Autumn of Glory

by Thomas Lawrence Connelly

2001 · LSU Press

Winner of the Fletcher Pratt Award and the Jefferson Davis Award A companion volume to Army of the Heartland Near the end of 1862 the Army of Tennessee began a long and frustrating struggle against overwhelming obstacles and ultimate defeat. Federal strength was growing, and after the Confederate surrender at Vicksburg, the total Union effort became concentrated against the Army of Tennessee. In the face of these external military problems, the army was also plagued with internal conflict, continuing command discord, and political intrigue. In Autumn of Glory, the final volume of Thomas Lawrence Connelly’s definitive history of one of the Confederacy’s two major military forces, Connelly analyzes the factors underlying the army’s failure during the last two years of the Civil War. The army’s military operations—including such major battles and campaigns as Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge, Kennesaw Mountain, Peachtree Creek, Atlanta, Ezra Church, Jonesboro, and Bentonville—are viewed in perspective with its growing internal problems and the personality peculiarities of its commanders. In late 1863 a well-organized movement within the army against General Bragg failed. After his departure, a semblance of the anti-Bragg organization still remained, and subsequently the army’s leadership became embroiled in national Confederate politics. Connelly traces these growing problems of command discord and political intrigue and examines their disastrous effects upon the army’s political fortunes. Connelly’s first volume, Army of the Heartland, explores the military significance of the “heartland” of the Confederacy and covers the army’s operations from 1861 to late 1862. With the completion of these two volumes, the author has narrowed the historiographical gap between Lee’s Army of Virginia and the Confederacy’s “other army.”

Meeting the Mets: A Quirky History of a Quirky Team

by Thomas Droleskey

2013 · Lulu.com

Meeting the Mets: A Quirky History of a Quirky Team is a volume one of a two-part retrospective on the history of the New York Mets, a team that is now in its fifty-second season of play. The author, Dr. Thomas A. Droleskey, attended over 1600 games at the Polo Grounds and William A. Shea Municipal Stadium between July 15, 1962, and July 16, 2002. While he has not attended games since that point for reasons that are described in the book, he was pretty visible in the stands as a very unofficial cheerleader for over a quarter of a century, known as "The Lone Ranger of Shea Stadium." Droleskey provides a personal retrospective on the origins of the Mets, highlighting some of the quirks of a quirky team, including memories of utterly meaningless games that might put a smile or two on the faces of those who have followed the team over the years. The books contains lots and lots of trivia about the Mets and baseball, interspersed with personal many bits of cultural trivia and history.