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Traces of the Bloody Struggle: The Civil War at Stevenson Ridge, Spotsylvania Court House
Traces of the Bloody Struggle: The Civil War at Stevenson Ridge, Spotsylvania Court House
Traces of the Bloody Struggle: The Civil War at Stevenson Ridge, Spotsylvania Court House
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Traces of the Bloody Struggle: The Civil War at Stevenson Ridge, Spotsylvania Court House

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As the 1864 Overland Campaign shifted from the Wilderness toward Spotsylvania Court House, Confederate commander Robert E. Lee successfully bottlenecked the Federal army just outside the village. Undeterred, Union commander Ulysses S. Grant sent part of his forces on a wide flanking maneuver to attack Confederates from the east. Lee scrambled to block them.

Thus the Civil War came to the property now known as Stevenson Ridge.

Traces of the Bloody Struggle: The Civil War at Stevenson Ridge, Spotsylvania Court House tells the story of Spotsylvania’s forgotten front: the fighting along the Fredericksburg Road. During the two-week battle, three-fourths of the Union army occupied and crossed over Stevenson Ridge as Grant looked for ways to break Lee’s defenses.

Today, Stevenson Ridge is one of the most historic properties in Spotsylvania County. Extensive earthworks crisscross the landscape. Stories abound. Traces of the struggle remain everywhere.

Located on the Spotsylvania battlefield in central Virginia, Stevenson Ridge is an 87-acre historical property that offers a premier special events facility as well as lodging in restored antique structures dating from the 18th and 19th centuries. Only a short drive from historic Downtown Fredericksburg, Lake Anna, and all of the major Civil War battlefields in the area—Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, the Wilderness, and Spotsylvania—Stevenson Ridge also boasts some of the best-preserved Civil War trenches in private hands. www.stevensonridge.com
LanguageEnglish
Release dateSep 7, 2016
ISBN9781940669663
Traces of the Bloody Struggle: The Civil War at Stevenson Ridge, Spotsylvania Court House
Author

Chris Mackowski

Chris Mackowski, Ph.D., is the editor-in-chief and co-founder of Emerging Civil War as well as the managing editor of the Emerging Civil War Series published by Savas Beatie. Chris is a writing professor in the Jandoli School of Communication at St. Bonaventure University, where he also serves as the associate dean for undergraduate programs, and is the historian-in-residence at Stevenson Ridge, a historic property on the Spotsylvania Court House battlefield.

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    Book preview

    Traces of the Bloody Struggle - Chris Mackowski

    For Debbie and Dan

    © 2016 by Chris Mackowski

    All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Printed in the United States of America.

    First edition, first printing

    eISBN: 978-1-94066-966-3

    eBook distributed by

    Savas Beatie LLC

    989 Governor Drive, Suite 102

    El Dorado Hills, California 95762

    Phone: 916-941-6896

    Email: sales@savasbeatie.com

    Web: www.savasbeatie.com

    www.stevensonridge.com

    www.emergingcivilwar.com

    Table of Contents

    ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

    TOURING THE BATTLEFIELD

    INTRODUCTION

    CHAPTER ONE: The March to the Ny River

    CHAPTER TWO: The Death of Thomas Stevenson

    CHAPTER THREE: With Anxious Hearts

    CHAPTER FOUR: The V Corps

    CHAPTER FIVE: Stevenson Ridge’s Earthworks

    CHAPTER SIX: Grant’s Doors

    SUGGESTED READING

    ABOUT THE AUTHOR

    Footnotes for this volume are available at

    http://emergingcivilwar.com/publications/the-emerging-civil-war-series/footnotes

    List of Maps

    Maps by Hal Jespersen

    The Spotsylvania Battlefield

    Routes of March to Spotsylvania

    Stevenson Ridge, Federal Forces, May 11, 1864

    Stevenson Ridge, Federal Forces, May 14, 1864

    Stevenson Ridge Trails

    Acknowledgments

    No one knows the Spotsylvania battlefield better than local historian John Cummings, who has spent countless hours tromping these grounds with me and sharing his insights. John is undoubtedly the battlefield’s greatest friend, and I am grateful that he’s mine, too: he’s the person who first brought me to Stevenson Ridge, which ended up becoming a life-changing visit.

    I’m also grateful to my longtime collaborator and best friend, Kris White, who has spent more time than anyone bushwhacking with me across the Spotsy battlefield. He continues to push me to see the battlefield in new ways. He’s also the one who brought Emerging Civil War to Stevenson Ridge for its annual symposium.

    The Civil War House greets visitors when they first come to the property. (cm)

    At Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park, Noel Harrison, Peter Maugle, and Eric Mink graciously provided research support. Frank O’Reilly’s excellent troop movement maps served as the starting point for many of my explorations. Gregg Kneipp and David Lowe mapped earthworks and allowed me to tag along as they did so. (And my thanks to Hal Jespersen for converting their work into the great maps included here.)

    My son Jackson helped me clear and mark the trails so that others can explore SR’s trails and earthworks.

    All around us were traces of the bloody struggle.

    — Ephraim Myers, 45th Pennsylvania

    Brother Against Brother by Robert Spear (brother of Stevenson Ridge owner Dan Spear) depicts a clash between two cavalrymen. The first engagement on the Stevenson Ridge property was a cavalry clash—much larger in scale—that took place on the morning of May 8, 1864. The painting, part of the Stevenson Ridge collection, appears here courtesy of Lee Spear. (sr)

    At Savas Beatie, thanks to Theodore Savas and Sarah Keeney for help on this volume. Thanks, too, to cover designer Ian Hughes, who has done such marvelous, eye-catching covers for the entire series.

    At St. Bonaventure University, thanks to my colleagues, especially my dean, Dr. Pauline Hoffmann.

    Most of all, I thank my wife, Jennifer, and her parents, Dan and Debbie Spear. They have let me make this part of the Spotsylvania battlefield my own, encouraging me to learn, explore, research, play, and share my excitement with as many people as I can. This book is an outgrowth of the generosity they have shown me—and so is dedicated to them.

    PHOTO CREDITS: Blue & Gray Magazine (b&g); Rachel May Photography (rmp); John Cummings (jc); D.C. Public Library/DigDC (dc); Harper’s Weekly (hw); Library of Congress (loc); Chris Mackowski (cm); Jackson Mackowski (jm); Massachusetts State House (msh); National Park Service (nps); Stevenson Ridge Collection (sr); Jim Toomey (jt); Twenty-Fourth Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteers regimental history (24); United States Corps of Topographical Engineers (topo); Wikipedia (w)

    Touring the Battlefield

    To orient you, the adjacent map shows the relative positions of the armies superimposed on the modern

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