Hell Itself: The Battle of the Wilderness, May 5-7, 1864

Hell Itself: The Battle of the Wilderness, May 5-7, 1864 (Emerging Civil War Series)

Soldiers called it one of the â€œwaste places of natureâ€ and â€œa region of gloomâ€â€”the Wilderness of Virginia, seventy square miles of dense, second-growth forest known as â€œthe dark, close wood.â€

â€œA more unpromising theatre of war was never seen,â€ said another.

Yet here, in the spring of 1864, the Civil War escalated to a new level of horror.

Ulysses S. Grant, commanding all Federal armies, opened the campaign with a vow to never turn back. Robert E. Lee, commanding the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, moved into the Wilderness to block Grantâ€™s advance. Immovable object intercepted irresistible forceâ€”and the Wilderness burst into flame.

With the forest itself burning around them, men died by the thousands. The armies bloodied each other without mercy and, at times, without any semblance of order. The brush grew so dense, and the smoke hung so thick, men could not see who stood next to themâ€”or in front of them. â€œThis, viewed as a battleground, was simply infernal,â€ a Union soldier later said.

It was, said another, â€œhell itself.â€

Driven by desperation, duty, confusion, and fire, soldiers on both sides marveled that anyone might make it out alive.

For more than a decade, Chris Mackowski has guided visitors across the battlefields of the Overland Campaign. Now in Hell Itself he invites readers of the Emerging Civil War Series to join him in the Wildernessâ€”one of the most storied battlefields of the entire Civil War.
Country USA
Manufacturer Savas Beatie
Binding Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate 2022-05-20
Format Kindle eBook

Country	USA
Manufacturer	Savas Beatie
Binding	Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate	2022-05-20
Format	Kindle eBook

Hell Itself: The Battle of the Wilderness, May 5-7, 1864 (Emerging Civil War Series)

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