The Overland Campaign: Animated Battle Map

[Music] 1864 the Civil War enters its fourth year although Union armies have made significant inroads in Tennessee and the Mississippi Valley battle lines remained relatively unchanged in Virginia at last Lincoln finds a general who will fight ulysses s grant is appointed commander of all Union armies he determines upon a simple but novel strategy advanced simultaneously with all his forces on key enemy centers grant makes his headquarters with his largest force the Army of the Potomac a well-fed well supplied and well rested army that was ready for the coming ordeal Confederate General Robert Ely understood the realities his Army of Northern Virginia is outnumbered nearly two to one supplies are scarce obliged to conserve resources he must fight a defensive war with luck his undaunted army will hold back Yankee invaders until fall presidential elections can potentially change the political landscape the Union Army breaks camp on the evening of May 3rd the men on both sides have little concept of the horror that lies ahead the fighting in the coming weeks will kill and wound more of them than at any other time in American history [Music] grant will operate against Lee's right flank using coastal waterways to establish and supply his army as it moves but to carry out this plan grant has to advance into the fabled wilderness a seventy square mile tract of dense woods and thickets poorly mapped with few roads it's thickest will neutralize Union superiority in numbers and artillery grant hopes he can get through it before Lee reacts Lee does not allow this to happen he sees that grants right is vulnerable and moves with Richard Ewell's second Corps on orange Turnpike an AP Hill's third Corps on the plank road James Longstreet score recently arrived from East Tennessee has greater distance to cover morning May 5th armies collide on both thoroughfares as the struggle develops into two distinct battles separated by trackless wilderness governor Warren's fifth in John Sedgwick 6th Corps go into position on the right centered about a clearing called Saunders field while Hancock second corps occupies the strategic Brock Road intersection bitter but inconclusive fighting rages until dark Grint prepares to deliver a decisive blow come morning meanwhile the Confederates exhausted and disorganized anxiously await Longstreet's arrival [Music] the union attack begins at 5:00 a.m. Warren and Sedgwick are quickly contained on the Turnpike Hancock crushes a ragged Confederate line on plank road and the day appears lost for Lee Longstreet's arrival turns the tide as his brigades press Hancock back but Longstreet is badly wounded at a critical moment his attack loses momentum Lee pauses and strikes again on the Brock Road the fighting rages the determined Union counter-attacks drive the rebels back later that afternoon George and John beat Gordon launches a vigorous attack on Sedgewick's exposed right flank capturing many prisoners but darkness ends the affair before further damage can be done the fighting causes the dry woods to catch fire many wounded men perish in the flames [Music] both sides fortify their positions earthworks and trenches scar the landscape for miles stalemate ensues soldiers are exhausted nearly 30,000 have been killed wounded or captured this three-day fight in the wilderness is the fourth bloodiest battle of the war up to that time both commanders have learned something about each other grant discovers Lee's army is more formidable than any opponent he is faced open flanks led to embarrassing reversals grant will ensure that this does not happen again during this campaign li realizes his opponent is a man of different character grant is not retreating as his predecessors had instead grant pushes southward toward the crucial crossroads at Spotsylvania courthouse Union morale skyrockets grant is continuing the advance on Richmond [Music] Warren's fifth core is leading the advance slowed by Confederate cavalry Warren reaches a clearing near Spotsylvania called Laurel Hill but Lee has won the race to the crossroads the path ahead is blocked by Joseph B Kershaw's veteran division Confederate forces quickly dig in creating a formidable defensive position George Meade of Army of the Potomac commander orders Sedgwick sixth Corps to support Warren in the attack on the Confederate position at Laurel Hill it does not go well delays and ultimately concentrated rebel fire halts the attack as the balance of the armies come up the battle lines extend for miles both sides dig in and prepare for the upcoming ordeal Union cavalry commander Philip Sheridan cuts loose on a raid towards Richmond grant hopes this move will force Confederate cavalry hero James Stewart into a showdown battle with Sheridan the competent Yankee newcomer three days later at yellow tavern Sheridan found his path blocked by Stewart a sharp skirmish ensues James Stewart is mortally wounded and dies the next day Hevy skirmishing continues throughout may 9th as Union soldiers probe the surrounding wilderness trying to determine the position of Lee's Army Union general Sedgwick beloved commander of the 6th Corps is killed the victim of a sharpshooters bullet grant has received reinforcements in the form of Ambrose Burnside's ninth Corps he orders Burnside to advance on Spotsylvania along the Fredericksburg Road this forces lead to Ben back his right flank creating a vulnerable bulge in his lines dubbed the mule shoe meanwhile Lee entrenches his line and continues to improve it Confederate artillery is positioned to pour crossfire upon any attacking column after Sedgewick's death horatio ripe assumes command over the 6th Corps he spies a weak point in the Confederate line and orders Colonel Henry Upton to exploit it with 12 hand-picked regiments the carefully planned attack advances in lines for regiments deep it's an innovative idea Upton's men burst out of trees a mere 200 yards from the rebel works and pour through the lines of the shocked Confederates in desperate fighting nearly 1,000 rebels are captured but the Yankees give no support Confederate reinforcements force Upton's attackers to retreat abandoning their dead and wounded [Music] although a failure this sort of attack was revolutionary in concept and execution it will be used again Hevy skirmishing continues along the line on May 11 as both grant and Lee planned their next moves as his target grant selects the mule shoe the attack is scheduled for early the next morning May 12th throughout the day and well into the evening Union troops move into position meanwhile Lee uncharacteristically misinterprets grants intentions he thinks gran is about to retreat and removes key artillery pieces from the Muleshoe modeled upon Upton's charge a massive union attack spearheaded by Winfield Scott Hancock veteran second Corps role over the Confederate line 5,000 rebels are captured including two generals and numerous cannons in desperate straits Lee coordinates a series of counter-attacks that drive the Union forces back [Applause] the entire line was recaptured except at the angle of the Bulge were Muleshoe itself ever after christened the bloody angle here a bitter struggle ensues as Union forces desperately cling to their limited gains against repeated Confederate counter-attacks the soldiers fight at point-blank range with only a few feet between them the battle rages along a narrow front after 18 hours of constant combat the Confederates withdraw to a hastily constructed reserve line the two armies are exhausted after seven days of intense fighting stymied grant proposes to fight it out on this line if it takes all summer over the next week the battle lines pivot southward but grant resolves to break off the action at this point Spotsylvania would emerge is the third bloodiest battle of the Civil War in a bold move grant quits the field hoping to turn Lee's right flank again and make for Richmond Lee however knows his intentions and races for the North Anna River 20 miles to the south arriving on May 22nd Lee establishes a strong blocking position on a series of commanding Bluffs south of the river grant reaches the North Anna on May 23rd and begins crossing that very day testing the rubble lines several days of indecisive fighting follow as grant realizes the formidable nature of Lee's position it's a trap designed the force grant to split his army into pieces where it can be defeated in detail grant withdraws across the river and once again advances around the Confederate right flank in search of an opportunity to catch Lee's veterans in the open away from field fortifications on the North Anna line Lee has missed his best opportunity of striking a decisive blow Lee knows that he must stop grant before he reaches the Richmond area if not grant will besiege the Confederate capital and the city's demise would be a mere question of time [Music] and cuts loose from the line at North Anna and sweeps southeast closer to Richmond the armies are back on familiar turf ground of McClellan's campaign two years previous the opposing forces clash on a front that stretches several miles along Tata patha me Creek by the 1st of June grant has pivoted around Richmond and his soldiers seize the strategic crossroads at old Cold Harbor fighting erupts near sundown but the results are inconclusive grant sensing an opportunity to crush Lee orders the attack renewed at dawn he awaits the arrival of significant reinforcements William F Smith's eighteenth core from Butler's army of the James operating south of Richmond but reinforcements require additional time the attack is postponed 24 hours until June 3rd it is a fatal delay confederates use the time to consolidate and fortify their positions now masters of the art lee's veterans erect elaborate earthworks with well sided artillery positions creating deadly cross fires [Music] dawn June 3rd the 2nd 6th and 18th Corps assault the Confederate lines on a broad front and are repulsed with staggering losses Confederate General Evander Law said it wasn't war it was murder for grants part he wrote I always regretted the second attack at Cold Harbor once more the two armies are in stalemate grant is unwilling to admit defeat and plans future operations meanwhile conditions on the field are unbearably inhumane no truce is declared to bury dead or recover wounded lying between opposing forces [Music] cutting railroads would isolate Richmond from the deep south grant decides to take the war across the James River and strike Richmond from the south via the railroad Center at Petersburg fooled Lee fails to see his enemy's intentions and grant withdraws from the cold harbour line unmolested by Confederates Union forces are reinvigorated by the mere sight of the James River the horrors of the wilderness lay far behind most crossed the wide river on lengthy pontoon bridges an engineering feat thought to be impossible by many the Overland campaign is over there had never been such a bloodletting upon this continent from the Rapidan to the James River the butcher's bill was more than 80,000 men killed will and missing all in less than six weeks you contrary to popular opinion both commanding generals display both brilliance and poor judgment grant fights his way to the gates of Richmond Lee becomes pinned in the Richmond and Petersburg defenses the Army of Northern Virginia has been staggered but not destroyed Lee however is unable to replace those lost and his army will not recover from the reason ordeals but his soldiers man-for-man have proven more than a match for grant the war enters a new phase in the more open country south of the James River the fortified lines and breastworks extend for miles around Richmond and Petersburg Lee's prophecy comes true grant crosses the James beseeches Richmond and ten months later forces the demise of the Confederate capital the Army of Northern Virginia and ultimately the Confederacy itself [Music]

Channel: American Battlefield Trust

Views: 291,850

Rating: 4.9194231 out of 5

Keywords: American Battlefield Trust, Civil War Trust, Grant's Overland Campaign, Civil War Richmond, Richmond 1864, Robert E. Lee Richmond, Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, Battle of Yellow Tavern, Battle of North Anna, Battle of Cold Harbor, Battle of Trevilian Station, Siege of Petersburg

Id: gxJTfwQjixE

Length: 18min 41sec (1121 seconds)

Published: Thu Jun 27 2019