The Spotsylvania Campaign

Gary W. Gallagher

• Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
• Year: 2010
• Print ISBN:
  9780807871324
  9780807824023
• eBook ISBN:
  9780807898376
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: American Civil War History
• Index: History

The Spotsylvania Campaign was a crucial period in the protracted confrontation between Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee in spring 1864. Approaching the campaign from a variety of perspectives, the contributors to this volume explore questions regarding high command, tactics and strategy, the impact of continuous 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 counter Lost Cause interpretations of his actions at Spotsylvania and elsewhere in the Overland Campaign.

The contributors are William A. Blair, Peter S. Carmichael, Gary W. Gallagher, Robert E. L. Krick, Robert K. Krick, William D. Matter, Carol Reardon, and Gordon C. Rhea.

Index

• Acheson, Alex, 176
• Adams, Henry, 249
• Alabama troops: 4th Infantry, 172;
  • 43rd Infantry, 154;
  • 60th Infantry, 154, 168 (n. 76);
  • 23rd Sharpshooter Battalion, 154
• Aldie, Va., 142
• Alexander, Edward P., 6
• Alexander, Peter W., x
• Allan, William, 17, 18, 90;
  • postwar conversations with Lee, 13, 14
• Allen, Scott, 99
• Allen’s Station, 148
• Alrich’s farm, 128
• Alsop, J., house, 44
• American Revolution, 215, 229
• Anderson, Oliver H. P., 114
• Anderson, Richard H., 10, 18, 20, 23, 24 (n. 6), 27, 69, 70, 243
• Anderson’s corps (Army of Northern Virginia), 24 (n. 6)
• Anderson’s division (Army of Northern Virginia), 10, 20
• Andrews, Clinton M., 155
• Andrews, William, 189
• The Annals of the War, 236
• Antietam, battle of, ix, 170, 185. See also Sharpsburg, Md.
• Appomattox, Va., 58, 211, 230, 234, 240, 247
• Army Magazine, 29
• Army of Northern Virginia, ix, 5, 22, 24, 33, 55, 56, 63, 80;
  • cavalry operations within, xii, xiii, 67, 68, 127–69;
  • effect on Confederate morale, 24;
  • logistics within, 172, 181, 182;
  • “military effectiveness” of, xiii, 170–73, 176–97, 241;
  • organization of, 8, 24;
  • shortage of rations in, 172;
  • strength of, 171, 225, 231, 232, 236, 240, 243. See also First Corps (Army of Northern Virginia); Lee, Robert E.; Second Corps (Army of Northern Virginia); Third Corps (Army of Northern Virginia); individual corps, divisions, and brigade commanders
• Army of Tennessee, 22, 114 (n. 2), 154
• Army of the James, 128, 149, 157
• Army of the Potomac, 38, 45, 52, 55, 56, 61, 63, 67, 243, 247, 248;
  • awkward command arrangements in, xi, 29–31, 56, 58;
  • cavalry opera...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• The SPOTSYLVANIA CAMPAIGN
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Introduction
• I Have to Make the Best of What I Have
• The Federal High Command at Spotsylvania
• The Testing of a Corps Commander
• An Insurmountable Barrier between the Army and Ruin
• Stuart’s Last Ride
• A Hard Road to Travel
• We Respect a Good Soldier, No Matter What Flag He Fought Under
• Grant’s Second Civil War
• Bibliographic Essay
• Contributors
• Index