Civil war history question - preface: i'm old & started reading history as a kid starting with Bruce

[KG]

Catton. of course now I find more stuff on youtube.

anyway, question is about the campaign from the Wilderness to Petersburg, which I find now often referred to as the 'overland campaign'.

but I don't recall that term in all my earlier reading. when did come about? is that a recent thing or something I somehow missed?

to clarify - i know the history of the campaign. i was curious of the origin of the term 'overland campaign'.

[Sherman A1]

1. Overland Campaign

The Overland Campaign, also known as Grant's Overland Campaign and the Wilderness Campaign, was a series of battles fought in Virginia during May and June 1864, in the American Civil War. Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, general-in-chief of all Union armies, directed the actions of the Army of the Potomac, commanded by Maj. Gen. George G. Meade, and other forces against Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. Although Grant suffered severe losses during the campaign, it was a strategic Union victory. It inflicted proportionately higher losses on Lee's army and maneuvered it into a siege at Richmond and Petersburg, Virginia, in just over eight weeks.

Crossing the Rapidan River on May 4, 1864, Grant sought to defeat Lee's army by quickly placing his forces between Lee and Richmond and inviting an open battle. Lee surprised Grant by attacking the larger Union army aggressively in the Battle of the Wilderness (May 5–7), resulting in heavy casualties on both sides. Unlike his predecessors in the Eastern Theater, however, Grant did not withdraw his army following this setback, but instead maneuvered to the southeast, resuming his attempt to interpose his forces between Lee and Richmond. Lee's army was able to get into position to block this movement. At the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House (May 8–21), Grant repeatedly attacked segments of the Confederate defensive line, hoping for a breakthrough, but the only results were again heavy losses for both sides.

Grant maneuvered again, meeting Lee at the North Anna River (Battle of North Anna, May 23–26). Here, Lee held clever defensive positions that provided an opportunity to defeat portions of Grant's army, but illness prevented Lee from attacking in time to trap Grant. The final major battle of the campaign was waged at Cold Harbor (May 31 – June 12), in which Grant gambled that Lee's army was exhausted and ordered a massive assault against strong defensive positions, resulting in disproportionately heavy Union casualties. Resorting to maneuver a final time, Grant surprised Lee by stealthily crossing the James River, threatening to capture the city of Petersburg, the loss of which would doom the Confederate capital. The resulting Siege of Petersburg (June 1864 – March 1865) led to the eventual surrender of Lee's army in April 1865 and the effective end of the Civil War.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overland_Campaign

[Historic NY]

2. Series of actions over 40 days designed to pin down Lee's army and force it into

defensive vs offensive operations. Grant was attriting Lee's Army by keeping it on the move. Grants orders to Meade, was to go where Lee goes and stay on his tail. He also put the other 5 Union Army's on the same mission, keeping the confederates on the defensive. He would keep the Confederates from coordinating attacks in other areas. The Union Army would act as one.

[KG]

3. i know the history of the campaign. i was curious of the origin of the term 'overland campaign'.

[SWBTATTReg]

5. Perhaps because besides the land overland campaign, there was an equivalent attempt by sea...

I seem to recall that this was accompanied by sea power (a two pronged attack, one by the land campaign, and the other by sea)...It's been a while since I've read my civil war books (about 50 or so books, several years at least), so I'm making a somewhat educated guess as to what this term means (overland)...

[Brother Buzz]

4. I've only known it as the Battle of the Wilderness

I may have heard 'Overland Campaign' in passing, but not enough to connect it to anything; it's new to me.

[Sneederbunk]

6. Those who are serious about the subject should read Gordon Rhea's five books.

The battles are good example of Virginia slugfests. The war was won and lost in the West.

[Adsos Letter]

10. I have that series.

Rhea does an excellent job (in my opinion) of guiding the reader through a devastating series of battles, with a coherent combination of the personal experiences of the soldiers within the larger tactical and strategic context.

I thoroughly enjoyed his series. It helped convince me to tour some of the Wilderness and Spottsylvania battlefields during a road trip through the south.

You're certainly right about the significance of the western theater: Vicksburg, Chickamauga, Shiloh, Perryville, Franklin, Stones River, etc.

I have relatives who fought for the North at Iuka, Champions Hill, Corinth, and Vicksburg. I'm still hoping to visit Franklin.

Posting this photo probably seems weird, but I spend most of my time in the Photo Group...

[Sneederbunk]

11. Thank you for posting photo.

Such photos always give me ideas as what to read. I have read 9 of your titles and will check out the others. If you are interested in Chickamauga you may want to check out Powell's triology and his book of maps.

[Adsos Letter]

12. Thank you for that suggestion.

I will check out Powell’s work.

[RHMerriman]

7. Because Grant's plans for the offensive aimed (ultimately) at Richmond was based entirely on

Because Grant's plans for the offensive aimed (ultimately) at Richmond was based entirely on movement by land, as opposed to a combined operations strategy using US sea power, because:

In Virginia too, Grant would aim for simultaneous, mutually
supporting drives that sought to destroy enemy armies and
resources. At first, he considered detaching 60,000 men from
Meade’s army at Culpeper and, using Northern sea power, land
them along the Atlantic coast for a drive inland to cut Richmond’s
communications with the South. Finding that the concept
reawakened old fears in the Lincoln administration of uncovering
Washington, he opted instead for an overland approach by the
Army of the Potomac, supported by four subsidiary offensives.

See:
[link:https://history.army.mil/html/books/075/75-12/cmhPub_75-12.pdf|]

This was in contrast to McClellan's 1862 strategy for the Peninsula Campaign, which had moved the main strength of the US Army of the Potomac by sea to beachheads southeast of Richmond and bogged down into a slogging match and McClellan's eventual defeat; this, in turn, led to Lee being able to move the rebel Army of Northern Virginia north against Pope's smaller US Army of Virginia and defeat it at 2nd Bull Run.

Grant avoided this possibility by driving overland at Lee, alternatively attacking and flanking, and forcing Lee to fall back some 60 miles from the Rapidan-Rappahannock river line to the Richmond area, surrendering yet more territory, farmland, industry, and loyalist manpower that could be mobilized into the resources of the US against the rebels.

[Wounded Bear]

8. Yeah, I don't remember it being referred to with that term...

though it makes sense. So, it is kind of new to me, too. What do you mean by "used often?" It that just in YouTube vids? Have you read a book or books that use that decriptor?

I'm fairly familiar with the history, too. Mr Lincoln's Army is IMNSHO a 'must read' trilogy to understand the Eastern Campaigns. His other works are pretty good, too.

[KG]

9. yeah, that's part of my Catton collection

[Iterate]

13. It looks like the frequency of the phrase shot upward from 1992 to 2005.

Google Ngram viewer "Overland Campaign"

https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=+Overland+Campaign&year_start=1800&year_end=2019&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2COverland%20Campaign%3B%2Cc0#t1%3B%2COverland%20Campaign%3B%2Cc0

Its origins are older and it hadn't been often used for 70 years, so I assume something influential was published in the '90s.

This link compares the two phrases:

https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=Overland+Campaign%2C+Battle+of+the+Wilderness&year_start=1800&year_end=2008&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2COverland%20Campaign%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2CBattle%20of%20the%20Wilderness%3B%2Cc0#t1%3B%2COverland%20Campaign%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2CBattle%20of%20the%20Wilderness%3B%2Cc0

[KG]

14. thanks for the answer to the actual question.