The annals of Texan bravery hold few better examples of bold
determination and sheer audacity under impossible circumstances
than the Battle of Franklin, Tennessee, on November 30, 1864. On
this one afternoon, a few thousand sons of the Lone Star State
stood shoulder to shoulder and stepped off neatly in line of battle,
their bands playing while Hardee Pattern blue battle flags filled out
in a crisp autumn breeze. Within a few minutes, hundreds would be
dead and dying, as would their beloved leaders, Hiram Granbury
and Pat Cleburne. Virginians have Pickett's Charge as an example
of unflinching nerve; for Texans, the field at Franklin became an
immortal monument to courage in the face of long odds.
	
     The opening volley of the eagerly anticipated Military History of
Texas Series is The Finishing Stroke. The book chronicles the
actions of Texas troops in the Army of Tennessee from September
1, 1864, the Fall of Atlanta; until January 1, 1865, when the last of
the Army of Tennessee recrossed the Tennessee River following
the defeat at Nashville. It follows them through the lull following
the end of the Atlanta Campaign, the advance into Tennessee, and
the battles of Allatoona Pass, Spring Hill, Franklin, and Nashville,
as well as the retreat from Nashville.

  The Finishing Stroke covers an area largely ignored in works on
the American Civil War. In the literature of Texas history, Texans
serving in the Army of Tennessee have lived in the shadows of
Hood's Brigade in Robert E. Lee's army. Among histories of the
Western Theater, the 1864 Tennessee Campaign is often given
short shrift because of the generally held premise that following the
loss of Atlanta in September the Confederacy was doomed. This
study moves the battles and sacrifices of this band of Texas heroes
from the periphery of the Civil War to center stage.

   The Finishing Stroke shows Texas warriors at their best, from
Sul Ross's Texas Brigade at the head of Forrest's cavalry to Matt
Ector's Texans cracking open the Federal position at Allatoona
Pass. In all of these fights, men from west of the Sabine and south
of the Red served in the post of honor. Now these Texans and their
accomplishments, too long ignored in the realm of Civil War
history, have been given their due.

_________________________________________________________

JOHN LUNDBERG is a student at the University of Texas at
Austin, where he also works as an archives aide at the Lyndon
Baines Johnson Presidential Library. A long-time member of the
Austin Civil War Round Table, Lundberg has also developed
living history demonstrations, representing the life of a
Confederate soldier, for middle and elementary schools throughout
the Austin area.


Number One: Military History of Texas Series


Other Titles in the Military History of Texas Series



THE WINGS OF CHANGE

1-893114-35-X CLOTH

$29.95
SACRIFICED AT THE ALAMO

1-880510-80-4 CLOTH

$24.95


HISTORIC BATTLESHIP TEXAS

978-1-933337-07-4 PAPER

$16.95