We have gordon rae with us this morning. Gordon rae, did you write this part . Gordon ramsay is considered the foremost on the Overland Campaign. He has written seven. Gary gallagher who wrote . He edited it. Right. Yeah, thats right. Gordon rhea has written several Award Winning books about the american war, including cold harbor the battle, the to the north and a river the battles of spotsylvania courthouse and the road to Yellow Tavern on the petersburg and in the footsteps of grant and lee published in 2021. His most recent book is stephenie swales black Freedom Fighter in the civil war and reconstruction. Mr. Rae is lectured across the country on topics of military history and the civil war era. Hes also appeared multiple times as as historian and presenter on nationwide Television Program teams, including the History Channel channel, Discovery Channel and cspan. Lets give gordon welcome. Well, good day. Im delighted to be here. Finally. Finally, yes. Not just usual travel stuff,
Gary gallagher who wrote . He edited it. Right. Yeah, thats right. Gordon rhea has written several Award Winning books about the american war, including cold harbor the battle, the to the north and a river the battles of spotsylvania courthouse and the road to Yellow Tavern on the petersburg and in the footsteps of grant and lee published in 2021. His most recent book is stephenie swales black Freedom Fighter in the civil war and reconstruction. Mr. Rae is lectured across the country on topics of military history and the civil war era. Hes also appeared multiple times as as historian and presenter on nationwide Television Program teams, including the History Channel channel, Discovery Channel and cspan. Lets give gordon welcome. Well, good day. Im delighted to be here. Finally. Finally, yes. Not just usual travel stuff, but im particularly delighted to be here because i. I dont know how many times ive talked at this symposium, but over the few decades ive been here many times, and it a
Reporter and an editor for the associated press. His writings have received critical acclaim. His most recent book is bloody spring forty days that sealed the confederacys fate. Its getting rave the hebrews rave reviews already. A test that civil war scholars and boss will like. Please jokplease, please welcomh wheelan. [applause] thank you for inviting me. I really appreciate it. I hope youre all doing well tonight, and thank you for coming. Im here to talk about my latest book, bloody spring, which i say that it is the campaign that sealed the fate of the confederacy. The Union Campaign in virginia that i described in bloody spring spans six weeks, and may to june of 1864, exactly 150 years ago. In my book i make the case that the chain of battles fought by ulysses s. Grants army with the civil war major turning point. Are excellent books about the campaigns major battles, but usually this campaign is presented as part of a larger history of the war. Surprisingly few one volume books
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