Roughshod Through Dixie - Grierson's Raid 1863

By Mark Lardas

On April 17, 1863 Benjamin Grierson led a force of 1,700 Union cavalrymen across enemy lines into the Confederate-held Tennessee in a bold diversionary raid. Over the next seventeen days, Grierson's horsemen caused havoc by destroying railroad lines, attacking outposts, burning military stores and fighting numerous small actions, before breaking back through the lines at Baton Rouge.

The raid was a tremendous success, not only by virtue of the destruction it caused, but also because the Confederates were forced to divert thousands of troops away from the front lines during General Grant's critical Vicksburg offensive. This book tells the complete story of one of the most daring Union raids of the war.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Jan 24, 2012
• ISBN: 9781780963440

Mark Lardas

Mark Lardas has always been fascinated by things related to the sea and sky. From building models of ships and aircraft as a teen, he then studied Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, but his interest in aviation led him to take a job on the then-new Space Shuttle program, where he worked for the next 30 years as a navigation engineer. Currently he develops commercial aircraft systems as a quality assurance manager. He has written numerous books on military, naval or maritime history.

Reviews for Roughshod Through Dixie - Grierson's Raid 1863

[anthonywillard · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A volume in the Osprey Raid series, short and focused with copious illustrations. This is an excellent example of how to write such a book, getting down to brass tacks immediately, keeping to the narrative, introducing the characters as it goes along, keeping all the interweaving strands clearly in sight, and in general being a page-turner while delivering a thorough view of what happened, why, and with what result. Illustrations are unexceptionable but besides the map don't contribute much.