Chickamauga

The Civil War Battle Series, Book 7

By: James Reasoner

Narrated by: Lloyd James

Chickamauga is the seventh book in a series of historical novels spanning the Civil War and describing its effects on one southern family.

The action spans the area from Pennsylvania and Virginia to Georgia, Mississippi, and Illinois. The seven members of the Brannon clan of Culpeper County, Virginia, experience a wide range of the many hardships of war.

The Southern setbacks of July 1863 have fallen hard on the Brannons, for two sons were with Lee in Pennsylvania and one was at Vicksburg. They still mourn the loss of another, Titus, presumed dead but actually interned in a Northern prison camp for seven months.

Mac Brannon, in Stuart's cavalry, helps to protect the Army of Northern Virginia as it withdraws to Virginia. Of special concern to him are the ambulance wagons, one of which carries his wounded brother, Will.

In Vicksburg, Cory Brannon recuperates from an illness, and as his health returns, he looks for ways to escape the Union occupation and join Nathan Bedford Forrest's cavalry.

In the Yankee prison camp outside of Chicago, Titus is determined to escape and make his way home. He does not yet know the price of his freedom.

Cory and his comrades connect with Forrest just in time for the action at Chickamauga.

Although the battle goes well for the Confederates, Forrest and his commander, Braxton Bragg, have a falling out. Circumstances dictate that Cory remain with Bragg in the Confederate camps that encircle Chattanooga, but when Bragg decides to outwait the Union army trapped before him, the scene is set for the arrival of a new Federal commander, U.S. Grant.

Find out what happens to the Brannon family in the rest of the Civil War Battle Series.©2002 James Reasoner (P)2005 Blackstone Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"Robust, detail rich, and well-paced....Reasoner's battle narrative provides equal parts pathos and accuracy." (Publishers Weekly)

Reasoner series

WOW. What a clift hanger book 7 is. If the last 3 books in the series are as good as the first 7, I cannot wait to get them! Excellent approach to involving people. This series is not about the war, but it is about people and how families were affected by that war. A must read.

So many unedited repeats.

I have been loving this series and this story is as good as they have all been. However for some reason this one is full of poor production editing with lots of repeated lines.

Lt to Pvt?

Loved the story, as with all other parts of this series. There is one glaring flaw, however. Cori is a Lieutenant when he joins the army, but when leaves the cavalry to look after his uncle, he suddenly becomes a private? It doesn’t work that way and spoils a good part of the last few chapters. Such a shame in an otherwise well-researched work.

The best one so far

This may be the 7th in the series, but I enjoyed it the most. Great sets of characters coming together to resolve some story lines of the different Brannon family members and start new ones. Good description of the battle of Chickamauga. A bonus is that there is also a good description of aspects of the battle of Missionary Ridge and Lookout Mountain. A very touching part near the end and the last four sentences are Great! The narrator does his usual very good job.

I’ve been listening to the entire series in order

This is probably the weakest book in the series. I often had to stop, look at maps and pictures to try and figure out where and what was happening. Maybe my brain is slow. Overall I am enjoying the series, especially from the confederate point of view.

What next?

Of all the seven in the series I've heard so far this was the weakest - a bit like James Reasoner had a bit of a rest after the toil of Gettysburg and before the grand finale. I found it somewhat predictable and the cliffhanger not such a cliffhanger at all just a bit awkwardness that will need a bit of ironing out!

Lloyd James continues to sparkle but the production team let him down - the editing was slack as several times paragraphs were repeated. I am still looking forward to the rest of the series - I have to know what happens I just hope that James Reasoner hasn't completely run out of steam and the editors have had a cup of coffee and are back on the ball.

So good...

Mr. Reasoner has the ability to spin a good historical yarn. The Brannon family members certainly lead very adventurous lives.

so now what.

I hated it to end. Want to know the rest of characters endings and how they moved on.

Needs re-editing.

Story is great! As is the performance! But the editing is poor with many repeated lines throughout the book.

Perfectly done

Got into the civil war w jocko podcast recently. This series is fantastic. If you like novels that keep you entertained and teach at the same time you’ll love this. It also has some great insight into the rhetoric and psyche of the south during the civil war. Plus it is free