http://www.brittonlane1862.madison.tn.us/ Britton Lane Battlefield Association Dedicated to Preserving Madison County History Sue Smith 4707 Steam Mill Road Medon, Tennessee 38356 (901) 935-2209 less@aeneas.net Interestingly, this url came up also.... http://www.findarticles.com/m2004/n2_v44/20944457/p1/article.jhtml Fort Donelson's Legacy: War and Society in Kentucky and Tennessee, 1862-1862. / (book reviews) Author/s: Damon Eubank Issue: June, 1998 Fort Donelson's Legacy: War and Society in Kentucky and Tennessee, 1862-1863. By Benjamin Franklin Cooling. (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1997. Pp. xx, 408. $38.00.) Benjamin Cooling's Fort Donelson's Legacy continues the story of his earlier Forts Henry and Donelson. The author examines a crucial upper heartland Civil War campaign and its impact on the Confederacy from the fall of the river forts to the Southern fiasco at Missionary Ridge. Cooling contends that the Fort Donelson campaign could have resulted in a rapid Confederate collapse in the west. Instead, slow pursuit by Union generals and a mistaken belief on their part that the rebellion had already collapsed led them to follow a conciliatory policy toward the rebels and rebel property. Unfortunately for the Union forces, this sluggishness and mildness allowed the rebels to recover and continue the war for three years. Over time a new military situation had developed in Kentucky and Tennessee. Confederate sympathy had not become Unionist sympathy as expected. Confederate sympathizers resorted to partisan warfare to express their continuing Confederate support. Union forces, in retaliation, ended a policy of respect for Southern property and slowly moved toward a harden more destructive and bitter mode of warfare. Likewise, Confederate partisans adopted this mode of warfare to avenge themselves on Southern Unionists in their midst. The result was a no-man's-land in the upper heartland. Cooling has examined an often neglected element of Civil War campaigns: what happens to the civilians after the armies pass through. The author has attempted a melding of the story of the home- and battle fronts. A study of this nature would be in order for other areas of the South. Unfortunately, Fort Donelson's Legacy could benefit from some changes. Several mistakes of fact appear in the text. For example, there is no Fentress county, Kentucky (68), and Thomas T. Crittenden (87) of Murfreesboro shame was the nephew, not the son, of Senator John J. Crittenden. Also, John Marshall Harlan did not spell his name Harland (163). Although the text examines the war in Kentucky and Tennessee, Eleazer Paine, the infamous commander at Paducah receives only one small mention. Likewise, the author largely ignores central and eastern Kentucky. Finally, the author lists no manuscripts consulted from the holdings of the Kentucky Historical Society or the University of Kentucky and only one manuscript from the collection at Western Kentucky University. Several manuscript collections exist at these locations, which deal with the home front and problems of a war torn upper heartland area. Still, Fort Donelson's Legacy deals with a significant topic and should be consulted by anyone examining the impact of the Civil War on Kentucky or Tennessee. COPYRIGHT 1998 Kent State University Press COPYRIGHT 2000 Gale Group Rhonda Houston -----Original Message----- From: Craig Ayler [mailto:Craig.Ayler@worldnet.att.net] Sent: Saturday, May 19, 2001 3:39 PM To: IL-CIVIL-WAR-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [IL-CIVIL-WAR] Britton's Lane Hello; I'm looking for a couple of things. First; Where is the location of the Battle of Britton's Lane (Sept 1,1862), Mendon Station, Tenn.? It seems that's where the 20th Ill Inf marched to and joined in with the 13th Ill Inf to fight the Confederate soldiers surrounding Mendon Station. They were successful. Second; Is there any information on the incident other than the Adjutant's General Report with the 20th or 13th Ill Infantry? Craig Ayler Aurora, CO Craig.Ayler@worldnet.att.net