The Boys of Chattanooga

by: Clyde R. Hedges

Published by: Gate Way Publishers

Reviewed by Julie Failla Earhart

I almost didn’t read Clyde R. Hedges’ historical fiction, The Boys of Chattanooga. It first arrived on my doorstep in late April 2006. As I love American Civil War historical fiction, I eagerly sat down to read. Then I was stopped dead in my tracks. The second word of the first sentence was misspelled. Not a good sign for a reviewer. I banished it to the bottom of my large stack of to-be-reads. One day I was tired of dusting it and decided to give it another try—or finally give it away.

What followed was a great read and one that I thoroughly enjoyed. The Battle of Chattanooga, April 1863, was probably the most important battle of the Civil War, so much more so than Gettysburg, Vicksburg, Shiloh, or any of the others and the true turning point of the war. Chattanooga was the gateway to Atlanta and the first and only time that the Rebel Army held the Union Army in siege.

The Boys of Chattanooga has two plot lines. First is the tale of three young Union soldiers who plan to have the adventure of their lifetime. Clarence and his friend Billy can’t wait to shoot some Rebs, but Matt had some experience and wasn’t quite so eager to pull a trigger. The second is the story of the military strategy, written in easy-to-understand language. It also put a very human face on the war; those who fought it and those who planned it.

Hedges does a remarkable job in making the reader understand how important this battle was to both sides. If the Rebels had kept Chattanooga, the war may have truly had a different outcome. The story of why the Union soldiers assaulted Lookout Mountain after capturing a Rebel rifle pit without orders has been lost to history. All the generals agreed that to try to scale the ridge would be nothing short of suicide for their men, but who led the charge and why is easily imagined in Hedges’ captivating written novel.

FYI: Other than the misspelling in the first line—there’s not another typo in the entire 323 pages.

Armchair Interviews says: Unique look at that time in our history.