Gettysburg's Southern Front (eBook)

Opportunity and Failure at Richmond

Hampton Newsome (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2022
424 Seiten
University Press of Kansas (Verlag)
978-0-7006-3348-7 (ISBN)

Infos

On June 14, 1863, US Major General John Adams Dix received the following directive from General-in-Chief Henry Halleck: All your available force should be concentrated to threaten Richmond, by seizing and destroying their railroad bridges over the South and North Anna Rivers, and do them all the damage possible. With General Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia marching toward Gettysburg and only a limited Confederate force guarding Richmond, Halleck sensed a rare opportunity for the Union cause.In response, Dix, who had lived a life of considerable public service but possessed limited military experience, gathered his men and began a slow advance. During the ensuing operation, 20,000 US troops would threaten the Confederate capital and seek to cut the railroads supplying Lees army in Pennsylvania. To some, Dixs campaign presented a tremendous chance for US forces to strike hard at Richmond while Lee was off in Pennsylvania. To others, it was an unnecessary lark that tied up units deployed more effectively in protecting Washington and confronting Lee's men on Northern soil.In this study, Newsome offers an in-depth look into this little-known Federal advance against Richmond during the Gettysburg Campaign. The first full-length examination of Dixs venture, this volume not only delves into the military operations at the time, but also addresses concurrent issues related to diplomacy, US war policy, and the involvement of enslaved people in the Federal offensive.Gettysburgs Southern Front also points to the often-unrecognized value in examining events of the US Civil War beyond the larger famous battles and campaigns. At the time, political and military leaders on both sides carefully weighed Dixs efforts at Richmond and understood that the offensive had the potential to generate dramatic results. In fact, this piece of the Gettysburg Campaign may rank as one of the Union war efforts more compelling lost opportunities in the East, one that could have changed the course of the conflict.

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 23.9.2022
• Reihe/Serie: Modern War Studies
• Reihe/Serie: Modern War Studies
• Zusatzinfo: 14 black-and-white photographs, 15 maps, 1 figure
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Geschichte / Politik ► 20. Jahrhundert bis 1945
• Themenwelt: Geschichte ► Allgemeine Geschichte ► Neuzeit (bis 1918)
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Regional- / Ländergeschichte
• Themenwelt: Geschichte ► Teilgebiete der Geschichte ► Militärgeschichte
• Schlagworte: Blackberry Raid • D.H. Hill • Dix's Richmond Campaign • enslaved people • Gettysburg • hard war • Henry Halleck • JohnDix • Modern War Studies series • Robert E. Lee • Stephens' Peace Mission
• ISBN-10: 0-7006-3348-0 / 0700633480
• ISBN-13: 978-0-7006-3348-7 / 9780700633487