Welcome back to Knoxville, Brian Steel Wills

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Brian Steel Wills, Center for Civil War History, Kennesaw State University

Brian Steel Wills is the director of the Center for the Study of the Civil War Era and Professor of History at Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, Georgia, after a long tenure at the University of Virginia’s College at Wise.

Brian Steel Wills

He is the author of numerous works relating to the American Civil War, including a new volume – The River Was Dyed with Blood: Nathan Bedford Forrest and Fort Pillow.

His other titles include: A Battle From the Start: The Life of Nathan Bedford Forrest Reprinted as: The Confederacy’s Greatest Cavalryman: Nathan Bedford Forrest. This work was chosen as both a History Book Club selection and a Book of the Month Club selection.

He also authored, The War in Southeastern Virginia, released in October, 2001, and No Ordinary College: A History of The University of Virginia’s College at Wise, (2004), both by the University Press of Virginia. Gone with the Glory: The Civil War in Cinema appeared in 2006. An updated edition of the James I. “Bud” Robertson, Jr., Civil War Sites in Virginia (Virginia, 2011) arrived just in time for the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War, and in 2012 and 2013, Brian authored George Henry Thomas: As True as Steel and Confederate General William Dorsey Pender: The Hope of Glory.

In 2000, Dr. Wills received the Outstanding Faculty Award from the state of Virginia, one of eleven recipients from all faculty members at public and private institutions across the state. He was named Kenneth Asbury Professor of History and won both the Teaching award and the Research and Publication award from UVA-Wise.

The Rock fails to roll: George H. Thomas at Kennesaw Mountain

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Atlanta campaign, Benjamin Franklin Cheatham, Brian Steel Wills, George Henry Thomas, Joseph Johnston, Kennesaw Mountain, Knoxville Civil War Rountable, Old Slow Trot, Patrick Cleburne, Rock of Chickamauga

George Henry Thomas

The American Civil War opened avenues for many individuals to emerge as leaders in the conflict.

In 1861, George Thomas brought with him a West Point education and extensive earlier service in the field, including active involvement in the Mexican- American War. Before Thomas could become one of the most renowned general officers to serve the Union, however, he had to overcome doubts concerning his Virginia birth, his fidelity to the Union cause, and his willingness to wage campaigns zealously against his fellow Southerners.

His meticulous manner, reflected in the pre-war nickname, “Old Slow Trot,” also raised questions in the minds of superiors and some colleagues about the degree to which Thomas might be able to contribute to ultimate Union victory. George Henry Thomas overcame his doubters to become one of the Union’s top generals, known best to history as “the Rock of Chickamauga.”

Even so, when ordered to punch through the defenses of Joseph Johnston at Kennesaw Mountain during the 1864 Atlanta Campaign, Thomas found the work formidable in the face of some of the Confederacy’s finest fighters —Patrick Cleburne and Benjamin Franklin Cheatham.

Come join us as author and historian Brian Steel Wills takes us for an in- depth look at the triumphant life and career of General Thomas while zeroing in on one of his more challenging days.

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