Richmond Must Fall

The Richmond-Petersburg Campaign, October 1864 (Civil War Soldiers and Strategies)

De: Hampton Newsome

Narrado por: Claton Butcher

Duración: 16 h y 59 m

Resumen del Editor

In the fall of 1864, the Civil War's outcome rested largely on Abraham Lincoln's success in the upcoming presidential election. As the contest approached, cautious optimism buoyed the President's supporters in the wake of Union victories at Atlanta and in the Shenandoah Valley. With all eyes on the upcoming election, Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant conducted a series of large-scale military operations outside Richmond and Petersburg, which have, until now, received little attention.

In Richmond Must Fall, Hampton Newsome examines these October battles in unprecedented scope and detail. The narrative begins with one of Lee's last offensive operations of the war at the Darbytown Road on October 7, 1864, and ends with Grant's major offensive on October 27 to seize the South Side Railroad, the last open rail line into the Confederate stronghold at Petersburg.

The October 1864 operations offer important insights into the personalities and command styles of Lee and Grant, including Lee's penchant for audacity and overwhelming thirst to strike a blow against his opponent even against bitter odds and Grant's willingness to shoulder heavy responsibility in the face of great risk. The narrative explores the relationships within the high command of both armies, including Grant's sometimes strained partnership with the cautious George Meade.

Drawing on an array of original sources, Newsome focuses on the October battles themselves, examining the plans for the operations, the decisions made by commanders on the battlefield, and the soldiers' view from the ground. At the same time, he places these military actions in the larger political context of the fall of 1864. With the election looming, neither side could afford a defeat at Richmond or Petersburg.

©2013 The Kent State University Press (P)2013 Redwood Audiobooks

Dryer then the timber in the Wilderness

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

The author needed to insert color, anecdotes and reminiscences.

Has Richmond Must Fall turned you off from other books in this genre?

I have read dozens of books in this genre. This one is at the bottom of the list.

Would you be willing to try another one of Claton Butcher’s performances?

Never ever would I want to listen to this speaker. He over annunciates, over emotes and detracts from the content.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

This book had no redeeming qualities. The author seemed to have only a superficial knowledge of his subject and never went to what was happening on the ground.

Excellent Civil War Study

Very well done history on a somewhat overlooked period of the campaign around Petersburg in 1864.