The Battle of the Wilderness, May 5-6, 1864

Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1996. Fourth Printing [stated]. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. xvii, [1], 512, [6] pages. Abbreviations. Illustrations. Maps. Appendix, Bibliography. Index. Inscribed and dated by the author on the fep. This work was the winner of the Jules and Frances Landry Award for 1994. Gordon C. Rhea is an American lawyer and historian, who specializes in the American Civil War especially the Overland Campaign. Rhea received the Civil War Regiments Book Award for his book on the Battle of the Wilderness, The Battle of the Wilderness, May 5-6, 1864.[2] His work on the Battle of Cold Harbor, Cold Harbor, received the Austin Civil War Round Table's Laney Prize.[2]Rhea has lectured at the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command and for Civil War round tables. Rhea has provided commentary for CNN. Derived from a Kirkus review: Rhea gives clear historical treatment to one of the major engagements of the Civil War, the first important battle directed by Ulysses S. Grant after his appointment as general-in-chief of the Federal army. In the thicketed Virginia forest region south of the Rapidan River, Grant's force of approximately 120,000 was opposed by 65,000 men under the command of Robert E. Lee. Though his army outnumbered Lee's by almost two to one, Grant met with stiff resistance, and the dense woods made fighting almost impossible. Rhea views the engagement in the context of the increasingly desperate Southern situation in mid-1864 as resources became ever more scarce. His narrative brings to life not only Grant, Lee, and James Longstreet, but also lesser known figures like ``Brains'' Halleck and Gen. John Sedgwick. An extremely helpful appendix contains the complete order of battle for both sides. All future accounts of the battle will be measured against this work.