The Final Fight for Spotsylvania Court House | Overland 160

[@Odessa-y5p]

You guys did overland campaign justice. Thanks for everything!

[@dadsongs]

Again, I can't thank you enough. What a great summation of a monumental struggle. Also, great to see Sarah IN FRONT of the camera. I hope to see more from her.

[@sethgraves4572]

This has been such an amazing series! It has been years since I visited Spotsylvania Courthouse...watching this series just makes me want to load up the family and go visit it again. Thank you all so much.

[@nancyarnold2363]

Wonderful series! Thank you!!

[@annmcgehee1728]

Excellent overview as Grant continues to push ever closer to Richmond/ Petersburg!!!

[@Zzyzx--]

Another great Overland episode by ABT - really enjoying this series, finally giving this campaign the coverage it deserves!

[@bigsarge2085]

Incredible history.

[@TheJimmyidol]

Thanks from a Canadian Civil War history fan. I've been reading about it since a boy and I'm 60 now.

[@gsilcoful]

Thank you.

[@terryeustice5399]

Sheer numbers are the difference in the end of the Army of Northern Virginia. Thank you Sarah, Chris, Dan and Kris. And The American Battlefield Trust Association for these Videos on the Overland Campaign. Thank you for your dedication. 💯❤️👊💕👍

[@Zzyzx--]

Yeah, that's what happens when you whittle your army down by fighting senseless battles and are forced to react instead of manuevering to your advantage. Lee owns this, just like he owned Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg. In Overland he finally had to face a superior General who was unimpressed with his reputation and was not going to retreat.

[@craigcolandro2781]

@@Zzyzx-- Just as Grant owned Cold Harbor, right? Not superior in my opinion, an equal perhaps. Grant was no genius, he simply knew it was a numbers game and could sacrifice as many men as needed to eventually win by attrition. Pretty obvious reasoning when you think about it, the fact that all of the Union Generals before him couldn't figure that out tells you a lot about them.

[@Zzyzx--]

@@craigcolandro2781 Grant made plenty of mistakes during his military career, Cold Harbor and the Crater being two of them in 1864. They were two more tragic mistakes in a tragic war but neither jeopardized the existence of the Union. Lee fought battles resulting in casualties the South couldn't possibly sustain. His mistakes resulted in final Confederate defeat and he himself saw it coming. There's a big difference between having the numbers and using the numbers to win - witness McClellan at Antietam who had double the troops and better supplies than Lee and barely managed a tactical draw. If military victory is nothing but a numbers game, shouldn't Davis and Lee have known this and planned the South's campaigns accordingly? They both knew the North could make good it's losses and the South couldn't. The South could definitely have won independence from the Union despite the North's advantages in numbers but they had to stay reasonably intact and in existence to do so. But that wasn't Lee's mentality. Longstreet and Lee famously clashed at Gettysburg over offensive versus defensive fighting. The Confederate losses of 1862-63 led to Lee facing a larger, stronger Union army in 1864 while, at the same time, Sherman abandoned his supply line and cut the heart out of Georgia. Things could have worked out very differently for the South if in '64 they still had most of the troops Lee squandered in '62-63. No, Grant and Lee are not equals. Grant lost some tactical battles but always won the strategic victories. Lee won several tactical battles, some brilliantly, but never won a truly strategic victory, one that would lead to Southern independance. Grant was clearly the superior General and for my money, the greatest General of the Civil War.

[@jameshann8520]

@@Zzyzx-- I wouldn't say Grant was superior. He just knew the way to beat lee was through a war of attrition, and he was the first general willing to do that if their roles were reversed, grant would've lost just as Lee did. There was no way to win against the Unions overwhelming superiority in numbers and materiel.

[@lawrencemyers3623]

Good presentation, as always. Am also looking forward to Chris Mackowski's book on Spotsylvania coming out later this year.

[@ktd9]

Great presentation as usual…Thanks !!!❤❤❤🙏🙏

[@waltw4537]

This has been a great educational series. Thanks. Nan! The wind is sounding a bit like cannon in the distance.. Great analysis. Thanks again.

[@davidfolts5893]

Thank you for your great Civil War content!

[@John-1850]

I am enjoying your series of videos so much! I hope you can continue all year.

[@jasonharris2006]

spotsy? Like potsy? ..lol...love you guys and your mission!!!

[@danieljosiahcotton]

You guys have done an amazing job. Thanks so much!

[@bills6963]

Brilliant stuff (as always)!

[@cmdrflake]

If there’s any place that embodies the futility of war, this campaign is an excellent example. Lee lost too many men he couldn’t replace. Grant knew that and exploited it for the final year of the war.

[@MrFrostings]

“It’s a pleasure to be with us”? Haha! Good one Chris

[@ronyantz7349]

These were the battles that spelled the end ! Lee's forces were being bleed out!

[@George_L-w7o]

Two more historians who put way more weight on Grant’s memoirs than they should. More herd mentality. They casually say Lee could not predict Grant’s movements. Where did Lee ever say that? It’s nonsense. What Lee actually said was he could not predict the movements of Meade. Meade is the one who moved that army. He handled the tactics. When Grant said that Meade handled all the details so he could mature his overall plans He meant that. It manifested itself in him often sitting in the rear of the army, sitting on a log whittling a piece of wood. The first thing RE Lee said after he signed the surrender instrument at Appomattox was please let General Meade know about this. He knew who was pounding him all those many months leading to Appomattox. Even if today’s historians don’t.

[@HahaHaha-vs4ib]

Hello! I’m new to Civil war history and just wanted to ask something, is there something about German volunteers in the union army?

[@citizenbobx]

What do you mean?

[@DeepRiverAsheville]

I think Spotsylvania doesn’t get the recognition and honor it deserves for being one of the biggest and bloodiest battles of the Civil War. Also, the ferocity and viciousness with which it was fought, especially in the Mule Shoe demands more historical attention and significance; the only comparable battle for ferocity and viciousness that I can think of is at the Battle of Franklin on November 30, 1864, though it was smaller in size.

[@craigcolandro2781]

The loss of the Alsop and Harris farms to modern development is such a shame, wish it were not so, but it is.

[@George_L-w7o]

I’m flabbergasted. Did I just hear Chris M say the army and leadership out west was superior to the AOP? Please. The arm at West was not even up against the second string. Lightning movements? How long was the Vicksburg campaign? Very insulting to the army, the Potomac and its leadership for that matter.

[@DeepRiverAsheville]

Two final comments about Spotsylvania: First, why doesn’t the National Park Service cut down the trees in the Mule Shoe so we can see what it looked like on say, May 12th? Second, and some if not all of you make think me blasphemous and disrespectful, but why not rebuild the earthworks to look like what they did on May 12th, 1864? Why on this battlefield and all the others for that matter must we try to imagine what the earthworks actually looked like to the men of both armies in the CW?

[@irockuroll60]

Lee promoted the wrong Hill. Why in the hell they got rid of DH Hill is ridiculous… DH was one of the best division commanders in the 1st 2 years of the war. He had a stellar record thru Chancellorsville. Should have gave DH the 3rd Corp and gave Stuart the 2nd Corp.

[@VertPaleoMortician]

Youell be sorry. Youell regret that. Youell be back. Youell be relieved to know. Youell know better next round.

[@johnzajac9849]

Is Grant trading Union lives for votes for Lincoln in November 1864?

[@dsmonington]

That makes zero sense. Dead union soldiers loses Lincoln support, not increases it.

[@Zzyzx--]

Wow, I guess it would have worked out much better for his legacy if Grant had just stayed north of the Rapidan and avoided all these controversies about illegal campaign contributions for Lincoln

[@intpete]

Kudos to Sarah. Chris was insensitive and brusque when he jumped into the frame, giving Sarah little respect.

[@MrFrostings]

More love for Sarah!

[@mjciavola]

How? By saying, "Thank you, Sarah?" 😉

[@intpete]

Just my impression. You may have a different impression!

[@JohnNickels-g3b]

So, how much does Dr. Mackoski dislike Dan Davis, as always addressed as "My Good Friend?" In the Trades it is a set up