To the North Anna River: Grant and Lee, May 13–25, 1864 (Jules and Frances Landry Award) - Hardcover

Rhea Esq., Gordon C.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0807125350 ISBN 13: 9780807125359

Publisher: LSU Press, 2000

Synopsis

With his third book, To the North Anna River, Gordon Rhea resumes his spectacular narrative of the initial campaign between Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee in the spring of 1864. May 13 to 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. Rhea skillfully sets the stage at dawn May 13 and from there lends every imaginable perspective―from mental interiors to sweeping panoramas to scholarly retrospection―on the ensuing hours.

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.

From unprecedented research into more than 550 published and unpublished sources, Rhea produces an exciting new take on this overlooked passage in the Civil War. He discovers a surprising similarity in military temperament between Lee and Grant, whom historians traditionally contrast. He also presents the first detailed recounting of Philip Sheridan’s dramatic battle to save his cavalry corps in front of Richmond; the story of the novice New York and New England heavy artillerists drawn down from Washington; the specifics of Grant’s forlorn attack of May 18 at Spotsylvania Court House; and the full picture of Lee’s ingenious inverted V formation on the North Anna. The most accurate, not to mention enthralling, account to date of this next phase in Lee and Grant’s opening match, To the North Anna River is a worthy sequel to Rhea’s earlier acclaimed works.

About this title

About the Author:

Gordon C. Rhea is also the author of The Battle of the Wilderness, May 5–6, 1864, winner of the Civil War Regiments Book Award; The Battles for Spotsylvania Court House and the Road to Yellow Tavern, May 7–12, 1864; and Cold Harbor: Grant and Lee, May 26--June 3, 1864, winner of the Austin Civil War Round Table's Laney Prize.

From Publishers Weekly:

This outstanding third volume in Rhea's analysis of the duel between U.S. Grant and Robert E. Lee in the summer of 1864 demonstrates the value of operational narrative: Rhea's conclusions depend heavily on his fingertip mastery of the details of some of the most confused fighting of the Civil War. This volume also shows that Grant and Lee, far from representing opposite poles of generalship, were remarkably alike. Both were aggressive; both were willing to attempt unorthodox operational maneuvers in quest of a tactical advantage that might lead to a decisive battle. Grant's goal was not to capture Richmond, but to destroy Lee's army. During the period covered here, as in the campaign's earlier stages, Grant kept Lee off balance with a series of feints and maneuvers that, as presented by Rhea (a practicing attorney), should discredit once and for all Grant's image as an unsophisticated grappler. He was frustrated by Lee's ability to match him thrust for thrust. Wherever Grant moved, Lee responded. By 1864 the combination of fieldworks and firepower had become sufficiently formidable on both sides to frustrate consistently what on maps seemed promising tactical opportunities. Even an outnumbered defense could hold positions long enough for support to arriveAafter which the attacker's valor and energy only increased casualty lists on both sides. The old Army of the Potomac and the old Army of Northern Virginia both died in May 1864, mutually eviscerated by a style of war that would harvest even more corpses to even less purpose on the European battlefields of 1914-1915. A History Book Club Main Selection. (June)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: LSU Press
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0807125350
• ISBN 13: 9780807125359
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 528