In this episode we continue our coverage of Grant's overland campaign. After the wilderness and Spotsylvania Grant continued to move south with Lee moving in concert with him. After being stopped at North Anna, Grant continued south and wandered into the battlefields of McClellan's campaign in 1862. Grant and Lee met again at a place called Cold Harbor. Lee entrenched. Grant attacked. While Grant would recognize that it was a mistake to attack, for Grant's critics, Cold Harbor was synomous with his new nickname, 'butcher Grant'. I weight the evidence and conclude that Grant's failures at Cold Harbor can't be seen in isolation with the other battles of the Overland campaign. Take a listen!
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Grant's overland campaign began in 1864 as he moved south to engage Lee's forces. Grant was determined to destroy Lee's Army. While outnumbered, Lee adroitly moved south in concert with Grant, engaging the Army of the Potomac, first, at a place known as the wilderness, a tangle of undergrowth that was fought over the year before where it was known as Chancellorsville. Grant attacked Lee's forces and nearly suceeded but was pushed back. Disengaging with Lee, Grant moved south and re-engaged Lee at a place called Spotsylvania. Lee had the advantage over Grant, but the Army of the Potomac pushed hard. Grant's determination set him aside from his predecessors.
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As we mentioned in our last episode, we are ready to start 1864, the last full year of the Civil War. We will focus on Ulysses S. Grant's assumption of command of all armies that the Union could field. After years of searching, President Lincoln finally found a general he could work with. Grant, unlike his presecessors, was not only ready to commit the Army of the Potomac to battle, but pursue Lee until the rebel army was broken. Grant was also ready to apply force at every point of the map to keep the Confederates engaged. While these subsidary campgains failed, Grant was ready to battle Robert E. Lee.
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A short episode that will focus on what is next now that we are ready to start focusing on the last full year of the Civil War - 1864.
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In this episode we finish telling the story of the naval contributions to the Civil War. The story concentrates on the campaigns to close the final Confederate ports open to blockade runners - Charleston, South Carolina, Mobile, Alabama, and Wilmington, North Carolina. The naval forces of both sides made important contributions to their respective war efforts.
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One of the more compelling stories of the Civil War was the journey to freedom that many freedmen took. Beginning in 1862, and accelerating in 1863, many men of color took up arms to help defeat the insitution that had enslaved them. They made important contributions to the war effort, though faced many challenges - low pay, raical barriers, and threats of re-enslavement from the Confederate government to name a few. The story of the accomplishments of the men who fought for their freedom is the story of the Civil War.
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In our last episode we spoke of Chickamauga. In this episiode, we speak to its sibling, the battle of Chattanooga. General Rosecrans may have captured Chattanooga, but was summarily trapped by Braxton Bragg. Not satisfied with Rosecran, he was relieved and replaced with General Grant. Grant improved the supply situation and planned to dislodge Bragg and break his siege. His subordinate generals attacked Bragg's flanks and then broke the center of the line, sweeping Bragg's army from the field.
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As Meade battled Lee at Gettysburg, Grant captured Vicksburg, and William Rosecrans was wrestling with Braxton Bragg in Tennessee. For the better part of the 1863 campaign season, Rosecrans was far too slow in making his moves. While Rosecrans was able to maneuver Bragg out of Chattanooga, Rosecrans split up his army, providing an opportunity for Bragg to attack. Bragg put Rosecrans in his place at Chickamauga, narrowly missing an opportunity to destroy Rosecrans' army.
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We have come to the last day of Gettysburg, July 3, 1863. The third day was dominated by the event known as Pickett's Charge. General Lee was convinced that a final push at the center of General Meade's line would destroy the Army of the Potomac. Unfortunately, it was wishful thinking. Despite the bravery of the men moving forward, the assualt failed. We spend the remainder of the episode exploring the legacy of this famous battle. Take a listen!
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Have a question, comment, or compliment? Contact us at americawarpodcast@gmail.com. You can also leave comments and your questions on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/americaatwarpodcast/. Thanks for listening!
In this episode we turn the page to the beginning of the second day of the battle of Gettysburg. As units of the Army of the Potomac concentrated south of Gettysburg, Meade recognized the advantages his position afforded and remained on the defense. Lee, not having a full picture of Meade's army, thought that a second day of attacks, along both flanks, would break Meade's position. As the day unfolded, Dan Sickles, Commander of Meade's Third Corps, upset the Union's position, which would become apparent as the battle commenced in the afternoon.
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In this episode we provide an overview of what we accomplished in 2020 and what you all can look forward to in 2022! Take a listen.
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Let's move on to the afternoon of the first day at Gettysburg. While troops from the Army of the Potomac sucessfully stopped the initial probes of Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, it came at a tremendous cost. Corps Commander John Reynolds was dead and his command paid a high price for success. With the coming of the afternoon, the Confederates pressed their attack on Seminary Ridge and Oak Hill, eventually breaking the Union line. Late in the day Winfield Scott Hancock reset the line on Cemetery Hill, immediately south of Gettysburg, resetting the Union line and anchoring the defenses for the second day. Take a listen!
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In this episode we focus on the morning of the first day at Gettysburg. Robert E. Lee and George Meade hoped that their actions would entice the other side to battle. In fact, it became a meeting engagement as the leading elements of both armies bumped into each other at Gettysburg. Rather than retreat from adversity, Henry Heth attacked, committing the Army of Northern Viriginia to the offensive. We also spend some time on how to experience the battlefield at Gettysburg. Take a listen!
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We are continuing the story of Gettysburg. As Robert E. Lee headed north, the commanding general of the Army of the Potomac, Joe Hooker, was in trouble. In a whispering campaign in the aftermath of Hooker's defeat at Chancellorsville, the Army, the President, and his administration had lost faith in him and he was replaced by George G. Meade on the eve of Gettysburg. In other issues, Lee, having let General Stuart go on his own cavalry raid, was now blind as his army spreadout across south central Pennsylvania. As Lee struggled to find a position to locate and fix the Army of the Potomac, the fringes of both armies were ready to meet at a little place called Gettysburg.
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We have finally arrived at Gettysburg. In the first of several episodes, we will start by exploring Lee's reasoning behind his extended raid into the keystone state. This was the Confederacy's last major raid into a northern state, so it garners a great deal of attention in the history of the Civil War. While not as critical as it seems, it was nevertheless an important campaign. Lee took advantage of the tide of good fortune in the aftermath of his victory at Chancellorsville and was able to quickly pivot and move the Army of Northern Virginia north. Please take a listen!
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In this episode, we finish up the story of the siege of Vicksburg. Once Grant crossed the Mississippi River with his army, it appeared that Vicksburg was doomed. In a brilliant campaign of maneuver, Grant isolated Vicksburg from the rest of the Confederacy. While worried about General Johnston's army, the Confederates were unable to coordinate a strategy to save the city. After an initial, bloody attempt to breech the city's fortifications, Grant settled in for siege. Worried about the health of his army and the civilian population, Pemberton surrendered to Grant on July 4, 1863. It was a key moment in the war. The Confederacy was split. The South's quest for independence was in jeopardy.
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We are continuing our narrative on the siege of Vicksburg. In this episode we concentrate on the key moment in this campaign - Grant crossing the Mississippi River and capturing the capital of Mississippi, Jackson. In three weeks, Grant's army was able to cut off the primary supply line and communication corridor from Vicksburg to the rest of the Confederacy. In addition, Grant beat back General Pemberton's only attempt to meet Grant outside of the city, the battle of Champion Hill. This was one of Grant's stellar campaigns and would set up the siege of Vicksburg.
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We are continuing our short series on the Vicksburg campaign. In part II, we will focus on the winter of 1862-63. Grant and Sherman were bested by the Confederates in their initial probes toward Vicksburg. Undaunted, Grant attempted a number of schemes to get his army on the eastern short of the Mississippi River. Grant dug a canal and made several attempts to reach Vicksburg through some of the alternative river systems. None of these efforts were successful. In the spring of 1862, Grant ran his fleet past the Confederate river batteries at Vicksburg, gaining a bridgehead and kicking off his campaign.
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One of the most consequential campaign's of the Civil War was U.S. Grant's struggle to capture the Confederate fortress at Vicksburg. As we already know, by mid-1862, Vicksburg was the only remaining major city on the Mississippi River in Confederate hands. As 1862 drew to a close, it became clear that Admiral Farragut's naval forces alone could not defeat the fortifications of Vicksburg. In the last quarter of 1862 Grant and his chief subordinate, Sherman, planned an envelopment of the city from the north and the south. These moves were checked, forcing Grant to consider alternative plans to capture the city.
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Robert E. Lee's greatest victory was against Joseph Hooker at a small crossroads in Virginia called Chancellorsville. Known as 'fighting' Joe Hooker, he formulated a plan that would trap Lee against two arms of the Army of the Potomac. Unfortunately for Hooker, Lee reacted in an unexpected and bold manner. Dividing the Army of Northern Virginia, he kept Union forces at Fredericksburg at bay and flanked Hooker's main force. Hooker lost his nerve and his plan was dashed. While the Army of the Potomac was not destroyed, it set up the conditions that would allow Lee to raid Pennsylvania.
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In our last chronological episode, we ended with Ambrose Burnside's disastrous campaign against Lee's army entrenched above the heights of Fredericksburg, Virginia. Undeterred, Burnside launched another march against the Army of Northern Virginia which was ruined by the weather. Tired of the relentless attacks on his character, Burnside attempted to have his critics removed. Lincoln turned the tables, accepted his resignation and elevated Burnside's vocal critic, Joseph Hooker, to be commanding general of the Army of the Potomac. Hooker unleashed his considerable energy in restoring morale. Take a listen!
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When we think of the Civil War, the titanic struggles that occurred in the mid-Atlantic states and the southeast comes to mind. What is largely forgotten was what was occurring in the American West. From 1862 through the end of the war, there were clashes in the upper Midwest with the Sioux in Minnesota, in the Southwest with the Apache and Navajo and Colorado. The clashes with Tribes that would dominate the actions of the post-Civil War Army can be traced to the Civil War and, in many cases, even before the war. Take a listen!
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Geographically, to this point, most of our focus has been on the campaigns in the Mississippi River Valley and the mid-Atlantic states. In this episode we explore what was happening in the far west. In 1862, a Confederate force launched an offensive into the territory of New Mexico. The plan was bold, but risky. The Confederates were going to depend upon captured supplies to sustain them. After occupying Tucson, Albuquerque, and Santa Fe, it looked like they were going to succeed. Alarmed, reinforcements from Colorado and California halted the Confederate advance at the Battle of Glorieta Pass. Whatever chance the Confederates had, faded. Take a listen!
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