The Petersburg Campaign: The Eastern Front Battles, June - August 1864, Volume 1

The Petersburg Campaign #1

by Edwin C. Bearss

The wide-ranging and largely misunderstood series of operations around Petersburg, Virginia, were the longest and most extensive of the entire Civil War. The fighting that began in early June 1864 when advance elements from the Union Army of the Potomac crossed the James River and botched a series of attacks against a thinly defended city would not end for nine long months. This important—many would say decisive—fighting is presented by legendary Civil War author Edwin C. Bearss in The Petersburg Campaign: The Eastern Front Battles, June–August 1864, the first in a ground-breaking two-volume compendium.

Although commonly referred to as the “Siege of Petersburg,” that city (as well as the Confederate capital at Richmond) was never fully isolated and the combat involved much more than static trench warfare. In fact, much of the wide-ranging fighting involved large-scale Union offensives designed to cut important roads and the five rail lines feeding Petersburg and Richmond. This volume of Bearss’ study of these major battles includes:

The Attack on Petersburg (June 9, 1864)
The Second Assault on Petersburg (June 15 - 18, 1864)
The Battle of the Jerusalem Plank Road (June 21 - 24, 1864)
The Crater (July 30, 1864)
The Battle of the Weldon Railroad (August 18 - 21, 1864)
The Second Battle of Ream’s Station (August 25, 1864)

Accompanying these salient chapters are original maps by Civil War cartographer George Skoch, together with photos and illustrations. The result is a richer and deeper understanding of the major military episodes comprising the Petersburg Campaign.

About the Authors: Edwin C. Bearss is a world-renowned military historian, author, and tour guide known for his work on the American Civil War and World War II. Ed, a former WWII Marine wounded in the Pacific Theater, served as Chief Historian of the National Park Service from 1981 to 1994 and is the author of dozens of books and articles. He discovered and helped raise the Union warship USS Cairo, which is on display at Vicksburg National Military Park.

Bryce A. Suderow is a Civil War writer and researcher living in Washington, D.C. He received his B.A. at Knox College and earned a Masters in American History at Sonoma State University. His Masters' Thesis, Thunder in Arcadia Valley, was published in 1985 (Univ. of Missouri). Bryce has also published many articles in a number of Civil War periodicals and is recognized as one of the finest archival researchers working today.

Genres: Civil War, History, Military Fiction

670 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 19, 2012

About the author

A specialist in the American Civil War, Edwin Cole Bearss was employed by the National Park Service, where he worked as their chief historian from 1981 until 1994.

Reviews

[Sean Chick · Rating 4 out of 5]

History is a hard beast to write. Stick too close to the facts and you get bloodless prose. Stray too far and you have to wonder why they did not just write historical fiction. This book falls into the first category. Bearss is not the best writer. The prose is clear but does not sing, which it did when he spoke. Still I give this four stars for the information, the maps, and the wonderful chapter on The Crater, written by Brennan. That guy should write more.

[Matthew Bartlett · Rating 5 out of 5]

The annals of Civil War study tend to look towards the beginning of the war until the fateful days in July at Gettysburg and Vicksburg. There is no doubt that most written works surround themselves around those campaigns before the apex of the Union and the downfall of the Confederacy. The study of the war past those fateful campaigns are less looked at but no more. Ed Bearss and Bryce Suderow have brought to light something quite different in the study of the Petersburg Campaign, the longest running siege in the Civil War.
Edwin Bearss is one of the most respected Civil War historians of our age and got his start at the Vicksburg National Military Park. From there, he has stretched himself all around the Civil War world as an authority on the campaigns and the people. A Marine who has served in World War II, he was severely wounded in the Pacific. From 1981 to 1994, he served as Chief Historian to the National Park Service and has authored many works and was pivotal to raising the USS Cairo. Bryce Suderow is a Civil War writer and researcher and has published many articles and is considered one of the finest archivists in the country. If it were not for Suderow, this work might never have come to light.
Ed Bearss was approached to write essays about the battles during the Petersburg Campaign for use of the park service in Virginia. This work is the collection of essays he wrote concerning the battles of the eastern front during the campaign. Keeping in mind that these essays were written for the guides at Petersburg National Military Park, Bearss does not waste any time giving the introductions for the people involved in the battle. He jumps right into the story assuming that the reader knows something about them already. Suderow, however, gives some introduction as to what was going on and what had happened. One of the helpful things in the narrative is the breakaway which sometimes happens. During the narrative of Bearss and his essays, Suderow sometimes interrupts and fills the reader in as to what is going on. This is helpful for the readers who are not as well versed in the war after the summer of 1863. This lack of introduction makes it seem as though the book is not an easy read and that is wrong. Though Bearss spends no time telling you the background of the people and regiments who are fighting the battle, there is no need to have that information because of the narrative. Bearss writing style is such that he allows the narrative to bring you into the time of battle not focusing on the past of the people in play.
The Petersburg Campaign, Volume I: Eastern Front Battles, is something which should be on the shelves of every Civil War Historian or enthusiast. Both the narratives of Bearss and the editorials of Suderow bring to light many engagements about the Petersburg Campaign which are generally ignored. The annals of Civil War history will be grateful for what has been done here in this book, and the coming volume. The combination of Bearss and Suderow should be praised for the work they have done. What was first as set of essays for use at the Petersburg National Military Park for park use is now printed for the public so that they may know the detail of the events not usually written about in the standard history book on the Civil War.

[robin friedman · Rating 4 out of 5]

With his endless enthusiasm, energy, and knowledge, Ed Bearss has deepened the interest of many people in the American Civil War. Bearss served as Chief Historian for the National Park Service, and he has written many books, lead innumerable battlefield tours, and given lectures to large groups and small on what has been his life's work: teaching about the Civil War.

Bearss' book "The Petersburg Campaign: The Eastern Front Battles" (2012) is the first of two large volumes about this pivotal campaign pitting Grant against Lee late in the Civil War. The second volume, "The Petersburg Campaign: the Western Front Battles" has been published this year, together with the 150th anniversary of the campaign. The history of these volumes, that Bearss recounts in an introduction to the volume is interesting in itself in reviewing and understanding the book.

Bearss began his career with the NPS in 1955. In 1957, Congress passed legislation authorizing the NPS to upgrade its Civil War sites as part of the upcoming Civil War centennial. Bearss prepared a variety of reports under this project, including several studies of Petersburg. In the mid-1960s, the NPS asked Bearss to prepare a series of essays and maps documenting the major battles during the nearly ten month siege. By the time Bearss completed the project, the centennial had passed. Bearss' work remained in the NPS files where it was made available to researchers and to interpretive guides on the battlefield. Many years later, Bryce Suderow, a Civil War researcher and friend of Bearss, suggested that the essays be assembled in a book and published. This book and its companion volume are the result. A noted publisher of Civil War and other military history, Savas Beatie, published the books.

This volume includes six lengthy essays covering Union military actions against Petersburg during the first 77 days of a 298 day military operation. Of the six essays, five consist of the essays Bearss wrote in the 1960s for the NPS. These essays cover the two unsuccessful early attacks on Petersburg on June 9 and June 15-18, 1864, the Battle of Jerusalem Plank Road, June 21-24, 1864, the Battle of the Weldon Railroad, August 18 --21, 1864, and the Second Battle of Ream's Station, August 25, 1864. The remaining essay covering the Battle of the Crater of July 30, 1864, was written expressly for the volume by historian Patrick Brennan. The Crater is probably the most notorious and familiar part of the Petersburg Campaign. It is interesting that Bearss apparently did not cover it in an essay during his project in the 1960s. The volume also includes Bearss' extensive maps of the battles he describes and introductory and transitional material between the chapters establishing some continuity in the story by Suderow.

Bearss' essays are highly detailed and specific military histories that cover virtually every on the ground aspect of the battles in question. He offers lengthy specific accounts of communications among leaders, both Union and Confederate, and detailed descriptions of the movements of troops on the ground, frequently covering small units. Political events related to the actions are mentioned but not stressed. The essays discuss how each battle formed part of the larger history of the campaign and of events elsewhere in the war, but the focus is on specific description. Bearss is usually careful in offering judgment or criticism on the course of events. When he does so, his position is judicious.

These essays are a substantial accomplishment are valuable for the purpose for which they were intended: assisting researchers on Petersburg and presentations on the various battles by NPS guides and interpreters. It is difficult to conceive of a more thorough description of these battles. For most readers, however, this book may prove difficult and overly-detailed in its micro-history. The essays are so long and thorough that it is easy to lose the main thread of the histories and battles. The history, result, and significance of each battle tends to get lost in a welter of details. Brennan's essay on the Crater is the shortest in the volume and also the essay that most readers will find easiest to follow. Brennan highlights the human aspects of the story, writes dramatically about the Crater, and places the action in perspective. His short account of the opening efforts to capture Petersburg, for example, works in part as a useful summation of Bearss' two essays.

I don't wish to detract in any way from these essays or from their publication. Bearss' essays were written largely for a specialist audience of NPS professionals and other historians who already possessed a good working knowledge of the Petersburg Campaign. For readers lacking this knowledge or level of interest in Petersburg, these essays will be rough going. There are several book length studies of the Petersburg Campaign written subsequently to Bearss' essays that will teach most students of the Civil War what they need to know about these battles. Bearss' book is not well suited for readers with no prior knowledge of Petersburg. Even readers with a serious, informed interest in the Civil War and in Petersburg may not need the detail provided in these essays. Bearss' studies remain an outstanding resource, but their primary interest will be to serious, long-term, probably specialized students of the Petersburg Campaign.

Robin Friedman

[Derek Weese · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you have ever traveled to the National Battlefields of the American Civil War, then there's a chance you may have heard of Edwin C. Bearss. Longtime veteran of the National Park Service (and a WWII veteran) Bearss spent much of his intellectual energy devoted to telling the story of the Vicksburg and Petersburg Campaigns. His Vicksburg study was published in multiple volumes for the general public. Until this two part series from Savas Beatie, his work on the Petersburg Campaign was not previously open to a wider audience.
This first volume of a duology covers the early battles for the Richmond-Petersburg front when Grant, in overall command of the Union armies of the Potomac and James, would attempt to batter his way through the Confederate lines and seize the rebel capital and the al important rail hub of Petersburg. These early attempts would end in failure, some more spectacular than others, but nevertheless the Confederates would doggedly hold their ground and, frequently, sally forth to deliver devastating counterattacks that would rout previously stout hearted, veteran Union formations.
The once proud Union of the Potomcac, if only rarely victorious on the field of battle, was still a determined, vibrant force on May 1, 1864. By the time of the assault on Petersburg during the 2nd Battle of Petersburg, the AOP was a shattered, bled dry, demoralized force. Grant's 'Overland Campaign' did far more damage to the AOP than to Lee's ANV, and even though the Union could afford the losses in the long run, the quality of the replacements would never be up to the par of the men who had waged war from the Peninsula to Gettysburg. Those veterans were largely slaughtered in the battles from the Wilderness to Cold Harbor. Still, Grant knew that Lee's army was also battered. By stealing a march on Lee and coming up behind him in front of Petersburg, Grant knew he had a chance to win a war winning victory. However, exhaustion, low morale, and the skillful fighting of the Confederate defenders as well as the genuinely brilliant generalship of P.G.T. Beauregard (delivering his best performance during the war) stopped Grant and Federals cold. What followed would be nine long, bloody, grueling months of near siege operations that would closely resemble the trench warfare on the Western Front in WWI. It is ironic that two years later, it would be McClellan's stratagem (a siege of Richmond centered off of the Peninsula) that would be the culminating operation of the US Civil War.
Bearss' book is a collection of essays written during his time working for the NPS while stationed at Richmond/Petersburg. He covers the first, timid Federal assault on Petersburg under Butler in early June all the way to the Second Battle of Ream's Station, where Hancock suffered one of his worst defeats of the entire war. The only essay written recently, added for completion's sake, for the book is the chapter on the 'Battle of the Crater' and it may be the best chapter of the book. The Crater was a gruesome nightmare for everyone involved, and the 'site' of white Union troops, recently taking prisoner, murdering their black fellows out of sheer panic of the vengeful Confederates is a blood curdling scene indeed. The USCT boys involved in the early Federal breakthrough following the explosion of the mine under the Confederate lines killed quite a few Confederate prisoners in revenge for Fort Pillow earlier in the year in Tennessee (where Forrest had executed a large number of captured USCT). When the tide turned during the battle and the Confederates counter-attacked, they showed no mercy to the poor USCT boys. The Confederate response was so brutal, and their counterattack so devastating, that the panicked white Federals began murdering their black fellows out of sheer terror of the Rebels. Such are the horrors of war.
All in all a very good book, the editor, Bryce Suderow, provides enough commentary in between the essays to link it al together into a coherent narrative so you don't lose sight of the grand picture. Definitely will become the standard work on the Petersburg campaign. Highly recommended.

[W Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

This volume, as well as the second volume, are the first formal printing of narrative reports done by Ed Bearss in the 1960’s to accompany troop movement maps for the Petersburg National Park. They were done as reports for potential land acquisitions. In that role, they guided the Park Service over the next 50 years. This volume covers the battles through the breaking of the Weldon Railroad. The chapters give crisp, easy to understand accounts of the battles from June to August of 1864. As these were written for the Petersburg park, these accounts provide no detail regarding simultaneous actions north of the Appomattox River. Also, because the site of the Crater was already in the Park in the 1960’s, the chapter on the action there was written by someone else and included for continuity. Taken as a whole, it is an excellent volume.

[Francis X DuFour · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent account of the Army of the Potomac’s first campaigns in Grant’s attempt to capture Petersburg. From the early efforts in June 1864 up thru the Battle of Ream’s Station in August, this volume presents a superb account of progressive campaigns.