Chattanooga readers of the late U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy’s 2009 memoir, True Compass, might find that the most interesting battle he discusses does not deal with Vietnam, Iraq, or even the Republicans.

It likely involves the Civil War Battle of Chickamauga near Chattanooga.

On pages 202-203 of the hardbound edition of the book – which was published by Twelve press just weeks after his Aug. 25, 2009, death from complications related to a brain tumor – he tells an unusual story that involves both the 1863 battle and his brother, President John F. “Jack” Kennedy.

Sen. Kennedy said that he and Jack were in Palm Beach, Fla., one Christmas holiday and, after a swim, began discussing the Civil War, which Sen. Kennedy said was one of John Kennedy’s favorite topics.

They were trying to recall the name of the Battle of Chickamauga, where the Confederates defeated the Union at a large cost of lives on both sides.

“The battle’s name was an Indian one, and Jack, for the life of him, couldn’t recall it,” Sen. Kennedy wrote. “Neither could I.”

Suddenly, John F. Kennedy said that U.S. Sen. Richard Russell from Georgia – whom he called Dick -- would know.

The incident took place sometime before Sen. Ted Kennedy’s 1962 election to the U.S. Senate, and the future Massachusetts lawmaker was shocked that his brother would call Sen. Russell on Christmas Eve.

John Kennedy thought the longtime conservative Democratic senator might be in his office, despite the approaching holiday, and, sure enough, he was. And, as President Kennedy predicted, he knew the name of the battle.

As Sen. Ted Kennedy related in the book, “Russell came on the line. ‘That’s Chickamauga you’re talking about,’ he told Jack. And proceeded to give him a detailed account of the … battle. There was some friendly dispute between them over which side actually won.”

After the conversation ended, Sen. Ted Kennedy said he was impressed his brother knew how to reach Sen. Russell. He told the story to point out how well his brother knew and got along well with the other senators.

Sen. Kennedy does not say whether his brother was president or still a senator at the time.

Another local connection he discusses is U.S. Sen. Howard Baker, the former Republican lawmaker from Tennessee and a McCallie School graduate.

Sen. Kennedy said that he worked with Sen. Baker way back in 1967 on the “one man, one vote” legislation, which made all the congressional districts in the United State basically the same population size.

The idea to work with Sen. Baker had come from his brother, Sen. Bobby Kennedy.

“Bobby knew and admired Baker and had suggested that we join forces,” Sen. Ted Kennedy wrote.

The book – which is Sen. Kennedy’s only memoir – actually began as an oral history project at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center of Public Affairs, which was named for benefactor and late Chattanooga lawyer Burkett Miller.

Although Sen. Ted Kennedy long represented the core principles of the Democratic Party, both Republicans and Democrats would likely find interest in his numerous anecdotes and war stories in the book about life along the campaign and legislative trails.

For example, he tells of such crazy stunts as having to ride a bronco out West while campaigning for his brother for president in 1960.

And during his 1994 senatorial re-election campaign, at a time when the Republicans were expected to do well during an anti-incumbency frenzy, he discusses a heart-warming story with which all political candidates could relate. He said he was nervously on his way to a Boston debate against Republican opponent Mitt Romney in his vehicle when he saw some commotion.

Within a moment or two, he realized what all the excitement was about – him. For several blocks, he found Kennedy supporters holding signs and cheering. He wrote that the scene touched him greatly, especially coming at a time when his poll numbers were not necessarily predicting an easy or certain election victory.

Throughout the book, Sen. Kennedy seemed to show good insight and judgment into other politicians, as he writes of having respect for a number of Democrats and Republicans. Somewhat surprisingly, about the only person he seemed to criticize multiple times was former President and fellow Democrat Jimmy Carter.

He said that Mr. Carter would invite lawmakers to the White House and entertain them by reciting the names of leaders of all the African countries, yet Sen. Kennedy implied that President Carter did not possess the savvy of a Franklin D. Roosevelt, who spent far less time on intricate details.

Much of the book deals with stories of a personal nature.

At the urging of his second wife, Vicki Reggie, he used the book to reflect some on his personal feelings about the assassination deaths of brothers John and Bobby, the deaths of two other siblings, a plane crash that left him in a hospital for weeks, his battles with alcohol, and the Chappaquiddick tragedy, in which passenger Mary Jo Kopechne drowned after the car he was driving went into the water in Massachusetts in 1969.

He does not go quite so far as Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham did in her Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir, Personal History, in addressing all facets of his life in detail.

For example, he does not really discuss accusations by some that illegal voting took place in Chicago in 1960 and helped sway the election in Kennedy’s favor. Nor does he try to address accusations that his brother, John, had extramarital affairs, other than to call some of the stories lies.

He also mentions only little about the problems that led to his divorce with his first wife, Joan, and he does not touch upon the drug-related past problems of his son, U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy from Rhode Island.

But the book still offers plenty of insight and understanding of his personal life.

Among the facts brought out are his perspectives of his older brothers and other family members and their lives, and his early years having to attend numerous boarding schools, including one where a male staff member sexually abused other students.

He also tells of his younger years residing in the New York City area, and of living in London with his ambassador father, Joseph Kennedy Sr., not long before the German bombing began in World War II.

He also talks of his interest in painting, and of his lifelong love affair with the sea, which serves as the inspiration for the book’s title.

Regardless of one’s political ideology, Sen. Kennedy’s efforts to be an effective legislator and public servant, a spiritually and morally whole person later in life, and a loving and caring family member and friend make the book a touching read.

Jcshearer2@comcast.net