Failure in the Saddle: Nathan Bedford Forrest, Joe Wheeler, and the Confederate Cavalry in the Chickamauga Campaign

David A. Powell examines the Confederate cavalry's role in the Chickamauga Campaign of 1863, focusing on how mistakes by commanders Nathan Bedford Forrest and Joe Wheeler contributed to both tactical and strategic failures. In August 1863, Union General William Rosecrans maneuvered his Army of the Cumberland to outflank Confederate General Braxton Bragg's Army of Tennessee and force it from Chattanooga, a vital Confederate industrial and logistical center. Despite having nearly 14,000 cavalry under two experienced Southern commanders, the Confederate horsemen failed to prevent Union troops from crossing the Tennessee River, passing through mountain gaps, and turning Bragg's left flank. Bragg retreated without fighting. After weeks of additional maneuvering and skirmishing, Bragg counterattacked at Chickamauga, achieving a tactical victory. However, Federal operations in November reversed these gains. Powell's analysis, based on primary sources and battlefield knowledge, concludes that Bragg's cavalry generals provided misleading intelligence, failed to guard key passes and crossings, allowed internal politics to affect decisions, and sometimes disobeyed orders. The book includes detailed accounts of cavalry operations, appendices, and original maps. Winner of the Civil War Round Table of Atlanta's Richard Harwell Award.