Bloody Spring: Forty Days that Sealed the Confederacy's Fate - Hardcover

Wheelan, Joseph

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0306822067 ISBN 13: 9780306822063

Publisher: Da Capo Press, 2014

Synopsis

For forty crucial days they fought a bloody struggle. When it was over, the Civil War's tide had turned.

In the spring of 1864, Virginia remained unbroken, its armies having repelled Northern armies for more than two years. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia had defeated the campaigns of four Union generals, and Lee's veterans were confident they could crush the Union offensive this spring, too. But their adversary in 1864 was a different kind of Union commander—Ulysses S. Grant. The new Union general-in-chief had never lost a major battle while leading armies in the West. A quiet, rumpled man of simple tastes and a bulldog's determination, Grant would lead the Army of the Potomac in its quest to destroy Lee's army.

During six weeks in May and June 1864, Grant's army campaigned as no Union army ever had. During nearly continual combat operations, the Army of the Potomac battered its way through Virginia, skirting Richmond and crossing the James River on one of the longest pontoon bridges ever built. No campaign in North American history was as bloody as the Overland Campaign. When it ended outside Petersburg, more than 100,000 men had been killed, wounded, or captured on battlefields in the Wilderness, near Spotsylvania Court House, and at Cold Harbor. Although Grant's casualties were nearly twice Lee's, the Union could replace its losses. The Confederacy could not.

Lee's army continued to fight brilliant defensive battles, but it never mounted another major offensive. Grant's spring 1864 campaign had tipped the scales permanently in the Union's favor. The war's denouement came less than a year later with Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House.

About this title

About the Author:

Joseph Wheelan is the author of six previous books, including the highly-acclaimed Terrible Swift Sword and Jefferson's War. Before turning to writing books full time, Wheelan was a reporter and editor for The Associated Press for twenty-four years, where he also wrote about the Korean War. He lives in Cary, North Carolina.

Review:

Praise for Joseph Wheelan's previous books "Terrible Swift Sword" "An exciting and crisply written biography that...fairly gallops across the page.""Wall Street Journal" "Essential reading.... [A] worthy testament to the man (General Philip Sheridan)""Civil War Times" "[A] well-written, thoroughly-researched biography...that reads like a novel""Washington Independent Review of Books" "[A] brilliant biography""Military Officer" "A remarkably well-researched and [an] exquisitely composed narrative""Choice" "Mr. Adams's Last Crusade" "A solid and entertaining account""Boston Globe" "Invading Mexico" "[Wheelan] gives the narrative a queasy realism reminiscent of a Cormac McCarthy novel.""Houston Chronicle" "Jefferson's Vendetta" "An elegantly-written and smartly-conceived revisionist history that is sure to engage and entertain.""Publishers Weekly" "Jefferson's War" "[A] lively recounting.... The stuff of good historical fictionand a treat for military buffs""Kirkus Reviews" "Kirkus Reviews," May 2014 Well-researched and argueda text that Civil War scholars and buffs will consume with glee. "Roanoke Times," 6/29/14 Wheelan presents history as if he were a reporter in the field, telling stories about the combatants, describing their movements in a way that is entertaining and informative, and avoiding the overly technical and pedantic references that so often find their way into stories about warespecially the American Civil War. "Seattle Times," 7/27/14 [Wheelan] offers a well-written, diligently researched and highly readable account of the battles of the Wilderness, Spotsylvania Courthouse, North Anna and Cold Harbor. He adds some fine personal touches. "

About this edition

• Publisher: Da Capo Press
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0306822067
• ISBN 13: 9780306822063
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 448