Jubal Early’s Shenandoah Valley campaign and his attempt to make a strategic difference in Grant/Meade’s assault toward Richmond. It always amazed me how much he accomplished with so little after his command left the Eastern Virginia meat grinder.
The Overland Campaign. 30+ days of nearly non-stop fighting. Terrible carnage on both sides. Grant vowed to fight it out “if it takes all summer” – and it did. The campaign culminated with Grant’s amazing crossing of the James River and the move on Petersburg.
The exploits of Col John Mosby as he continued to evade capture and successfully harass Early and the troops stationed around Washington right up to the end of the war. My Great grandfather rode with Mosby and lived around Upperville, Virginia in his off hours.
Rosecrans’s Tullahoma Campaign in the summer of 1863 in Middle Tennessee. The complex and outstanding maneuvering forced Braxton Bragg’s Army of Tennessee back to Chattanooga. There were very few U.S. casualties, and Middle Tennessee was captured. It was a wonderful study on handling troops, culminating in the September battle of Chickamauga and the eventual siege of Chattanooga.
Hood’s Tennessee campaign. After breaking off with Sherman in Atlanta, he took the Army of Tennessee on a make or break attempt to change the direction of the War. Had Hood’s Commanders done a better job at Spring Hill, the story of that Campaign would have been much different.
The Red River Campaign in the spring of 1864 in Louisiana. Fascinating Union Army and Naval combined operation that went terribly bad for the Federals and was the last major Confederate victory in that theater of the war. A little-studied campaign.
I have to go with Grant’s plan and successful maneuvering and execution of that plan to fool Lee and get his army astride Petersburg. While a lot of fighting and dying would occur, that achievement would put Lee in the siege scenario he dreaded, and would set the stage for the ultimate destruction of Lee’s army.
At present, I have left the bloody East and am reading about the small, varied, and unsuccessful efforts by the Confederates, mainly in Texas, to recapture the Arizona Territory
As a former educator, I have been always been upset with people who don’t listen carefully enough to appropriately answer a question put to them. After reading the above comments, I am now dismayed to learn that reading skills and comprehension are in question. 1864! Answer the question you were asked! For me, it is the Overland Campaign.
My favorite campaign of 1864 to study is the Overland Campaign, for its irony. By this, I mean its 21st century irony, for Robert Lee bested Ulysses Grant in every battle of the Overland Campaign – beat him at the Wilderness, whipped him at Spotsylvania, designed defenses at the North Anna River so ingenious that he defeated Grant without a shot being fired – Grant left rather than being devastated…and went to Cold Harbor, where Lee devastated him. Lee then thwarted Grant from assaulting Richmond with his trench system. Stymied, Grant then tried to steal a march on Lee and shifted his focus to Petersburg. The troops there defeated him in the First Battle of Petersburg, Lee rushed more troops there and defeated Grant in the Second Battle of Petersburg. When the siege of the city began, Lee’s defenses thwarted Grant for the next nine months, and in the only remaining major battle of 1864 at Petersburg, Lee defeated Grant at the Battle of the Crater…and yet, 21st century historians, in one of the most stunning examples of revisionism since Mao Tse-Tung took over China, are telling Americans that Grant was a genius who kept whipping Bobby Lee every time they met, and masterminded the triumph of the Civil War. In actuality, numbers defeated Lee. Low numbers of men, food, medicine, weapons, ammunition, clothing and shoes were the demise of Lee’s army, not to mention the absurd numbers of men that Grant could throw at him. To bring the point of the irony home, when the Overland Campaign began, Lee had 65,000 men at his command…and could not replace a single one that became a casualty. Grant had 564,000 men – and could replace every one of them. Irony is rich.
i am going with ECW’s resident Giants fan on this one … it’s the 1864 Valley Campaign, which routinely gets overlooked in favor of Jackson’s in 1862 … Early was masterful in operational manuever, strategic impact, and the political headache he caused President Lincoln and the Republicans on the eve of the elections in November.
Jubal Early’s Shenandoah Valley campaign and his attempt to make a strategic difference in Grant/Meade’s assault toward Richmond. It always amazed me how much he accomplished with so little after his command left the Eastern Virginia meat grinder.
I am always intrigued by the Overland Campaign and the devastating attrition rates amongst military leadership in both armies in just a few weeks.
The Overland Campaign. 30+ days of nearly non-stop fighting. Terrible carnage on both sides. Grant vowed to fight it out “if it takes all summer” – and it did. The campaign culminated with Grant’s amazing crossing of the James River and the move on Petersburg.
Right now its the Atlanta Campaign, bloodiest campaign of the war.
The exploits of Col John Mosby as he continued to evade capture and successfully harass Early and the troops stationed around Washington right up to the end of the war. My Great grandfather rode with Mosby and lived around Upperville, Virginia in his off hours.
Rosecrans’s Tullahoma Campaign in the summer of 1863 in Middle Tennessee. The complex and outstanding maneuvering forced Braxton Bragg’s Army of Tennessee back to Chattanooga. There were very few U.S. casualties, and Middle Tennessee was captured. It was a wonderful study on handling troops, culminating in the September battle of Chickamauga and the eventual siege of Chattanooga.
All parts of the 1864 Valley Campaign.
PA Campaign! Great victory for Union. Lived in PA for almost 22 yrs. General Meade doesn’t get the credit he deserves.
The siege of Petersburg, 1864-1865. Because so much of it remains unexplored.
Price’s Missouri Expedition in fall/winter 1864. So much “woulda, coulda & shoulda” in that one.
Hood’s Tennessee campaign. After breaking off with Sherman in Atlanta, he took the Army of Tennessee on a make or break attempt to change the direction of the War. Had Hood’s Commanders done a better job at Spring Hill, the story of that Campaign would have been much different.
The Red River Campaign in the spring of 1864 in Louisiana. Fascinating Union Army and Naval combined operation that went terribly bad for the Federals and was the last major Confederate victory in that theater of the war. A little-studied campaign.
I have to go with Grant’s plan and successful maneuvering and execution of that plan to fool Lee and get his army astride Petersburg. While a lot of fighting and dying would occur, that achievement would put Lee in the siege scenario he dreaded, and would set the stage for the ultimate destruction of Lee’s army.
At present, I have left the bloody East and am reading about the small, varied, and unsuccessful efforts by the Confederates, mainly in Texas, to recapture the Arizona Territory
As a former educator, I have been always been upset with people who don’t listen carefully enough to appropriately answer a question put to them. After reading the above comments, I am now dismayed to learn that reading skills and comprehension are in question. 1864! Answer the question you were asked! For me, it is the Overland Campaign.
For me it’s the 1864 Peninsula Camp …. oops.
My favorite campaign of 1864 to study is the Overland Campaign, for its irony. By this, I mean its 21st century irony, for Robert Lee bested Ulysses Grant in every battle of the Overland Campaign – beat him at the Wilderness, whipped him at Spotsylvania, designed defenses at the North Anna River so ingenious that he defeated Grant without a shot being fired – Grant left rather than being devastated…and went to Cold Harbor, where Lee devastated him. Lee then thwarted Grant from assaulting Richmond with his trench system. Stymied, Grant then tried to steal a march on Lee and shifted his focus to Petersburg. The troops there defeated him in the First Battle of Petersburg, Lee rushed more troops there and defeated Grant in the Second Battle of Petersburg. When the siege of the city began, Lee’s defenses thwarted Grant for the next nine months, and in the only remaining major battle of 1864 at Petersburg, Lee defeated Grant at the Battle of the Crater…and yet, 21st century historians, in one of the most stunning examples of revisionism since Mao Tse-Tung took over China, are telling Americans that Grant was a genius who kept whipping Bobby Lee every time they met, and masterminded the triumph of the Civil War. In actuality, numbers defeated Lee. Low numbers of men, food, medicine, weapons, ammunition, clothing and shoes were the demise of Lee’s army, not to mention the absurd numbers of men that Grant could throw at him. To bring the point of the irony home, when the Overland Campaign began, Lee had 65,000 men at his command…and could not replace a single one that became a casualty. Grant had 564,000 men – and could replace every one of them. Irony is rich.
i am going with ECW’s resident Giants fan on this one … it’s the 1864 Valley Campaign, which routinely gets overlooked in favor of Jackson’s in 1862 … Early was masterful in operational manuever, strategic impact, and the political headache he caused President Lincoln and the Republicans on the eve of the elections in November.