The Civil War on the river lines of Virginia, 1862-1864
Subtitle: decision on the Rappahannock and the Rapidan Rivers
By: David F. Trask.
Publisher: University Press of America
Published: 2009
Place of publication: Lanham
Language: eng
Number of pages: 208
ISBN-13: 9780761846048; 9780761846055
Subjects: Fredericksburg, Battle of, Fredericksburg, Va., 1862; Chancellorsville, Battle of, Chancellorsville, Va., 1863; Spotsylvania Court House, Battle of, Va., 1864; Wilderness, Battle of the, Va., 1864; Virginia -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Campaigns; United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Campaigns
Description: "Trask argues that the bloody engagements on the river lines were the most important battles of the Civil War in the East, far surpassing even the dramatic contests at Antietam and Gettysburg in significance. During the Civil War, the Union and the Confederacy fought for possession of the land between Culpeper Court House and Fredericksburg in east-central Virginia from December 1862 to May 1864, waging four great battles at Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, the Wilderness, and Spotsylvania Court House. The Rappahannock and Rapidan Rivers flowed through the area. It was the only defensible stronghold between Washington D.C. and Richmond, the capitals of the belligerent nations. Its loss would doom the Southern cause in Virginia. When the army of General Ulysses S. Grant finally evicted General Robert E. Lee's troops from the river lines, he soon marched to the James River and lay siege to Petersburg and Richmond. Eventually, Grant achieved the final victory of the Union in the eastern theater of war. This book is the first to analyze and evaluate all of the struggles on the river lines in one book"--Page 4 of cover.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.