Featured battle : Franklin

Part of American Civil War

Date : 30 November 1864

As part of John Bell Hood's Tennessee campaign to attempt to draw off Sherman's march through the South, he moved to split Thomas' forces between Columbia and Nashville. He confronted Schofield at Columbia with a small force and much of his artillery, while his main force, with Forrest's cavalry in the lead, made a flanking move to reach Spring Hill and cut him off from Nashville. Schofield guessed the ruse, however and fell back along the shorter line and after some rearguard action, reached the dug in positions around Franklin on the Harpeth before Hood. Hood decided to attack anyway and goaded his army of Tennessee into a frontal attack. Some of his lead brigades broke the Blue line, after following 2 outpost Union brigades so closely that the main force was unable to fire on them for fear of hitting their own, but once breached, the line was restored by Union reserves and the Rebels who had won the un defendable positions were cut down. Brutal fighting continued long after dark with both sides only breaking off after midnight, at which point Schofield's troops continued their progress north to join Thomas at Nashville leaving an all but wrecked Confederate army behind them.

Taranto and Naval Warfare in the Mediterranean 1940-1945

David Hobbs
This book’s main title is ‘Taranto’ but it is about so much more than that singular action. The whole range of Fleet Air Arm activity in the Mediterranean theatre, 1940-1945, is the real content and a full and fascinating story it is. There are many insights into little known activities especially those where shore based squadrons were supporting the RAF and the troops on the ground in the North African campaign. Readers can expect to have their eyes opened to the real value of the ‘antiquated flying string bag’ the Fairey Swordfish. Although superseded by fast single seater fighters there was always a niche which no other aircraft could fill and consequently they stayed in service for the whole period. An underlying message of the book is that during this period the battleship became obsolete to be replaced by the aircraft carrier. The author draws attention to the political difficulties in the Admiralty, the RAF and the aircraft supply chain which accounted for the necessity of eventually obtaining, by purchase or Lean Lease, American aircraft and American carriers.
Technical detail, personal stories and lots of photographs make this a must have book for readers with many different interests. A jolly good read which we highly recommend.

Seaforth Publishing, 2020