The Battle of Belmont

“The most complete account yet of this little-studied battle. . . . Those readers interested in the detailed retracing of battlefield movements will appreciate [Hughes’s] painstaking efforts to reconstruct the ebb and flow of the struggle.” — Journal of Southern History

“Hughes presents the results of his impressive research into more than a hundred manuscript collections and hundreds of books, articles, dissertations, and more in a convincing, logical, and thought-provoking text that points out that a very secondary or even tertiary engagement can cause ripples that spread ever wider until they are felt far away in ways undreamed of. Belmont caused such ripples, Hughes argues, and in the face of his impressive evidence and conclusions, so eloquently presented, it would be perilous to argue with him.” — The Journal of American History

“Will gain a coveted place in Civil War historiography as the authoritative work on this battle.” — CHOICE

“With lively prose and judicious interpretations, Hughes captures the reader’s attention and maintains a high level of action and suspense throughout. . . . Intimately familiar with the terrain of the battlefield and the backgrounds of the key players, the author brings alive the smaller human interest stories in the struggle of brother against brother. A lively and authoritative account for all adult readers.” — CHOICE

“In this definitive study of U. S. Grant’s first Civil War battle, Nathaniel Hughes has done for Belmont what Wiley Sword did for Shiloh and Peter Cozzens for Stones River. This is a lively account, as well researched as it is well written.” — James I. Robertson, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

“A detailed and absorbing work on this early engagement in the western theater of the Civil War which had consequences far beyond the number of men involved.” — Charles P. Roland, University of Kentucky