War Yankee - Overland

Overland.06: Sea of Blue

Kyle Bondo details how the biggest army ever assembled in North American moves across the Rapidan River and into the fabled Wilderness.

Overview

It's May 3rd, 1864 -- Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant and Major General George Meade plan to move the 120,000 man Army of the Potomac is underway. They will move the Union War Machine under the cover of darkness, cross the Rapidan River far EAST of the Confederate Left Flank and make an end-run around to the Confederate Rear before Lee has a chance to react. It is a good plan except for three faulty assumptions: Assuming they can keep the movements of a massive army a secret, assuming that Lee's troops will take over 30-hours to move out of their defenses, and assuming that they can move their army quickly through the fabled WILDERNESS.

Quotes

"'Man proposes and God disposes.' There are but few important events in the affairs of men brought about by their own choice."
-- Lt.Gen. Ulysses S. Grant

"The foe that held his guarded hills -- Must speed to woods afar; For the scheme that was nursed by the Culpepper hearth -- With the slowly-smoked cigar— The scheme that smouldered through winter long -- Now bursts into act—into war— The resolute scheme of a heart as calm -- As the Cyclone’s core."
-- Herman Melville: The Armies of the Wilderness - First Appearance in "Battle-Pieces and Aspects of the War" (1866), page 107

"Well, the movement so far has been as satisfactory as could be desired."
-- Lt.Gen. Ulysses S. Grant

"We have succeeded in seizing the fords and crossing the river without loss or delay. Lee must by this time know upon what roads we are advancing, but he may not yet realize the full extent of the movement. We shall probably soon get some indications of to what he intends to do."
-- Lt.Gen. Ulysses S. Grant

Notable Sources

• Union Army Movements Map (May 3-4, 1864)
• Library of Congress Germanna Ford, Rapidan River, Va. Artillery crossing pontoon bridges
• Blue and Gray Magazine Historic Crossings of the Rappahannock and Rapidan Rivers (Volume 32 #3)
• Spotsylvania Civil War Blog Grant’s Army, Crossing the Rapidan – Then and Now

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