Review by Booklist Review
Wheeler has mined primary sources with his customary skill to produce this readable popular account of the mobile phase of the Civil War's eastern campaign in 1864, from the year's beginning to settling into trench warfare after the Battle of the Crater in late July. The account also gives vivid impressions of other major engagements--including the Wilderness, Yellow Tavern, Spotsylvania, and Cold Harbor--which altogether made this the bloodiest campaign of the whole conflict. ~--Roland Green
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
The latest entry in Wheeler's Civil War history covers Grant's Virginia campaign against Lee from May 5 through July 30, 1864. Told largely through the memoirs and letters of participants, quotations are linked together in a smooth chronological narrative that vividly illuminates the battles of the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor and the early phase of the siege of Petersburg. The book concludes with an account of the Crater fiasco, in which a tunnel was dug from Union to Confederate lines, packed with explosives and ignited. The Union command failed to exploit the resultant breach in the Southern lines and the war dragged on for eight more months. Wheeler ( Witness to Gettysburg ) explains well the strategy and tactics of the confrontation between the two great captains, but his emphasis throughout is on the human side of events. This includes not only military impressions but civilian as well, with poignant glimpses of slaves being liberated as the battle lines swept across the Virginia plantations. Illustrations. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
This book by a prolific writer of Civil War tomes ( Witness to Appomattox, LJ 4/1/89; Sword Over Richmond, LJ 4/1/86) follows the tested formula of ``eyewitness'' histories: lots of quotations from various participants strung into a chronological rendering with only a minimum of connective narrative tissue. The book is intended for general readers and will meet the needs of the vast majority well. Indeed, it is an excellent introduction for readers unfamiliar with the military events of the war. The campaign covered here--from May to July 1864--was dramatic, momentous, bloody, elements all in abundance in this book. The worm-eyed perspective inevitably resulting from the book's method will prove disappointing to some readers, however. Good for high school and public libraries where such books have proved popular.-- Thomas E. Schott, 17th Air Force, Office of History, Sembach AB, Germany (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by School Library Journal Review
YA-- Another well-researched book that fills the gap between the author's Witness to Gettysburg (1987) and Witness to Appomattox (1989, both HarperCollins). By using regimental histories as well as individual accounts, Wheeler has personalized the war, enabling readers to become involved. The first chapters describe the events leading up to the campaign of 1864, which would eventually cripple the Army of Northern Virginia. The participants' own words and Wheeler's narration show how Grant and Lee best used the resources available to them. Maps, line-drawings, and battle diagrams clearly illustrate the use of strategy on both sides. A must for Civil War enthusiasts as well as those researchingthis period of the war. --Barry Williams, W. T. Woodson High School, Fairfax, VA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
From May to July 1864, the Union's Army of the Potomac marched toward Richmond, only to be stopped by the numerically inferior Confederate Army of Northern Virginia at the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, and the Crater. Here, colorful first-person memoirs, diaries, and letters written by both sides have been seamlessly arranged by Wheeler in the latest addition to his Civil War and WW II eyewitness narratives (Witness to Appomattox, 1989; A Special Valor, 1983; Iwo, 1980, etc.). Wheeler's preference for allowing participants to tell nearly all of the story sometimes results in inadequate attention to overall strategy. Yet the sights and sounds of this appalling death-grapple (Grant suffered more than 7,000 casualties in one half-hour at Cold Harbor alone) come into focus as seldom before. There is Grant, asked for his assessment of the campaign by a War Department official, smoking a cigar as he writes that he will ""fight it out on this line if it takes all summer""; mortally wounded Jeb Stuart, urging his disheartened men to reform ranks, since ""I had rather die than be whipped""; wounded soldiers burning to death at the Wilderness when the woods catch on fire; a young Union soldier cut down by rebel sharpshooters while gambling; Confederates forcing revered Robert E. Lee to go to the rear rather than risk his life in a desperate attempt to rally his men. The chorus of generals and rank and file describes the unexpected camaraderie that developed between the two war-weary forces, and how they carried on despite the carnage and frustrated battle plans. A gripping chronicle of missed chances and desperate valor, of terrible bloodshed redeemed by generosity and self-sacrifice. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Review by Library Journal Review
Review by School Library Journal Review
Review by Kirkus Book Review
