The Wilderness Campaign

by Gallagher, Gary W.

• ISBN13: 9780807857854
• ISBN10: 0807857858
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-08-28
• Publisher: Univ of North Carolina Pr

Summary

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.

Table of Contents

Introduction	ix
Great Expectations: Ulysses S. Grant, the Northern Press, and the Opening of the Wilderness Campaign	1	(35)
Brooks D. Simpson
Our Hearts Are Full of Hope: The Army of Northern Virginia in the Spring of 1864	36	(30)
Gary W. Gallagher
I Dread the Spring: The Army of the Potomac Prepares for the Overland Campaign	66	(40)
John J. Hennessy
Union Cavalry in the Wilderness: The Education of Philip H. Sheridan and James H. Wilson	106	(30)
Gordon C. Rhea
Escaping the Shadow of Gettysburg: Richard S. Ewell and Ambrose Powell Hill at the Wilderness	136	(24)
Peter S. Carmichael
``Lee to the Rear,'' the Texans Cried	160	(41)
Robert K. Krick
The Other Grant: Lewis A. Grant and the Vermont Brigade in the Battle of the Wilderness	201	(35)
Carol Reardon
Like a Duck on a June Bug: James Longstreet's Flank Attack, May 6, 1864	236	(29)
Robert E. L. Krick
Bibliographic Essay	265	(4)
Contributors	269	(2)
Index	271