David Powell book signing Sept. 16-17

Author David A. Powell will sign copies of his newly released book “The Chickamauga Campaign - Barren Victory: The Retreat into Chattanooga, the Confederate Pursuit, and the Aftermath of the Battle, September 21 to October 20, 1863.”

The event is Friday and Saturday, Sept. 16-17, from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at Chickamauga Chattanooga National Military Park, 3370 Lafayette Road, Fort Oglethorpe.

Barren Victory, David Powell’s final installment, examines the immediate aftermath of this great battle with unprecedented clarity and detail. The narrative opens at dawn Monday, Sept. 21, 1863, with Union commander William S. Rosecrans in Chattanooga and most of the rest of his Federal army in Rossville, Ga.

Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg has won the signal victory of his career, but has yet to fully grasp that fact or the fruits of his success. Unfortunately for the South, three grueling days of combat has broken down the Army of Tennessee and made a vigorous pursuit nearly impossible. In addition to carefully examining the decisions made by each army commander and their consequences, Powell sets forth the dreadful costs of the fighting in terms of the human suffering involved. Barren Victory concludes with the most detailed order of battle (including unit strengths and losses) for Chickamauga ever compiled, and a comprehensive bibliography.

Powell is a 1983 graduate of the Virginia Military Institute with a bachelor’s degree of arts in history. After graduating from VMI, he went to work for CBS Messenger, family business in the Chicago area, but never lost his intense interest in military history, especially in the American Civil War. He has written numerous articles for a variety of magazines, more than 15 historical simulations of various battles, and regularly leads tours of the Chickamauga battlefield.