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Civil War America
A Campaign of Giants—The Battle for Petersburg, Vol. 1: From the Crossing of the James to the Crater
Grinding, bloody, and ultimately decisive, the Petersburg Campaign was the Civil War's longest and among its most complex. Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee squared off for more than nine months in their struggle for Petersburg, the key to the Confederate capital at Richmond. Featuring some of the war's most notorious battles, the campaign played out against a backdrop of political drama and crucial fighting elsewhere, with massive costs for soldiers and civilians alike. After failing to bull his way into Petersburg, Grant concentrated on isolating the city from its communications with the rest of the surviving Confederacy, stretching Lee's defenses to the breaking point. When Lee's desperate breakout attempt failed in March 1865, Grant launched his final offensives that forced the Confederates to abandon the city on April 2, 1865. A week later, Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House.
Here A. Wilson Greene opens his sweeping new three-volume history of the Petersburg Campaign, taking readers from Grant's crossing of the James in mid-June 1864 to the fateful Battle of the Crater on July 30. Full of fresh insights drawn from military, political, and social history, A Campaign of Giants is destined to be the definitive account of the campaign. With new perspectives on operational and tactical choices by commanders, the experiences of common soldiers and civilians, and the significant role of the United States Colored Troops in the fighting, this book offers essential reading for all those interested in the history of the Civil War.
Here A. Wilson Greene opens his sweeping new three-volume history of the Petersburg Campaign, taking readers from Grant's crossing of the James in mid-June 1864 to the fateful Battle of the Crater on July 30. Full of fresh insights drawn from military, political, and social history, A Campaign of Giants is destined to be the definitive account of the campaign. With new perspectives on operational and tactical choices by commanders, the experiences of common soldiers and civilians, and the significant role of the United States Colored Troops in the fighting, this book offers essential reading for all those interested in the history of the Civil War.
712 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2018
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December 22, 2020
The Battle of the Crater has to be one of the most... um... ludicrous battles ever fought. It is the making of an Adam Sandler Civil War movie.
Most people who are familiar with the Battle of Petersburg only know of that battle because of the Crater.
For those who are not familiar, the Union Army tried to dig a tunnel under the Confederate lines and blow it up. While, they succeeded in destroying the Confederate lines, the battle turned into one of the biggest military blunders of the Civil War.
This book is a monumental work the climax of the book is the Crater.
Most people who are familiar with the Battle of Petersburg only know of that battle because of the Crater.
For those who are not familiar, the Union Army tried to dig a tunnel under the Confederate lines and blow it up. While, they succeeded in destroying the Confederate lines, the battle turned into one of the biggest military blunders of the Civil War.
This book is a monumental work the climax of the book is the Crater.
October 28, 2019
It is a bit of a rarity to come across a book that has the ability to hit all the necessary items needed to be a truly great read. Scholarship of a high quality, excellent and varied prose, astute and thoughtful analysis, the ability to convey life and human drama into the subject, while never losing sight of the grander picture. And when discussing military history, the ability to discern the operational from the strategic, the and explain the nuances, the ebb and flow, of the tactical encounters.
A Campaign of Giants by A. Wilson Greene is just such a book, however. In fact, it is easily the best book written on any aspect of the War Between the States in the last decade.
This is the first of a proposed trilogy (really hoping he is able to finish it) detailing, in exhaustive though not dull detail, the entirety of the enormous scope of the operations around Petersburg and Richmond from June 1864 to April of 1865.
As one would expect, the first part of the book sets the stage, detailing and analyzing the Overland Campaign from the Wilderness to Comd Harbor, and coming to some conclusions, already, as to which command team, Federal or Rebel, was more effective than the other.
In fact, this book, while not polemical, is not afraid to judge harshly any of the major commanders when it is so warranted, however, in these pages it is most definitely Grant's star which gets tarnished. Greene, while not one to saint Lee, is also not a man to do the same to Grant, and he predominantly judges General Ulysses S. Grant harshly in these pages.
Following the conclusion of the Cold Harbor tragedy, Greene goes into some detail on the Federals crossing of the James, stealing a march on Lee (also utilizing one of the largest pontoon bridges in military history), and coming very close to catching the commander of the Richmond and Petersburg defenses, Beauregarde, in a vise. Rather unusually for a study of Petersburg, Butler's Army of the James has considerable page space devoted to it, as does the Army of the James' attempts to seize Petersburg before the majority of the Army of the Potomac arrives.
At this juncture of the campaign, Butler is performing better than Grant and Meade on the Federal side, and Beauregarde is outshining Lee who is north at this point, not convinced that Grant is now largely below, and trying to get behind him. The story of the First Battle of Petersburg is very well told indeed, in fact it is probably the most exciting portion of the book. The Federals advance with overwhelming numbers and firepower, but Beauregarde skillfully delays them and bleeds them while falling back, for a couple of days, until Lee finally realizes he has been had, and frantically races to occupy a final defensive line in front of Petersburg.
Lee's veterans arrive in the nick of time, managing to blow to bloody tatters Grant's main assault on the 18th.
Petersburg was not a siege, rather it was a complex series of operations, largely centered on the Confederate right flank, that involved earthworks and elaborate trench systems following an initial period of maneuver to contact. Although Grant does succeed in extending Lee's right, he suffers several humbling tactical disasters at the hands of A.P. Hill's III Corps which manages to counterpunch deftly and at the precise spot to cause a panic in the entire Federal force.
Greene, like I said earlier, does not treat Grant too kindly here. He does make an excellent point, however. Via his continuous stream of offensive operations, against entrenched or well positioned Confederate forces, he has literally eroded the combat effectiveness of the Army of the Potomac. While true, he has bled Lee's Army as well, and taken its ability to seize the initiative, by maintaining the initiative himself, Grant is literally destroying the largest Union Army, and it does teeter on the brink of ultimate defeat throughout this stage of the campaign.
The Rebels are far from rendered tactically or even operationally ineffective. In fact, Greene makes very clear throughout that the Southern soldier is not only still dangerous, due to the collapsing cohesion and command efficiency of the lower tier in the AoP, Lee's men might be more combat effective, despite all that they have been through as well, than Grant and Meade's men. Greene blows up the notion that Lee fatalistically accepted defeat once the Petersburg operations began. Instead Greene shows a General and overall Army command team that, while bruised, is still near the top of their game, their string of impressive tactical, and operational successes on the right flank below Petersburg attest to this.
The center piece of the book is the infamous Crater. I stated that the most exciting portion of the book was First Petersburg, and it still holds true. It isn't that there isn't excitement attached to the Crater operation, it is that it's culmination was so gruesomely gory, and brutal in the extreme, that it would be a sin to describe the reading of such a malign slaughter of humanity as exciting.
Greene here spends a lot of his time discussing the controversies surrounding the Federal planning of the operation, the use of the USCT and how they were put in, as well as the distrust between Burnside and Meade which helped doom the operation. It didn't help that Grant was almost lethargic at this juncture, and offered almost no constructive guidance to anyone during the running up to the assault.
The assault itself, following the terrific blast of the mine dug beneath the Rebel trenches (which had to have been the largest explosion on the continent up to that time), is intricately described, as are the Confederate counterattacks which eventually win the day. However, so is the brutality.
The presence of Black troops inflamed the passions of the Rebels, who always saw Union use of Black men as attempts at starting a slave insurrection and ethnic cleansing against Whites. This fear dates back to the South's horror at the details of the Haitian revolt against Napoleon decades earlier, an international event that helped mold Southern culture. Even the average Rebel, too poor to be a slaveowner, was inculcated from a young age with a deep seated terror at the idea of a slave uprising, and the sight of the USCT of Burnside's IX Corps enraged them accordingly. However, the Federal Black troops were likewise not in a quarter giving mood as the news of the events at Fort Pillow stirred up their passions, and many Rebels excused their subsequent behavior by stating, accurately, that the Black troops themselves went into battle shouting "no quarter".
All of that to say that the ensuing struggle was about as gruesomely bloody as one could imagine, with truly heart wrenching first person accounts filling the pages of the slaughter and blood flecked fury that overtook both sides. While I had read it before, though in less detail, the accounting of White Yankees killing their Black comrades so as to avoid the wrath of the victorious Confederates is still jaw dropping. Had Rebel General William Mahone not demanded an end to the savage killing, imploring his men to cease killing surrendered Black men in the name of humanity, one wonders if there would have been any Black survivors at all.
The book ends on a low note for the Federals, and a definite low scoring analysis on Grant's leadership thus far in the campaign.
It's hard to argue Greene's assertions having read this massive, yet beautiful tome. As Meade himself would say in a letter to his wife: "matters here are becoming complicated."
A Campaign of Giants by A. Wilson Greene is just such a book, however. In fact, it is easily the best book written on any aspect of the War Between the States in the last decade.
This is the first of a proposed trilogy (really hoping he is able to finish it) detailing, in exhaustive though not dull detail, the entirety of the enormous scope of the operations around Petersburg and Richmond from June 1864 to April of 1865.
As one would expect, the first part of the book sets the stage, detailing and analyzing the Overland Campaign from the Wilderness to Comd Harbor, and coming to some conclusions, already, as to which command team, Federal or Rebel, was more effective than the other.
In fact, this book, while not polemical, is not afraid to judge harshly any of the major commanders when it is so warranted, however, in these pages it is most definitely Grant's star which gets tarnished. Greene, while not one to saint Lee, is also not a man to do the same to Grant, and he predominantly judges General Ulysses S. Grant harshly in these pages.
Following the conclusion of the Cold Harbor tragedy, Greene goes into some detail on the Federals crossing of the James, stealing a march on Lee (also utilizing one of the largest pontoon bridges in military history), and coming very close to catching the commander of the Richmond and Petersburg defenses, Beauregarde, in a vise. Rather unusually for a study of Petersburg, Butler's Army of the James has considerable page space devoted to it, as does the Army of the James' attempts to seize Petersburg before the majority of the Army of the Potomac arrives.
At this juncture of the campaign, Butler is performing better than Grant and Meade on the Federal side, and Beauregarde is outshining Lee who is north at this point, not convinced that Grant is now largely below, and trying to get behind him. The story of the First Battle of Petersburg is very well told indeed, in fact it is probably the most exciting portion of the book. The Federals advance with overwhelming numbers and firepower, but Beauregarde skillfully delays them and bleeds them while falling back, for a couple of days, until Lee finally realizes he has been had, and frantically races to occupy a final defensive line in front of Petersburg.
Lee's veterans arrive in the nick of time, managing to blow to bloody tatters Grant's main assault on the 18th.
Petersburg was not a siege, rather it was a complex series of operations, largely centered on the Confederate right flank, that involved earthworks and elaborate trench systems following an initial period of maneuver to contact. Although Grant does succeed in extending Lee's right, he suffers several humbling tactical disasters at the hands of A.P. Hill's III Corps which manages to counterpunch deftly and at the precise spot to cause a panic in the entire Federal force.
Greene, like I said earlier, does not treat Grant too kindly here. He does make an excellent point, however. Via his continuous stream of offensive operations, against entrenched or well positioned Confederate forces, he has literally eroded the combat effectiveness of the Army of the Potomac. While true, he has bled Lee's Army as well, and taken its ability to seize the initiative, by maintaining the initiative himself, Grant is literally destroying the largest Union Army, and it does teeter on the brink of ultimate defeat throughout this stage of the campaign.
The Rebels are far from rendered tactically or even operationally ineffective. In fact, Greene makes very clear throughout that the Southern soldier is not only still dangerous, due to the collapsing cohesion and command efficiency of the lower tier in the AoP, Lee's men might be more combat effective, despite all that they have been through as well, than Grant and Meade's men. Greene blows up the notion that Lee fatalistically accepted defeat once the Petersburg operations began. Instead Greene shows a General and overall Army command team that, while bruised, is still near the top of their game, their string of impressive tactical, and operational successes on the right flank below Petersburg attest to this.
The center piece of the book is the infamous Crater. I stated that the most exciting portion of the book was First Petersburg, and it still holds true. It isn't that there isn't excitement attached to the Crater operation, it is that it's culmination was so gruesomely gory, and brutal in the extreme, that it would be a sin to describe the reading of such a malign slaughter of humanity as exciting.
Greene here spends a lot of his time discussing the controversies surrounding the Federal planning of the operation, the use of the USCT and how they were put in, as well as the distrust between Burnside and Meade which helped doom the operation. It didn't help that Grant was almost lethargic at this juncture, and offered almost no constructive guidance to anyone during the running up to the assault.
The assault itself, following the terrific blast of the mine dug beneath the Rebel trenches (which had to have been the largest explosion on the continent up to that time), is intricately described, as are the Confederate counterattacks which eventually win the day. However, so is the brutality.
The presence of Black troops inflamed the passions of the Rebels, who always saw Union use of Black men as attempts at starting a slave insurrection and ethnic cleansing against Whites. This fear dates back to the South's horror at the details of the Haitian revolt against Napoleon decades earlier, an international event that helped mold Southern culture. Even the average Rebel, too poor to be a slaveowner, was inculcated from a young age with a deep seated terror at the idea of a slave uprising, and the sight of the USCT of Burnside's IX Corps enraged them accordingly. However, the Federal Black troops were likewise not in a quarter giving mood as the news of the events at Fort Pillow stirred up their passions, and many Rebels excused their subsequent behavior by stating, accurately, that the Black troops themselves went into battle shouting "no quarter".
All of that to say that the ensuing struggle was about as gruesomely bloody as one could imagine, with truly heart wrenching first person accounts filling the pages of the slaughter and blood flecked fury that overtook both sides. While I had read it before, though in less detail, the accounting of White Yankees killing their Black comrades so as to avoid the wrath of the victorious Confederates is still jaw dropping. Had Rebel General William Mahone not demanded an end to the savage killing, imploring his men to cease killing surrendered Black men in the name of humanity, one wonders if there would have been any Black survivors at all.
The book ends on a low note for the Federals, and a definite low scoring analysis on Grant's leadership thus far in the campaign.
It's hard to argue Greene's assertions having read this massive, yet beautiful tome. As Meade himself would say in a letter to his wife: "matters here are becoming complicated."
January 3, 2025
A hard book for me to rate. My first book is on the battle covered in this tome's opening chapters. Greene left me a negative review and while Thomas Howe gets the sobriquet "historian" I am merely referred to "the most recent student of the campaign" when I am mentioned here. I don't even get a name-drop. It's funny since I mostly agree with Howe, who wrote the first book. That said, I will take a crack at this book all the same. I just wanted to be upfront.
Greene's strengths are considerable. The prose is good without being purple. The research is strong. Most of the command analysis is solid. Grant and Meade are raked over the coals, as they should be. This period of the war was in many ways their military low point. The best part is Greene's dissection of orders and messages, that being their intent, when they were received, and how they influenced events. We could all learn from Greene in this regard. He might be the very best at it.
That said, the more I read it, the more certain ticks got to me. The organization is sometimes confusing. The maps are decent, but not stellar. Greene is too easy on Lee (I suspect this is the heart of where he did not like my book based on his review and what I read here). He certainly damns Beauregard with faint praise, a tall order considering the magnitude of his victory at Petersburg, both in terms of how it influenced the course of the war and the skill Beauregard showed in battling back the Federals. The fighting at Jerusalem Plank Road is not described in nearly as much detail as the other actions. Lastly, there is no conclusion. The Crater is retaken and that is all. None of the above cripples the book. It has far too many virtues and compares well with the literature on Petersburg. I look forward to volume II. What the above though prevents it from being is a true classic, of which it was so damn close.
Greene's strengths are considerable. The prose is good without being purple. The research is strong. Most of the command analysis is solid. Grant and Meade are raked over the coals, as they should be. This period of the war was in many ways their military low point. The best part is Greene's dissection of orders and messages, that being their intent, when they were received, and how they influenced events. We could all learn from Greene in this regard. He might be the very best at it.
That said, the more I read it, the more certain ticks got to me. The organization is sometimes confusing. The maps are decent, but not stellar. Greene is too easy on Lee (I suspect this is the heart of where he did not like my book based on his review and what I read here). He certainly damns Beauregard with faint praise, a tall order considering the magnitude of his victory at Petersburg, both in terms of how it influenced the course of the war and the skill Beauregard showed in battling back the Federals. The fighting at Jerusalem Plank Road is not described in nearly as much detail as the other actions. Lastly, there is no conclusion. The Crater is retaken and that is all. None of the above cripples the book. It has far too many virtues and compares well with the literature on Petersburg. I look forward to volume II. What the above though prevents it from being is a true classic, of which it was so damn close.
August 24, 2023
Hmm. 3 stars will do for this book I guess, because I appreciate the intense research and dedication the author obviously has to the subject. However it's dry, dry, dry. I found myself zoning out multiple times throughout. If you are not a Civil War aficionado, the this is not the book for you. You really need to love the subject to get this far into the minutia.
I could have given this 2.5 stars and it probably where I'm leaning more, just because of how dry the product turned out to be. There's a subtle pro-Confederate bias in this as well that I did not appreciate. The Union generals can do no good, and the Confederate generals seem to get off scot-free in this work. There were mistakes made by Grant, Meade, Hancock, Burnside et. al., but the sheer negativity towards them got old.
So buyer beware? Lots of people seem to like this book but it wasn't for me. It's the first volume of a promised trilogy, but I cannot see myself continuing on if/when those books are ever published. There's mountains of other Civil War books for me to dive into.
I could have given this 2.5 stars and it probably where I'm leaning more, just because of how dry the product turned out to be. There's a subtle pro-Confederate bias in this as well that I did not appreciate. The Union generals can do no good, and the Confederate generals seem to get off scot-free in this work. There were mistakes made by Grant, Meade, Hancock, Burnside et. al., but the sheer negativity towards them got old.
So buyer beware? Lots of people seem to like this book but it wasn't for me. It's the first volume of a promised trilogy, but I cannot see myself continuing on if/when those books are ever published. There's mountains of other Civil War books for me to dive into.
December 15, 2024
The Petersburg Campaign was a long and brutal campaign. For months, a series of battles scarred the landscapes of Petersburg and took the lives of thousands of men and leaving many wounded. It was Ulysses S. Grant attempt to cut off Robert E. Lee's supply line and also Richmond's. A. Wilson Greene's book covers only a part of the Petersburg Campaign. The book begins with lost opportunities by the Union and ends with the disastrous attack on the most famous part of the campaign: The Crater.
I commend Greene for writing this book. Petersburg was an important campaign, but there is not much out there. The few books I read were not satisfying because they were too basic. This book was a good attempt. Having said that, the book dragged at times. That is my only negative about this book although, I must admit, this is not an easy campaign to write about and Greene deserves a lot of respect for writing this book.
I commend Greene for writing this book. Petersburg was an important campaign, but there is not much out there. The few books I read were not satisfying because they were too basic. This book was a good attempt. Having said that, the book dragged at times. That is my only negative about this book although, I must admit, this is not an easy campaign to write about and Greene deserves a lot of respect for writing this book.
October 9, 2021
The first volume in what is shaping up to be the best detailed series about the Petersburg Campaign, this book does not disappoint. The author takes us on an epic journey through the dark days of 1864. We get to meet many of the protagonists, not just Grant and Lee. The narrative is lively, nuanced and highly readable. If you are a Civil War neophyte, this book is probably not for you. But if you bleed blue and gray, give it a shot. I thoroughly enjoyed it and am counting down the days till the release of volume 2.
October 11, 2019
The first of a prospective three volumes covering the Siege of Petersburg, the oft-ignored, underappreciated, and honestly tough-to-understand penultimate campaign of the Civil War. This book covers a very limited time frame immediately following the end of Grant's Overland Campaign, which itself has been admirably covered in Gordon Rhea's five volumes, whose On to Petersburg neatly dovetails with the beginning of Greene's volume, with only a small overlap. And actually, Greene's first volume reads like a sequel to Rhea's series.
The 516 pages of actual text in the book carry the reader from the middle of June 1864 when Grant's forces cross the James River in a fairly daring operation for the era, until the end of July 1864 at the infamous Battle of the Crater. So, a fairly high page count to days of history, but Greene does not disappoint. His style tends more to the first-person and tactical view of the battles of the time, and his command of the original sources shine through. One huge complement I will make to the author is his regular inclusion of detailed maps, 34 in total, which ease the reader's understanding immensely; they are conveniently placed in line with the narrative, generally avoiding the necessity to flip back and forth to figure out what is happening where.
I brought up Gordon Rhea's five volumes on the Overland Campaign because the one thing that Greene does not do is provide much setup to the beginnings of the Siege of Petersburg. The reader is expected to either be familiar with the preceding campaign or have no interest in how the Union Army came to find itself on the southern side of the James River, twenty miles south of Richmond. Admittedly this is a university press published book from UNC, so perhaps this is not unexpected. And I certainly laud the author for not being afraid to assume a reader will spend some time, if they find it necessary, to fill in any gaps in the history of the war prior to the commencement of the siege.
Greene also avoids an extensive discussion of the grand strategy of the North's overarching war plan, though Grant at this time was one of its architects. This is also not an operational history where the units throughout the theater are discussed, except insofar as they directly contribute to the Petersburg campaign.
All in all, there is a great deal to like with Greene's ambitious first volume on the closing campaign of the Civil War. He is incredibly well-versed in the history and does a wonderful job putting the battles in the perspective of those that lived through them in place of dry narrative history. I look forward to the next two volumes of this series.
The 516 pages of actual text in the book carry the reader from the middle of June 1864 when Grant's forces cross the James River in a fairly daring operation for the era, until the end of July 1864 at the infamous Battle of the Crater. So, a fairly high page count to days of history, but Greene does not disappoint. His style tends more to the first-person and tactical view of the battles of the time, and his command of the original sources shine through. One huge complement I will make to the author is his regular inclusion of detailed maps, 34 in total, which ease the reader's understanding immensely; they are conveniently placed in line with the narrative, generally avoiding the necessity to flip back and forth to figure out what is happening where.
I brought up Gordon Rhea's five volumes on the Overland Campaign because the one thing that Greene does not do is provide much setup to the beginnings of the Siege of Petersburg. The reader is expected to either be familiar with the preceding campaign or have no interest in how the Union Army came to find itself on the southern side of the James River, twenty miles south of Richmond. Admittedly this is a university press published book from UNC, so perhaps this is not unexpected. And I certainly laud the author for not being afraid to assume a reader will spend some time, if they find it necessary, to fill in any gaps in the history of the war prior to the commencement of the siege.
Greene also avoids an extensive discussion of the grand strategy of the North's overarching war plan, though Grant at this time was one of its architects. This is also not an operational history where the units throughout the theater are discussed, except insofar as they directly contribute to the Petersburg campaign.
All in all, there is a great deal to like with Greene's ambitious first volume on the closing campaign of the Civil War. He is incredibly well-versed in the history and does a wonderful job putting the battles in the perspective of those that lived through them in place of dry narrative history. I look forward to the next two volumes of this series.
November 1, 2018
I met Will Greene,about 30 years ago on my first civil war battlefield tour.
This book is well written and researched.
Maps are outstanding and easy to follow.
I have visited Petersburg and the Crater. Greene's book is an outstanding edition to the Petersburg Campaign books.
I highly recommend it to anyone interested in the campaign.
Word of warning,this is not a book for a person new to Civil war studies.
This book is well written and researched.
Maps are outstanding and easy to follow.
I have visited Petersburg and the Crater. Greene's book is an outstanding edition to the Petersburg Campaign books.
I highly recommend it to anyone interested in the campaign.
Word of warning,this is not a book for a person new to Civil war studies.
October 27, 2025
with the subtitle of the book promising only between the crossing of the James and the battle of the crater, this work promises to go into depths of detail largely not covered by most general civil war overviews. I expected this and respected it, knowing and seeing there was a volume 2 also out now, but then the author aims they will need at least 3 volumes and i am left anxious as to how long I'll have to wait for volume 3 (this volume came out 2019 and volume 2 in 2025).
For the other reviewers claiming this is somehow whitewashed or biased towards the Confederates I honestly cannot see how or maybe they rushed to this judgment before reaching the Crater battle itself.
None of what the author write about Grant suggests any real incompetence or possible drunkenness, and the immense amount of direct quotations from Confederates using not just the n word but incredibly violent almost fetishist fantasy about massacring captured black soldiers. Towards the end, the descriptions of how black soldiers were treated by Confederate soldiers (as well as a previous mention of the Fort Pillow massacre) makes it very clear just what these people thought and how the idea that "slavery would eventually die out if the south was just left alone" was a complete delusion.
my biggest issue with this book however is the very messy chronology it follows. the initial movement period over the James and the first two skirmishes at Petersburg from between June 4 and June 22 are hopped between with no respect for chronological consistency so it becomes incredibly easy to get lost as to where events stand in the narrative, as you get told of events happening on June 18th only to then hear about June 15th events only to return to June 18th but then skip ahead to June 22 and 23 only to now go back to June 15th.
this becomes a bigger issue when it comes time for the Crater, as the inconsistent chronology even creates some factual errors that I can only hope were grammatical mistakes or else me misinterpreting the words, as at one point we're told that digging work began for the crater on June 30th or so, only to hear that the idea was only conceived of around July 1st or 2nd, or that diggers used the July 4th celebrations to hide their digging noises but then also that Grant only agreed to move forward with the project after July 4th.
this sort of back and forth inconsistency with dates seems extremely minor (especially when covering major singular events like the battle of the crater itself) but when a chapter is covering a period of a few weeks or a month, it becomes a big mess as to what is happening when and where when you're being told ABC is happening on June Xth only to suddenly hear BCA was happening on June Xth and ABC was ordered on July Xth and CBA actually happened June Yth and ABC received orders on June Zth when they were 50 miles away.
For the other reviewers claiming this is somehow whitewashed or biased towards the Confederates I honestly cannot see how or maybe they rushed to this judgment before reaching the Crater battle itself.
None of what the author write about Grant suggests any real incompetence or possible drunkenness, and the immense amount of direct quotations from Confederates using not just the n word but incredibly violent almost fetishist fantasy about massacring captured black soldiers. Towards the end, the descriptions of how black soldiers were treated by Confederate soldiers (as well as a previous mention of the Fort Pillow massacre) makes it very clear just what these people thought and how the idea that "slavery would eventually die out if the south was just left alone" was a complete delusion.
my biggest issue with this book however is the very messy chronology it follows. the initial movement period over the James and the first two skirmishes at Petersburg from between June 4 and June 22 are hopped between with no respect for chronological consistency so it becomes incredibly easy to get lost as to where events stand in the narrative, as you get told of events happening on June 18th only to then hear about June 15th events only to return to June 18th but then skip ahead to June 22 and 23 only to now go back to June 15th.
this becomes a bigger issue when it comes time for the Crater, as the inconsistent chronology even creates some factual errors that I can only hope were grammatical mistakes or else me misinterpreting the words, as at one point we're told that digging work began for the crater on June 30th or so, only to hear that the idea was only conceived of around July 1st or 2nd, or that diggers used the July 4th celebrations to hide their digging noises but then also that Grant only agreed to move forward with the project after July 4th.
this sort of back and forth inconsistency with dates seems extremely minor (especially when covering major singular events like the battle of the crater itself) but when a chapter is covering a period of a few weeks or a month, it becomes a big mess as to what is happening when and where when you're being told ABC is happening on June Xth only to suddenly hear BCA was happening on June Xth and ABC was ordered on July Xth and CBA actually happened June Yth and ABC received orders on June Zth when they were 50 miles away.
August 13, 2020
This is a very thorough look at one of the last major campaigns of the American Civil War. The author has done an extensive amount of research to prepare this first of a planned three volume analysis of the Petersburg campaign. He reveals some very interesting aspects to the inner workings of the Union’s commanding officers. For example, he delves into the question of whether General Grant’s presence with the Army of the Potomac hinders or helps General Meade’s ability to assert unquestioned control over that army. He also explores the actions and leadership abilities of all Union Corp commanders, especially Hancock, Warren, Sheridan and Burnside along with Army of the James commander General Butler. Their decisions and abilities as well as shared responsibilities for the Union’s success didn’t always win-out over self- interest. Grant wasn’t always the master of the battlefield, Hancock wasn’t always superb, Meade, Sheridan and Warren could be quite disagreeable fellows and Burnside, well just think of Fredericksburg and you’ll understand how the Union’s Crater offensive cratered. Of course, Southern leadership made mistakes also. The sad part about these mistakes and rivalries is that ordinary soldiers paid the price for those mistakes, not the generals who blundered. The insight into these leaders and the dynamics of their relationships makes this a very interesting and informative read. In addition, the sights from the letters and diaries of the soldiers and civilians really brings to or attention how it was to experience the Civil War up close and personal.
June 10, 2020
Wow!!! The first 2/3's of the book is decent but it does drag a little bit. The last third more than makes up for this. The Battles of Deep Fathom and the Crater are as exciting as any action film that I have seen. Film directors take note. The Battle of the Crater would make a outstanding summer blockbuster. The book directly addresses the racism that is embedded in our society as the U.S. Colored Troops are front and center. Greene presents a thorough and complex but followable picture of the opening months of the Siege of Petersburg. Warning, he can be a bit hard on General U.S. Grant but he is fair. As a major fan of Grant (my previous dog was named Ulysses after him) I had to grit my teeth a few times but even our heroes can be flawed. Before reading this I would first read Gordon Rhea's Overland Campaign Series (5 books) which is one of the best history series that I have read. These books lead directly into Greene's work and Greene acknowledges Rhea's help with this book and Rhea does the same for Greene in his own work. The worst thing about Greene's book is I have no idea how long I have to wait for volume 2 (of 3).
June 1, 2020
Excellent
Having recently finished Mr. Gordon C. Rhea’s fantastic five volume set covering the Overland Campaign, I immediately went on the search for a book on the Petersburg campaign.
I then recalled that in the preface to Mr. Rhea’s final volume, he made a reference to Mr. A. Wilson Greene’s work on Petersburg and that Mr. Greene has published his first of three volumes.
With similar style and grace, Mr. Greene picks up the story with Grant crossing the James River and provides a seamless transition of the story of the Battle of Petersburg.
A true thank you to Mr. Greene (and of course Mr. Rhea) for their work and I can’t wait for volumes 2 and 3.
Having recently finished Mr. Gordon C. Rhea’s fantastic five volume set covering the Overland Campaign, I immediately went on the search for a book on the Petersburg campaign.
I then recalled that in the preface to Mr. Rhea’s final volume, he made a reference to Mr. A. Wilson Greene’s work on Petersburg and that Mr. Greene has published his first of three volumes.
With similar style and grace, Mr. Greene picks up the story with Grant crossing the James River and provides a seamless transition of the story of the Battle of Petersburg.
A true thank you to Mr. Greene (and of course Mr. Rhea) for their work and I can’t wait for volumes 2 and 3.
June 7, 2023
A well-written and well-researched whopper of a book--the first of three planned volumes covering the Petersburg Campaign by its preeminent authority. I am anxiously awaiting the next volume.
This volume culminates with the Battle of the Crater, drawing from a multitude of first-hand primary-source accounts. Even readers who think they already appreciate that brutal and nightmarish episode are likely to surprised at how horrifying it actually was.
An Order of Battle would be of great benefit to readers and I hope that one will be included in the forthcoming volumes.
This volume culminates with the Battle of the Crater, drawing from a multitude of first-hand primary-source accounts. Even readers who think they already appreciate that brutal and nightmarish episode are likely to surprised at how horrifying it actually was.
An Order of Battle would be of great benefit to readers and I hope that one will be included in the forthcoming volumes.
March 10, 2025
Book is good..easy to follow the battles and all the names etc...thrilled to have the entire campaign laid out..only thing that stuck out...there were SO. MANY qoutes from confederates at the end...maybe there are not a lot of letters from the black or white union troops..but it was a bit much.
September 18, 2019
A magnificent account of Grant's crossing the James and the many attempts to take Petersburg. This is the new non plus ultra for this subject. Excellent primary sources and a huge variety of personal accounts provides a true "you are there" atmosphere. Can't wait for the next book by Wilson Greene.
September 2, 2019
Part one, very detailed account. Perhaps too detailed for me.
November 1, 2024
Good history of the Petersburg campaign near the end of the Civil War. There will eventually be two volumes and I look forward to the second.
December 17, 2020
The book is detailed and includes some engaging descriptions, but it also has a pervasive (albeit subtle) pro-Confederacy bias that makes me question the veracity of those details and descriptions. Take the chapter on Deep Bottom, for example. The author quotes Union and Confederate sources that characterize it as a minor union victory, yet the author says that these are all wrong and that it was really a major blunder that was misunderstood by everyone involved. It's eyerollingly presumptuous to say that participants on both sides of the line, and including such a respected source as Porter Alexander, are wrong and that a historian writing over a century later knows better. You can also get a sense of the bias from the descriptions of Union commanders. They're universally described as incompetent, argumentative, or dishonest. The author seems especially eager to attack those who have a good reputation, such as Joshua Chamberlain. An exploration of personal faults could be interesting if the author attempted something similar for the Confederate commanders, who instead are usually presented as honorable masters of strategy. As a final example, it's worth noting how the author almost always takes the highest end of union casualty estimates and the lowest end of confederate casualty estimates. I can only hope that a more reliable historian covers this campaign in the future.
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