Grant’s Left Hook by Sean Michael Chick Now Available

We’re pleased to announce the release of the latest book in the Emerging Civil War Series: Grant’s Left Hook: The Bermuda Hundred Campaign, May 5-June 7, 1864, by Sean Michael Chick, published by Savas Beatie (and available here). This is the 39th book in the ECW Series!

While we’re always pleased about the release of a new book, this one is especially exciting because it’s been in the works for so long. And by “in the works,” what we mean is that this book was literally ready for delivery to the printer in March 2020, but the pandemic forced all of our publishing projects to come to a screeching halt. So, unfortunately, Grant’s Left Hook sat in limbo for a long time, waiting for the publishing world to get back to normal. We’re excited that the logjam has cleared up!

The Bermuda Hundred Campaign constituted an important part of Grant’s overall grand strategy for the war in 1864 when he set the north’s armies into motion all at once in an attempt to tie down Confederates from shifting reinforcements from one theater to another. The plan for Bermuda Hundred was especially important for Grant because it served to run interference for Grant as he moved overland from the Rapidan River through Virginia’s interior.

About the Book:

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 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.

About the Author:

Sean Michael Chick is a New Orleans native and tour guide who gives one of the only guided tours of the French Quarter concentrating on the American Civil War and slavery. He also volunteers at the Historic New Orleans Collection, writes for NOLA Defender (http://www.noladefender.com/), and contributes to Emerging Civil War (www.emergingcivilwar.com). His first book was The Battle of Petersburg, June 15-18, 1864.