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Gordon C. Rhea is an American lawyer and historian who specializes in the American Civil War, especially the Overland Campaign. [1]
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Gordon C. Rhea is an American lawyer and historian who specializes in the American Civil War, especially the Overland Campaign. [1]
Rhea received the Civil War Regiments Book Award for his book on the Battle of the Wilderness, The Battle of the Wilderness, May 5–6, 1864. [2] His work on the Battle of Cold Harbor, Cold Harbor, received the Austin Civil War Round Table's Laney Prize. [2] Rhea has lectured at the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command and for Civil War round tables. [3]
Rhea has provided commentary for CNN. [3]
He graduated from Indiana University (BA), Harvard University (MA), and Stanford Law School (JD). [4]
Rhea is married with two sons. [5]
The Battle of the Wilderness was fought on May 5–7, 1864, during the American Civil War. It was the first battle of Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant's 1864 Virginia Overland Campaign against General Robert E. Lee and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. The fighting occurred in a wooded area near Locust Grove, Virginia, about 20 miles (32 km) west of Fredericksburg. Both armies suffered heavy casualties, nearly 29,000 in total, a harbinger of a war of attrition by Grant against Lee's army and, eventually, the Confederate capital, Richmond, Virginia. The battle was tactically inconclusive, as Grant disengaged and continued his offensive.
The Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, sometimes more simply referred to as the Battle of Spotsylvania, was the second major battle in Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and Maj. Gen. George G. Meade's 1864 Overland Campaign of the American Civil War. Following the bloody but inconclusive Battle of the Wilderness, Grant's army disengaged from Confederate General Robert E. Lee's army and moved to the southeast, attempting to lure Lee into battle under more favorable conditions. Elements of Lee's army beat the Union army to the critical crossroads of the Spotsylvania Court House in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, and began entrenching. Fighting occurred on and off from May 8 through May 21, 1864, as Grant tried various schemes to break the Confederate line. In the end, the battle was tactically inconclusive, but both sides declared victory. The Confederacy declared victory because they were able to hold their defenses. The United States declared victory because the Federal offensive continued and Lee's army suffered losses that could not be replaced. With almost 32,000 casualties on both sides, Spotsylvania was the costliest battle of the campaign.
The Battle of Cold Harbor was fought during the American Civil War near Mechanicsville, Virginia, from May 31 to June 12, 1864, with the most significant fighting occurring on June 3. It was one of the final battles of Union Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's Overland Campaign, and is remembered as one of American history's bloodiest, most lopsided battles. Thousands of Union soldiers were killed or wounded in a hopeless frontal assault against the fortified positions of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's army.
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.
The Battle of Yellow Tavern was fought on May 11, 1864, as part of the Overland Campaign of the American Civil War. Union cavalry under Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan was detached from Grant’s Army of the Potomac to conduct a raid on Richmond, Virginia, and challenged Confederate cavalry commander Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart. The Confederates were outnumbered, and Stuart was mortally wounded. However, Sheridan’s 'sideshow' did not achieve any of its other objectives, and had meanwhile deprived Grant’s army of key cavalry functions at Spotsylvania.
The Battle of Totopotomoy Creek, also called the Battle of Bethesda Church, Crumps Creek, Shady Grove Road, and Hanovertown, was a battle fought in Hanover County, Virginia on May 28–30, 1864, as part of Union Lt. Gen. Ulysses Grant's Overland Campaign against Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia.
The following Confederate States Army units and commanders fought in the Battle of the Wilderness of the American Civil War. The Union order of battle is listed separately. Order of battle compiled from the army organization May 5–6, 1864, the army organization at beginning of the Campaign, the army organization during the Campaign and the reports.
The following Union Army units and commanders fought in the Battle of the Wilderness of the American Civil War. The Confederate order of battle is listed separately. Order of battle compiled from the army organization May 5, 1864, the casualty returns and the reports.
The following Union Army units and commanders fought in the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House of the American Civil War. The Confederate order of battle is listed separately. Order of battle compiled from the casualty returns and the reports.
The following Confederate States Army units and commanders fought in the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House of the American Civil War. The Union order of battle is listed separately. Order of battle compiled from the army organization May 7–12, 1864, army organization May 13–25, 1864, the army organization during the Campaign and the reports.
The following Confederate States Army units and commanders fought in the Battle of Cold Harbor of the American Civil War. The Union order of battle is listed separately. Order of battle compiled from the army organization during the battle and the reports.
A. P. Hill's Light Division was an infantry division in General Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia during the American Civil War. Originally including six brigades, the division's first commander starting May 27, 1862 was then Major General A. P. Hill. Major Generals William Dorsey Pender and Cadmus M. Wilcox commanded a reorganized Light Division in the Army of Northern Virginia after Hill's promotion to corps command and Pender's death at the Battle of Gettysburg, respectively.
Henry Boyd McKeen was an officer and brigade commander in the union army during the American Civil War. He was killed in the Battle of Cold Harbor.
Thomas Wilberforce Egan was a Union Army officer who led the Mozart Regiment during most of the American Civil War, later becoming a general.
The 57th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry was a regiment of infantry that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was one of the four "Veteran Regiments" raised in Massachusetts during the winter of 1863–64. Recruits of these regiments were required to have served at least nine months in a prior unit. Colonel William F. Bartlett, at age 24 already a veteran of three regiments, organized the recruiting and formation of the 57th Massachusetts and served as its first commanding officer.
The 2nd Louisiana Infantry Regiment was a unit of volunteers recruited in Louisiana that fought in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. Formed in May 1861, the regiment was sent to fight in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. Its first action took place during the Siege of Yorktown. The regiment suffered very heavy losses at Malvern Hill. After joining an all-Louisiana brigade, it fought at Cedar Mountain, Second Bull Run, Antietam, and Fredericksburg in 1862, at Chancellorsville, Second Winchester, Gettysburg, and Mine Run in 1863, and at the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, Monocacy, Third Winchester, Fisher's Hill, Cedar Creek, and Petersburg in 1864, and at Appomattox in 1865. The regiment lost over 100 men at both Second Bull Run and Chancellorsville. A company-sized remnant surrendered at Appomattox.
The 7th Louisiana Infantry Regiment was a unit of volunteers recruited in Louisiana that fought in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. Formed in June 1861, the regiment was sent to fight in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. After fighting at First Bull Run, the unit joined the 1st Louisiana Brigade. The regiment served in Jackson's Valley campaign and at Gaines' Mill, Malvern Hill, Cedar Mountain, Second Bull Run, Harpers Ferry, Antietam, and Fredericksburg in 1862. The regiment fought at Chancellorsville, Second Winchester, and Gettysburg in 1863. At Rappahannock Station in November 1863, almost the entire regiment was captured. The remnant of the unit fought at the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, and the Valley campaigns of 1864. It served at Petersburg starting in December 1864 and surrendered at Appomattox in April 1865.
The 5th Louisiana Infantry Regiment was a unit of volunteers recruited in Louisiana that fought in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. Formed in June 1861, the regiment was sent to fight in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. The regiment served at Yorktown, White Oak Swamp, Cedar Mountain, Second Bull Run, Harpers Ferry, Antietam, and Fredericksburg in 1862. The regiment fought at Chancellorsville, Second Winchester, and Gettysburg in 1863. At Rappahannock Station in November 1863, virtually the whole regiment was captured. The unit's remnant fought at the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, and the Valley campaigns of 1864. It served at Petersburg starting in December 1864 and a mere handful surrendered at Appomattox in April 1865.
The 14th Louisiana Infantry Regiment was a unit of volunteers recruited in Louisiana that fought in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. Formed in June 1861 as the 1st Regiment, Polish Brigade, the unit was later accepted into Confederate service as the 13th Regiment. After being sent to fight in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War, it was renamed the 14th Regiment. In 1862, it fought at Yorktown, Williamsburg, Seven Pines, Beaver Dam Creek, Gaines' Mill and Glendale. At Glendale, the unit suffered a severe number of casualties and, thereafter, surviving members of the regiment dubbed the battle "the Slaughterhouse."
The 15th Louisiana Infantry Regiment was a unit of volunteers recruited in Louisiana that fought in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. Formed in June 1861 as the 2nd Regiment, Polish Brigade, the unit was sent to fight in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. As the 3rd Louisiana Infantry Battalion, the unit served at Beaver Dam Creek and Glendale. After two companies from the 7th Louisiana Infantry Battalion were added in July 1862, the unit reorganized as the 15th Louisiana Infantry Regiment. It joined the 2nd Louisiana Brigade and fought at Cedar Mountain, Second Bull Run, Antietam, and Fredericksburg in 1862. It served at Chancellorsville, Second Winchester, Gettysburg, and Mine Run in 1863. The regiment fought at the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, Monocacy, Third Winchester, Fisher's Hill, Cedar Creek, and Petersburg in 1864. A handful of survivors surrendered at Appomattox in 1865.
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