The Battle of the Wilderness, May 5-6, 1864 [Hardcover]

Gordon C. Rhea (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1994

Fought in a tangled forest fringing the south bank of the Rapidan River, the Battle of the Wilderness marked the initial engagement in the climactic months of the Civil War in Virginia, and the first encounter between Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee. In an exciting narrative, Gordon c. Rhea provides the consummate recounting of that conflict of May 5 and 6, 1864, which ended with high casualties on both sides but no clear victor. With its balanced analysis of events and people, command structures and strategies, The Battle of the Wilderness is operational history as it should be written.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Rhea, a Virginia attorney, offers what will likely become the definitive account of one of the Civil War's most confusing engagements: the Battle of the Wilderness, the first encounter between Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee, fought in Virginia. The author's reconstruction of the fighting highlights the difficulties of controlling troops once they had been committed to action. Grant's original plan was to maneuver Lee out of his defensive position along the Rapidan River, then crush his troops with superior numbers. Instead, Rhea notes, the Wilderness became a "soldiers' battle," with raw courage compensating for inadequate generalship on both sides. Grant relied too heavily on the Army of the Potomac's commander, George Gordon Meade, who failed to coordinate the movements of subordinates disoriented by the broken ground they fought over. Rhea also critizes Lee for consistently taking the offensive with an army that could not afford the major losses it sustained in attacking. History Book Club main selection.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Fought in a dense woods, the Battle of the Wilderness was the first clash between Grant and Lee. Two days of close-quarters fighting ignited the woods and trebled the casualty list with no advantage to either side; Lee stalemated Grant's superior force. Historian Rhea's revisionist history considers the Wilderness a Union victory. The author questions Lee's reputation as a brilliant strategist while praising Grant for a well-conceived battle plan. Personalities aside, the battle of attrition that would win the war had begun. Powerfully written, mingling official histories with diaries and letters, this study is filled with dramatic tension. As written by Rhea, the Battle of the Wilderness underscores how the Confederacy won many battles but lost the war. Strongly recommended for academic and public collections.
Robert C. Moore, DuPont Merck Pharmaceutical Co. Information Svcs., Wilmington, Del.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 520 pages
• Publisher: Louisiana State University Press; 1st Printing edition (July 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807118737
• ISBN-13: 978-0807118733
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #811,651 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Overland Series, July 21, 2006

By 

James W. Durney (Tampa Bay area) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Battle of the Wilderness, May 5-6, 1864 (Hardcover)

The Battle of the Wilderness May 5-6, 1864
Product Details
* Hardcover: 520 pages
* Publisher: Louisiana State University Press (July 1994)
* Language: English
* ISBN: 0807118737

The Battles for Spotsylvania Court House and the Road to Yellow Tavern May 7-12, 1864
Product Details
* Hardcover: 483 pages
* Publisher: Louisiana State University Press (May 1997)
* Language: English
* ISBN: 0807121363

To the North Anna River: Grant and Lee, May 13-25, 1864
Product Details
* Hardcover: 505 pages
* Publisher: Louisiana State University Press (May 2000)
* Language: English
* ISBN: 0807125350

Cold Harbor: Grant and Lee, May 26-June 3, 1864
Product Details
* Hardcover: 552 pages
* Publisher: Louisiana State University Press (September 2002)
* Language: English
* ISBN: 0807128031

I am reviewing the four books a single series although each book is a full stand-alone history. This is a highly detailed military history of Grant's Overland Campaign of 1864. Two of the best generals commanding two of the best armies, in American history, decide the Civil war in the East. Gordon Rhea gives this month the detailed attention it requires and had never received. The 2,000 pages allows for the full story of the campaign, the personalities, failures and success.

The first book covers the major battle of The Wilderness an area Grant wished to clear and Lee hoped to trap him in as he had Hooker in 1863. Through a series of Union miscalculations and command problems, Lee manages to get in Grant's way. What follows is a confused bloody two-day battle that has been termed "Bush whacking on a grand scale". An excellent series of maps, help the reader stay abreast of the battle and understand the confusion of both sides. Lee loses Longstreet and starts to make the hard decisions about personnel that he has avoided since 1862. Grant while testing his relationship with Meade and Burnside, is trying to learn the AOP's generals too. This process dominates the four books as repeatedly Grant is forced to deal with the problems this creates and Lee takes steps that were unthinkable in 1863.

The second book moves the battle from The Wilderness south to Spotsylvania and Yellow Tavern. Grant refuses to "play the game" and retreat behind the Rappahannock but pushes past Lee and continues south. What follows is a race from defensive point to defensive point, which the AOP concedes to the AoNV. Union commanders hesitate at critical moments while the AoNV reinforces the objective. This allows Lee to stay up or ahead producing one of the bloodiest battles in our history at Spotsylvania. In addition, this book covers the critical cavalry operations, Grant's reasoning, and the price paid in taking Sheridan away from Meade. J.E.B. Stuart's death, is well covered. Both in terms of what it means to the AoNV, to Lee and to the Confederacy.

After one of the hardest weeks in their history, the two exhausted bloodied armies eye each other over their entrenchments. Lee understands that he is being trapped and that defensive war can only end in defeat. Grant is trying not to be stuck in a siege and determined to continue south. What follows is a series of forced marches and small battles as Grant and Lee test each other. Each general wins and loses daily as the armies march, counter march and fight. However, at the end of each day, Grant is always closer to Richmond. Lee produces a brilliant trap, Grant takes the bait but circumstances keep lee from springing it. Almost to late, Grant sees the trap pulls back, changes direction and continues south. Book 3, To the North Anna River covers this brilliant and exciting time in detail. Rhea produces some excellent analysis of both commanders and the developing personnel problems they are facing. Neither man is having an easy time of it and both understand they have never faced an enemy like this.

The last book takes us to Cold Harbor, one of the most controversial battles of the war. The detail history and excellent analysis leads us through this battle and produces some startling conclusions. As always, the author provides full support and justification for them. This might be the most important book of the series and the definitive book on the battle of Cold Harbor.

Each book has a full set of maps and illustrations. The writing is uniform and very readable. While detailed, the actions are understandable and you are seldom lost in a sea of names and/or unit numbers. Each book is a stand-alone history and is readable as such. The books were published from 1994 to 2002 and had to be written that way. This is the best account of the Overland Campaign available. It is both an invaluable reference and a great reading experience.

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best military history of a Civil War battle, November 12, 2000

By 

T. Parry "Stonewall63" (Mont Alto, PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Battle of the Wilderness, May 5-6, 1864 (Hardcover)

"Battle of the Wilderness", by Gordon C. Rhea, is simply the best treatment of any Civil War battle. Rhea's narrative is as captivating as the best work of fiction, and more so. As a reader, I felt as though the action was un-folding right before my eyes, and I found it exceedingly difficult to put the book down! As for the content, this book was well researched, and presented in a very orderly fashion. Rhea does an excellent job of making clear the tangled mess that was the Wilderness. I had no difficulty in following the ebb and flow of the battle as I have had with other works. Rhea makes the reader realize that this was a major effort by both sides on the scale of the great battles of Gettysburg and Antietam. The Overland Campaign is often overshadowed by these more "glorious" battles from earlier in the war, but after reading this book, I am convinced that the Southern cause was by no means lost in May 1864, and that Grant was not the invincible juggernaut people think. He was very nearly whipped in the Wilderness, and Rhea does a good job of making that clear to the reader. To conclude I gave this book five stars because it touches a subject that not many people know about, it is well researched, and is written so well that some novelists could learn lessons from it. In short, this is a must own for any Civil War or military buff!

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Maybe The Best Book on the Complicated battle of The Wilderness, June 25, 2005

By 

Daniel Hurley (Chesapeake, VA.) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Battle of the Wilderness, May 5-6, 1864 (Hardcover)

This is quite possibly the best book on the battle of the Wilderness particularly since this is one of the most difficult battlefields to visualize with an on site visit since the wilderness, barring suburban encroachment, is still hard to see since much of the growth has or was still there. Rhea does a wonderful job providing the reader the plans that each commander had in mind for the campaign particularly Grant's original plan to move south than west to attack Lee, which was obviously upset by Lee's aggressive move forward. Rhea also does Freeman like bios on the key officer corps of both armies including a well detailed discussion of the complex nature of Grant being present and active with the Army of the Potomac and Meade but not yet taking a firm hand in operations while Burnside's 9th Corps is an independent unit commanded by Grant. Rhea provides outstanding maps with several showing the overall plan of the campaign (Xerox the overall geographic layout map and use it as a book mark for later reference) while also providing several timely spaced close up maps of the various battle developments. Rhea also provides excellent detail on the failure of the Union cavalry to detect Ewell's and Hill's forward movements particularly Wilson's inability to provide reconnaissance as he becomes isolated and virtually cut off on the Catherprin Road entangled with ANV Rosser while the ANV infantry move up the Orange Turnpike colliding with the unsuspecting 5th corps entangling Warren and upsetting Meade's move. Rhea provides tremendous detail on the complicated movements and the interplay of commands while providing a wonderful balance of quotes from participants. Some of the highlights are Ewell's strong defensive performance on the turnpike, Warren's forced dilemma in attacking an entrenched foe without proper support, Hancock's suspended movement to support the union right wing, Longstreet's bulldozer attack and flank move, Burnside's difficulties in positioning for a center attack, and Longstreet's long march and his ordered change of march. Rhea also highlights discussion ion on Hill's failure to secure his lines after the first day of battle where his two divisions held back virtually four union divisions, Longstreet's great march of 32 miles in one day yet with one extensive break, Gordon's late flank attack delayed by Ewell and Early, Burnsides almost piercing of the vulnerable center, Lee's desperate attempts to rally Hill's crushed division, the mysterious lack of cavalry participation by Stuart and Sheridan, Grant's gradual assertion of command and Lee's desperate attempt to break through Hancock's line after Longstreet's wounding and great flank attack. The only mild criticism is that some of the officers are somewhat stereo typed and they do not always have their actions judged by face value in the campaign. For example, Ewell is praised throughout the book because of his staunch command of the initial aspects of the battle and his handling of troops yet at the end he seems criticized a little too much for having a delayed initiative that seemed more hamstrung by Early's reluctance (Gettysburg the first Day again?). The author's descriptions of the difficulty of either army to maneuver in the deep scrub growth woods is so well documented that the reader can appreciate how brigades not less divisions became separated and lost sense of direction and often fought separate battles within a battle. And Rhea describes best why a center attack well conceived but fails by Burnside in the entangled woods between Hill and Ewell as the ANV plugs another gap. How good is Rhea's book? I started the next book of his series on Spotsylvania and I will stay the course for the duration of Rhea's overland campaign.