Two Days With Edwin C. Bearss

The Union army boasted a nearly two-to-one superiority in manpower and artillery, but these numbers alone were deceptive. Many of the Federal troops were green replacements, while all of the opposing Confederates were battle scarred veterans. In addition, many of Grant's senior officers had been trounced by Lee in previous encounters, and were less than enthusiastic about Grant's aggressive and reckless style of waging war. The clear advantages the Union did claim were the ability to replace casualties from an as yet untapped reserve of manpower, and to keep its massive army provisioned by a burgeoning wartime industry. In sharp contrast, the Confederates had no reserve of manpower to draw on, and a chronic shortage of supplies hampered Lee's ability to maneuver and take the offensive.

Lee relied on his battle-tested but bedraggled army, and his brilliant use of terrain and entrenchments to offset the Union army's advantage in sheer numbers of men and artillery. Both the dense thickets of the Wilderness and the muddy Spotsylvania trenches bore witness to grievous casualties suffered by both sides. Lee found he could check, but not checkmate, this audacious opponent.

Grant was disposed to preemptively attack without fully coordinating his assaults or defining his foe's weak points. Even so, Lee lost one-third of his army in these two battles, losses he could not afford or replace. Though his casualties exceeded Lee's, Grant did not withdraw his army to nurse its wounds after each of these engagements. Instead, he promptly marched his juggernaut south to wage yet another battle.

It was this willingness to keep the pressure on Lee, even after suffering humiliating defeats, that distinguished Grant from the previous commanders of the Army of the Potomac. He sensed that he could afford to lose battles on his march to Richmond far more than Lee could afford to lose men and materiel. In the Wilderness and at Spotsylvania Court House, Grant forged the bloody but successful strategy that would ultimately win the Civil War.

Make your check ($235 for each applicant) payable to:
The Friends of MNBP.

Mail your check(s) and Tour Registration Form to:
The Friends of MNBP
P.O. Box 2847
Manassas, VA 20108-0894
Att.: Treasurer

Itinerary: The schedule of the The Wilderness and the Spotsylvania Court House Tour.

Information: Lodging at discounted rates, convenient restaurants, and miscellaneous information you may find useful. (coming soon)

(Note: The tour will depart at 8:00 A.M. each day from the Holiday Inn on Vandor Lane, Manassas, VA) Direct inquires to: Harvey Simon by Ph: (703) 670-3277 or by e-Mail: .

Articles by Greg Mertz appearing in the Blue & Gray Magazine: