062 - ”...Hell Can’t Beat That Terrible Scene”: Spotsylvania Court House

About this episode: 

It was May 1864 and Ulysses S. Grant’s Overland Campaign was underway. After two days of violence in the Wilderness and a swing to the southeast, weary men from the Army of Northern Virginia and the Army of the Potomac found themselves eyeball to eyeball yet again. The fighting to come: savage, up close, personal, hand to hand. The consequences: bloody, even ghastly. This is the story of the most vicious episode of sustained combat ever to occur on the North American continent. This is the story of Spotsylvania Court House.

 

Some Characters Mentioned In This Episode:

Gouverneur Warren

Richard S. Ewell

John B. Gordon

Wesley Merritt

Fitzhugh Lee

Philip Sheridan

 

Additional Resources:

Movements, May 7th-8th, 1864

 

Actions, May 8th, 1864

 

Situation 4 pm, May 9th, 1864

 

Actions, May 10th, 1864

 

Actions, May 12th, 1864

 

Movements, May 13th-14th, 1894

 

**Map Images by Hal Jespersen, www.posix.com/CW

 

For Further Reading:

The Battles for Spotsylvania Court House and the Road to Yellow Tavern, May 7–12, 1864 by Gordon C. Rhea Esq.

 

Get The Guide:

Want to learn more about the Civil War? A great place to start is Fred's guide, The Civil War: A History of the War between the States from Workman Publishing. The guide is in its 9th printing.

 

Subscribe to the Threads from the National Tapestry YouTube Channel here

 

Thank you to our sponsor, The Badge Maker - proudly carrying affordable Civil War Corps Badges and other hand-made historical reproductions for reenactors, living history interpreters, and lovers of history.

Check out The Badge Maker and place your orders here

 

Producer: Dan Irving