Synopses & Reviews
Earl J.Hess's study of armies and fortifications turns to the 1864 Overland Campaign to cover battles from the Wilderness to Cold Harbor. Drawing on meticulous research in primary sources and careful examination of battlefields at the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, North Anna, Bermuda Hundred, and Cold Harbor, Hess analyzes Union and Confederate movements and tactics and the new way Grant and Lee employed entrenchments in an evolving style of battle. Hess argues that Grant's relentless and pressing attacks kept the armies always within striking distance, compelling soldiers to dig in for protection.
Review
"A detailed examination of fieldworks. . . . Ideal for any Civil War reference collection. . . . Hess's meticulous attention to detail is enough to warrant his work a place in most military reference collections or on the shelf of a Civil War enthusiast."--North Carolina Historical Review
Review
"Intriguing, important, and authoritative."--Military History of the West
Review
"For military specialists and Civil War enthusiasts . . . Those with such a focused interest will be rewarded by reading Hess' intense study."--Journal of Southern History
Review
"Both compelling and refreshing. . . . Something new for the serious enthusiast."--Civil War Times
Review
"A most important addition to the literature on this major campaign and [it] has certainly earned a place on the bookshelves of those fascinated by the Civil War and the men who fought."--Virginia Magazine
About the Author
Earl J. Hess is associate professor of history at Lincoln Memorial University. He is author of many books on the Civil War, including, most recently, The Civil War in the West: Victory and Defeat from the Appalachians to the Mississippi.