a comprehensive study of the campaigns and mounted raids that Wilsons troopers conducted in Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama in the closing months of the Civil War…detailed…the author should be commended for the fine prose…well-illustrated with photographs of the maThe fighting force of William T. Sherman was plagued by a lack of first-rate cavalry?mostly because of Sherman’s belief that the cavalry was a waste of good horses. The man Grant sent to change that was James Harrison Wilson, a bright, ambitious, and outspoken young officer with a penchant for organization. Wilson proved the perfect man for the job, transforming a collection of independent regiments and brigades into a fiercely effective mounted unit. Wilson’s Cavalry, as it came to be known, played a major role in thwarting Confederate General Hood’s 1864 invasion of Tennessee, then moved south for the celebrated capture of Selma, Montgomery, and Columbus. This book is the first overall history of the Cavalry Corps. In addition to meticulous description of military actions, the book affords particular attention to Wilson’s outstanding achievement in creating an infrastructure for his corps, even as he covered the Federal flanks in the withdrawal to Franklin and Nashville.This is the first overall history of the Cavalry Corps. In addition to meticulous description of military actions, the book affords particular attention to Wilson’s outstanding achievement in creating an infrastructure for his corps, even as he covered the Federal flanks in the withdrawal to Franklin and Nashville.