On to Petersburg

The fifth and final volume in Gordon C. Rhea's monumental and definitive study of the Overland Campaign, On to Petersburg details the events and actions of the Union and Confederate armies from the end of the battle of Cold Harbor on June 4, 1864, to the crossing of the James River by the Army of the Potomac on June 15, 1864. Bringing readers up to date, chapter 1 reviews the events that have transpired from May 5 through June 3, with the dismal failure of Union arms at Cold Harbor. Rhea poses a question: “Why had the Union campaign, initiated with such grand prospects of quick victory, ground to a bloody stalemate? More importantly, how did the new Federal commander in chief plan to break the deadlock” (p. 2)? Rhea's analysis of the campaign to that point and his in-depth description of Ulysses S. Grant's subsequent plan of maneuver and proposed assault on a lightly defended Petersburg covers the ensuing days of June. He concludes the study with several telling observations of what became the end of the Overland Campaign

Archaeology · Battle · Political science · Politics · Stalemate · Victory · American Constitutional Law and Politics · American History and Culture · Archaeology and Natural History · History · Law