Two Days With Edwin C. Bearss

We are following Grant's determined march on Richmond following his frustrating and costly encounters with Lee's seasoned veterans at the Wilderness and Spotsylvania Court House (our 2007 tour). The Union advance was plagued nearly as much by spring rains as by stubborn Confederate entrenchments. The seasonal downpours converted the narrow Virginia country roads into muddy quagmires, severely inhibiting the movement of artillery, supplies, and infantry alike. The elements and an unwieldy command structure characterized by lieutenants who were reluctant to embrace Grant's aggressive style combined to negate the Union's apparent advantage in numbers and equipment. Grant's decision to send Sherman and the Union cavalry on a raid to the gates of Richmond denied him the ability to precisely determine Confederate disposition and deployment in advance of engagement. Despite these constraints, Grant was able to seize and keep the initiative, forcing Lee to fight a series of defensive battles, moving each successive encounter closer to the Union objective - Richmond, the capital of the Confederacy.

Lee was plagued by his own debilitating dilemmas. Forced, against his fundamental nature, to fight a defensive war by both a persistent opponent and by the loss of his most trusted lieutenants (Jackson the previous year at Chancellorsville, Longstreet severely wounded at the Wilderness, and Jeb Stuart at Yellow Tavern). With his army's backs to the walls of Richmond and denied the capability and opportunity to launch a major offensive counterattack, Lee waged a 19th century version of trench warfare. He repeatedly maneuvered elements of his army to hastily constructed entrenchments. confronting and stalling the Union advance. While inflicting terrible losses on their enemy, the Confederates were neither able to win a decisive victory nor to stop the federal juggernaut's march on Richmond.

The employment of temporary entrenched positions by both Union and Confederate armies maneuvering for advantage steadily evolved throughout the Civil War. The techniques and tactics of trench warfare were being perfected in the red clay of Virginia, from simple rifle pits along Bull Run during First Manassas to the sophisticated breastworks of Cold Harbor.

entitles you to a two day bus and hiking tour of the North Anna River (October 6) and Cold Harbor (October 7) battlefields with Edwin C. Bearss and Frank O'Reilly, refreshments and buffet lunches both days, a tour dinner and an address by Greg Mertz (noted historian and published author) on October 6.

Registration Form: Complete this form to Register for the Ed Bearss North Anna River and Cold Harbor Tour.

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 North Anna River and Cold Harbor Tour (to be prepared and posted).

Information: Lodging at discounted rates is available at the Ramada Inn South on US 1 just north of I-95 Exit 126 in Fredericksburg, VA. Phone (540) 898-1102, give the clerk code FMB to obtain the discounts and tickets for a buffet breakfast to be served at 7:00 AM before each tour departs.

Note: The tour will depart at 8:00 AM Monday Oct. 6 and Tuesday Oct. 7 from the Ramada Inn South in Fredericksburg, VA. (An information packet will be prepared and posted)

Direct inquires to: Harvey Simon by Ph: (703) 670-3277 or by e-Mail: info2007@fmnbp.org.

Recommended Reading:

Books by Gordon C. Rhea:

• To the North Anna River, Grant and Lee, May 13 - 25, 1864
• Cold Harbor, Grant and Lee, May 26 - June 3, 1864
• In the Footsteps of Grant and Lee, The Wilderness Through Cold Harbor

Book by Ernest B. Furgurson

• Not War But Murder: Cold Harbor 1864

This Tour is sponsored by the Friends of Manassas National Battlefield Park