Meade and Lee After Gettysburg: The Forgotten Final Stage of the Gettysburg Campaign from Falling Waters to Culpeper Court House, July 14–31, 1863

by Jeffrey Wm Hunt

This "very satisfying blow-by-blow account of the final stages of the Gettysburg Campaign" fills an important gap in Civil War history (Civil War Books and Authors).

Winner of the Gettysburg Civil War Round Table Book Award

This fascinating book exposes what has been hiding in plain sight for 150 The Gettysburg Campaign did not end at the banks of the Potomac on July 14, but deep in central Virginia two weeks later along the line of the Rappahannock.

Contrary to popular belief, once Lee's Army of Northern Virginia slipped across the Potomac back to Virginia, the Lincoln administration pressed George Meade to cross quickly in pursuit--and he did. Rather than follow in Lee's wake, however, Meade moved south on the east side of the Blue Ridge Mountains in a cat-and-mouse game to outthink his enemy and capture the strategic gaps penetrating the high wooded terrain. Doing so would trap Lee in the northern reaches of the Shenandoah Valley and potentially bring about the decisive victory that had eluded Union arms north of the Potomac.

The two weeks that followed resembled a grand chess match with everything at stake--high drama filled with hard marching, cavalry charges, heavy skirmishing, and set-piece fighting that threatened to escalate into a major engagement with the potential to end the war in the Eastern Theater. Throughout, one thing remains Union soldiers from private to general continued to fear the lethality of Lee's army.

Meade and Lee After Gettysburg, the first of three volumes on the campaigns waged between the two adversaries from July 14 through the end of July, 1863, relies on the official records, regimental histories, letters, newspapers, and other sources to provide a day-by-day account of this fascinating high-stakes affair. The vivid prose, coupled with original maps and outstanding photographs, offers a significant contribution to Civil War literature.

Named Eastern Theater Book of the Year by Civil War Books and Authors

Genres: Civil War, History, American Civil War, Military Fiction, American History, Nonfiction, Gettysburg Campaign

408 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 19, 2017

Reviews

[Matthew Bartlett · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Gettysburg Campaign is one of the more written about conflicts in the American Civil War yet for all the books and articles written about it, there are still things we have yet to learn. In Meade and Lee After Gettysburg, Jeffrey Wm Hunt explores the end of the campaign from July 14th – July 31st, 1863, as the campaign was winding down, and some of the small battles which occurred. While most books on Gettysburg do talk about these small battles, Hunt’s work strives to give us an in-depth account of what happened in those places instead of trying to sum them up in one chapter. Now there are books about the aftermath of the Battle of Gettysburg, but this one is brings a fine analysis to certain battles on the way towards Virginia.
Jeffrey William Hunt is the Director of the Texas Military Forces Museum located in Camp Mabry in Austin. He is also an Adjunct Professor of History at Austin Community College. He has a degree in government and a Masters Degree in History from the University of Texas. In 2013, he was named an honorary Admiral in the Texas Navy by Governor Rick Perry. He is the author of The Last Battle of the Civil War: Palmetto Ranch, and has also contributed to Essential Civil War Curriculum, the Revised Handbook of Texas, and the Gale Library of Daily Life: American Civil War.
As I stated in the introduction, most books on the Gettysburg Campaign cover the end of the conflict with a simple chapter chronicling Lee’s escape into Virginia while only mentioning a few battles on the way. Hunt’s work looks to fix that. Throughout the work, Hunt starts to describe these final moves from Gettysburg to Culpepper Court House as a grand game of chess, which I thought was quite provoking on thinking of these weeks. The mindset of George Meade presented here was fascinating. There are some authors who just give the impression that once Meade won the Battle of Gettysburg, he was finished with the task at hand, but Hunt says otherwise. Meade attempted to outthink his enemy, push towards certain points of the map which would not seem usual. He wanted to trap Lee and bring that victory which the high ranking officials in Washington so wanted to see. The narrative in the work shows that strategy playing out in the mind of Meade with great fascination. I also enjoyed the narrative when it came to General Lee and his men, defeated, yet still trying to make their way across the Potomac, back into Virginia. From the Battle of Falling Waters in 1863, to the Culpeper Court House, these conflicts are analyzed to a solid point, using the Official Records, regimental histories, and other primary sources to such a finite point, that the research within this book is amazing.
I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the Battle of Gettysburg. This is the book which should be read after reading any work about that seminal battle. The narrative is striking, the maps are well drawn and beautiful, and the research is top notch. Jeffrey Wm Hunt should be praised for his work here and I cannot wait to see what else he is working on.

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

This volume fills a gap in the Gettysburg historiography. I know, I know. You're probably wondering if we need another book about the Eastern theater's largest battle. But, having read this, I am convinced there is still more to tell about Gettysburg. An interesting tidbit: this is actually 1 of 3 books from this author; the manuscript was divided up due to its length. Having enjoyed this instalment, I look forward to the other books. A very good effort and well worth the time spent.

[Josh Liller · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book looks at the forgotten last stage of the Gettysburg Campaign. In the aftermath of the escape of Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia across the Potomac at Falling Waters and Williamsport, George Meade's Army of the Potomac sought to flank Lee and trap part of the ANV in the lower Shenandoah Valley.

Hunt does a good job covering the events of the campaign, including small battles at Shepherdstown and Manassas Gap. Meade comes off looking cautious to a fault, although the constraints he was operating under (including logistical difficulties) are acknowledged.

Strongly recommended for Civil War buffs.

This is planned to be the first in a trilogy by the other, with the subsequent volumes covering August-October 1863 (including the Bristoe Campaign) and November onward (including the Mine Run Campaign). I look forward to the others.

[Rebecca Alcantara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anti Meade Bias

This is a standard dismissal of George Gordon Meade’s generalship that ruins an otherwise fine telling of the movements and challenges of pursuing an army through mountain passes. Like a Monday night quarter back he sees only the possibilities of some grand strategic offensive which he cannot articulate himself yet confidently concludes Meade was incapable of navigating. Easy to contend since Lee did get away but still, a simplistic mindset and a one dimensional presentation of Meade and his army, I think poorly supported by the facts and light on military context with respect to pursuits in mountainous terrains.
The premise that Meade was ineffective rests first on the fact that he did not bring Lee to battle at Williamsport. He thanks Kent Masterson Brown in his acknowledgments but one wonders if he read his book. The author concludes: “A potential (and it is important to stress that word) opportunity to destroy Lee at Williamsport had been squandered, and the chance to potentially cut off and wreck a portion of his army in the Valley was also missed. An even greater and more realistic chance to beat the Rebels to the Rappahannock or Rapidan was lost as well.”
The author simply ignores recent scholarship by both Kent Masterson Brown (read his description of entrenchments pg. 310-312) and Eric Wittenberg on the pursuit after Gettysburg. Starting with the erroneous and tired premise that Meade “squandered” an opportunity to defeat Lee at Williamsport is a poor place to start the narrative and he keeps using this to bolster his argument that Meade was a cautious, general who “took counsel of his fears” and had no strategic vision. I was very disappointed with the author’s intrusive assessment of a general in command of his army for just three days, who then fought and won a bloody victory over the Civil War’s most audacious and aggressive general that, even with Grant at the helm, was not defeated until eighteen months later. There is very little military appreciation for the comparative ease of escaping in general. One could ask why Grant and Sherman did not pursue the Confederates immediately after Shiloh having been reinforced by Buell or why Grant stopped pursuing Bragg after Chattanooga, for that matter.
I respectfully recognize the author’s research and skill of presentation but I submit his assessments were too heavy handed.

[Tim Armstrong · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's fine. I don't buy the arguments the author makes about the dates covered being part of the Gettysburg Campaign, but he made the arguments well. You can tell he did his research.

Very biased against George Meade which is quite strange and I think goes against the flow of modern analysis. I think the reader would be better served by reading Meade at Gettysburg: A Study in Command which is a fantastic study.

[Stephen Morrissey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gettysburg has cast a long shadow over the operations of the US and Confederate armies in its wake. Beyond Robert E. Lee's escape across the Potomac at Williamsport, and President Lincoln's extreme disgust at General George Meade being unable to bag all or part of the Army of Northern Virginia before it left Northern soil, little has been written about the time between the Williamsport escape and the opening of the Overland Campaign in 1864.

Jeffrey Hunt seeks to delve into the void with a careful, plodding, and detailed account of US and Confederate movements in July 1863. Hunt makes the case that the danger to the Army of Northern Virginia did not cease at the point of crossing the Potomac. Rather, Hunt argues, General Meade sacrificed multiple opportunities to batter Lee because of a belief that his army needed to rest and reorganize after the Gettysburg ordeal and the common malady among US generals in the Civil War: a fear of what Lee might do to their army. Hunt is relatively harsh on Meade, arguing that if he had pressed further into the Manassas Gap in late July 1863, he may have captured or battered up to a third of the Army of Northern Virginia. Alas, the Army of Northern Virginia did not cooperate, with General Ewell performing extraordinary service in extricating his corps. If the Army of Northern Virginia was thought to be a bedraggled force slouching towards Richmond, the retreat past the Potomac to the Rapahannock put an end to that notion.

Hunt's book is more for the Civil War enthusiast than casual reader, as it does not have the luxury of a bloody battle or high-stakes political drama of better-known campaigns like Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, etc. However, Hunt's analysis is superb in demonstrating just how important the aftermath of Gettysburg was to the conclusion, or lack thereof, of the War.

[Rick Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jeffrey Hunt's book details the events following General Lee's crossing the Potomac River with the Army of Northern Virginia followed by General Meade and the Army of the Potomac. His book dovetails well with One Continuous Fight, The Retreat from Gettysburg and the Pursuit of Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, July 4-14, 1863 (Wittenburg, Petruzzi, and Nugent). Essentially, Hunt picks up where they left off.

Like many others, I believed the Gettysburg Campaign concluded on July 14th, 1863. But Hunt's explanation of the movement and battles between the Union and Confederate soldiers changed my mind. I now see that the Gettysburg Campaign concluded once the Army of Northern Virginia returned to their original positions along the Rappahannock River in Northern Virginia.

I've studied the Gettysburg Campaign for several years and I appreciate the material presented in Hunt's book, including the actions of George Custer, and the descriptions of Meade's over caution. In 2015 I traced the Army of Northern Virginia's retreat from Gettysburg to Williamsport, Maryland. I've also had the opportunity to visit many of the areas described in Hunt's book which added to my reading pleasure and understanding of the battles. I recommend this book for anyone who is familiar with the Gettysburg Campaign. For those who have a cursory understanding of the campaign or none at all, they may become frustrated because Hunt's book is the end of the story. My encouragement for those individuals is to read the good books on Gettysburg first and then come back to Hunt's work.

[Corey Bourne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Little known battles and maneuvering that set the stage for Grant vs Lee

Loved the first book in this series and already to continue the next two. The history books make it sound like Lee lost and magically showed up on the Rappahannock River to battle Grant during the overland campaign. This book was a quick read with lots of detail and step by step movement by each force. Highly recommended.

[Paul Womack · Rating 4 out of 5]

A chronological account of an army in retreat and an army in pursuit. The book focuses on several clashes in the gaps of the Blue Ridge, as the two armies, in one case, sought to get home and the other to stop it. I am not sure Meade could have done any better than he did, in spite of critiques to the contrary.

[W Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book to be very well researched and written. The author makes a very strong case that the Gettysburg Campaign did not end until the two armies arrived back to the approximate place where they began the campaign. It is the first book in a trilogy on Meade and Lee that covers their efforts from July through November of 1863. It is groundbreaking in its topic and well worth reading.

[Bob Kroner · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good telling of two oft ignored weeks.

Highly recommended. Doesn't quite give Meade the benefit of having the tougher tactical nut to crack it nevertheless does illuminate actions to often ignored.

[William Olenick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well researched and written book on the little known or explored end of the Gettysburg Campaign. If the continued telling of Jeffrey Hunt on the summer and fall of 1863 are like this one, there is a lot to look forward to.

[JeffParrotte · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the action that took place in this time period was significant and is worth discussing, the detail put into ultimately small-scale actions suggests that, perhaps, this could have been consolidated into a couple of chapters instead of a full length work.

[Dave Scrip · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hunt writes an excellent well researched volume. Hunt clearly explains strategic movements without boring you with details. In fact his well written paragraphs place you as if you are there. I look forward to reading his next two books in his series of the aftermath of the battle of Gettysburg. I highly recommend to serious readers of the civil war and the novices.