Journal of Southern History

In June 1864 Union general Andrew Jackson Smith initiated a campaign to disrupt or defeat the Confederate forces of Nathan Bedford Forrest and Stephen D. Lee. With General William T. Sherman bearing down on Atlanta, Smith, who was fresh off a victory in the Red River campaign, faced the unenviable task of stopping Forrest and Lee from disrupting Sherman’s supply lines. On July 5, 1864, Smith departed from La Grange, Tennessee, with his hardened soldiers and laid waste to the countryside, reaching Pontotoc, Mississippi, on July 11. Forrest could have attacked Smith immediately with his cavalry, but Lee ordered him not to attack until reinforced. But when Lee finally arrived with reinforcements, Smith, fearing an ambush, had already moved toward Tupelo, Mississippi. East of Tupelo, near Harrisburg, Smith dug in, and on the morning of July 14, Lee attacked. The Federals beat back the Confederates with heavy casualties, but Smith, rather than push his advantage, began withdrawing toward Memphis the next day. Over the course of three days of maneuvering and fighting, Smith and his “Gorillas” outdueled Forrest and Lee, dealing Forrest and his men a terrible blow (p. 1). Never again would Forrest pose a significant threat to Union forces. Although Smith received criticism for not destroying Forrest, he accomplished his objective of neutralizing Forrest, destroying Confederate railroads, and protecting Sherman’s supply lines.

In Work for Giants: The Campaign and Battle of Tupelo/Harrisburg, Mississippi, June–July, 1864, Thomas E. Parson offers the first full study of the Tupelo/Harrisburg episode, and the author does an excellent job of not only developing an engaging narrative, but also contextualizing the episode and offering sound conclusions that will cause a great deal of discussion in historical circles. Parson maintains, and rightly so, that Smith won a crucial Union victory over Forrest at a time when Sherman needed it most, although after the war former Confederates tried to downplay the Union victory and claim it as a triumph for Forrest. Historians, meanwhile, have focused largely on the events near Atlanta and have thus neglected this important episode. [End Page 180]

In addition to weaving a compelling narrative of the campaign from many previously untapped primary sources, Parson compellingly demonstrates that unbiased accounts of the campaign and battles have remained in short supply since the Civil War due to the distortion of the Lost Cause mythology that grew up around Forrest. Parson joins a number of Civil War historians who have recently begun to deconstruct the Forrest myth and take some of the shine off the “Wizard of the Saddle.” More important, though, Parson also demonstrates the competence of Smith and his battle-hardened soldiers, restoring them to their rightful place as some of the best combat soldiers of the Civil War.

Work for Giants fills an important historiographical gap in our understanding of the Civil War in the West and the broader context of the Atlanta campaign. In setting the record straight about this little-remembered episode in Civil War history, Parson has provided an invaluable contribution to the literature.