Bloody Spring

Forty Days That Sealed the Confederacy's Fate

By: Joseph Wheelan

Narrated by: Grover Gardner

Length: 14 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

A unique and compelling examination of the Civil War's "turning point" - 40 crucial days in the spring of 1864 that turned the tide for the Union.

In the spring of 1864, Robert E. Lee faced a new adversary: Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant. Named commander of all Union armies in March, Grant quickly went on the offensive against Lee in Virginia. On May 4th, Grant's army struck hard across the Rapidan River into north central Virginia, with Lee's army contesting every mile. They fought for 40 days until, finally, the Union army crossed the James River and began the siege of Petersburg.

The campaign cost 90,000 men - the largest loss the war had seen. While Grant lost nearly twice as many men as Lee did, he could replace them. Lee could not and would never again mount another major offensive. Lee's surrender at Appomattox less than a year later was the denouement of the drama begun in those crucial 40 days.

©2014 Joseph Wheelan (P)2014 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Very Detailed

the book was very detailed with the troop movements and battles,but it became frustrating not having a map or diagrams to see on paper where these places were in relationship to actual event.i like to see where these places were in on a map

Awesome book!

Grover Gardner has the perfect voice for Civil War history. You feel like your listening to Ken Burns Civil War documentary listening to this. This book is the best book I think on Grant & Lee facing off in the Spring of 64 and it details commanders and troops under Lee & Grant, they're movements, battle experiences, and casualties along with outcomes in great detail from the Overlqnd Campaign right up until Petersburg. Do yourself a favor and listen to this Awesome presentation.

Loved it- fair and balanced

I have read many books on the Civil War and encountered some of the battles of the Wilderness Campaign, but not in a coherent fashion as Wheelan presents here.

He gives excellent evidence to support The conclusion that neither Lee nor Grant, nor even divisional Icons like Hancock or Longstreet, were close to perfect. He portrays instead imperfection - not only in human error, but in tactics given technology, inadequate diet, “knee deep” dust and mud.

I really appreciated his presentation in detail of “modern” Trench warfare, presaged in every dimension by the Civil War in the Spring of 1865. This includes the violence and unbelievable level of destruction to combatants, both physical and psychological. This is the first book I have read which documents she’ll shock and PTSD through quotations of front line surgeons.

Bloody Spring reads like a great fiction, while working very hard to portray an historically accurate, fair and balanced reporting of the late civil War in the East, bereft of chivalry and even humanity - and utterly tragic.

My only critique is.that Wheelan ends the story with Lee’s and Johnson’s Armies under siege and incapable of fighting o outside their fortification, signaling the ultimate fall of Richmond, and any chance of joining the two Confederate armies. It’s a fair place to end, but I would have liked another 100 pages chasing Bobbie Lee Westward, even with the ending a forgone conclusion.

I got lost in all the detail

I very much enjoyed parts of this book...especially the history and character of US Grant. But the battle detail got so confusing and dragged on and on. I eventually would run thru the battles at 1.5 to1.8 speed, just to get onto the next movement of the army and strategy behind it. I loved all the detail about Lincoln's comments on Grant's ideas. I wish a lot of the tedious detail about every little event in each battle had been compressed.

Better than Bruce Catton?

Most of what I read and study about the Civil War has to do with the western theater. To me, Sherman’s Army always had a certain romance to it, which I could never find in reading about the army of the Potomac. Even after countless visits to Gettysburg and Antietam, Spotsylvania, and Fredericksburg, I just didn’t see the fascination. It was Sherman’s Webfeet who won the war, not a bunch of paper-collar feather beds, whom found themselves in winter quarters each autumn only to emerge no less refreshed the following spring. This book helped me in that regard. It helped me understand how 1864 was so pivotal for the armies in the east and how Grant brought it all together. So, I guess I never gave Grant enough credit.

If you’re a student of the war like I am you’ll find this an excellent read, and even if you’re a history buff, you might find yourself immersed. There is almost a Bruce Catton tone to Bloody Spring, which lends to the authenticity though I always found Catton to be too romantic. There are times when I feel the book bogs you down with “Battles and Leaders” type dialog but Wheelen does an excellent job of keeping you engaged by citing accounts and anecdotes from soldiers in both armies. You will not be bored.

I also have been finding myself selecting books that are read by Grover Gardner. Not all but it seems the last several anyway. I like how he reads and I like the sound of his voice. The tone and manner in which he tells the story keeps my interest and will not disappoint. Now, if he could only take over for the Wall Street Journal Morning Read.

Do yourself a favor and put this one in your library. And follow up with Jay Winik’s April, 1865 (I didn’t see on Audible though I have in my collection). It will help bridge your desire for closure and the end of the war when this one is complete because ending the book 5 months short doesn’t do the reader, or the author justice.

Excellent work on 64

Great details, good accounts, some new research. It was a good listen. I wish I bought the book because there was so much to note.

Exciting and definitive

Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant were both aggressive fighters. This inclination to always be on the attack led to about 90,000 casualties between the Rebel and Union armies during just forty days in 1864. Wheelan's book gives the feeling of being present during this very bloody period of American history. This book is required of any history buff, especially those interested in the American Civil War.

Good, but not great retelling of this campaign

This is the story of the final major campaign of the Civil War, pitting the new overall Union Commander General Ulysses Grant against the even-then near mythic Confederate hero, General Robert E. Lee. It’s outcome was a key determinant in Lincoln’s election. In the spring of 1864 when Grant moved the huge but, up to then, largely ineffectual Army of the Potomac toward Richmond (and actually toward Lee’s army, his real target), people on both sides held their breadth. There were many doubters about the abilities of this new commander of all the Union armies, openly skeptical that a westerner would be effective against the tested and resolute Army of Northern Virginia. Over the 40 days of the brutal campaign covered in this volume — battles already covered in great detail but many other excellent historians — the armies met each other in a close-set series of battles that ultimately led to Union victory. This is a well written account in that it is imminently readable and includes sufficient detail to understand how and why the campaign was a Union success. However, it’s nagging flaw (in my opinion), is what I perceived to be a negative slant toward Grant and his army. Like some early writers, many of whom advanced the notion of a noble, heroic, and outgunned south fighting and losing to a brutal, highly resourced north, this author seemed to portray the north as well-resourced bumblers and the south as masterful tacticians and strategists. While the northern side made its share of mistakes, and did benefit from having more men and materiel, Grant is not given his due for fighting in ways not previously seen in that theater or anywhere else in the war. Less was unlike any general Grant had yet fought, but more importantly, Grant was unlike anyone Lee had ever encountered. He commanded what to him was a new army with generals with whom he was not familiar, and despite absorbing losses that would have turned back any of his predecessors (and actually did), he persevered and ultimately won. While I did enjoy this audiobook, it did not reveal anything new to what has been known about the armies, personalities of the warriors, or the circumstances of the events. The style of writing was excellent and the audiobook narration excellent—Grover Gardner is one of the best narrators in the business.

Great interpretation of the Overland Campaign.

A very good and sober explanation with some analysis of the campaign that never seemed far off or purposely inciteful. I think this was a useful book for anyone wanting to study the battle more closely.

STRATEGY THAT ENDED US CIVIL WAR

This is a great overview of the Spring 1864 Union Offensive to defeat Robert E Lee and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. With blow by blow descriptions of troop movements, insights into leadership, and anecdotal quotes from Privates to Generals the listener is put in the middle of the action. As always the reading (performance) by Grover Gardner was excellent.