Wilderness Campaign

In the spring of 1864, in the vast Virginia scrub forest known as the Wilderness, Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee first met in battle. The Wilderness campaign of May 5-6 initiated an epic confrontation between these two Civil War commanders--one that would finally end, eleven months later, with Lee's surrender at Appomattox. The eight essays here assembled explore aspects of the background, conduct, and repercussions of the fighting in the Wilderness. Through an often-revisionist lens, contributors to this volume focus on topics such as civilian expectations for the campaign, morale in the two armies, and the generalship of Lee, Grant, Philip H. Sheridan, Richard S. Ewell, A. P. Hill, James Longstreet, and Lewis A. Grant. Taken together, these essays revise and enhance existing work on the battle, highlighting ways in which the military and nonmilitary spheres of war intersected in the Wilderness. The contributors: --Peter S. Carmichael, 'Escaping the Shadow of Gettysburg: Richard S. Ewell and Ambrose Powell Hill at the Wilderness' --Gary W. Gallagher, 'Our Hearts Are Full of Hope: The Army of Northern Virginia in the Spring of 1864' --John J. Hennessy, 'I Dread the Spring: The Army of the Potomac Prepares for the Overland Campaign' --Robert E. L. Krick, 'Like a Duck on a June Bug: James Longstreet's Flank Attack, May 6, 1864' --Robert K. Krick, ''Lee to the Rear,' the Texans Cried' --Carol Reardon, 'The Other Grant: Lewis A. Grant and the Vermont Brigade in the Battle of the Wilderness' --Gordon C. Rhea, 'Union Cavalry in the Wilderness: The Education of Philip H. Sheridan and James H. Wilson' --Brooks D. Simpson, 'Great Expectations: Ulysses S. Grant, the Northern Press, and the Opening of the Wilderness Campaign'

Fought in a tangled forest fringing the south bank of the Rapidan River, the Battle of the Wilderness marked the initial engagement in the climactic months of the Civil War in Virginia, and the first encounter between Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee. In an exciting narrative, Gordon C. Rhea provides the consummate recounting of that conflict of May 5 and 6, 1864, which ended with high casualties on both sides but no clear victor. With its balanced analysis of events and people, command structures and strategies, The Battle of the Wilderness is operational history as it should be written.

“[T]here will be no turning back,” said Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant. It was May, 1864. The Civil War had dragged into its fourth spring. It was time to end things, Grant resolved, once and for all. With the Union Army of the Potomac as his sledge, Grant crossed the Rapidan River, intending to draw the Army of Northern Virginia into one final battle. Short of that, he planned “to hammer continuously against the armed forces of the enemy and his resources, until by mere attrition, if in no other way, there should be nothing left to him . . . .” Almost immediately, though, Robert E. Lee’s Confederates brought Grant to bay in the thick tangle of the Wilderness. Rather than retreat, as other army commanders had done in the past, Grant outmaneuvered Lee, swinging left and south. There was, after all, no turning back. “I intend to fight it out along this line if it takes all summer,” Grant vowed. And he did: from the dark, close woods of the Wilderness to the Muleshoe of Spotsylvania, to the steep banks of the North Anna River, to the desperate charges of Cold Harbor. The 1864 Overland Campaign would be a nonstop grind of fighting, maneuvering, and marching, much of it in rain and mud, with casualty lists longer than anything yet seen in the war. In No Turning Back: A Guide to the 1864 Overland Campaign, from the Wilderness to Cold Harbor, May 4 - June 13, 1864, historians Robert M. Dunkerly, Donald C. Pfanz, and David R. Ruth allow readers to follow in the footsteps of the armies as they grapple across the Virginia landscape. Pfanz spent his career as a National Park Service historian on the battlefields where the campaign began; Dunkerly and Ruth work on the battlefields where it concluded. Few people know the ground, or the campaign, better.

For two days in early May,1864, a dark woodland south of the Rapidan River known as the Wilderness rang with the clamor of battle. The musketry and cheers of the troops of the Confederacy and the Union were deafening as charge gave way to countercharge. Fires erupted which consumed the dead and wounded, filling the air with the stench of burning flesh. The battle of the Wilderness was what many witnesses would describe as "hell on earth." The Wilderness Campaign traces the early maneuvering of Ulysses S. Grant's offensive against the Confederate capital at Richmond and Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. The resulting battle was Grant's first fight in the Eastern theater after President Lincoln gave him command of all the Union armies. It was an engagement that Grant sought to avoid, but wholeheartedly accepted when he confronted lee's army. It ended as one of the bloodiest repulses of the Civil War. John Cannan details Grant's strategy and planning as he moved his army ever closer to confrontation. The vivid descriptions of the confused fighting and battle chaos give the reader insight into the desperate quality of Civil War combat. The book also includes fascinating sidebars about the personalities and units involved, as well as other interesting topics on the war itself, such as religion in the Southern army, the telegraph, the draft, and the parole and exchange system. With eleven maps and over fifty illustrations

This book continues Bradley M. Gottfried's efforts to study and illustrate the major campaigns of the Civil War's Eastern Theater. This is his fifth book in the ongoing Savas Beatie Military Atlas Series. This latest magisterial work breaks down the entire campaign into 24 map sets enriched with 120 original full-page color maps. These cartographic

"In this military history, Gaff documents the British and French influence, the famed battle at Fallen Timbers, and the Treaty of Greeneville, which ended hostilities in the region. His account brings to light alliances between Indian forces and the British military, demonstrating that British troops still conducted operations on American soil long after the supposed end of the American Revolution."--BOOK JACKET.

Frames the current debate over potential oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge by presenting a detailed history of the establishment of ANWR. Features interviews with survivors from the initial push to establish ANWR in the 1940s and 1950s and with family members and associates of those who are no longer living. Also chronicles the 1980 expansion of ANWR.--(Source of description unspecified.)

"In the spring of 1864, the Civil War's two legendary military leaders, Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee, confronted each other on the battlefield for the first time. This book tells the story of the clash of these two titans through the burning scrub brush of the Wilderness, the bitter struggle for the Bloody Angle at Spotsylvania Court House, the cavalry encounter at Yellow Tavern, the maneuvering along the North Anna River, and the tragedy of Cold Harbor. It also provides analysis in light of the latest scholarship" --publisher.