Buying off of him. Chris has been my coauthor. He has been the editor in chief of emerging civil war. He is the face of emerging civil war and without him we would not be here at stephenson ridge. We were not have the great cast of characters that have come up here. And i would not be where i am professionally without chris. For those of you who know me i love what i do and without him i would not be at the civil war trust. I really appreciate his support. Chris is about to speak to you about his book about the battle of North Anna River. Strike them a blow, he will get into that. And this campaign is part of the third battle in the overland 1864 campaign toward richmond and petersburg. Lee and grant and follow the battle the spotsylvania courthouse here on the spotsylvania battlefield. I want to introduce my good friend, the editor in chief of emerging civil war, dr. Chris makowski. [applause] chris im the a face made for radio, i do not know what he is talking about. I am going to mo
Casualties in getting to the same place. They maintain great hope lee would triumph. Certain that lee and his men would somehow inflict a fatal blow to the norths willingness to fight. In the union army that june, soldiers saw the spires of richmond just eight miles away. Union soldiers, too, gained hope from that. But recognized, too, how hard those last eight miles would be. A pennsylvania soldier wrote of the moment, in the prospects, theres a magic influence in the expression as it passes from lip to lip. Eight miles from richmond, boys. Only eight miles from richmond. What treasure, what a restored peaceful happy in the United Country and the a free government can pay for the precious blood that must be shed in the inexpressible sufferings that must be endured before this short distance can be accomplished. That pennsylvanian could not likely have imagined just how painful the answer to that question would be. We hope that you will join us, the staff here at fredericksburg and pos
The casualties were astounding, a stouinstounding to soldiers, generals and those left back home. Amidst the staggering losses at cole harbor, for every soldier killed, wounded or captured, there was a family. Mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, sons, daughters that also felt the loss. The loss of the men that fell at cole harbor in the spring of 1864 reverb rasreverberated thr kmunlts a communities across the north and south. The battlegrounds left indelible kbag impacts on the living left behind. So, too, were the believes of the men who fought that bloody spring. Indeed, in spite of so many lost lives, those believes and ideas about nation, government and home became even more deeply enslie enshrined in the hearts and minds of those left to fight on tonight to reflect upon and learn from today. Writing soon after the war with a perspective on hindsight. Sally putnam came to believe that in its own unique way, cole harbor had been a landmark event in the 1866 Campaign Across Central
Been going on for some three years. Massive casualties and losses. Tremendous disaffection in the north with the war. It looked like it would go on forever. Abraham lincoln, of course, is up for reelection. Its important to have battlefield victories for the north and its important to win battles in virginia. Virginia is still the preserve of robert e. Lee and the storied army of Northern Virginia. So lincoln brings east his best general, thats going to be ulysses s. Grant, the general who won all the battles in the west. And he gives grant a basically a twopart requirement. First, to bring organization, to bring continuity to the union war effort. And secondly, to defeat the army of Northern Virginia. And grant goes about making it possible to carry out that charge with a vengeance. First he puts together a program, unlike any that the war has yet seen. He realized that up to this point, battles would last a couple of days, and then the armies would pull apart for months. Grant would
To a pleasant day agenda. Its called political correctness. Its nonsense. You cannot alter the past. You can only learn from it. And believe me, history is the best teacher any of you will ever have. So we have to look back to see where were going, and there is no other guide. So today we look back at the wilderness. We look back with all with reverence and installation. What those men in the north and south gave we all share. We must treasure those sacrifices always as being among our richest possessions. May god continue to bless this land we all call our home. Thank you. [ applause ] [ applause ] the incredible violence of 1864 reflected the immense stakes, and the men in both armies recognized that connection. Before 1864, soldiers might have been under fire for eight hours during an entire year. During the overland campaign, they were sometimes under fire for eight hours or more in a single day. On may 12th, 1864, walter battle of the fourth North Carolina fought just a few hundre