Dr. Mark DePue discusses the Civil War Battles from the Wilderness to Cold Harbor - including Spotsylvania - using maps, illustrations and the words of the men who fought there.
One of my great-great grandfather was at the Battle of the Wilderness. Family legend passed down was that him and a few buddies were in the process of deserting because they had enough. In the chaos of battle it was easy to slip away, but they got lost on one of the roads. They came to a cross roads, and just when they began wondering which road to take, they heard huge vollies gun fire coming from one particular way, so they decided to go the opposite direction (away from battle). Just then a bunch of union on horseback goes galloping up towards them. The family legend believes that these horsemen were Grant and his aides for reasons soon apparent. So my great-great grandfather and his pals are just standing there frozen, and the horsemen come to a halt right beside them. They are literally thinking this is the end, as they will either be run through or taken to the back of the lines as POWs and they are not sure what to do next. Just then, their head honcho goes "whisky!". And they are like "???" just dumb like that. And the head honcho goes "whisky!" this time a bit more irritated. They didnt know if they would get shot or what. Luckily one of them had some, and he pulls it out of his knapsack, and the head honcho is like doing the "gimme, gimme" gesture with his hand. They pass him the bottle thats close to full, and he just throws it down like an alcohol dependent gone close to cold turkey. At this point they are thinking they are still going to be taken prisoner, but when the head honcho finishes the contents of the bottle and discards it, he pulls out a bugle, and goes galloping towards the sound of the gun fire and just leaves my great-great grandfather and his buddies there on the road. They luckily made it out of there, and back to their farms and this account has been passed down the generations.
My father had a funny story from WW2. He was stationed in Newport News Virginia to guard German POW’s. They had a work camp for the Germans. As the Allies pushed forward across France there was all the debris from battles. The tanks and trucks and aircraft carcasses were carted off to the empty cargo ships and sent back to the US to be recycled. The Germans were tasked with sorting the metals and rubber as it was offloaded at Newport News. The Germans were clever and “appropriated” copper tubing and anything else they could get their hands on to make liquor stills. They created a cottage industry making alcohol and hid it from the Americans (or so they thought). My dad said “We knew where all the stills were located. The Germans would hoard anything that would ferment whether it was potato peals or citrus fruits, anything. They were so busy making alcohol and concealing it that they were on their best behavior. There were some hard core Nazis that eventually pissed us off and to punish them, we raided the camp and broke up every still. They were dumbfounded that we went straight to their hiding places without any searching. After that, it was business as usual, the Germans stealing copper and making and hiding stills and us guards leaving them alone. The Germans took care of their Nazi problems in their rank and file.”
Although a relatively small detail, Grant did not purchase a slave; Julia's father gave him to Grant. The fellow stayed with them at Hardscrabble for a while and then Grant gave him his manumission papers.
According to Grants friends and neighbours they criticised Grant for not being a good “slavery man” meaning he didn’t whip or beat his slave and worked in the field alongside him, which was considered gastly. Grant is still horrible for participating in the slave trade but for the time period his actions aged well over 170 years.
@@Michael-qe1xo He did more to improve the lives of millions than you’re foolish puritanical view, by using his military genius to end slavery and defeat the confederacy he is a much greater man than someone who judges him with a 21st century mindset
@@merlelove1795 He told Gen. Sedgwick not to expose himself, Rebel sharpshooters were abound - but alas, General did not understand him as he was a horse.
One of most amazing moments during the civil war was during Grants disengagement from the wilderness fight The army came to a crossroads one way went north the other way went south . The army took the road south and and a cheer erupted all along the line ! The men knew no more retreating and that General Grant was out to win the war ! The army of the Potomac just finished the fourth bloodiest battle and where on thier way to the third bloodiest battle of civil war. What grit these men had! Thank God our country had these men at that time.
@@josephcockburn1402 I concur,Lee's troops of the A of NV were twice the men of Grant's invaders. I am from Texas and some of my ancestors were in Hood's Texas Brigade.l bet they thought Cold Harbor was a turkey shoot.lt's hard to imagine 7000 casualties in 18 minutes.
I always enjoy listening to Dr. DePue's lectures. At this time, I am reading Shelby Foote's Civil War trilogy and have nearly completed all that Foote's narrative provides for the reader regarding the unfolding of the Wilderness, Spotsylvania and Cold Harbor campaigns. To my surprise, more than just a few highlights of what DePue touches on I was able to insert prior to his point being made because Foote's narrative contains as much, or more, of the information DePue provides. At least a couple anecdotes DePue shares, I read in Foote's third volume. Overall, I find DePue's lectures to be a welcome confirmation as I complete Foote's trilogy.
I too have just finished Volume 1 of Foote's trilogy, so quite a bit to go till I get to the Overland Campaign. My one criticism of Foote's writing, which I generally really like, is the organization. The chapters seem to have no real overarching connection, instead of being organized by location or campaign, which can make it a little hard to keep the story straight in your head. Sometimes a fairly major battle gets a couple of paragraphs, while the setup and aftermath takes up the bulk of the narrative. The maps too are very basic.
@@paghal11 I ended up reading the Trilogy twice through perhaps due to the organization you mentioned. Or i love how he is telling a tale as if he had been there.. I made the pilgramage to his grave went i visited Memphis. Stars In Their Courses...
@D Sullivan I read "American Homer" essentially a series of essays that came with the hardback version, before embarking on the main course. He's definitely to the right of center on the Union to Confederate scale. By the end of Vol 1, I can't say that I've encountered any overt bias. He absolutely holds both Stonewall Jackson and Abraham Lincoln in quite high regard. I'll keep an open mind.
@@BradWatsonMiami Who gives a shit. I'll side with U.S. Grant who called the Confederates brave and worthy opponents, even as he couldn't understand the purpose they were fighting for. When was the last time you lined up against a bunch of troops with 50 cal lead balls in their rifles? Grow the hell up.
@@clconstruction3072 I'm a Union Man, but I have much love for my Confederate Brothers. And appreciate their story and can understand fully why they fought and I admire their cause. I wish more people today could understand.
An ancestor of mine died during the Battle of the Wilderness. He was Capt David Gallaher from Mississippi and previously fought in the Mexican American War. In a family cemetery are the graves of his wife and children, his is missing.
At about9:00 minutes into this video the narrator says Grant stood up on the couch. I've always wondered if he took off his boots, it being late winter and more than likely muddy outside. I bet he didn't, ya think Mary Lincoln spoke of him being an uncouth person?
EVERYBODY S great great great grandparents were alive then. Long enough to make kids. The ones who didn't have kids have no descendants. Do you understand now forrest
Oh ok, interesting enough. I didn't know corps were just dissolved like that. Thanks. Did they suffer too many casualties to continue to function? Since I've got you, where do all the men come from? The army is bigger than what Meade had at Gettysburg but two of the corps have been sent away and the army, though victorious, still suffered many casualties at Gettysburg.
Strategic gaming I and III Corps suffered too many losses at Gettysburg and would have had to be rebuilt, and there just weren't good enough candidates for corps command left in the Army of the Potomac to make this worthwhile so it was decided to go with three corps plus a cav corps. Burnside's IX Corps was not in the AOP at the beginning of this campaign but is counted for troop strength. Actual total strength of the AOP was less than what it was a year earlier even if you include IX Corps. A high proportion of the troops were conscripts or bounty volunteers without combat experience, but substantial numbers of veterans still filled the ranks as noted in the lecture. Remember that this army was relatively well supplied and had seen no action for the preceding half a year while building up its strength from a considerable pool of eligible recruits--the exact opposite of the Confederate situation.
@@tomtonkyro7209 Grant also pulled a good number of soldiers from the forts around D. C. and other garrison-type duties and put them into the infantry. About 40% of those whose enlistments were ending in April and beyond left the army.
Thanks for mention the fact that so many died so much blood was shed. My Question in this crusade to save the union and free the slaves. Why are we the only country to have a War over the subject of the later ? Emancipation.
@@markminter3960 We were a very young country. The south was petrified of being reduced to existing as a very poor “slave” to the union. The slave issue wasn’t the reason for war. It came up two years in and almost didn’t.
Also John my apologies for taking so long to reply. But again thank you for the truth. It is what sets us free. I may not be much in this life w power other than to seek truth and the facts to it's Justis and I as a man, don't even deserve mercy,by the "Higher Law" but I will set @ the King's table, and I will be with some of you, and,the greatest of this good. Earth, So I humbly bow,to you noble men,who seek truth as I wo judgement, of the poor misguided Damn Yankees whom I love w all my heart, but don't agree with, and about halfway do not like there ways, but I accept & tolerate them. Can we who are Americans too, have the same respect atleast ? If not, your Mandasitiy will find your deficit. And we will eat at the king's table wo Yankees. LOL.
I really like this series, BUT...... the camera work is terrible. show the maps more WITH HIS POINTER! He could be closer to the bottom left corner. More of the map while he is talking. I've walked these battlefields! I want my children & Grandkids not to forget this! It's hard to teach with this LOUSY CAMERA WORK! Other than camera work, THE SERIES IS GREAT!
@@marknewton6984 he did have the the help of the slave to build his house, and then after the home was built he granted him the slave his rightful freedom. That was never disputed.
I don't think there was any other way around the issue. These armies were so massive, they'd beat the ever living shit out of each other, retreat, and be ready to do it again in a few days.
FOCUS on slides .. he refers to them constantly .. get a camera that blows them up from where the camera is shooting from .. love the topics .. but cannot watch these .. speaker is just a voice .. info in is on the slides ..
Lol what does it have to do w the subject,it's obviously poor and biased. Do a good one ! From your comment I believe you could do better, just get the facts please.
The speaker gets all the major points right, but constantly inserts minor inaccuracies. Example: Upton didn't attack with 12 brigades, the equivalent of an army corps--it was 12 regiments, a division-sized force. Not a vital fault, but it recurs again and again.
He notes in some of his lectures that he may accidentally say brigades instead of regiments. Most likely due to the amount of information hes covering.
I’m an Air Force guy and I don’t know hardly anything about the size of army units, but I was shocked at the size he mentioned on that charge where they didn’t fire at all until they got to the trenches, I thought, “12 Brigades, they gave that young officer Fresh out of West Point a good chunk of the entire army at his disposal.”
Lincoln recieved numerous complaints of Grants high casualty rates. Complaints comming from public and private circles. Grant was blamed for his bloody battles and that he loved drinking his bourbon whiskey; considered a alcoholic! Well, Lincolns retort was "give me the name brand of whiskey he(Grant) drinks , and I'll order it for all my Generals. Damn it! The man wins!" Something of the likes of that was said supposedly! I don't know if anybody acknowledged this @ all! Or ? If it actually was said. But, it is a little comical!
My GG Grandfather John Wauvle from Michigan died during The Battle Of Wilderness,which still blows me away that The USA had a Civil War over The Freedom Of Slavery of another Human
Us. First tarrif act the south was the only one paying that tax. Which gave the federals the means of filling their coffers. Slavery was secondary besides the north still had slaves after the war.
@@karlburkhalter1502 It was slavery, and my grandfather was wounded fighting for the South at the Wilderness. Now, whether his goal and the Confederacy's leaders' goals were the same? Maybe not.
Dear Mister Expert, Cavalry. Cav al ry. From: cavallus, Latin for horse Cavalry and Calvary are not interchangeable. Two different words. Two different definitions.Two different pronunciations Cavalry.
The casualties of the rebels was higher than that of the Federals in terms of percentage of available troops. Was it not Lee who was the butcher who bled HIS army out; particularly since he had no means to replace the losses. He should have emulated Washington and turn the war into one of maneuver and avoided battle at all cost. It strikes me that for all his brilliance it took Grant all of 6 weeks (brutal though it was) to bring Lee to heel. Once it became a siege the Confederacy was over.
I have read that General Sedgwick knew full well that he was in range of the Confederate rifles when he made his elephant remark, but he was trying to buck up his discouraged troops. I have no way of knowing if this is true, but it makes more sense.
Quite seriously you are correct but have you ever been South of the Mason-Dixon line in this country and North up around Delaware and Connecticut and in Wyoming where the Indians said it how? But good point though had me thinking there for a minute
I’m from the South I do not support the confederate states rights to own another human being. I live in Texas in a county that voted for Texas to stay in the Union. That cost 6 people to get lynched because they were Union men
The war was about tariffs and taxes and states rights vs a central government. Slavery did not cause the war. As Gen Lee said slavery was a moral stain on our great nation.
@@philly0976 no he didn't, he said they were better enslaved than in Africa, and their "harsh treatment" was for their own good. He hated the idea of blacks voting, and was a rather brutal slave owner, if he was against it, he would have free his, instead he managed, abused, sold and broke up families, and was a pathetic commander who couldn't win a battle without losing over 20% of his army. Trash man.
Your comment has absolutely nothing to do with this video on the topic of Civil War "Battles". But I'm sure everyone will stand up and applaud your sheer courage of conviction to say slavery is bad.
@@Captainkebbles1392 he did sell his off. He taught them to read and write. Wth? Were did you get that garbage? Lincoln owned slaves and sold them off. Grant and Sherman owned slaves. To be a garbage commander he sure won a lot. I guess that's why the Union offered him command before he resigned to defend Virginia.
@@rightwingextremist9544 it was just a discussion easy tough guy. And actually even saying something like "states rights" these days brings out you easily offended revisionist that cannot discuss anything with out getting upset.
Dr. Depue is very informative, but I am still amazed at how many academics, authors, and other highly educated people cannot pronounce "caValry". I have heard 5 or 6 other lecturers on youtube who say calvary through their entire lectures.
Oh My God...In every part of the great USA each region pronounces things different and some are wrong and some are right. Did You know what he was saying...there You go he communicated!
The only minor quibble I have with this presentation is the use of the word "union" to describe their army. Grant commanded the United States Army. That is to say, he commanded the troops from states that still adhered to the Constitution.. The rebels set aside the Constitution to establish their own state.
@@doublepoet7852 Just so you know, Leacris Mobility is one of my other RU-vid accounts. Now, on to your comment. You might have a point except for this one glaring oversight on your part, which is that the Colonists had NO representation in the English Government. The rebels had their fair share, under the Constitution of the United States of America, of representation. By the way, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia SIGNED the Constitution. So, no, there is no basis for the correlation you want to make.
@@clconstruction3072 of every single southern state voted a particular way the north would still overrule them. It's that representation? Or is that the illusion of representation
@@clconstruction3072 antitank I do. We've resorted to personal attacks in a civil debate? So you think say Texas should dominate Connecticut? Even if the laws being passed only benefit one state.
I think in today's risk averse society, it's easy to conclude that Grant made a bad decision at Cold Harbor. And, to be fair, Grant himself said he regretted it. However, his overall plan, approved by Lincoln and supported by Sherman's efforts in the south, was proved to be right, and the United States of America won the war because of his decisions.
Grant was a much better general than Lee, Grant controlled and was responsible for all Union armies. Lee only had to command a single army on a single axis.
What I do not get is the stress and hatred this kind of warfare implies ... I mean three points : The south did not propose much of a military danger ... , With naval and economic supremacy the north held the upper hand in developement and innovation ... , so why throw away so many lives instead of developing the means, technology and tactics to overwhelm the south with brain instead of blood ?!?
Winfield Scott wanted exactly what you suggest, Davis was brilliant to lure Union on limited theatre. Best example is Porter at Vicksburg, had control of city in 62, called for troops. but Stanton pulled troops available in Western theatre East. Porter watched from his ships as Rebel built forts.
MARIO Lincoln could have done what you suggest if the Democrats, North and South, hadn't owned the newspapers and constantly agitate against anything except constant progress and action in the war. I personally think the ringleaders should have been arrested before hostilities began and held or hanged. Even planning this and doing it upon inauguration or shortly after would have been my approach and that's not hindsight-driven. Any small cabal of self-interested rich people like those planters and military officers who were disloyal to the government that gave them all they had, and rife for arrest for treason.
I study the civil war mostly for genealogy. You are mistaken though. The plantation owners are making money off of the backs of the slave trade.They had lots of money and wealth. Cotton was and tobacco were valuable crops. I the early 1800's slaves were no longer able to be imported to America. You'd think the Plantation owners would take better care of their slaves after that. (many didn't) Bounty hunters then started stealing freed slaves in the north to fill in for the lack of slaves to work on the plantations. The Northerners however hired and brought to America indentured slaves that would be taught a trade and freed after so many years. These people went on to be good citizens. The North also had many Quakers and other religious Protestants that didn't believe in slavery. Although the war originally had undercurrents of starting to free the Slaves, the main reason was economic and power reasons. Lincoln would have NEVER been elected on a "FREE SLAVE" ticket. I am not sure but I think You may study all of Lincoln's speeches and see when Lincoln started mentioning freeing the slaves. Sorry, This is all off of the top of My head so do research and see for Yourselves.
I love you descendants, from Union vet's,wo y'all people belittling and, bragging, and judgement's, and self-righteous beliefs in your so noble crusade to make men free. Whatever,I love y'all, ignorant as y'all are, atleast you do, keep us poor ol backwards Southerners, feel Sooooooo much remorse,it's s wonder how y'all just didn't wipe us off the planet, since we's bout as bad as Nazi's, it so fine and gracious of yall to let us descendants of them Confederate soldiers, breath this fine United States air. Yes sir I love you because you not only let us live,how you saved the union and freed the slaves and all. But you keep reminding us how self-righteous y'all are and you keep us having to defend our honor. You brave people. Misguided. U step on my property,wo invitation,you'll remember it. Have you forgotten, how long it took you brave souls....? And with SO much!
That is a pet peeve of mine, too. You’d think historians wouldn’t confuse the two but it’s so common. “Here comes the Calvary”. Means a hill and a cross are approaching.
Kayinfso Here Its not being critical it’s being correct. They are two totally different things. If you are going to lecture people it should be done correctly right?
@@matthewfox3163 thank you. It makes you wonder if he knows what he's talkin bout when he cant keep them straight. Cavalry was a big part of the southern forces at least give them the respect to call them correctly.
One thing I just can't understand. How is it that the American people--both Union and Confederate, could allow such horrors to happen? There are so many stories of people on both sides who did what they could to befriend and help the wounded, be they on their own side or the enemies. I mean, the American people on both sides weren't savages. We're not talking about ISIS here. We're talking about people with a strong sense of dignity, honor, and justice. So how did such a people allow things to deteriorate to this point? We know that the Civil War wasn't fought about slavery, so what was it?
It was all about slavery. The south started it because they feared that not expanding slavery would eventually end it. Alexander Stephens outlined the reasons in the "Cornerstone Speech", which is the fundamental founding document for the confederacy. it justifies slavery based on the inferiority of Blacks. Lincolns and others responses were also dealing with the northern political realities, the realities of war itself, and legalities. Eventually, despite the political conflicts and the impacts of of hundreds of thousands dying, the north started prosecuting war in the way it needed to...absolute destruction. www.ucs.louisiana.edu/~ras2777/amgov/stephens.html. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornerstone_Speech
miskwaad You are right about one thing. The South did break away because of slavery. They feared that they would be outnumbered in the Senate and were upset about preventing slavery in territories. However, slavery is NOT the reason the NORTH went to war. The North went to war to preserve the Union, and I'm sorry, but that's not a good enough reason to go to war, to sacrifice the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and wound thousands of others for life, and to destroy huge swaths of the South. The Emancipation Proclamation didn't come until the war had already been raging for almost two years. What the North and Lincoln should have done was to allow all the Southern states to secede and then repeal completely the Fugitive Slave Law, which they did NOT do and which Lincoln initially supported. Then what would have happened was that so many slaves would have escaped--first from the border states and then further south, that it would have crippled the Southern economy and the South would have come to the North begging to be readmitted because the slaves had all escaped and there was no one to pick the cotton, and THEN the North could have said, "You want to come back in? Abolish slavery." Instead, they waged this horrible and destructive war which killed so many innocent people on both sides and all for the sake of preserving the Union when the right to secede had been accepted by all the Founding Fathers, Hamilton included, and even Lincoln initially agreed with it. The idea that states couldn't secede from the Union was a legal fiction created by Justice Joseph Story who was otherwise a very astute man. I'm sorry, but there is just no way to justify the destructiveness, loss of life, and injuries that were the result of the Civil War. it never should have happened.
miskwaad I just want to say one other thing. Abraham Lincoln was a lousy president because of the war and because he allowed the war to take place, however, he was a stellar and superb man. It is horrible that he started the Civil War, though he never intended it to be like it was, but he deserves our credit and admiration for the following things he did: 1) Emancipating the slaves 2) Sticking up for black POWs being mistreated by the Confederacy by issuing a threat (albeit hollow) to take out reprisals on captured Confederate prisoners (which he never did. It was a bluff and a ruse.) 3) Sticking up for black soldiers and conscripts in the Union army 4) Preventing Grant from expelling Jews from the Western Department 5) Sticking up for white Southerners, passing the amnesty act, and preventing the Radical Republicans from getting the revenge they wanted on white Southerners (I believe his amnesty saved hundreds of thousands of white Southerners from Radical Republican reprisals) 6) Pardoning over 300 Sioux Indian warriors from being put to death (I wish he'd pardoned the other 38 but its great that he pardoned the ones he did) 7) Overturning the death sentences of numerous deserters and draft dodgers of the Union army (from an unjust and indefensible war) 8) Overturning the sentences of civilians tried in military tribunals. For all the above things, he deserves our admiration and has earned his place at Lincoln Memorial, Mount Rushmore, and on place names. It is there, in his humanitarian moves that Lincoln deserves to be honored, but NOT for winning the Civil War or keeping together the Union.
You forget the Insurrection was taking federal property...almost all of it mysteriously military property...Forts, Arsenals, etc. They had taken most of it, except for two forts not on land including Fort Sumter, by Lincoln's inauguration. I suppose they were planning to convert them all into picnic grounds.
Stop listening at “Lincoln the greatest American president” suspended the writ of habeas and arrested the governor of Maryland and half the legislature without charges , sent troops to occupy Delawares capital and literally sleep on the speakers podium so they could not convene , took over newspapers and had their editors arrested for being critical of the war or not printing union propaganda, allowed his men to have members of clergy arrested for refusing to pray for the union and Lincoln himself , proposed an amendment dec 1 1862 in his address to Congress that would allow slavery to continue until 1900 if the southern states rejoin the union collect the tariff at the ports , invaded NYC over the draft - had civilians shot and bayoneted in NYC, admitted West Virginia to the union as a slave state After emancipation proclamation- allowed border and loyal states to keep their slaves . Wanted to send all of the slaves back to africa . Sought to provoke Florida by breaking a truce the first day he was in office by ordering a fleet to sail into an area forbidden under the truce , waged a war of burning crops , homes and livestock on the women children and elderly of the south while forcibly conscripting the poor of the north and arresting over 9k northerners without charges for speaking against the war or refusing to aide it . He didn’t save the union - he kidnapped Her (southern states) And brought her back into the “union” against her will at gun point after raping burning and ravaging her . The benevolent dictator he was called. Lincoln the deity …. Actually a downright tyrant . Sic semper tyrannis Rest in piss
