Course Description

Instructor: Michael K. Shaffer, Civil War Historian, Author

From the 1862 capture of Forts Henry and Donelson to 1864's March to the Sea, many pivotal campaigns and battles during the American Civil War took place in the Western Theater. This area of operations consisted of all the geographic territory west of the Appalachian Mountains to the Mississippi River.?  

?During this course, we will explore military action at Shiloh, Perryville, Stones River, Vicksburg, Chickamauga, Chattanooga, Atlanta, and many other battles! Students will also learn about the commanding officers involved in an area, which most historians agree decided the outcome of the war.? 

Suggested Textbook: Hess, Earl. The Civil War in the West: Victory and Defeat from the Appalachians to the Mississippi. UNC Press, 2012. ISBN: 978-0-8078-3542-5? 

Bio: Civil War historian, instructor, lecturer, newspaper columnist, and author. Shaffer is a member of the Society of Civil War Historians, Historians of the Civil War Western Theater, and the Georgia Association of Historians. He teaches Civil War Courses at Kennesaw State University's College of Graduate and Professional Education and at Emory University, and frequently speaks to various groups across the country.