Book Description
With To the North Anna River, the third book in his outstanding five-book series, Gordon C. Rhea continues his spectacular narrative of the initial campaign between Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee in the spring of 1864. May 13 through 25, a phase oddly ignored by historians, was critical in the clash between the Army of the Potomac and the Army of Northern Virginia. During those thirteen days—an interlude bracketed by horrific battles that riveted the public's attention—a game of guile and endurance between Grant and Lee escalated to a suspenseful draw on Virginia's North Anna River.
From the bloodstained fields of the Mule Shoe to the North Anna River, with Meadow Bridge, Myers Hill, Harris Farm, Jericho Mills, Ox Ford, and Doswell Farm in between, grueling night marches, desperate attacks, and thundering cavalry charges became the norm for both Grant's and Lee's men. But the real story of May 13-25 lay in the two generals' efforts to outfox each other, and Rhea charts their every step and misstep. Realizing that his bludgeoning tactics at the Bloody Angle were ineffective, Grant resorted to a fast-paced assault on Lee's vulnerable points. Lee, outnumbered two to one, abandoned the offensive and concentrated on anticipating Grant's maneuvers and shifting quickly enough to repel them. It was an amazingly equal match of wits that produced a gripping, high-stakes bout of warfare—a test, ultimately, of improvisation for Lee and of perseverance for Grant.
Customer Reviews:
The Overland Campaign series.......2006-07-22
The Battle of the Wilderness May 5-6, 1864
Product Details
* Hardcover: 520 pages
* Publisher: Louisiana State University Press (July 1994)
* Language: English
* ISBN: 0807118737
The Battles for Spotsylvania Court House and the Road to Yellow Tavern May 7-12, 1864
Product Details
* Hardcover: 483 pages
* Publisher: Louisiana State University Press (May 1997)
* Language: English
* ISBN: 0807121363
To the North Anna River: Grant and Lee, May 13-25, 1864
Product Details
* Hardcover: 505 pages
* Publisher: Louisiana State University Press (May 2000)
* Language: English
* ISBN: 0807125350
Cold Harbor: Grant and Lee, May 26-June 3, 1864
Product Details
* Hardcover: 552 pages
* Publisher: Louisiana State University Press (September 2002)
* Language: English
* ISBN: 0807128031
I am reviewing the four books a single series although each book is a full stand-alone history. This is a highly detailed military history of Grant's Overland Campaign of 1864. Two of the best generals commanding two of the best armies, in American history, decide the Civil war in the East. Gordon Rhea gives this month the detailed attention it requires and had never received. The 2,000 pages allows for the full story of the campaign, the personalities, failures and success.
The first book covers the major battle of The Wilderness an area Grant wished to clear and Lee hoped to trap him in as he had Hooker in 1863. Through a series of Union miscalculations and command problems, Lee manages to get in Grant's way. What follows is a confused bloody two-day battle that has been termed "Bush whacking on a grand scale". An excellent series of maps, help the reader stay abreast of the battle and understand the confusion of both sides. Lee loses Longstreet and starts to make the hard decisions about personnel that he has avoided since 1862. Grant while testing his relationship with Meade and Burnside, is trying to learn the AOP's generals too. This process dominates the four books as repeatedly Grant is forced to deal with the problems this creates and Lee takes steps that were unthinkable in 1863.
The second book moves the battle from The Wilderness south to Spotsylvania and Yellow Tavern. Grant refuses to "play the game" and retreat behind the Rappahannock but pushes past Lee and continues south. What follows is a race from defensive point to defensive point, which the AOP concedes to the AoNV. Union commanders hesitate at critical moments while the AoNV reinforces the objective. This allows Lee to stay up or ahead producing one of the bloodiest battles in our history at Spotsylvania. In addition, this book covers the critical cavalry operations, Grant's reasoning, and the price paid in taking Sheridan away from Meade. J.E.B. Stuart's death, is well covered. Both in terms of what it means to the AoNV, to Lee and to the Confederacy.
After one of the hardest weeks in their history, the two exhausted bloodied armies eye each other over their entrenchments. Lee understands that he is being trapped and that defensive war can only end in defeat. Grant is trying not to be stuck in a siege and determined to continue south. What follows is a series of forced marches and small battles as Grant and Lee test each other. Each general wins and loses daily as the armies march, counter march and fight. However, at the end of each day, Grant is always closer to Richmond. Lee produces a brilliant trap, Grant takes the bait but circumstances keep lee from springing it. Almost to late, Grant sees the trap pulls back, changes direction and continues south. Book 3, To the North Anna River covers this brilliant and exciting time in detail. Rhea produces some excellent analysis of both commanders and the developing personnel problems they are facing. Neither man is having an easy time of it and both understand they have never faced an enemy like this.
The last book takes us to Cold Harbor, one of the most controversial battles of the war. The detail history and excellent analysis leads us through this battle and produces some startling conclusions. As always, the author provides full support and justification for them. This might be the most important book of the series and the definitive book on the battle of Cold Harbor.
Each book has a full set of maps and illustrations. The writing is uniform and very readable. While detailed, the actions are understandable and you are seldom lost in a sea of names and/or unit numbers. Each book is a stand-alone history and is readable as such. The books were published from 1994 to 2002 and had to be written that way. This is the best account of the Overland Campaign available. It is both an invaluable reference and a great reading experience.
More Civil War.......2006-03-09
I just wrote about the prior volume in this series- Spotsylvaia.
My comments also apply here
Another gem from Rhea.......2006-02-17
Rhea has written the most complete history of Grant's Overland campaign. While many Civil War buffs have read about the most well known Overland campaign battles (the Wilderness, Spotsylvania and Cold Harbor), the time between Spotsylvania and Cold Harbor has often been forgotten. This period, of almost two weeks, is very important to understand if you want to better understand Grant. His insatiable desire to out flank Lee drives him further, and further South. Grant has realized that Richmond is not his target but that the Army of Northern Virginia is. However, Grant has learned, painfully, that frontal assualts on fortified positions spills blood unnecessarily. He must meet Lee on a battlefield of his choice...
Grant and Lee's Strategic Dance after Spotsylvania and the Great V.......2005-09-26
Part three of Rhea's series on the overland campaign, Rhea provides an excellent description from the end of the primary Spotsylvania battle to the real overland maneuvering between Grant and Lee. Supported by a series of maps, Rhea fully describes to the reader the maneuvering that Grant does to try to find a weak spot and out maneuver Lee after the major battles of Spotsylvania are exhausted. As Rhea notes, Lee, without Stuart, tries to guess Grant's next move and guesses well as Grant shifts soldiers back to the Spotsylvania front to attack Lee's left assuming that it has now been weakened as both sides had shifted forces east. But it is held securely by Ewell with well positioned artillery. Rhea describes a horrible maiming of the union attack with bodies from previous fighting still on the field, Ewell's position is virtually a fortress. Rhea also spotlights Lee's audacious maneuver of Ewell way around the Union right to demonstrates against the enemy but Ewell gets snared into a full fledge battle that punishes the 2nd corp. The best part of the book is the highlighting of battles and maneuvers generally lost to the large-scale battles that many authors leave out. An example is the outlining of Grant's move east sending Hancock way out ahead of his army in a vulnerable position, tempting Lee. Lee; however, pulls back down telegraph road south as the Union forces start to follow in two tracks. Rhea also gives great detail on Grant's personal movements along with Meade's, they often seem too far from the front to give appropriate and timely direction. Rhea also addresses the fact that the Army of the Potomac starts to come together, corps commanders seem to improve and Burnside and the 9th finally come under Meade as they should have as opposed to the semi freelance role under Grant. Rhea notes that lacking intelligence, Lee cannot readily comprehend Grant's movements initially along the North Anna and Grant as well does not realize that Lee has not abandoned the North Anna line. All adds to a unique situation with Warren getting across the river west of Lee and Hancock across East of Lee. Lee and his ranking engineer devise the famous inverted V wedge position stopping a central Union crossing leaving both Union wings isolated while the ANV has a extremely strong defensive works. This is the most fascinating aspect of the campaign as Lee has a unique opportunity to strike te isolated union corps but he is stricken with illness and with a weakened command structure, he cannot act timely resulting in Grant making an abrupt withdrawal. I would have liked to see more detail on Lee's health then and its effect on his future command abilities if any. His alternate command options seem limited, Hill often sick, Ewell not performing as he wished at Spotsylvania, Longstreet wounded and Beauregaurd and Bragg all had baggage, perhaps there were no real options. A trying time for the confederates as casualties mount and command is tenuous, it does start the emergence of dynamic future corps leaders. Rhea also provides excellent insight into Grant's role that gradually expands with the Army of the Potomac and he explains the command relationship between Grant and Meade. Rhea also gives a detailed account of the little known battle of Fort Pocahontas where Fitz Lee's attack on African American soldiers on the James goes for naught as these union forces are well fortified and fight very well. After this book, on to Cold Harbor.
Another Excellent Title of the 1864 Overland Campaign.......2005-09-11
In my humble opinion, Gordon Rhea is one of the finest Civil War historians today. His writing style is fair and balanced on the North and South, he compliments and criticizes both sides as he deems appropriate, and battle descriptions are vivid and keep the reader's interest.
To The North Anna River continues Rhea's fine series on the long and bloody 1864 Overland Campaign between Lee and Grant. Admittingly, I knew little of this campaign before reading the book and the title is a great source of information for the often overlooked actions between Wilderness/Spotslyvania and Cold Harbor. I have also not spent much time tramping Civil War battlefields between Fredericksburg and Richmond. Therefore, the book will be invaluable guide should I be able to tour the area sometime in the near future.
The only major complaint I have sounds like a broken record of other Civil War Campaign Studies I have reviewed on amazon.com - the maps. While the maps were of satisfactory quality, there could have been at least 10 more and with more detail.
Still, I heartily recommend the book to anyone interested in the events of mid-late May 1864 between Spotsylvania and Cold Harbor. Read and enjoy! I look forward to readin his title on Cold Harbor and beyond.
Book Description
The Spotsylvania Campaign marked a crucial period in the confrontation between Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee in Virginia. Waged over a two-week period in mid-May 1864, it included some of the most savage fighting of the Civil War and left indelible marks on all involved.
Approaching topics related to Spotsylvania from a variety of perspectives, the contributors to this volume explore questions regarding high command, tactics and strategy, the impact of fighting on officers and soldiers in both armies, and the ways in which some participants chose to remember and interpret the campaign. They offer insight into the decisions and behavior of Lee and of Federal army leaders, the fullest descriptions to date of the horrific fighting at the "Bloody Angle" on May 12, and a revealing look at how Grant used his memoirs to offset Lost Cause interpretations of his actions at Spotsylvania and elsewhere in the Overland Campaign.
The contributors:
—William A. Blair, Grant's Second Civil War: The Battle for Historical Memory
—Peter S. Carmichael, We Respect a Good Soldier, No Matter What Flag He Fought Under: The 15th New Jersey Remembers Spotsylvania
—Gary W. Gallagher, I Have to Make the Best of What I Have: Robert E. Lee at Spotsylvania
—Robert E. L. Krick, Stuart's Last Ride: A Confederate View of Sheridan's Raid
—Robert K. Krick, An Insurmountable Barrier between the Army and Ruin: The Confederate Experience at Spotsylvania's Bloody Angle
—William D. Matter, The Federal High Command at Spotsylvania
—Carol Reardon, A Hard Road to Travel: The Impact of Continuous Operations on the Army of the Potomac and the Army of Northern Virginia in May 1864
—Gordon C. Rhea, The Testing of a Corp Commander: Gouverneur Kemble Warren at the Wilderness and Spotsylvania
Customer Reviews:
The Best CW Historians Essays on this Brutal Battle.......2001-01-14
Gallagher hits homeruns with this wonderful series of books on the critical campaigns of the CW. Not a continuous retelling but Gallagher and company get into specifics of the campaign through separate essays that allow greater detail on controversies, personnel, mistakes, and many subjects that prior to this were limited in detail. An example is Krick the Younger's detailed essay on the little known battle of Yellow Tavern that cost Jeb Steuart his life. The other essays all offer new detail and great insight. I was particularly fascinated by Gallagher's own essay on Lee's grappling with command erosion through the loss of Longstreet, Ewell's collapse and Hill's physical erosion. Show's Lee as a great commander much like a coach that loses star players but still manages a great game. All the essays are excellent by Matter, Reardon, Blair, Rhea and Carmichael but Krick senior's feature on the Mule Shoe exhibits great detail on one of the most horrid portions of any battle of the CW involving endless hours of close up fighting in the salient. The fighting involves trench warfare, attacking and shooting from just a few feet apart, hand to hand combat, continuous rain and a continuing of a struggle with death that seemed to have no end. After you read Krick's Mule Shoe, you recognize how the war changed dramatically from Bull Run to an incredible desperate struggle of all out war. Read closely Krick senior's dig at Longstreet who was not present after being shot down in the wilderness. Krick, a legendary critic of Longstreet, cannot leave him alone even in his absence.
Another tour de force from Gallagher et al........1999-02-18
A great addition to the Campaigns of the Civil War series, and proof that there is always something fresh to say about any historical subject. I especially liked the essay concerning Lee's personnel moves in the wake of The Wilderness; it's becoming increasingly politically incorrect to praise Marse Robert. Also, the essay on the fighting at the Bloody Angle is a wonderful piece of microhistory. The maps are excellent. As with the rest of the series, a must- read for the hardened Civil War student.
Customer Reviews:
Good overview of the bloody Overland Campaign May-Jun 1864.......2007-08-18
Good, concise overview of the very bloody (84,000 casualties in approximately 40 days of continuous battle)Virginia Overland Campaign between Robert E. Lee and U. S. Grant in May and June of 1864. Actual battle narrative is relatively brief and to the point. The strength of Mr Trudeau's book comes through his excellent use of personal anecdotes and observations. To hear the actual participants describe the scenes, smells, sounds, and pathos of the battles gives one a better understanding of the horrors of those grisly conflicts. The time of chivalry was over; TOTAL WAR was afoot. As Mr. Trudeau points out, Grant knew how to win, but could his men withstand the gruesome sacrifice during almost 40 days of constant battle? Lee also knew that this was the ultimate crucible and he must use every trick he could to defeat this foe. But, in the end after Cold Harbor and a combined 84,000 casualties, of which only 30,000 were Confederate, who was the victor? Lee knew that he could never replace his valiant fighters, but, Grant knew that he had an almost inexhaustible supply of soldiers and with each battle they were getting better and better. So in the end Grant, "The Butcher" as he was called behind his back, literally ground Lee and his army to dust.
One inexcusable flaw in this otherwise good Civil War history was the lack of battle maps. To discuss a battle without a good map makes if very difficult to follow the action even for a good civil war buff. I have no clue as to why Mr. Trudeau did not include any good maps in his book. Therefore, I highly recommend that you get several good maps to follow along with his otherwise excellent description of the battles.
well-balanced, but too few maps.......2004-12-26
One of the biggest difficulties authors of war-history are confronted with is keeping the imparitality. Even if you read books about the Roman wars you can read between the lines the admiration for the technical perfection of the invaders or the sympathy for the brave Gauls fighting against all odds. As a rule Civil War historians succumb to the same problem.
This book is a wonderful exception. That may be because of the structure of the presentation: It is a day-by-day-account, the standpoint, the decisions and the events of either side separated in own phrases. If you are interrested only in the Confederate point of view, you can read the respective phrases and then you only know, what they saw, thought and did. Even between the lines there are no polemics. And the told stories are not only the generals' view but also testimonies of officers, non-commissioned officers and common soldiers.
The only thing I missed badly were appropriate maps. With the included ones you will get a rough overview, but a lot of the mentioned places you won't find in that book. That's a pity, because otherwise it would have been a perfect one.
Concise Version of Overland Campaign.......2004-05-28
This is a 330 page account of the entire Overland campaign that reads much like a diary from April to mid June as the Army of the Potomoc goes from north of the Rapidan to Petersburg. The account shifts back and forth from the workings of the two armies to Richmond/Washington and elsewhere.
Most of the book focuses on primary sources to tell the story, with nice anecdotes on just about every page. However, without the use of footnotes and with only 4 maps total (which are incredibly hard to comprehend), the flow of battle is exceedingly hard to follow.
This book certainly doesn't compare to the Rhea trilogy that covers the same campaign in any way whatsoever. This is more of a primer for the beginner before reading Rhea's books.
Mediocre.......2001-09-19
An entertaining read to be sure, but also a cut-and-paste account that offers no real analysis and relies too much on post-war sources.
Excellent account of the Wilderness & Cold Harbor.......1998-03-21
This first book of Noah Andre Trudeau's trilogy covering the final stages of the Civil War offers an excellent account of the fighting in the Wilderness and at Cold Harbor between May - June 1864. The personal accounts of the soldiers experiences during the fighting are well presented. The action scenes are well written and the book flows along quite well. An enjoyable book to read for anyone interested in this period of time.
Book Description
The story of Private Charles Whilden, a hapless South Carolinian whose bravery at the Battle of Spotsylvania in 1864 prolonged the Civil War for the Confederates
For forty years, Charles Whilden lived a life noteworthy for failure. Then, in a remarkable chain of events, this aging, epileptic desk clerk from Charleston found himself plunged into the brutal battlefields of the Wilderness (May 57, 1864) and Spotsylvania Court House (May 820, 1864). In an astonishing act of bravery, he wrapped the flag around his body and led a charge that won critical ground for the Confederates, changing the course of one of the war's most significant battles.
Gordon C. Rhea combines his deep knowledge of Civil War history with original sources, such as a treasure trove of letters written by Charles Whilden, to tell the story of this unusual life. Growing up in a prominent family that had fallen on hard times, Charles received a good education, and his letters reveal flashes of intelligence. But he failed at the practice of law in his home state and in his endeavors elsewhere, including copper speculation, real estate ventures, and farming. After the attack on Fort Sumter, Charles returned to Charleston to enlist in Confederate service, only to be turned down until the rebellion was on its last legs. Even then he saw only a few weeks of combat. But in that time, he discovered a bravery within himself that nothing in his former existence suggested he had.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent.......2007-08-03
Rhea - his trilogy was excellent but this book is exquisite and is highly recommended.
A private changes the course of an entire war.......2006-10-09
A General or a Colonel certainly has the ability to alter the course of
history or make his name well-known to his countrymen through actions.
But does a common private lost within the ranks have the same ability?
Gordon Rhea answers this question brilliantly in this book about a
middle-aged Confederate private set amongst two of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War.
Charles Whilden went from obscurity to fame at a place called the
Bloody Angle, a key position on the battlefield of Spotsylvania Courthouse, where he carried a tattered battle flag in front of a desperate charge that eventually led to a Confederate victory and prolonged an already endless war. Without Whilden's heroics, the Confederates wouldn't have rallied for victory and would likely have been crushed, along with the Confederacy itself. Does this make Whilden a hero or a villain? After all, the 'victory' that he initiated was only short-lived, and only led to more death and destruction. This is one of the questions that may come across a reader's mind amidst the awe and respect for the common infantryman that develops over the course of this book.Another question is this: How many other Private Whilden's are there scattered about America's short, yet war-ridden, past? Was there a Private Whilden at San Juan Hill, or Iwo Jima, or Saratoga? Rhea's ability to shrink something as grand as war into something as familiar as a common man fighting for a cause has a way of reminding us that wars are not fought by generals. Not only that, but his descriptions of the two brutal campaigns of The Wilderness and Spotsylvania Courthouse would make any Civil War buff foam at the mouth.
One man can change the course of history. This book will teach you
that if nothing else. But, more important, it also teaches that the common soldier, no matter what side he fights for, is driven by a courage that should at the very least be honored and always respected.
Great for buffs, and raises questions..........2005-09-04
For anyone wanting to learn the specifics of two major battles between Grant and Lee, this book is excellent. I am always glad to see books that resist glorification by detailing the horrendous conditions of some of the most brutal fighting of the war, which is saying a lot. SPOILER--But the author couldn't resist talking about Whilden's actions as heroic and how the day was won for the Confederacy as if it were a truly noble outcome. Now look at it another way: if Whildon were shot down and the Rebels didn't have a rallying point to successfully rienforce the earthworks, then Grant would've plowed through, cutting Lee's army in half and most likely defeat them. With this outcome, you would not have had the endless series of massacres throughout central Virginia, no siege of Petersburg, no Cold Harbor. With the war over, you probably wouldn't have Atlanta and Colombia in ashes and the atrocity of Sherman's March. Just food for thought-Discuss...
AN UNLIKELY HERO.......2005-04-15
The author, Gordon Rhea, notes in the INTRODUCTION that "....books about privates are rare" and continues "None tell a story half as fascinating as that of Charles Whilden...." The text is a brief account of Whilden's life stating that his first forty years were characterized by mediocrity and failure. However, Whilden's brief fifteen minutes of glory came at the Bloody Angle at Spotsylvania Court House where he vividly demonstrated the capacity of an insignificant player "to alter the course of history."
Chapter 1 gives a short review of the 1864 strategic conditions in central Virginia which "By most estimates, 1864 loomed as the war's decisive year." In March 1864 President Lincoln made Grant commander-in-chief whose aim was the destruction of the Confederate armies, not to capture territory. The author observed "Thus the stage set for the Civil War's decisive campaign....The campaign would be a duel to the death between Grant and Lee, the best generals either side could field. The prize was the fate of two nations." Chapter 2 presents a concise account of pre-Civil War Charleston, S.C. stating the source of Charleston's wealth was rice and that the city's affluence "rested on the back of slaves." The author gives an interesting review of the area's concern about a slave rebellion and continues "As the Carolina Low country's slave population grew so grew the white minority's unease about servile insurrection."
After a unsuccessful brief career as a lawyer, Charles moved to Detroit where his lack of success continued to plague him.He left Detroit in 1855 and accompanied Colonel Grayson to Santa Fe, New Mexico as the colonel's personal secretary. In Santa Fe his mediocre success continued. When the Civil War commenced, Charles began the long trip home to Charleston. The ship he was on heading for the Carolina coast was badly damaged; and his health was compromised; for the rest of his life he suffered from epileptic seizures. In Charleston he tried to enlist a number of times; but due to his epilepsy he was unsuccessful in enlisting. By January 1864, Confederate manpower shortages were critical; and at age 39 Whilden was at last able to enlist as a private in Company I of the 1st Carolina at Orange Court House in February 1864.
Author Rhea uses Whilden and the 1st Carolina as the narrative vehicle for an interesting account of the battles of The Wilderness and at Spotsylvania. Whilden's unit was "destined to the worst of the campaign's carnage." Whilden received his baptism-under-fire on May 5 in the Battle of the Wilderness, had not run and was appointed as flag barrier when the flag barrier was wounded. Rhea observes "The post of flag bearer was important, not only for sentimental reasons but for practical ones as well." Charles career as a color barrier was off to a bad start as Union General Hancock troops overran Charles's unit. Only the last minute arrival of Confederate General Longstreet on May 6th saved the day. On the night of May 7-8 Grant's and Lee's armies moved south to the vicinity of Spotsylvania Court House where Lee erected sophisticated earthworks. The text briefly narrates Grant's fruitless efforts over the next three days to break through Lee's battlements.
Lee had erected a salient, nicknamed The Mule Shoe, and Grant had selected it for a massive attack by Union General Hancock on May 12. Union troops soon overran the pickets and the outer earthworks including the high ground, referred to as "the angle", to the Confederate left. The author gives a chilling account of the gruesome, bloody chaotic fighting as the Confederates fought to regain the angle and survive. Lee ordered General McGowan's brigade into the Mule Shoe. Charles, "still wracked by seizures" clearly understood the situation and fixing his eyes on the angle, carried the flag never expecting to reach the angle alive. When the flag was shot from its pole, Whilden wrapped the flag around his body. Behind him followed a "motley band of rebels." By ten o'clock in the morning Charles led his fellow Southerners to take over the Bloody Angle thus saving the battle for the Confederates. The butchery of May 12 was horrendous with the two armies suffering approximately seventeen thousand causalities. While Lee had won another battle, "the war in Virginia settled into a siege that would last ten months....but Grant had won the campaign, destroying the Army of Northern Virginia's offensive capacity."
His epilepsy making him unfit for service Charles returned to Charleston in August 1864 and was discharged after only eight months of duty. On September 25, 1866, during an epileptic seizure he fell facedown in a mud puddle, and drowned. While there are no monuments to Charles Whilden, his heroic action on May 12, 1864 at the Bloody Angle lives on as a tribute to the potential of an insignificant player who altered the course of Civil War history.
Gordon Rhea has done considerable research on the campaigns of 1864, having previously written several books on these campaigns. This is an easy book to read. Civil War buffs who want a brief/limited account of the battles of the Wilderness and Spotsylvania Court and a private who won his fifteen minutes of fame in 1864 at the Bloody Angle, will find this book interesting.
Delightful and Informative.......2004-10-08
"Carrying the Flag" is a gem of a little book telling the story of an otherwise anonymous Confederate Private who found 15 minutes of fame in 15 hours of improbable glory. While Private Whilden's exploits at Spotsylvania's Bloody Angle were unique in their specifics, one can only imagine hundreds, if not thousands, of equally heroic deeds over the course of the war by similarly obscure infantrymen.
Private Whilden's battle experience was limited to the Wilderness and Spotsylvania. Accordingly, much of author Rhea's book details just how unexceptional Private Whilden was. The material, which seemingly holds little promise, in fact makes for an appealing window on the "middle class" antebellum South. In the end, if you can't applaud Private Whilden's take on the world and his place in it, you can surely understand it and, perhaps even applaud the depth of his commitment to it.
One of the most attractive features of the book, for me, is the compelling way in which Private Whilden's two battles unfold. There is the usual blood and gore, but more important, the narrative, complemented by just one map of each of the battlefields, is as clear as any I've read. The tactical story is the focus, but the operational and strategic context is cogently sketched in as well. Indeed, I would recommend the two battle sequences as among the best, most comprehensible short summaries of the Wilderness and Spotsylvania that I have read.
A very nice, very readable addition to the literature; highly recommended.
Product Description
Approximately 48 inches by 36 inches.
Average customer rating:
- Outstanding view of Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia
- A top notch critical evaluation
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Lee and His Army in Confederate History (Civil War America)
Gary W. Gallagher
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ASIN: 0807857696
Release Date: 2006-07-05 |
Book Description
Was Robert E. Lee a gifted soldier whose only weaknesses lay in the depth of his loyalty to his troops, affection for his lieutenants, and dedication to the cause of the Confederacy? Or was he an ineffective leader and poor tactician whose reputation was drastically inflated by early biographers and Lost Cause apologists? These divergent characterizations represent the poles between which scholarly and popular opinion on Lee has swung over time. Now, in eight essays, Gary Gallagher offers his own refined thinking on Lee, exploring the relationship between Lee's operations and Confederate morale, the quality of his generalship, and the question of how best to handle his legacy in light of the many distortions that grew out of Lost Cause historiography.
Using a host of contemporary sources, Gallagher demonstrates the remarkable faith that soldiers and citizens maintained in Lee's leadership even after his army's fortunes had begun to erode. Gallagher also engages aspects of the Lee myth with an eye toward how admirers have insisted that their hero's faults as a general represented exaggerations of his personal virtues. Finally, Gallagher considers whether it is useful—or desirable—to separate legitimate Lost Cause arguments from the transparently false ones relating to slavery and secession.
Customer Reviews:
Outstanding view of Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia.......2003-03-14
This book is a collection of Gallagher's essays published elsewhere. In this format however, they take on an added dimension and explaination of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia and its commander, Robert E Lee.
Gallagher begins by examining Lee's Maryland campaign, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg and the army's campaigns in 1864. His conclusions on the Battle of Gettysburg and its effects on the Confederate home front are particularly interesting. He concludes that the battle was not the overwhelming defeat to the Army of Northern Virginia and the Confederate home front that it would later be portayed as by historians. He makes the argument that the loss of Vicksburg was seen as a vastly bigger loss and Gettysburg was more seen as a small defeat or even a victory because of Meade's failure to chase the Confederates in retreat.
Gallagher also includes an interesting essay evaluating the claims of some historians that Lee was not fighting a modern war with modern tactics and if he had done so, the Confederacy would have been better off. He ably demonstrates that indeed Lee did understand the difference in technology such as the minie ball and its impact on strategy and tactics.
However, the best essay is Gallagher's essay on the Lost Cause "myth". Gallagher explains that many of the claims that were later associated only with Lost Cause historians such as Jubal Early or Douglass Southall Freeman, were actually developed during the war and immediately following the war prior to any claims made by Early and others. Thus some of the "myths" such as the overwhelming numerical superiority of the Union as part of the central cause of the Confederacy's defeat, is actually true. He draws the wonderful and correct conclusion that to dismiss the Lost Cause myths in their entirety does a major disservice to the historical profession and that discussing those Lost Cause claims that do have a basis in fact is not in fact giving any legitimacy to any neo-Confederate point of view concerning the centrality of slavery to the origin of the Civil War.
The one quibble, and the reason I gave this book four stars instead of five concerns Gallagher's essay "Fighting the Battles of Second Fredericksburg and Salem Church." I really couldn't find a point as to why this essay was included in the book, unless it was to demonstrate a hard and fast friendship link between Early and Lee that Gallagher does build upon in his essay on the Lost Cause. However, I still think the essay about Fredericksburg really doesn't belong in this format.
A top notch critical evaluation.......2002-06-03
With the skill of a surgeon, Gary W. Gallagher dissects the myths and legends surrounding Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia, past and current, to reveal a fascinating new look at the "marble man". Positioning himself squarely between the Lost Cause proponents and the current pack of revisionists, Gallagher relies on primary sources (newspapers, diaries and letters of civilians and soldiers, official correspondence) and careful, well-reasoned analysis to discover the real truth surrounding Robert E. Lee, and in the process lands an effective blow worthy of the general himself upon both sides. Gallagher's claims that Robert E. Lee was indeed an able proponent of modern warfare (though I would dispute the term modern) and also a capable administrator fully capable of being as strict or lenient with his subordinates as the case required breathes new life into the continuing quest to discover this fascinating man and effectively destroys the myths held by both sides (ironically enough, both sides often seem to wind up arguing both sides of the same coin) that Lee was first of all a member of the landed Virginia gentry far too short-sighted and stuck in the past for command of the Confederacy's main eastern army as well as being far too gentlemanly to deal strictly with subordinates. In fact, Gallagher presents Lee, through his own words and letters, as a man fully aware of the forces arrayed against him and as one who from the beginning knew full well that the Confederacy needed to marshall all of its resources in order to win the war and gain independence and that tough decisions and hard sacrifices would be required, and that a strong government would be required to take charge in order to ensure this was done and coordinate everyone's effort. Also, the idea that Lee "bled" his army to death (the fact that Lee's army at the beginning of the 1864 Overland Campaign was basically the same size as it ever was seems to have escaped the notice of many) also comes across as rather weak thanks to Gallagher's fine research. The weakest argument Gallagher refutes is that Lee's myth was wholly created after the war, and he does this by proving most emphatically that Lee and his army were indeed the primary source Confederates looked to for hope as well as the national symbol of the Confederacy (much like Washington's Continentals) worldwide. The fact that the main part of Grant's thrust against the South hit here against Lee proves this as well. However, do not mistake Gallagher as a Lost Cause proponent in disguise; though he defends the points Lost Cause proponents make that are actually rooted in fact, he spares them not his swift, sharp sword in pointing out the concerted effort to preserve and protect the memory of the Confederate armies, and Lee in particular, by shaping history through their own eyes. Also, he cuts like a knife through as many of their arguments as those of the revisionists, who, in their zeal to cut through the myth of the Lost Cause (and rightfully so, since we must be as objective as possible) often go too far and wind up rejecting legitimate conclusions and research in favor of their own modern myth. In conclusion, Gallagher, the good professor has taught us all a valuable lesson; look not through the lens of your own eyes to view history, but search ever more diligently for the real facts and take nothing for granted. Though I'm sure we all carry our own biases (I fully admit my admiration for Lee, and I fail to see how anyone can remain truly and completely aloof), we can all separate ourselves, at least partially, from our opinions in order to get at the facts and reach reasonable conclusions, as Gallagher has so beautifully done. Good job, Professor Gallagher.
Books:
- Urgent Fury: The Battle for Grenada (Issues in Low Intensity Conflict)
- Waffen-SS Encyclopedia
- War Is a Racket: The Anti-War Classic by America's Most Decorated General, Two Other Anti=Interventionist Tracts, and Photographs from the Horror of It
- When the Wind Blows
- Zlata's Diary: A Child's Life in Wartime SarajevoRevised Edition
- 55th North Carolina in the Civil War: A History And Roster
- A BLUE WATER NAVY: The Official Operational History of the Royal Canadian Navy in the Second World War 1943-1945, Volume Two, Part 2
- A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
- Across Five Aprils
- America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
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- Heart of Darkness
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- Double Deuce
- Windows on the Past: Four Centuries of New England Homes
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- Mushrooms in their natural habitats
Cold Harbor: Grant and Lee, May 26-June 3, 1864
The Battles For Spotsylvania Court House And The Road To Yellow Tavern, May 7-12, 1864
The Battle Of The Wilderness, May 5-6, 1864
To The Gates of Richmond: The Peninsula Campaign
The Fredericksburg Campaign: Winter War on the Rappahannock
