a digestible introduction to the Battle of Chattanooga can tour this sacred ground—or read about it at their leisure—with key insights into the campaign and a deeper understanding of the Civil War itself.

Decisions at Chattanooga is the fourth in a series of books that will explore the critical decisions of major campaigns and battles of the Civil War.