This letter is very revealing of Sherman's mindset about Southern society and the war - well worth the time for us to look at in full.

We will examine the events of the summer of 1863, which culminated in the horrible battle of Chickamauga, and set the stage for a very infamous visitor to the Shoals in the fall of 1863

We will discuss the dramatic details of two infamous Union raids into North Alabama - one a spectacular failure, and the other a horrible success.

We will meet some of the key players in the upcoming drama of Cornyn's and Streight's Raids, and discuss the dramatic rising action that led to these two notorious events.

We will review what we have discussed so far for the eventful year 1862, discuss General Buell's removal, and explore the hardships faced by the people of the Shoals as 1862 turned to 63.

We will discuss the shocking acts of vengeance committed against the citizens of Athens, Alabama, by soldiers under command of the Russian-born Colonel Turchin, and the aftermath in the courts and the press regarding the government's official policy toward the seceded South.

We will visit First-Person accounts of the many surprising ways the presence of the Union Army affected life in the Tennessee Valley during the hot and dusty summer of 1862

We will discuss the dramatic obstacles the Army of the Ohio faced as they moved through North Alabama in the hot and dusty summer of 1862, and the shocking reversals of fate they were destined to endure

In April 1862, a courageous group of Union soldiers snuck behind Rebel lines to steal a locomotive and disrupt a vital artery of the Confederacy. But all did not go according to plan

Immediately following Shiloh, Federal forces occupy stretegic points in North Alabama, while Rebels attempt to undermine their position in every way possible.