The Bonfire: The Siege and Burning of Atlanta

Description

Reviews

Rating: 4 / 5
Date: 2010-08-24
Summary: "An engaging story of a war-ravaged city"

As a transplant to Atlanta, always hungry for knowledge about where I'm living or visiting, a lecture by Marc Wortman at the Atlanta History Center helped fill the bill. He's a terrific speaker who motivated me to read "The Bonfire." Though I love history, I have little patience with the dry, monotonous chronological narratives of most historians, no matter how fascinating the subject matter. Wortman is a better storyteller than most, however, in that he weaves through his description of Civil War-era Atlanta the individual stories of somewhat less-than-famous persons (as well as that of Sherman) -- excerpts from the diary of a draft-doging bookseller, editorials from Confederate newspapers, and the like. There were surprises for me: I didn't know that some of the wealthiest, war-profiteering citizens in the city were African-American slaves (one of whom was a son of Daniel Webster), or that Sherman himself was a racist. Nor did I know the extent of Unionist feeling, notably on the part of Mayor Calhoun, here before and during the war. Maybe I should have known, but didn't grasp until I read this book, the extent to which the Secessionist cause was linked to the propaganda that Africans were subhuman -- and now I understand even more clearly why the Confederate flag should not be flown over government buildings or anywhere else for that matter. I even found myself poring over the very extensive footnotes at the back of the book, making me want to read some of the original source material. All in all, a book that captures and holds your interest throughout.

Rating: 5 / 5
Date: 2010-04-30
Summary: "The Bonfire is a Civil War history of Atlanta in which the city was captured by General Sherman"

The Bonfire by Marc Wortman is a study of the city of Atlanta, Georgia from its beginnings as a railroad hub in 1845 through its fall during the American Civil War. Anyone wanting a detailed description of the Atlanta Campaign from May-September 1864 in which General William Tecumseh Sherman defeated Confederate Joseph Eggleston Johnston will be disappointed in this work. It is not a military history of the war; instead the book illumines the conflict through first person accounts and stories of soldiers and civilians involved in the Atlanta Civil War story. In that regard the book succeeds admirably. It is a page turner.
Atlanta was founded by Virginians and was a railroad center of the Western and Atlantic railroad. The Calhoun family were prominent in the political and social leadership of the city which had grown to over 10,000 by the time of the Civil War. James M. Calhoun, a relative of firebrand Senator John C. Calhoun of South Carolina, was the mayor during the war. Calhoun was a unionist but supported the South and slavery. Many slaves were allowed to hire out for business in ante-bellum Atlanta; some of these persons became wealthy. Wortman tells the tale of an African-American business leader in Atlanta who may well have been an illegitimate son of Mass. Senator Daniel Webster.
Wortman recounts the sad story of native American Indian removal from Georgia; the wildy and wooly culutre of Atlanta prior to the war and the lot of southern women living in the city. He describes the horrors of war as soldiers died in the thousands during the Atlanta campaign and the wounded were carried for in the beseiged city. Atlanta was burned by retreating Confederates under the leadership of John Bell Hood. This occurred following Southern defeat at the battles of Peachtree Creek, Atlanta and Jonesboro. Later Sherman would torch the city and demand that all civilians leave its environs. Over 60,000 casualties suffered during the Atlanta campaign about equally divided between Northern and Southern forces. General Sherman loved the South but made hard work on them so as end the war and restore order and union to the United States.
Atlanta grew at the end of the war and became a prominent American city. Wortman has told the story of nineteenth century Atlanta with a novelist touch; interesting stories and anecdotes making this a compelling read.Recommended.

Rating: 4 / 5
Date: 2010-04-25
Summary: ""Bonfire" Flames GWTW Legend"

I am a Civil War buff, and a member of the Puget Sound Civil War Round Table in Seattle. Enjoyed Marc Wortman's latest work "Bonfire" tremendously. Had no idea there were so many Union sympathizers down south, nor that some blacks had as much literal freedom at times (though they remained slaves in title at least) to determine their own economic fate both before, during, and apparently to a lesser extent after the war. A key part of this book is the chronicle of Atlanta's opportunistic growth -- certainly not beginning as the teeming metropolis we all assumed, heading into the Civil War. I learned a great deal about Sherman, his love of and familiarity with the South, his plodding tactics, his temerity, and ultimately his genius in using superior Yankee numbers to continuously outflank Johnston and Hood on the way to encircling Atlanta. Enjoyed reading about the Calhoun family history and their political ascendency within the city power circles. The book was well written, not as dry as many of the others I've experienced on the Civil War, and very well researched. It teems with personal references and diary entries on the part of those who directed and lived the Battle of Atlanta on a daily basis. As such it is a fine contribution to the body of Civil War literature, and fills in a previous vacuum in the real story of how Atlanta came to the torch.

--Larry Cenotto, Edmonds, WA

Rating: 4 / 5
Date: 2010-04-06
Summary: ""War is cruelty, and you cannot refine it.""

Sherman was not one to glorify war and the siege and taking of Atlanta ably demonstrates how horrible it can be. I recently read Battle Cry of Freedom which provided context for The Bonfire but Wortman does a great job too giving the reader ample background to this particular battle. I enjoyed how he went back to the settlement of the area, the settlers themselves (especially Mayor Calhoun), and how Atlanta had grown to become the heart of the Southern States. Atlanta (like Stalingrad, Berlin, Saigon and Baghdad) was a symbol for both sides. In the case of Atlanta, it represented both a stubborn collective and a strategically important target.

The book provides a holistic view of the conflict from crime in the city, to depleted supplies, to the fluid maneuvers of the cavalry. The style of writing allows for a decent pace and though the author can get wrapped up in details he wins you back with the real human stories. Definitely a must read for Civil War buffs but not necessarily recommended for novices.

Rating: 5 / 5
Date: 2010-02-23
Summary: "A History Lesson"

Marc Wortman writes a fascinating book about the Civil War. Ordinary and extraordinary people enmeshed in a horrible conflict. Especially important is the care that the author takes in describing the evolution of Atlanta before the war and the family background of some of the most important characters such as Mayor Calhoun. There are many lessons to be learned from this book - some applicable to the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. One wonders how General Sherman would have prosecuted those campaigns.