It is what it says which is a detailed overview of the Army of Tennessee. There is a lot of minutia regarding the number of wagons, bullets, cows, casualties, etc. My comments are generalities and there are many counter examples throughout the book. This book drives down into all aspects of the army such as the medical and logistics groups and even the religious foundations of the army. The details are interesting but can drag and be hard to follow. As is common, the author quotes individual letters and extrapolates to the entire army. While most of the examples seem genuine, it is hard to know that letters written to family far from the field accurately reflect the army as a whole. The book is about the Army of Tennessee and tends to treat it in a vacuum. The absolute numbers of things such as soldiers and ammunition tell a story but it is not related to the other armies in the war. Was the Amy of Tennessee treated better or worse than the Army of Virginias, Mississippi, etc., let alone the armies of the north. The list of daily rations often seemed impressive, but it seemed that most of the time the soldiers were underfed. This is explained at times, but not always, due to specific campaign issues, but adding an overview that described what percentage of the war the solders had full rations would have helped. It would also be good to know how the rations and commissary compared to civilian life, which may not have been the purview of the book but would have added useful context.

The enemy also has a lot to do with results. It was hard to tell if a general was bad or the enemy good. Beyond the battlefield, the author seems to have a poor opinion of what he calls the “cabal” against Bragg. There is a lot of detail about individuals and the various relationships but the top-level connections were largely missing. When is a meeting of generals to oust the general in charge of an army that has constantly lost a plot of intrigue as opposed to a necessary action if victory is desired? When is poor performance due to circumstances or incompetence?

In the end, much of the information contained in the book was new to me and interesting. It gives a good feel for surviving in an army of the time. It is not a substitute for a good overview of the war or even the campaigns but it augments that information.