Bloody Spring: Forty Days That Sealed the Confederacy’s Fate
Joseph Wheelan, De Capo Press
Four years after the May 1863 Battle of Chancellorsville, a serious history of that campaign appeared in print, complete with superb maps. Several other excellent books on the battle soon followed. In stark contrast, the stories of the 1864 battles of the Wilderness and Spotsylvania Court House—fought within earshot of the Chancellorsville intersection, involving as many men and resulting in as many casualties—remained relatively untold for a century.
Edward Steere’s Wilderness Campaign (1960) broke new ground on the opening scenes of the Overland Campaign, and William D. Matter’s If It Takes All Summer (1988) did the same for Spotsylvania Court House. A truly definitive set of tactical studies by Gordon Rhea began with publication in 1994 of The Battle of the Wilderness, and then carried the story of the spring of 1864 to the outskirts of Richmond.
What fresh light does Joseph Wheelan’s narrative offer a reader? None. Bloody Spring is capably written, without notable defects, and is illuminated by a half-dozen workmanlike maps. But it is devoid of new light. Wheelan displays mastery of the standard published sources, but he did not exert himself beyond that level. He cites only a half-dozen manuscripts, and in a confusing format. The narrative concentrates on Federal operations, the result of the disproportionate availability of standard sources on the two armies for late-war operations.
Wheelan embraces the universal modern adulation of Grant, which posits that his decision to turn all of Virginia into a reeking abattoir reflects a sort of genius. In that as well as the objective substance of the story, the author deviates not at all from the standard conventional narrative. Bloody Spring is a decent piece of popular history, but neither a classic research endeavor nor a classic book.
Originally published in the August 2014 issue of Civil War Times. To subscribe, click here.
