To Prepare for Sherman’s Coming”: The Battle of Wise’s Forks, March 1865
By Wade Sokolosky and Mark A. Smith
Savas Beatie

Reviewed by Keith Jones

“To Prepare for Sherman’s Coming: The Battle of Wise’s Forks, March 1865” walks the reader step by step through one of the most important, yet little known battles in North Carolina. Beginning March 8, 1865, Union General Jacob Cox squared off with the forces commanded by Confederate General Braxton Bragg. The fighting dragged on until March 10. Wise’s Forks was one of the largest battles fought on North Carolina soil, but has been relegated to little more than a footnote in the history of the Carolina’s Campaign.

In the end, Wise’s Forks was largely a delaying action. Meticulously researched, the pages of this book carefully reconstruct the events of those days. Sokolosky and Smith provide such detail that the reader will want to read all the footnotes to avoid missing any of the great material within. This book provides an intense study of Wise’s Forks impossible to find elsewhere. Any serious student of this war should read this.