Today the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House begins, the second battle of the long Wilderness Campaign in which Union General Ulysses S. Grant, with the long term goal of capturing nearby Richmond, Virginia, the Confederate capital, attempts to outmaneuver and wear down Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. Having fought Grant to…
Anxieties North and South are high. The moment of truth is mere days to come. The United States and Confederate States, both weary of war, steel for yet another season of bloodshed and anguish. This most uncivil of wars was never expected to last this long. The public is nervous, politicians are wary, and soldier…
The Union and Confederate armies are by now in full preparation for the looming spring campaigns. While the federal Red River Campaign in Louisiana has become bogged down and Confederates have manged to regain control of Plymouth, North Carolina, Union forces, largely victorious on the battlefield since July of the year prior, clearly remain on…