Wilson's Creek

“Piston and Hatcher have successfully mined local newspapers and veterans' letters and recollections to show the drama and poignancy of men on both sides marching off to a war whose parameters they could not fully comprehend. . . . [They] have captured well the pathos of the early months of the war as it affected those who fought it.” — Journal of Southern History

“In this dense treatment, the authors combine details of battle with a social examination of the soldiers and communities involved.” — Blue Ridge Business Journal

“[The authors] unearthed a trove of original-source material to document backgrounds, ideals and motives that brought the two armies to Wilson’s Creek. . . . Piston and Hatcher have provided a service to Civil War historians by focusing on a significant battle in the Trans-Mississippi Theater — a region that has received significantly less attention than the East. They are commended for detailing the tactical battle and the soldiers who fought it.” — Military Review

“Wilson’s Creek will stand as the definitive study of a long-neglected but important battle. . . . It should be seen as a blueprint for the way all Civil War battle books ought to be written. It is military history with a social historian’s heart.” — Journal of American History

“[The authors] have added to the allure of the Civil War not only by writing a wonderful book that gives the participants a voice, but also by considering the political and military ramifications of the battle of Wilson’s Creek in the larger societal context. They deepen our understanding of the relationship between the soldiers and the communities from which they came. . . .With a fresh interpretive framework and rich with insights, this book will take its place among the great battle narratives. . . . An excellent study that deserves a wide recognition for its substantial contribution to Civil War scholarship.” — American Historical Review

“[This] detailed tactical study of the battle is as good as any yet produced by the new generation of military historians. . . . [A] fine book.” — America’s Civil War

“An excellent study of the first significant Civil War campaign west of the Appalachians. . . . The authors have been able to provide practically everything that modern scholars could ask from a campaign study.” — CHOICE

“Piston and Hatcher have authored a tour de force. Wilson’s Creek establishes a standard for excellence against which future books of this character will be measured. It is much more than a superior story of a battle, the leaders, strategy and tactics, and results. The authors draw on a multitude of sources to get into the hearts and minds of the participants and their communities, providing a special dimension to help us understand why the soldiers of 1861 fought and died.” — Edwin C. Bearss, Historian Emeritus, National Park Service

“Piston and Hatcher have succeeded in weaving two kinds of history — the traditional military narrative and the 'new military history' — into a virtually seamless whole. Wilson’s Creek is a significant contribution to our understanding not only of the military history of the war west of the [Mississippi] River but of the ideals, fears, and passions of the men who fought it. The authors' investigation into the backgrounds, motivations, and emotions of the combatants in this important but too often overlooked Civil War campaign provides new insight into the factors — most notably the social contract with their home communities and their need to uphold the corporate honor of those communities — that allowed so many young men to face death unquestioningly and even cheerfully.” — Thomas W. Cutrer, author of Ben McCulloch and the Frontier Military Tradition