"Petersburg Campaign??" Topic

The thread regarding Gordon Rhea's forthcoming 5th volume on the Overland Campaign which is supposedly only to reach Beauregard's Defense and then end there got me thinking….how come there has been no Gordon Rhea-style treatment of the Petersburg Campaign as of yet?? This is a campaign begging to have this style of book/books treatment done to it. When you think of it, the Petersburg Campaign devoted a huge amount of time to the overall picture of the ACW in the Eastern Theatre. The War officially began in April 1861, the Eastern Theatre didn't really start getting active in Virginia until Manassas in July 61'. So if you take that from a starting point for the Eastern Theatre standpoint, the war in that part of the country lasted for 45 months. At least 10 of these or nearly 10% of the War occurred during the Seige and Defense of Petersburg alone.
I have the book by Noah Trudeau and the one by A. Greene. Trudeau's book covers the entire campaign and is good, but not enough detail for the enormous scope involved. Greene's title on the final battles is also likewise a very good book, but once again only covers the final month or two of the campaign.
I guess it would be too much to ask Gordon to keep going on to the end of Petersburg. As far as I know, after this forthcoming 5th volume, which even though it just brushes Petersburg at the beginning but should be superb as his others, he's calling it quits.
Sometimes I really wish I could devote the time and energy to conducting this study myself, but alas!..life and family beckons.

Cheers, John

Oops, just had a look at my previous post. That should be nearly 25% of the War in the East devoted to Petersburg. My apologies to any mathmeticians out there.

Cheers, John

Try Richard Sommers' Richmond redeemed: The siege at Petersburg" Not a full treatment of the Petersburg campaign but a very detailed study of one of Grant's major Petersburg offensives. There is a recent study by Earl J. Hess, "Trench Warfare under Grant & Lee re: 1864 campaign and Hess' earlier "Field Armies and Fortifications in the Civil War". And you could always read the third volume of D S Freeman's "Lee's Lieutenants".

Thanks rddfxx. I will definitely have a go at Earl J Hess' two volumes on Field Armies and Fortifications. Not sure why I've been holding back on these ones but the reviews for them seem to be quite good. I will definitely be looking for his 3rd volume concerning Petersburg when that is released. I tried Sommers Richmond Redeemed through ABE. I seem to have found a few decent copies available, so considering that the price is good I think I'll take the plunge on that one and see what it's like. Thanks very much for the tip by the way. In all honesty, I've never heard of this one before. Looks like it only covers a couple of actions around the middle of the campaign, but what the heck, might as well try it out.
I was also wondering, HH Howard has a few titles through the CW Campaign and Battle Series which deal with Petersburg. I think one is Wasted Valor and the other concerns the Crater. Any thoughts on those titles??

Cheers, John

Wasted valor sounds familiar, but I need to check through my bookshelf.

I highly recommend Sommers' book.

Guys,

This is an interesting topic to me personally. I have had quite an interest in the Petersburg Campaign for several years now. I feel like I can definitely contribute to this thread.

1) I have heard rumblings that A. Wilson Greene (author of Breaking the Backbone of the Rebellion: The Final Battles of the Petersburg Campaign) is planning to or is already in the research phase of a massive Rhea-like treatment of the entire Petersburg Campaign.

2) Richard Sommers' Richmond Redeemed covers the Fifth Offensive of the Petersburg Campaign, including New Market Heights, Ft. Harrison, and Peebles Farm in late September-early October 1864. GREAT book which was thoroughly researched.

3) I own all of the H.E. Howard "battle books" covering the Petersburg Campaign, and they vary in quality. All are worth owning, IMHO.

4) There are several sites on Petersburg online, the best of which is currently Jim Epperson's petersburgsiege.org. I have also started a Petersburg Campaign site, and my hope is to get VERY detailed, with regimental level Orders of Battle, Maps, each report from the Official Records, bios of leaders, a massive bilbiography, etc. The site, called Beyond the Crater, is at beyondthecrater.com. Stop by and let me know how I'm doing if you get a chance!

Brett Schulte
TOCWOC – A Civil War Blog
Beyond the Crater: The Civil War Petersburg Campaign Online