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Cold Harbor to the Crater: The End of the Overland Campaign. Edited by Gary W. Gallagher and Caroline E. Janney. (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2015. Pp. 360. Cloth, $35.00.)
Appearing nine years after the publication of The Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1864 (2006), Gary Gallagher and Caroline Janney's Cold Harbor to the Crater: The End of the Overland Campaign represents the tenth volume of the Military Campaigns of the Civil War series. This volume considers the Overland Campaign beyond the traditional closing date of June 12-15, 1864, to include the opening maneuvers at Petersburg. The ten essays, written by academic and public historians, several of whom were contributors to Gallagher's earlier volumes, offer a dynamic engagement of one of the Civil War's deadliest campaigns. Collectively these essays offer a compelling look at the campaign's strategies, the harsh experiences of Union and Confederate soldiers, the impact of the campaign on the civilians, and the malleable role of the campaign in culture and memory.
Gallagher's opening essay considers the reputations of Generals Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant. Lee's pre-1864 performance and reputation influenced how southerners responded to his strategy and the increasingly high casualty rates. While the number of casualties for the Army of Northern Virginia during the Overland campaign, at 24.5 percent of the army, had become the norm for Lee's success, the casualty rate within the Army of the Potomac, approximately 40 percent, had heretofore been uncommon. Additionally, Lee began the campaign with a slate of victories and the respect of the men within his army. Northern newspapers portrayed...