The Wilderness Campaign
Gary W. Gallagher
Abstract
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 focus on topics such as civilian expectations for the campaign, morale in the two armies, and ... More
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 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. The contributors are Peter S. Carmichael, Gary W. Gallagher, John J. Hennessy, Robert E. L. Krick, Robert K. Krick, Carol Reardon, Gordon C. Rhea, and Brooks D. Simpson.
Keywords:
Wilderness campaign,
Ulysses S. Grant,
Robert E. Lee,
Civil War,
Appomattox,
morale,
generalship,
Philip H. Sheridan,
Richard S. Ewell,
James Longstreet
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 1997 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780807823347 |
| Published to North Carolina Scholarship Online: September 2014 |
DOI:10.5149/9780807835890_gallagher |
