A review by judyward
Bloody Spring: Forty Days that Sealed the Confederacy's Fate by Joseph Wheelan

4.0

For forty days in the Spring of 1864, the armies under the command of Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant were locked in combat at the Battle of Cold Harbor, North Anna River, Spotsylvania Court House, and the Wildnerness. Wheelan examines the personalities involved in these struggles as well as the strategies employed by both sides and he concludes that at the end of the forty days that the tide of the Civil War had turned toward an ultimate Union victory. But he also points out that the cost of these forty days was immense. By the time the Overland Campaign ended outside Petersburg, more than 100,000 men had been killed, wounded, or captured. Grant's army suffered more than twice the casualties of Lee's army, but Grant could replace his losses and Lee could not. Because of this reality, while the Confederate Army fought on brilliantly in a series of defensive campaigns, the war ended less than a year later with Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House. A very well-written examination of the Overland Campaign that is both interesting and accessible to readers with all levels of knowledge about the Civil War.