Historical Insights

We will examine the details of Hood's movements from October 29 to November 1, 1864, culminating in the Confederates establishing a foothold at Florence, and the at times awkward Federal response. We will hear from...

We will follow the frustrated and often inscrutable events that placed General John Bell Hood at Decatur, Alabama in the last week of October 1864.

We will examine the tense time between the end of the pursuit of Forrest and the movement of General Hood out of Georgia toward the Shoals. We'll see how reaction, contingency, uncertainty and strategy all coalesced to...

We will follow Forrest from Elk River to his incredibly daring crossing of the Tennessee at Florence, as he continues his destructive path throughout Middle Tennessee - with wide reaching and unintended consequences.

We will explore the swift and stunning movement of General Forrest north of the Tennessee River late in September 1864, as the surprised and skeletal Federal garrisons scramble to meet the threat, with disastrous results

We will learn the fate of Atlanta and follow General Wheeler's retreat out of Middle Tennessee and across the Tennessee River at the Shoals. We'll see how the Federals were mired in misinformation, surrounded by...

We will follow action in Northeast Mississippi - the largest engagement within 100 miles of the Shoals in the summer of 1864; see how the Union cavalry around Decatur didn't rule the roost unopposed; and visit action at...

We will see how North Alabama played into the Atlanta Campaign, as General Sherman is within sight of capturing the city, despite critical losses. We'll see a massive shakeup in the Confederate command. We'll visit a...

We will discuss dramatic events in the Atlanta campaign in June 1864 which will set into motion fateful consequences for North Alabama before the year's end

We will discuss lawlessness and depredations committed in and out of uniform in the Tennessee valley, and the delicate military situation revolving around Sherman's fateful thrust into Georgia in the early summer of 1864

We will explore a stunning upset in the balance of power north of the Tennessee River and examine conditions in the region at large, as General Sherman launches the Atalanta Campaign

We will discuss havoc inflicted by the rebel General Forrest, soldiers from Illinois headquartering in very famous and familiar places, and a shocking capture of Ohio cavalry which lives on today in popular memory...

We will discuss fateful and monumental shifts in the Federal high command, as well a skirmishing along the Tennessee River in North Alabama

We will explore the complicated and murky legal status of slavery in Tennessee after the emancipation proclamation, and hardships faced by local people at the hands of lawless gangs in and out of federal uniform

We will encounter some of the dramatic skirmishing that took place in North Alabama along the Tennessee River in January 1864.