The Life and Wars of Gideon J. Pillow

Commonly portrayed in Civil War literature as a bungling general who disgraced himself at Fort Donelson, Gideon Johnson Pillow (1806-78) is one of the most controversial military figures of nineteenth-century America.

In this first full-length biography, Nathaniel Hughes and Roy Stonesifer take a fresh look at Pillow, calling attention to his prominent role in many of the major conflicts of his day.

Pillow was one of Tennessee's wealthiest planters, a law partner of James K.

Polk, and an influential broker in national politics.

Having been rewarded with a generalship in the Mexican War, Pillow capitalized on the notoriety he gained during that conflict to reenter Democratic party politics.

He was unsuccessful, however, in bids for the vice presidency in 1852 and 1856 and in a run for the Senate.

With the outbreak of the Civil War, Pillow again sought to dominate the public stage.

His organization of what would become the Army of Tennessee placed him at the forefront of the Confederate war effort.

But he was bested by Ulysses S. Grant at Belmont and then suffered disaster at Fort Donelson.

After these defeats, he spent the remainder of the war directing Confederate conscription in the West and leading Confederate cavalry forces. The Life and Wars of Gideon J. Pillow reveals a colorful, enigmatic man who moved just outside the world of greatness he yearned to enter.