Grant’s Left Hook: The Bermuda Hundred Campaign, May 5-June 7, 1864

by Sean Michael Chick

Robert E. Lee feared the day the Union army would return up the James River and invest the Confederate capital of Richmond. In the spring of 1864, Ulysses Grant, looking for a way to weaken Lee, was about to exploit the Confederate commander's greatest fear and weakness. After two years of futile offensives in Virginia, the Union commander set the stage for a campaign that could decide the war. Grant sent the 38,000-man Army of The James to Bermuda Hundred, to threaten and possibly take Richmond, or at least pin down troops that could reinforce Lee. Jefferson Davis, in desperate need of a capable commander, turned to the Confederacy's first hero: Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard. Butler's 1862 occupation of New Orleans had infuriated the South, but no one more than Beauregard, a New Orleans native. This campaign would be personal. In the hot weeks of May 1864, Butler and Beauregard fought a series of skirmishes and battles to decide the fate of Richmond and Lee's army. Historian Sean Michael Chick analyzes and explains the plans, events, and repercussions of the Bermuda Hundred Campaign in Grant's Left Hook: The Bermuda Hundred Campaign, May 5-June 7, 1864. The book contains hundreds of photographs, new maps, and a fresh consideration of Grant's Virginia strategy and the generalship of Butler and Beauregard. The book is also filled with anecdotes and impressions from the rank and file who wore blue and gray.

Genres: Civil War, American Civil War

192 pages, Paperback

First published May 19, 2021

About the author

Sean Michael Chick graduated from University of New Orleans with a Bachelor of Arts in History and Communications and from Southeastern Louisiana University with a Master of Arts in History. He currently works in New Orleans, leading historic tours of his hometown and helping residents and visitors appreciate the city’s past. He is also a boardgame designer, concentrating on the period of Western warfare from 1685-1866. His main American Civil War research interests include Shiloh, the Army of Tennessee, New Orleans during the Civil War, P.G.T. Beauregard, the Petersburg Campaign, and Civil War tactics in relation to linear tactics from 1685-1866.

Reviews

[Mark Harden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chick's first book was a excellent microhistory of the Battle of Petersburg, four days from June 15-18, 1864. Here he tries to pack a full month into the tighter confines of the Emerging Civil War series. It makes for a very condensed and often confusing narrative. Granted, the campaign itself is confusing, with multiple advances and retreats. I just felt that Chick should have somehow provided a more top level overview to allow us to have a bird's eye view of everything going on. He does a good job of describing the various personalities involved along with their conflicts. It is an introductory work so it meets that goal, well illustrated and with decent maps. But now I need to move on to the definitive book on th3e campaign, "Back Door to Richmond" by Robertson.

[William Olenick · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first account of the battle in several decades. The author lays out a good account of how the campaign progressed. There are maps to help understand what is being described. The actual text is supported by numerous appendices that add to the story. There are order of battles for both sides and a tour that covers those important sites that still exist, some are parts of parks but the preservation is ungoing.

[W Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very good introduction to the Bermuda Hundred Campaign of 1864.

[John Lomnicki, · Rating 5 out of 5]

The appendix is required reading. The story of the battle and the use of photos and maps keeps the reader engaged. The appendix pulls together the entire story