Book Review: The Fateful Lightning by Jeff Shaara

The fourth and final instalment (after A Blaze of Glory, A Chain of Thunder, and The Smoke at Dawn) in Jeff Shaara’s epic tale of the ‘western’ theatre of the American Civil War, the campaigns fought in Tennessee, Georgia, South and North Carolina, is perhaps his best.

Picking up in Georgia following one of the most controversial events of the entire Civil War, controversial Union General William T. Sherman’s torching of Atlanta, Shaara’s narrative focuses largely on Sherman, as is to be expected, and the incredible March to the Sea, which involves the Yankee infantry storming through the middle of Georgia from Atlanta to the eastern coastline, and the seaside town of Savannah.

It was an infamous march, northern soldiers marauding through the middle of the Confederacy, because Sherman, wanting to strike as much a psychological blow as a physical one on the enemy forces ordered his armies to torch everything – well, anything that Sherman reasonably determines can be used to aid the listing Confederate armies prolong a war he’s ready to see over and done – in their path.

The total war concept was one that outraged most of the southern populace, and earned Sherman a level of enmity that exists even to this day. Tactically, it was a brilliant move, and is recognised as such now, albeit grudgingly in the southern states. The move to destroy so much infrastructure almost certainly played a part in bringing about a swifter end to the ‘western’ campaign than might otherwise have been the case.

As Sherman’s men liberated towns and cities along the way, a huge number of freed slaves chose to follow the Union soldiers, figuring that they were their safest with the men whose president, Lincoln, planned to abolish slavery. It was a remarkable thing, so many thousands of slaves following the surging Yankee army into an unknown world, far from the small pockets of Georgian land they have called home for, in most cases, their entire lives.

One of these men, simply named Franklin, has been chosen by Shaara, whose meticulous research gives voice and thoughts to men who are famous, like Sherman, and others less well-known in Civil War lore. Franklin is definitely from the latter category, freed from a property owned by the Georgian governor, Howell Cobb. The treatment that Cobb allowed of his slaves is nothing short of abominable.

It’s a fascinating tale, following Franklin as he discovers simple things like letters for the first time, and watches the army go through it’s paces, working as an unofficial aide de camp to an officer in a regiment from Ohio, and, later, for a time, forced to enter the fighting. Like his treatment of the Vicksburg civilian, Lucy Spence, Shaara shows a more human side to the war, away from command tents, regimental life and bloody battles, and The Fateful Lightning is enriched as a result.

As is his stock in trade, both the Union and Confederate sides are told, and men like James Seeley, Joseph Wheeler, William J. Hardee and, later, Joseph Johnston, the Confederate general sent south and east by President Jefferson Davis to somehow try and pull the rebel army out of the fire, occupy many chapters. The work is purely fiction, based on personal correspondence, but you can’t help but think that Shaara is pretty close to the mark, as far as things go. Hardee’s particular despair at what he knows is the end of the Confederacy is rather poignant.

The March to the Sea became – and is detailed in the second half of The Fateful Lightning – a chance for Sherman’s men to drive deep into South and North Carolina, and make an effort to link up with General Ulysses. S Grant’s army, who are trying to trap the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, though Robert E. Lee surrenders before the two Union armies can be joined together.

The important meeting in City Point, Virginia of Grant, Sherman and President Abraham Lincoln is one of the most fascinating parts of the book. We know that Lincoln had just days left to live, and feeling Sherman’s despair upon learning of the president’s assassination in what was then known as Washington City – and Joseph Johnston’s, the Confederate general lamenting the loss, and what it meant for bridging the large chasm between north and south – is another strong section in a book full of them. Sherman’s chapters, which are the majority, get better as they go by.

Fifty chapters in all (and a little over 600 ebook pages), this book flew by. It’s a real shame that this series, timed around the 150th anniversary of the war between the Union and Confederacy, has come to an end, especially considering it’s more than likely that Shaara won’t write another Civil War story – he’s pretty much told all the tales from that destructive conflict.

For the last four years, around May or June, reading of the ‘western’ campaign, which I knew little about, has become a part of my life. Sad that there won’t be any further instalments, but at least The Fateful Lightning goes out on a high. It was brilliant!