Overland.09: Defiant Blue Knot
01/19/23 • 69 min
1 Listener
In This Episode
It's the mid-morning of May 5th, 1864 -- The Army of the Potomac has now discovered two massive rebel forces forming on both sides of Warren's 5th Corps still stung out over 5 miles within the tangles of The Wilderness. Now, as new intelligence arrives, they are becoming painfully aware that General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia has launched a counter-crossing attack along the Orange Turnpike AND the Orange Plank Roads. As Meade falls back into his old Eastern Army habits by going on defense, will Grant be able to finally push the Army of the Potomac into an aggressive Federal position?
Notable Quotes
"What had begun as a hopeful morning's march was rapidly taking an ugly, familiar turn. Once again, the Union high command had underestimated Lee's audacity."
-- Gordon Rhea, Battle of the Wilderness
"If [this] is what Meade meant by attacking 'at once', as he said he would at 7:30 AM [it's now after 10:00 AM] no wonder Lee was running circles around him."
-- Gordon Rhea, Battle of the Wilderness
"Double-Quick!"
-- Maj. Gen. George Getty, Running to Brock Road Intersection, May 5th, 1864
"We must hold this point at any risk -- Our men will soon be up!"
-- Maj. Gen. George Getty, Arriving at the Brock Road Intersection, May 5th, 1864
In This Episode
It's the mid-morning of May 5th, 1864 -- The Army of the Potomac has now discovered two massive rebel forces forming on both sides of Warren's 5th Corps still stung out over 5 miles within the tangles of The Wilderness. Now, as new intelligence arrives, they are becoming painfully aware that General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia has launched a counter-crossing attack along the Orange Turnpike AND the Orange Plank Roads. As Meade falls back into his old Eastern Army habits by going on defense, will Grant be able to finally push the Army of the Potomac into an aggressive Federal position?
Notable Quotes
"What had begun as a hopeful morning's march was rapidly taking an ugly, familiar turn. Once again, the Union high command had underestimated Lee's audacity."
-- Gordon Rhea, Battle of the Wilderness
"If [this] is what Meade meant by attacking 'at once', as he said he would at 7:30 AM [it's now after 10:00 AM] no wonder Lee was running circles around him."
-- Gordon Rhea, Battle of the Wilderness
"Double-Quick!"
-- Maj. Gen. George Getty, Running to Brock Road Intersection, May 5th, 1864
"We must hold this point at any risk -- Our men will soon be up!"
-- Maj. Gen. George Getty, Arriving at the Brock Road Intersection, May 5th, 1864
Previous Episode
Intelligence.04: Ring Knockers
Overview
It's May 1864, You are an officer in the Army of the Potomac during the first week of the Overland Campaign leading men into The Wilderness against the Confederacy. As you struggle to maneuver your soldiers in a straight enough line to engage the rebels within this 70-square-mile tract of thickets and dense forest... you may ask yourself... How did I get here?
Quotes
"Let no man be so rash as to suppose that in donning a general’s uniform, he is forthwith competent to perform a general’s functions."
— Prof. Dennis Hart Mahan, USMA (1824-1871)
"[I] hail the day [I] left public office as the happiest of my life, except possibly the day I left West Point, a place I felt I had been at always and that my stay had no end."
— Lt.Gen. Ulysses S. Grant (1871)
"I was always a friend of southern rights but an enemy of southern wrongs."
— Maj.Gen. Benjamin Butler (1861)
Next Episode
Overland.10: Bad Intelligence
In This Episode
It's noon on May 5th, 1864 -- Greenhorn cavalry officer Brigadier General James Harrison "Harry" Wilson started the Overland Campaign with high expectations. Now, after a series of tactical shortcomings and conflicting orders, his actions allowed rebel forces to approach the Union army almost undetected. To make matters worse, Wilson's entire cavalry division -- over 3,000 men and horses -- is missing. No one has seen or heard from Wilson since 5:00 AM. With the Orange Plank Road now engulfed by an endless column of Confederate infantry, Grant and Meade are desperate to know: Where the hell is Harry Wilson's Cavalry Division?
Notable Quotes
"My pickets report nothing new from the enemy this morning."
-- Brig.Gen. James Harrison Wilson's last message to Maj.Gen Meade, 5:00 AM, May 5th, 1864
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