Battles for Spotsylvania Court House and the Road to Yellow Tavern, May 7-12, 1864

Gordon Rhea makes an important leap forwards in "grand scale" Civil War writing with his work on "The Battles for Spotsylvania Courthouse May 7-12,1864". Unlike his previous release covering the Battle for the Wilderness, Rhea has obviously incorporated all critiques and takes a bold step forward with this masterpiece of Civil War writing. The battle descriptions, everyday soldier stories and maneuver/tactic summaries along with the extensive array of maps (all in the correct context!) converge with this amazingly described battle story. Rhea begins this book with the disengagement of the Federal forces following the tactical draw at the Wilderness. Detailed troop movements on both sides of the lines encompass most of the first quarter of the book and Rhea does an excellent job at describing who went where and explaining why it is important to understand that the movements of Confederate Richard Anderson towards Spotsylvania Courthouse (a small crossroads hamlet southwest of Chancellorsville) in a timely manner (his march from the Wilderness to Spotsylvania occurs hours ahead of schedule and barely beats the Federals to this important strategic holdpoint) made the difference in the ensuing battles.The initial engagements at Laurel Hill/Spindle's Farm on May 8th set the stage for the Siege/trench warfare that follows and Rhea adroitly explains troop layouts and maneuvers in this important prelude to the subsequent major battles. As in the Wilderness struggle, this battle period also covers two main areas...the infantry confrontations at Spotsylvania and the cavalry maneuvers/battles between Phil Sheridan's complete corps of Union cavalry and Jeb Stuart's partial Confederate corps as they head to a climactic engagement at Yellow Tavern north of Richmond (culminating in the un-timely death of Stuart...a major blow to the Southern cause).Rhea goes on to point out how vulnerable the Confederate "Muleshoe" entrenchments at Spotsylvania are and how Union Colonel Emory Upton is partially successful with his May 10th charge at the west side of the salient. U.S. Grant sees this and uses this same tactic to attack the northwest "angle" on May 12th. The resulting "Bloody Angle" encounter is the highlight of the book. Charge after senseless charge is depicted along with chilling descriptions of the resulting carnage...this clearly was the Civil War at it's most gruesome (apologies to those who say that Antietam, Fredericksburg or Chickamauga were the bloodiest). Rhea descibes..."In places, the combatants pressed so close that their flagstaffs crossed. 'The fighting was horrible,' a Mississippian recalled. 'The breastworks were slippery with blood and rain, dead bodies lying underneath half trampled out of sight.' The 16th Mississippi's flag stood at the salient's apex, like a challenge to the Federals. Wave after wave of Union assaults battered the point. Between charges, the Confederates cleared corpses from the trenches and loaded and stacked their rifles i

This is an excellent study of what must be one of the most horrific among Civil War battles. Though one reviewer's comments about sloppy notation are well taken, Rhea's scholarship overall seems solid, and he uses quotes to great effect to make the fighting come alive.Not only Spotsylvania but the tragic cavalry battle at Yellow Tavern are covered here. Relevant to this, no other study I have seen, not even bios of Stuart, brings out Stuart and his troopers' role in initially forming the crucial defensive line on Laurel Hill and then deploying the infantry in ideal positions. Little known, but perhaps one of Stuart's finest hours.Rhea seems even-handed ideologically speaking, and his criticisms of Grant and Sheridan seem well supported by the facts. I would recommend this book not only to scholars but to amateurs who want to know why the Civil War was a horrible conflict. This is not light reading. It is a story of appalling human suffering, courage, and unbelievable sheer endurance.

I have previously written that Rhea's "Battle of the Wilderness" was the greatest battle history I have ever read. I need to correct myself. "The Battles for Spotsylvania Courthouse" has surpassed Rhea's previous work. This horrible battle of wills between Grant and Lee is brought alive by Rhea's wonderful prose. He has a very rare talent of being an outstanding writer and an exhaustive researcher. The combination provides for the most exciting exciting reading in history.The book begins where "Wilderness" left off. Grant and Lee are staring at eachother from behind strong entrenchments. The narrative proceeds to describe the armies' movements to Spotsylvania Courthouse, and as a reader, you find yourself holding you breath occassionally, asking questions like: Will Lee's men get there in time? Will Sheridan break through? etc. Rhea's style makes it very hard to put the book down while at the same time you are getting all the information and facts that you would froma text book.As Rhea continues, he describes the 5 days of fighting in and around the Courthouse in brutal detail. He discussion of the battle on May 12th for the "Muleshoe" salient is hauntingly similar to the trench battles of WW I. No other battle in the Civil War came close to the brutality displayed there on that day. In the space of 1/2 mile, 17,000 soldiers fell, and Rhea's description leaves and indelible mark on a reader's mind. The book itself is well constructed. The chapters are a bit long, but not too bad. There are many maps that give a clear picture of the action. As an added bonus, there is also an in-depth discussion of the Battle of Yellow Tavern, where Jeb Stuart was killed. All these, plus extensive endnotes, combine to make "The Battles for Spotsylvania Courthouse" the very best in Civil War battle history. Definitely a must own for any Civil War buff, or military historian in general.

Gordon C. Rhea has done it again. Mr. Rhea wrote a compelling battle narrative on the desperate fighting in the Wilderness that appeared on the book shelves in 1994. After I read that history, I wondered to myself, how in the heck would he follow up on his excellent treatment on the Battle of the Wilderness. With his latest volume on the Battle of Spotsylvania, he has certainly done that. Rhea, with this latest book has established himself as one of the finest historians writing about the war today. He has brought all of the elements together...Bravery, tragedy, incompetence, and yes, humor in a narrative that truly describes the horrors Americans went through during those awful days in early May, 1864. Mr. Rhea's description of the events on May 12, 1864 are harrowing, unbelievable, and heartbreaking. The struggle for the Bloody Angle becomes all too real for the reader. The unbelievable, heroic combat for those earthworks on the hallowed ground of the Spotsylvania Battlefield makes me proud of both sides as they fought during that rainy day. Each side gave their all....and they showed what Americans are all about. Special thanks for the maps of George Skoch. Mr. Skoch's work really helps the reader understand the campaign. A must for all students of the Civil War....Rhea has written a classic!

With the year only four-and-a-half months young, it would still be a safe bet to put your money on Gordon C. Rhea's "The Battles for Spotsylvania Court House and the Road to Yellow Tavern-May 7-12, 1864" for "Best Civil War Book of 1997". Rhea, who gave us his "Battle of the Wilderness" in 1994, has only improved upon that award-winning volume with his latest effort. "The Battles for Spotsylvania" covers the vicious and nearly-disastrous engagement between Grant and Lee during the middle weeks of May, 1864. Here, near this sleepy little village southwest of Fredericksburg, Grant's bluecoats met Lee's butternuts in a mortal maelstrom of some of the most bloody fighting the Old Dominion had yet seen. Long neglected by Civil War writers, this pivotal and oft-confusing series of continuous combats was brought to the modern Civil War buff's attention by William Matter's fine "If It Takes All Summer" in 1988. Rhea, however, takes the torch from here and weaves a masterful narrative, both highly-detailed and smooth flowing at once, to give us, perhaps, the best coverage of this engagement we shall ever have. How so, one might ask? First, Rhea adds to the records and histories, a plethora of unpublished accounts from diaries, letters, memoirs, newspapers, and the like to give this book the comprehensive personal side of battle. Yet, the strategic and tactical concerns of the fighting do not suffer at all. To be sure, the author, once again, has found that special touch in blending the larger and smaller "pictures" into one without detracting from either. Nearly every imaginable aspect of the battle is covered in deft fashion, always maintaining the easy-reading flow in the text. Especially inviting to buffs and important to historians is Rhea's coverage of the concurrent cavalry operations between Phil Sheridan and JEB Stuart, including a riveting account of "Little Phil's" Richmond Raid and Stuart's subsequent death at Yellow Tavern. From the initial fighting at Laurel Hill, through Upton's heroic charge and the battering assaults against the "Bloody Angle", the reader will find and feel that they are seemingly in the midst of the battle itself. I just got my copy and read it in two days--you will find this one very hard to put down! Theodore C. Mahr Dayton, Ohio ------------------------------------------------ Former Seasonal Historian Fredericksburg-Spotsylvania Natl. Military Park Author: "The Battle of Cedar Creek: Showdown in the Shenandoah, October 1-30, 1864"[1992]